Friday’s Press Release Action

Some press releases to give you tonight. I’ll have to finish the megalinks later, but at least I started them!

Ok, starting with MLB Network, Bob Costas sits down with Selena Roberts on Sunday to talk about her new book about admitted steroids user Alex Rodriguez.

BOB COSTAS TO INTERVIEW SELENA ROBERTS LIVE IN-STUDIO ON MLB NETWORK AT 7:00 PM ET THIS SUNDAY, MAY 3

Live Interview with Sports Illustrated Reporter to Discuss New Book About Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez

Bob Costas will interview Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Selena Roberts live in-studio on MLB Network this Sunday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Roberts will discuss her new book, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez. The interview will re-air at 12:00 a.m. ET on Monday.

Immediately following the interview, Costas will participate in a panel discussion on the topic with studio host Matt Vasgersian, analyst Harold Reynolds, and Sports Illustrated Senior Writer and MLB Network Insider Tom Verducci.

Roberts was first interviewed by Costas on MLB Network live on Saturday, February 7, hours after her initial SI.com story broke.

TNT says the triple overtime Game 6 of the Celtics-Bulls series was the most watched NBA 1st round series on cable in history.

TNT’s Coverage of Celtics/Bulls Game #6 is Most Watched Round One Game in Cable Television History

TNT delivered a slam dunk on Thursday night with the triple-overtime showdown of the Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls Game #6, earning a 3.5 US HH rating and delivering 4,048,000 households and 5,352,000 total viewers making the game the most watched Round One NBA game in cable television history. In addition, the game was also cable’s #1 telecast for the evening in households, total viewers and key adult and male demos. Chicago evened the series at three games a piece with a 128-127 victory in the NBA playoff record fourth overtime game in the series.

TNT concludes their first round NBA Playoffs coverage on Saturday, May 2 as Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls face Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics in the series deciding Game #7 at 8 p.m. ET. Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Doug Collins (analyst) and David Aldridge (reporter) will call the game from Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden. TNT will tip-off its coverage at 7:30 p.m. ET with a 30-minute NBA Tip-Off featuring host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. The trio will also conclude the night’s coverage with Inside the NBA.

Here is quotage from last night’s coverage on TNT.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA Playoffs – Thursday, April 30, 2009

TNT’s “40 Games in 40 Nights” NBA Playoffs coverage continues on Saturday, May 2nd with the Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics (Game #7) at 8 p.m. ET.

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TNT NBA Tip-off

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith

Smith on the Bulls not using timeouts in critical situations of Game #5: “More important than the lost possessions was why wasn’t a time-out called (during the Celtics run)? (The Bulls are) a young team that hasn’t been in this position before. They really don’t know how to get themselves out of it. A lot of times the coaching staff will call a timeout to get you out of it.”

Barkley on what Bulls guard Derrick Rose can do to defend Celtics guard Rajon Rondo: “There’s nothing (Derrick Rose) can do. (Rajon Rondo is) playing out of this world. Derrick Rose is a heck of a player but I’m not sure if he’s a great defender. Rajon Rondo, it’s time for him to get his due. For a guy to average a triple-double in five games, that’s pretty impressive.”

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Game #1: Boston Celtics (127) @ Chicago Bulls (128) in triple OT – Series tied 3-3

Announcers: Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins with David Aldridge reporting

Collins on the physical play of this series: “It’s ok to make good hard fouls but you can’t play out of character, Chicago can’t start looking for contact and trying to make plays they don’t usually make. Just play tough basketball”.
Harlan: “Does it surprise you with it (the game) being a little chippy this early in Game 6?”

Collins: After what happened at the end of the game (game 5) with Rondo and Brad Miller that you see quick whistles here early. You’ve got Joey Crawford, Derrick Stafford, and Ed Malloy on this game, believe me they have watched the game, they’ve watched the series, they know what is going on and there going to make sure this doesn’t get out of control. They’re going to let them play but make them play good basketball.”

Collins on how Celtics guard Ray Allen is benefiting offensively from the team’s work on defense: “Blocked shots, rebounds and steals…that’s when Boston has really been at its best (defensively) in this series and the guy who’s the recipient is Ray Allen. He’s the guy that gets out and its tough to cover him in the transition game and that’s when he gets those open shots.”

Collins on Celtics reserve forward Brian Scalabrine: “(Brian Scalabrine) can space the floor and he’s a very smart player but he’s not a power player.”

