You Need Linkage On That Wall….

Yes you do. It’s overdue. I thought being on unemployment would give me more time for doing the site. Instead, I have less. I don’t know how that’s happened.

Anyway, here are some links for you.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has soon-to-be NBC’s Michelle Beadle saying even she’s sick of the coverage on where she’s going next.

Michael takes a look at the Weekend TV ratings.

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today says Laurie Fine, wife of ex-Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, has officially filed her libel lawsuit against ESPN.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Michael Smith report that the Southeastern Conference, in the midst of restructuring its media rights deal with CBS and ESPN, could be resurrecting its plans to start an SEC Channel.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News goes over the “trade” between TBS and MLB Network giving the young network its first postseason action this season.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN 3D will air the last five days of Wimbledon later this summer.

David Mercer of the Associated Press says citing low ratings, the Big Ten Network will drop academic non-sports programming in order to air higher rated sports.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek talks about GM pulling out of advertising in Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs tells aspiring sports TV anchors how to thrive in local markets despite the shrinking amount of time in newscasts.

Dan Fogarty from SportsGrid has video of TNT’s Charles Barkley admitting to America that he waxes his eyebrows.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid has this funny video of Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah getting Stephen A. “A is for Acrimonious” Smith down pat.

From the New Haven Register, David Borges talks with long-time Red Sox radio voice and Connecticut native Joe Castiglione about his career and his new book.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette talks about CBS Sports sublicensing some college basketball games from ESPN.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has the French Open TV schedule.

Pete says the overnight ratings for the Preakness Stakes dropped double digits from last year.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com says NBC Sports Network will tap some familiar names to call MLS action this weekend.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC got the job done in its Preakness Stakes production.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is on the RGIII train.

The increasingly bitter Thomas Boswell of the WaPo feels MASN should pony up for the Washington Nationals media rights.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner writes that outgoing NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora is looking forward to working and writing for CBS.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says two writers from the newspaper including sports media writer Tom Jones will co-host a new morning show for the local sports radio station. Jones will now stop covering sports radio to avoid a conflict of interest.

Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel says the Big East is hopeful of finding a suitable TV suitor for the league.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has some sports media observations.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is looking forward to visiting Oklahoma City for the NBA Western Conference Finals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds gave local radio station WLW a big ratings win last month.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the local weekend ratings.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a technical glitch forced Cardinals fans to watch Fox Sports San Diego’s feed of last night’s Redbirds-Padres game and listen to Dick Enberg which is not a bad thing at all.

Bryce Miller of the Des Moines Reigster says Iowan and Olympics hurdler Lolo Jones is on a media blitz.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Dodgers will honor long-time Spanish radio voice Jaime Jarrin next month.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has video of NBC Sports Network’s Doc Emrick ripping diving in soccer.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says ratings for the NHL Conference Finals on the NBC Sports Group are down.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has some of Pam Ward’s “Greatest” hits over her years calling college football.

That will do it for now.

Replay of 2012 Preakness Stakes

Let’s provide the replay of one of the more exciting Triple Crown races we’ve seen in quite some time. Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another ran down Bodemeister in the final stretch when it appeared that Bodemeister had the Preakness won. And the Triple Crown will be on the line when the Belmont Stakes is run on Saturday, June 9.

By the way, to see how close the finish was, check out this great picture from Jerry Jackson of the Baltimore Sun.

Let’s see the race again as it aired on NBC and adeptly called by Larry Collmus.

And the Belmont Stakes will be on NBC, Saturday, June 9.

NBC Carries The 2nd Leg of The Triple Crown With The Preakness Stakes

Today, NBC Sports Group has The Preakness Stakes live from Pimlico Race Course outside Baltimore, MD.

This is where it will be determined if I’ll Have Another has what it takes to be a Triple Crown Champion, the first since Affirmed in 1978. Bodemeister who finished second in the Kentucky  could have something to say about that.

The usual NBC horse racing crew led by Bob Costas and Tom Hammond will be on hand. Larry Collnus will call the race. Laffit Pincay III, Bob Neumeier, Mike Battaglia, Kenny Rice and Donna Brothers will lend support.

NBC Sports Network hits the air with preface coverage at 2 p.m. ET and NBC comes in at 4:30 p.m.

Here’s the NBC press release.

NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS THE  PREAKNESS STAKES
I’LL HAVE ANOTHER VS. BODEMEISTER

Coverage From Pimlico Begins Today at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and Culminates with the 137^th Preakness Stakes on NBC on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET
“My feel on Bodemeister is he’s just had too many races. He’s had five this year, and the advantage that I’ll Have Another has, in my opinion, is that he’s the fresher horse. – NBC Sports Handicapper Bob Neumeier
“Every year I say I don’t like the new shooters, but the new shooters have been in the exacta eight times and in the trifecta nine times in the last 10 years.” – NBC Sports Handicapper Mike Battaglia
NBC Sports Group’s Triple Crown Coverage Continues with the Belmont Stakes Saturday, June 9

NEW YORK – May 17, 2012 – Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another leads the field as the NBC Sports Group presents 6½ hours of coverage of the 137^th running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. Coverage begins from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., today at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, and culminates with the Preakness Stakes Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

With a win Saturday at the Preakness, I’ll Have Another will head to the Belmont in hopes of becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed, with jockey Steve Cauthen, in 1978. NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes begins Friday, June 8.