Collins on Celtics guard Rajon Rondo following his altercation with Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich: “With what happened at the end of Game #5 (hard foul on Bulls center Brad Miller), Rondo has got to be smarter than this. You can’t get caught up in this. He’s a feisty point guard; he’s arguably been the best player in the playoffs. (Kevin) Garnett and (Leon) Powe are out with injuries…Rondo has to be smarter than that. He cannot let his emotions get the best of him in that situation.”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Celtics head coach Doc Rivers following the first quarter

Rivers on what he saw during the altercation between Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich and Celtics guard Rajon Rondo: “I don’t care what I saw. What else are they going to do? We’re up 3-2 (in the series going into Game #6); they are going to attack us and we have to have composure. This wasn’t on the Bulls, this was us. They’ve got 37 points, we’ve got 26 (after the first quarter) and we haven’t shown any composure so far.”

Collins on the influence Bulls reserve guard Lindsey Hunter has had with rookie guard Derrick Rose: “Lindsey Hunter has been quite a mentor and a great guy in the locker room this year for Derrick Rose. Lindsey has been around a lot and he’s been around some great players. He broke in with the Pistons with Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, two Hall of Fame backcourt players. (He) played on some championship teams with the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. He understands this game and what players have to bring every night. He’s been a real positive influence for Derrick Rose.”

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Halftime Report

Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Barkley on Celtics guard Ray Allen making Bulls guard Ben Gordon work: “(Ray Allen is) being really aggressive and what they are really doing is working Ben Gordon. Ben Gordon has a bad hamstring and it looks like Ray is going crazy but they are making Ben Gordon work hard. That’s why Boston has to be feeling good.”

Barkley on if Rajon Rondo should have received a Flagrant One foul during the altercation with Kirk Hinrich: “That was a call from the other night (Game #5). The refs have to calm down and breath a little bit. Every hard foul is not a flagrant.”

Barkley on Rockets forward Ron Artest: “(Ron Artest) would give Dr. Phil a nightmare.”

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Collins on the improvement of the Bulls and Celtics young big players: “Big men take a longer time (to develop). So many big guys coming in (to the league) aren’t in as good of shape and don’t play on the level that you have to play night to night. In Boston, what they have done with Glenn “Big Baby” Davis and Kendrick Perkins and how they have become a big part of their team. And how about Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas (on the Bulls) and how these young kids have improved as the season has gone along. These big guys are so vital to the success of their teams.”

Collins on Bulls forward Joakim Noah: “(Joakim Noah’s) offense right now is ‘found money’. Where he really helps is on that defensive backcourt, offensive rebounding, blocking shots and defending the paint. That’s where his value to (the Bulls) is right now.”

Collins on what he thought was the most taxing as a coach in the playoffs: “You felt like you never had enough time. You’re always pressed for time. You wanted to watch more tape and have your team more prepared.”

Collins on if players get more exhausted mentally or physically after playing so many overtime games in the playoffs: “Mentally. Six overtimes out of four games…that’s the mental wear-and-tear.”

Collins on the Bulls/Celtics series going into multiple overtimes: “This game is on the heels of a series that has been amazing. What these guys have thrown out on the floor throughout the entire series. It looks like they are dead in the water and you find a way to get a couple of baskets. Then it looks like you’ve taken control and the other team comes back.”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose following Game #6

Rose on the Bulls winning Game #6: “We just don’t want to lose, that was the biggest thing. We want to come out here and play in front of our fans. Now we just have to take it to Boston.”

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Game #2: Portland Trail Blazers (76) @ Houston Rockets (92) – Rockets win the series 4-2.

Announcers: Matt Devlin, P.J. Carlesimo with Craig Sager reporting

Carlesimo on Rockets forward Shane Battier: “(Shane Battier) does an awful lot of different things and some of them don’t appear on the stat sheet. Whether it’s drawing a charge, tapping the ball back on a rebound and he’s a winner. He’s the perfect guy that you want as a captain. A pair of perimeter defenders with (guard) Ron Artest, I don’t know if there’s another team that has two perimeter defenders that are that good.”

Carlesimo on the Dallas Mavericks facing the Denver Nuggets in the second round: “Dallas in April is playing the best basketball they’ve played all year. (Mavericks head coach) Rick Carlisle has done a great job of bringing that team along. Obviously, (Nuggets head coach) George Karl’s group is playing very well as the number two seed in the West (Conference). That could be a very entertaining series.”

Carlesimo on Rockets head coach Rick Adelman: “16 times he has in his 18 years as an NBA head coach that he has had his team in the playoffs. He has done a great job, he’s number 6 active NBA coaches in wins, and he’s number 12 all-time NBA coaches (in wins). He has taken the Blazers twice to the NBA Finals in “90 and 92” I think with all that, he’s still underated, people still don’t appreciate how great of a coach Rick Adelman is.”

Carlesimo on the strength of Rockets forward Ron Artest: “The only guy that I remember with hands as strong as Ron Artest’s was (Hall of Famer) Karl Malone. When he played, he would strip guys all the time.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Rockets forward Ron Artest following the game

Artest getting his offensive game going in Game #6 by scoring 27 points: “I’ve been playing against the best guys since I got into the league. Over the past couple of years, I’ve had John Salmons and Shane Battier to guard the best player and I was able to score. In this series, the best matchup was me against (Brandon) Roy so I had to guard him and I couldn’t really get off on offense. But in the last game, I wanted to stop complaining about playing defense and telling my team I couldn’t play offense and play offense. They needed me to attack. I’m really proud of Roy and all the young fellas’ that come into the league.”

Artest on Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy being the toughest player he’s ever had to guard: “Brandon Roy was the toughest guy that I ever guarded. He’s the only guy to ever score 40 against me, that hasn’t happened in ten years, you have to respect that.”

Artest on Charles Barkley giving him a hard time about his haircut: “Yesterday, I decided to get a haircut and when I got home I saw the guys laughing in the studio, but I didn’t know what they were laughing about because I was tired. They told me at practice that Charles was messing with my hair, but he’s not the reason why I got a haircut.

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Inside the NBA

Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Smith on why he thinks the Bulls/Celtics series is not the greatest series ever: “All of my friends are hitting me up with emails, Facebook, Twitter, whatever it is they are hitting me and they are saying, ‘Is this the best series you have ever seen in your life?’ Well, it’s the first round and it’s great, but I’m just missing those one or two super guys that are just phenomenal superstars that I’ve expected. Now I’m getting that out of Ray Allen and I’m getting that out of (Derrick) Rose, but I need Kevin Garnett in that lineup. It is a great series. Probably the second best first round series I’ve ever seen. To me the Dallas series against Golden State was still better just on the fact of competition and the excitement. (But tonight) is the best game I’ve seen in the last five years.”

Barkley on why he thinks the Bulls/Celtics series is not the greatest series ever: “It’s been a really good series to watch. You have seen some great individual performances. The first round of the playoffs can’t be the best series ever.”

Smith on why Bulls forward John Salmons should have had an outstanding performance earlier in the series: “(Game #6) is the type of game that I though John Salmons could’ve had earlier. I’m a little surprised it took him this long to have an explosive game because I always felt that he had a little bit of an advantage against the Boston Celtics on the offensive end. Tonight was the night he actually proved it.”

Barkley on the excitement of playing in a Game #7 and fatigue being a non-factor: “I’ve been in a triple Overtime game in the Finals, it is so exciting. You’re not thinking about being tired or anything because it is so exciting. Anybody who is complaining about minutes, I’ve been in a triple Overtime in the Finals. We have the best bodies in the world, other than boxers. Nobody’s tired, you’ll be tired tonight, but once you get to that building Saturday the crowd will be going nuts and there is no other place you want to be because everybody’s going to be watching. Saturday night there is no other place you’d rather be. It’s the longest 48 hours, it feels like a week.”

Barkley on the talent of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant: “The only guy who can stop Kobe Bryant is the guy who we get down on our knees and pray to every night.”

Smith on the L.A. Lakers having no weaknesses: “The Lakers have no weaknesses, that’s the key. They have the inside with (Andrew) Bynum and (Lamar) Odom, they have perimeter play with (Derek) Fisher, (Sasha) Vujacic, (Trevor) Ariza and all those guys. Then they have the great superstar in Kobe, they have a great coach and it comes easy to them. It’s like a wall that has a bunch of water coming out of different holes. You put one hand on one hole and it comes from over there (a different hole), so you put your hand on that one and it comes from another hole. They have so many things that they throw at you, including one of the greatest coaches of all time. So you put that together and they only can beat themselves. The Rockets just can’t score enough. This is where Tracy McGrady might have helped them, a guy who can give you 30 points a night, he might have helped them in this series.”

TNT’s Laura Green interviewed Magic forward Rashard Lewis.

Lewis on beating the 76ers to win the series without center Dwight Howard, who was suspended for Game #6: “It gives us a lot of confidence, we have a lot of heart. We obviously came out here without Dwight (Howard), but everyone on the team stepped their game up, everybody played hard and that’s what you need in the playoffs. You don’t just need one or two guys, you need the whole team and guys coming off the bench.”

Smith on Bulls center Joakim Noah’s steal and dunk over Celtics forward Paul Pierce: “(Noah) took off, I didn’t think he had that in him and neither did Paul Pierce because he jumped. How many 7-foot centers you know that can actually do that? Stand up, get the correct hand in the defensive passing lane and get the dunk?”

Barkley: “Not many.”

EJ’S Neat-O-Stat-of the Night: Bulls/Celtics Series Stats

First NBA Playoff series with 4 Overtime games (7 Overtime periods total).
106 lead changes
65 ties
5 games decided by 3 points or less (ties NBA record)
Ray Allen had nine 3-pointers (ties NBA record) and 18 attempts (sets NBA record)
Rajon Rondo had 19 assists (ties Celtics playoff record – Bob Cousy, 1959)
Series tied 3-3.

Comcast SportsNet New England also set a ratings record for Celtics-Bulls.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S GAME 6 TRIPLE OVERTIME THRILLER NETS 28-YEAR REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORK HIGHEST RATINGS IN HISTORY

Celtics-Bulls First Round Series Up Nearly 10 percent over Celtics-Hawks of 2008

CSN Has Deciding Game 7 Saturday Night Starting at 7 p.m.

BURLINGTON, MA - The Boston Celtics are generating more interest than any time during Comcast SportsNet’s 28-year history. CSN achieved its highest rating in network history during the Celtics-Bulls Game 6 triple overtime thriller with an 8.2 rating. Game 6 reached an estimated 360,800 homes in New England.

Despite sharing each telecast in New England with a national network and the absence of Kevin Garnett, CSN is outperforming last year’s historic playoff run through five telecasts by nearly 10 percent. CSN has averaged a 6.8 hh rating (299,200), which is up 9.6 percent over CSN’s 6.2 playoff average through five Celtics-Hawks telecasts.

During the Celtics-Bulls series, CSN has outperformed the national network by 78 percent 6.8 to 3.8. In game 6, CSN averaged an 8.2 hh (360,800) rating and TNT a 5.2. In Game 5, CSN bested TNT in ratings nearly 2 to 1 with a 6.3 hh rating (277,200) and TNT a 3.3.

CSN will telecast the deciding Game 7.

7 p.m. – Celtics Pre-Game Live with Gary Tanguay and Donny Marshall

8 p.m. – Celtics vs. Bulls with Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn

10:30 p.m. – Celtics Post-Game Live

That’s it for the press releases.

A Megalink Friday

Time to give you your Friday megalinks. Again, we begin with the Weekend Viewing Picks.

The Kentucky Derby is the prime event with tomorrow being the first Saturday in May. NBC has the actual race at 6:20 p.m. with coverage beginning at 4. ESPN has several races from the undercard starting at noon. If you want to get a head start on Kentucky Derby coverage, Bravo has the Kentucky Oaks at 5 p.m. today.

The NBA Playoffs finally finish the first round this weekend and also begin the Conference semifinals. Game 7 of the epic Celtics-Bull series is on Saturday night with TNT picking up coverage at 8. If there’s a game 7 of Atlanta-Miami, ABC will have it at 1 p.m. Sunday. ABC will definitely have Game 1 of Dallas-Denver at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the Conference semifinal round as well. On Saturday, NBC has Game 1 of Pittsburgh-Washington at 1 p.m. Versus takes Game 2 of Chicago-Vancouver, Saturday night at 9. Then on Sunday, NBC will air Game 2 of Anaheim-Detroit at 2 p.m. and then that night, Versus takes Game 2 of Carolina-Boston at 7:30.

Plenty of baseball on the national airwaves. Fox has regional coverage of three games including the Mets visiting the defending World Championship Philadelphia Phillies. The game start at 3:30 p.m., note the special start time. MLB Network will have Oakland at Seattle, Saturday night at 9. WGN picks up the White Sox at Texas, Saturday night at 8, then on Sunday, it will carry the Cubs hosting Florida at 2:20 p.m. TBS has Red Sox-Rays, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and the ESPN Sunday night game will be White Sox-Texas at 8 p.m.

NASCAR races under the lights Saturday at Richmond. Fox has it at 7 p.m.

The PGA Tour with a top heavy field including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has the Quail Hollow Championship. CBS and Golf Channel share coverage throughout the weekend starting at 1 p.m.

The full Weekend Viewing Picks can be seen here.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Tom Durkin who will call his 9th Kentucky Derby for NBC.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media has some tips for watching this Saturday’s Derby.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell asked his readers to rename Jenny Craig’s entry for the Derby. Darren likes a new online ad featuring Novak Djokovic for a tennis racket. And Darren wonders if looks helped in the NFL Draft.

The Sports Media Watch feels that cable does not deserve to show Game 7 of the Celtics-Bulls series.

Maury Brown from The Biz of Baseball says Fox Sports Wisconsin has extended its rights deal to show Milwaukee Brewers games past the current 2012 deal.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable says boxing needs good numbers for the Manny Pacquaio-Ricky Hatton PPV fight this Saturday.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that NFL Network and Comcast are continuing to talk past a deadline that would removed the channel from the cable provider’s lineup.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with NESN Bruins announcer Jack Edwards who has become a favorite in the blogosphere for his extreme homer calls.

Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times looks at Selena Roberts’ new book on Alex Rodriguez.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News says Mets manager Jerry Manuel is a media manipulator.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about former New York Giant Brad Benson who has become a star for selling cars on WFAN. Neil has comments from former A-Rod teammate Jeff Brantley.

From the New York Post, Phil Mushnick goes after the Yankees for spinning the empty seats at their new stadium.

Also from the Post, Justin Terranova talks with SNY Mets analyst Keith Hernandez about the Amazin’s. Justin has five questions for NBC’s Gary Stevens about the Kentucky Derby.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says David Wells has the potential to be a good MLB analyst.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette gives his Stanley Cup Conference Semifinal predictions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says an ad taped by the late Harry Kalas before his death has been re-edited and will be shown on TV this weekend only. Peter Mucha of the Inquirer says Bruce Springsteen used Harry’s voice in a concert at the old Spectrum this week.

This week, the Baltimore Sun fired 61 staffers Ray Frager who was a regular link on the Friday megalinks. Ray bids farewell to his readers. In his blog, Ray mentioned he’ll still be writing about the sports media in another venue and we hope to continue linking to him here.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says NASCAR fans have some Friday night action to watch. Jim writes there’s plenty of good baseball on TV this weekend. And Jim says ESPN will have pre-Kentucky Derby coverage starting at noon on Saturday.

I’ve been called away from the office so I’ll finish the megalinks later.

Late Thursday Night Links

I have no idea where to begin. It’s another one of those crazy nights where I can really start anywhere and it would be the right lead. I’m staring at my Firefox web browser and I have 10 tabs open. That’s TEN tabs with three potential lead stories.

I guess I’ll go with what has been breaking since about 5 p.m. today when NFL public relations guru Brian McCarthy Tweeted that the NFL Network was staying on Comcast systems past a May 1 deadline.

At the same time, a joint statement from Comcast and NFL Network was released stating that the two sides were talking on a carriage agreement. Since then, we’ve been in a holding pattern, but it is encouraging that Comcast and the NFL are talking, but it’s also sad that it took a potential removal of the channel from Comcast’s sports tiers to get the two sides to renew discussions.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes it appears the two sides are getting close to a long-term agreement. If that is the case, then it could pave the way for other big cable providers to come to terms with NFL Network.

Deborah Yao of the Associated Press says Comcast has agreed to carry NFL Network past the May 1 deadline for the time being.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports the two sides are saying the talks are productive.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says Comcast and NFL Network will maintain peace for now.

Last June, Comcast made an agreement with Big Ten Network, ending a one year dispute and paving the way for other big cable companies such as Time Warner, Mediacom and Cox Communications.

So if NFL Network is able to shake hands with Comcast, other providers will most likely follow suit. We’ll continue to monitor.

We go from Comcast/NFL Network to the bloodletting at the Baltimore Sun. Over 60 reporters, editors, graphic artists and other staff were fired Wednesday. Many of the firings were in the sports department which included two reporters and a photographer at Wednesday’s Anaheim Angels-Orioles game.

David Ettlin of The Real Muck blog says all told, 61 fine people at the Sun were fired and were given just 15 minutes to pack up their belongings.

The firings included Ray Frager who has become a favorite read of mine since I re-started Fang’s Bites in 2007. Ray said farewell to his readers today.

The excellent DCRTV.com which monitors radio, TV and newspaper dealings in the Baltimore-DC area has been keeping track of the entire situation and says many of the fired Sun staffers may be hired by an expanded Washington Post which could start up a suburban Maryland edition now.

Dave Hughes who heads up DCRTV, wrote an article for Baltimore’s Press Box site goes over the cuts in the Sun’s sports department.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts talked with the Dan Patrick radio show today regarding her new book on Alex Rodriguez.

UPDATE: 9:02 a.m. - I fell asleep in the middle of this, but I do want to get these up. I’ll have more stuff coming up.

What Fang’s Bites is Following

Stories I’m following tonight …

The Baltimore Sun’s bloodbath of 61 staffers including reporters, editors, graphic artists and other staffers. This includes assistant Sports Editor Ray Frager who wrote the media column and maintained a blog at the paper.

Comcast and NFL Network came to an agreement to keep the channel on the provider’s systems past the midnight deadline. The two parties are now talking about coming to terms on a more permanent agreement.

Contents of the Selena Roberts book on Alex Rodriguez has been leaked and has been the talk of sports radio all over the country.

All this and more coming up in the next set of links. I’ll have them for you later tonight.

Monday Thanksgiving Week Links

With this being Thanksgiving Week, I don’t expect to be blogging much (we do have to get ready to see our families on Thursday), but I’ll do what I can. With that said, I still have to give you Videos of the Week (The Amazing Race episode recaps are taking more time than I expected) and there are the regular posts at least through Wednesday.

We have a lot of football starting Thursday, plus the NFL Network starts its schedule so we’ll see how people are affected especially with the big Green Bay-Dallas game next week so we’ll have plenty to cover. Let’s get to the Monday Links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports on a new tool that will debut on the NFL Network this Thursday designed to help the officials review replay process.

From the Sports Media Watch blog, Paulsen wonders if NFL fans would really revolt over losing 8 games from the barely seen NFL Network.

Chris Isidore of CNNMoney.com writes that it’s tough to choose a side in the NFL Network vs. cable debate. Greg Johnson of the Los Angeles Times talks to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who’s leading the fight to get the NFL Network in more homes.

Frank Rigas of the Sheboygan (WI) Press tells his readers to get their radios out because that’s the only way they’ll be able to follow Wisconsin basketball games unless the Big Ten Network gets carried.

In his Four DVRs, no waiting blog, the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron struggles with ESPN’s Top 25 Players in College Football History.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says TNT’s Charles Barkley should not comment on the Barry Bonds situation.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the irony of Warren Buffet’s involvement in the Alex Rodriguez-New York Yankees contract talks.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says Fox’s Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger ran out of superlatives for the Packers on Sunday.

In his Monday column, Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star goes over what was said by both the CBS and Chiefs announcing teams during the Colts-Chiefs game yesterday.

As expected, ESPN’s College Gameday will be in Kansas City this weekend to broadcast live from the Border War between #5 Missouri and #2 Kansas.

Van Williams of the Anchorage (AK) Daily News has Great Alaska Shootout officials scratching their heads over the reduction in TV coverage by ESPN this year.

Dusty Saunders in today’s Rocky Mountain News talks to Tony Kornheiser becoming more comfortable in the Monday Night Football booth.

The Inside Track gossip column in the Boston Herald loves to write about NESN’s Hazel Mae and today is no exception. Laura Raposa and Gayle Fee write about Hazel being put in the Playboy Sexiest Sportscaster poll.

Mike Mulhern of the Winston-Salem Journal has NASCAR’s President Bill France calling the sports’ sliding ratings “overrated”. The numbers are there in black and white. In the Daly Planet blog, motorsports TV critic John Daly says ESPN/ABC’s telecast of the season’s final race went rather poorly.

And friend of Fang’s Bites, LC of 38Cliches had a short blurb on Red Sox announcer Dave O’Brien calling the MLS Cup for ESPN/ABC on Sunday.

That will complete the links for Monday morning. We’ll be back with an update later in the day.

The Day Before the 4th of July

I’d rather have the 4th of July holiday on either a Monday or Friday and next year, being a leap year, the 4th will fall on a Friday, but this year, it’s in the middle of the week so we all have to deal. But as many have taken the week off, some of us are still at work so in the meantime, I provide you with links.

I don’t know why I’m so upset over the Bud Collins firing by NBC. Bud will still work for the Globe, but I guess it’s the fact that someone I’ve grown accustomed to seeing on tennis tournaments every year is not going to be there next year. I’m hoping that will change. Susan Bickelhaupt of the Globe has a short story. Larry Stewart of the LA Times has NBC denying it fired Collins. In the Palm Beach Post, Charles Elmore has Collins saying he’s not retiring.

The New York Post follows up on its own story of Cynthia Rodriguez wearing a t-shirt to Sunday’s game saying, “Fuck you” on the back. She had her kids with her at the time.

Over to the Midwest region where the Big Ten Network continues to make news. It’s launch on August 30 is fast approaching, but the channel still doesn’t have agreements with Bright House, Comcast and Time Warner. Two days after the launch, the channel starts televising games. Carol Slezak in today’s Chicago Tribune says the Big Ten Conference is arrogant thinking fans will flock to watch what she calls “a D-list football game”. Harsh. But she may be right. Over in Bloomington, Indiana, fans there are wondering if Bloomington-Normal cable and Insight cable will pick up the channel. Centre Daily Times editor Bob Heisse says Comcast is right to want to put the Big Ten Network on a sports tier. And Variety says the Big Ten Network will have fewer subscribers at launch than it had hoped for.

Former Vermont men’s basketball coach Tom Brennan has signed a contract extension with ESPN.

The Follow the Media site has a good feature on the rising price of digital rights for sports leagues like the NBA and events such as the Olympics.

And in the story, there’s mention of the NFL imposing a 45 second rule on websites showing video of player interviews. That’s right, we’re not even talking game footage, we’re talking about interview of players at mini-camp or press conferences. This is because the NFL wants you to go to its website where it will get all the web hits. Thanks to Deadspin which picked up the story from Foul Balls.net, we find tht the NFL is enforcing this silly rule.

The great Houston Chronicle columnist John McLain shows you how silly this rule is.

Those are the links for now. I’m not sure I’ll be back with an afternoon update. I will have primetime viewing choices and maybe something tonight. If I don’t see you here later, have a great 4th.

Ken

Friday Links

Ok, new month. Let’s do the Friday links. Lots of them today as usual.

Starting off with USA Today, Mike McCarthy has Fox’s Tim McCarver getting on the Yankees for not starting Roger Clemens against the Red Sox this weekend. I usually don’t like McCarver, but I do have to agree with him on this. The Yankees are in desperate times and they need a shot in the arm, 13.5 games back in the division.

The Boston Globe’s Susan Bickelhaupt writes about three channels, the Golf Channel, Speed and the Tennis Channel all finding audiences and also getting big events.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the way Alex Rodriguez is being treated by the media after news about being with another woman leaked this week.

And the New York Post which must have something against A-Rod actually ID’s the woman as a dancer at Scores Las Vegas.

Post curmudgeon Phil Mushnick gets on players like Mets outfielder Carlos Delgado for not running hard on the basepaths.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News also has Tim McCarver criticizing the Yankees for not pitching Clemens in Boston this weekend and Raissman also gives his take on the matter.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders how the YES Network will handle the Yankees if they’re out of contention this summer.

Best also reports in his blog that WFAN’s Mike Francesca will take the Imus spot for CBS Radio starting Monday and for the rest of the month.

Pete Schnatz of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes about Suzy Kolber of ESPN who will host NASCAR Countdown for ESPN/ABC starting this weekend.

David Jones of the Patriot News in upstate Pennsylvania wonders if fans of Penn State will be able to watch football games when the Big Ten Network launches this fall.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has some musings today and leading off is Comcast‘s decision to put the NFL Network on a digital sports tier.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes about Joe Rose of Sports talker 790 the Ticket wondering if he should leave for WQAM which has the Dolphin games.

Dave Darling has a story on the MLB Draft on ESPN2 and what features we can expect to see or not see on June 6.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune laments the changing of the rules in covering athletes in the A-Rod debacle. And he also gives his weekend viewing picks.

Judd Zelgad of the Minnepolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune says what I have been saying in this blog all along. That NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman can spin the ratings for the NHL all he wants, but when it comes down to the crunching, the numbers are horrible.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a feature on Joe Buck stating that MLB Commish Bud Selig should be on hand when and if Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record.

Andrew Guy, Jr. of the Houston Chronicle reports that Houston will get a 4th sports radio station this summer.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune discusses the upcoming MLB Draft which will be televised for the first time this month on ESPN2. The ratings for sports viewing in San Diego is also available here.

Larry Stewart of the LA Times has two articles today. His first is on Brett Hull who’s doing work with NBC for the NHL this season. The second is on Anaheim Ducks announcers John Ahlers and Brian Hayward who have been silenced since the second round of the playoffs due to exclusive rights for the Conference and Stanley Cup Finals on Versus and NBC.

The Sports Media Watch Blog has the numbers for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus and they’re not good.

Pat Hickey writes in the Montreal Gazette that his search for Versus while traveling in Scranton, PA was barely successful. In fact, Hickey said a bartender of a sports establishment had never heard of the channel. Are you listening, Gary Bettman?

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the three man booth of Bob Cole, Harry Neale and Greg Millen on the CBC for the Stanley Cup Finals is working.

We’ll be back later with more links as they warrant.

Thursday’s Links

Back today as we look at the world of Sports Media and anything else in between.

The Stanley Cup Finals may not be burning up the TV ratings (thank you, Versus and Gary Bettman), but there is some buzz. We mentioned last night that Don Cherry would be coming over to the US on Monday night. Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the former Boston Bruins coach will appear during the second intermission on NBC, Monday night.

Today is Day Two of A-Rod coverage in the New York Post. Yesterday’s cover had a blaring headline, “STRAY-ROD”. Now, there’s a story in today’s edition saying that the Yankees 3rd Baseman has been spotted with the blond woman, not his wife, Cynthia in five cities. And I feel bad for Cynthia as paparazzi followed her as she was getting into her car in New York yesterday. You can Google the pictures of her if you wish. And the Post continues to bash A-Rod with a column showing that fans are angry at him.

Newsday’s Neil Best gives his two cents on the A-Rod story in his blog.

The SEC has announced its TV football schedule to date:

SEC TV GAMES

Thursday, Aug. 30: LSU at Mississippi State, 7 p.m., ESPN.

Saturday, Sept. 1: Oklahoma State at Georgia, 5:45 p.m., ESPN2; Kansas State at Auburn, 6:45 p.m., ESPN.

Saturday, Sept. 8: Alabama at Vanderbilt, 11:30 a.m., Lincoln Financial Sports (LFS); South Carolina at Georgia, 4:45 p.m., ESPN2; South Florida at Auburn, 8 p.m., ESPN2; Virginia Tech at LSU, 8:15 p.m., ESPN.

Saturday, Sept. 15: Mississippi State at Auburn, 11:30 a.m., LFS; Tennessee at Florida, 2:30 p.m., CBS; Arkansas at Alabama, 5:45 p.m., ESPN.

Thursday, Oct. 4: Kentucky at South Carolina, 6:30 p.m., ESPN.

Saturday, Oct. 6: Doubleheader, 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., CBS, possibly Georgia at Tennessee and Florida at LSU.

Friday, Nov. 23: Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 11:30 a.m., LFS; Arkansas at LSU, 1:30 p.m., CBS.

Saturday, Nov. 24: Doubleheader, 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., CBS, possibly Alabama at Auburn and Florida State at Florida.

Saturday, Dec. 1: SEC Championship Game, 3 p.m., CBS.

I’m sure we’ll find the other conference schedules as we go along.

NBC Sports will allow fans to have an interactive experience during the Stanley Cup Finals. This might be an experiment for NFL games later this year.

Major League Soccer has signed up with YouTube.

Not the best of links for today, but Friday, we’ll have a lot of stories. But of course, we’ll have more links later as they warrant.

More Wednesday Links

Some more stuff for you on this Wednesday. The end of the day can’t come fast enough for me.

Dan Snyder (yes, the Redskins owner) owns three radio stations to carry his team’s football games. Known as Triple X-ESPN Radio in the DC area, it has had to pick up some other inventory to fill time and today, Synder’s Red Zebra Broadcasting has signed with Virginia Tech to pick up its football and basketball games. In addition, Triple X will carry the ACC basketball tournament.

I admit I’m not into motorsports, but every once in a while, if there’s nothing on, I’ll take a gander at NASCAR. It’s not exciting to me, but I don’t begrudge anyone who’s a fan. Believe it or not, the New York Times has a blog devoted to automotive and it’s done by Jerry Garrett. He critiques the commentary on the races done this past weekend by NBC, Fox and ABC.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is not enamored with NBA Commissioner David Stern and he correctly takes the Commish to task for stretching out the playoffs for two full months. There was once a time when the NBA Finals actually finished in May. Not anymore.

Also in the Post, a story on Yankee 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez being seen with a woman in Toronto, while his wife, Cynthia was back in New York with their kids. Now what this means, I’m not certain, but I know the Post is trying to insinuate something is going on between the two. I’m not judging this. Yet. Apparently, A-Rod was with this woman and two other men heading to a Toronto strip club. Decide for yourself if there’s something going on. Here’s the story.

Finally, the bashing of Red Sox “announcer” and I now put that in quotes, Glenn Geffner continues. He continues to mumble his way through Red Sox games. Fans are up in arms and continue to write about his awful calls. Over at 38 Cliches, there are two links, one to a blog that cannot stand Goofner and another which inexplicably likes him. But it’s good to show an opposing view every once in a while. I’m really hoping 2008 will be Geffner-free. Maybe during Presidential campaign season, we ask candidates in both parties to promise to outlaw Geffner from any more Red Sox broadcasts. The first one to guarantee Geffner’s ouster will be promised the entire New England region as a block of votes. Yes, I’m being silly, but I’m operating on just a few hours of sleep.

We’ll be back later with primetime viewing choices. It’ll be tough tonight as it’s mostly repeats on the networks and the cable channels are gearing up for their premieres in June.