COMMENTATORS: NBC’s coverage of the 137^th Preakness Stakes is hosted by Tom Hammond alongside two-time Preakness Stakes-winning jockey Gary Stevens; analyst Randy Moss; contributing analysts/handicappers Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; host Laffit Pincay, III; reporters Kenny Rice, Donna Brothers and Jay Privman; and race caller Larry Collmus, a Baltimore native.

Additionally, Hall-of-Fame jockey and two-time Kentucky Derby-winner Jerry Bailey will join NBC Sports Network’s commentary team on Preakness day. Bailey won the Preakness twice – aboard Hansel in 1991 and Red Bullet in 2000.

FEATURES AND STORYLINES: The features NBC Sports Group is preparing for its Preakness coverage include:

• A look at jockey Mario Gutierrez and his unlikely journey to win the Kentucky Derby;
• Randy Moss sit-down interview with Doug O’Neil, the controversial trainer of Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another;
• Feature on Under Armor CEO Kevin Plank and his commitment to horse racing in the state of Maryland. Plank’s horse Tiger Walk is entered in the Preakness.
• Stevens and Bailey will break down the Kentucky Derby trips of the returning horses: I’ll Have Another, Bodemeister, Went the Day Well and Creative Cause.

PRODUCTION TEAM: The coverage on NBC will be produced by Rob Hyland, a veteran of the network’s horse racing coverage since 2001, and directed by Sunday Night Football and NBC Sports’ horse racing director, Drew Esocoff. The coverage on NBC Sports Network is produced by Billy Matthews and directed by Doug Grabert. The executive producer of NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network is Sam Flood, who has produced 11 Triple Crown races for the network.

PREAKNESS STAKES
Saturday May 19	2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.	Preakness Stakes Saturday	NBC Sports Network
	4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.	Preakness Stakes	NBC
	6:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.	Preakness Post-Race Show	NBC Sports Network

THE HANDICAPPERS

NBC Sports handicappers Neumeier and Battaglia provided their thoughts on the Preakness in separate interviews and came to similar conclusions about the race. Their answers are below:

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING TO NEUMEIER: “There’s a reasonable chance that this race could be what they call a merry-go-round. That expression basically means that nobody passes anybody on the lead – it’s an old racing expression. Bodemeister should have a lead and I think he’ll be dogged by I’ll Have Another, barring something crazy. Bodemeister might get weary down the stretch and I’ll Have Another might pass him, but I like both horses – 1-2 on either side. Those are the favorites. That’s how it shapes up to me.”

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING BATTAGLIA: “Bodemeister is going to have it a little easier on the front end than he did at the Derby. It’s not going to be that same suicidal pace. When you look at this race, there are four Kentucky Derby horses back and all are solid contenders. I think that Bodemeister has an edge because of the pace factor, but it’s tough to throw out the other three – I’ll Have Another, Creative Cause and Went the Day Well.”

BATTAGLIA ON DERBY WINNER NOT FAVORED AT THE PREAKNESS: “Normally the Derby winner is the favorite. But I think they got it correct here. I think that it’ll be a slight favoritism – not a big favoritism – for Bodemeister. He and I’ll Have Another will be close in wagering.”

NEUMEIER ON BODEMEISTER: “My feel on Bodemeister is he’s just had too many races. He’s had five this year, and the advantage that I’ll Have Another has, in my opinion, is that he’s the fresher horse. Bodemeister has had two more races this year than I’ll Have Another, and they only have so many in them, so that would be my only fear about Bodemeister. He’s just been overraced.”

NEUMEIER ON I’LL HAVE ANOTHER: “I’ll Have Another has an excellent chance to win this race. Absolutely. He’ll be dogging Bodemeister, and when the time comes to make the run, he’s certainly fresh enough with two weeks off.”

BATTAGLIA ON THE NEW SHOOTERS (Horses in the Preakness that didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby): “Every year I say I don’t like the new shooters, but a new shooter have been in the exacta eight times, and in the trifecta nine times in the last ten years.”

NEUMEIER’S PICKS: “If I were to rank them, I’d put I’ll Have Another first, Bodemeister second, Creative Cause and Went the Day Well a toss-up for third.”

BATTAGLIA’S PICKS: “It’s going to be Bodemeister. It’s the four Derby horses (finishing in the top four). I keep looking at Went the Day Well and think that he’s going to be able to close a little bit better, so I think that he could be there. It’ll be close between him and I’ll Have Another for second, Creative Cause will be right there in fourth, but I’ve got Bodemeister on top.”

PREAKNESS EXTRA

Similar to Kentucky Derby Extra, Preakness Extra is the online connection to coverage of the Preakness Stakes. Available at NBCSports.com with live streaming of the NBC broadcast of the Preakness, other features of Preakness Extra include:

• An online-only isolation camera on Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another during the race;
• Online-only analysis by NBC and NBC Sports Network commentators in days leading up to race plus post race, online commentary by NBC commentators;
• Replays and highlights from the Kentucky Derby and earlier prep races;
• A video simulation of how this year’s Preakness might play out with 2012 Preakness entrants in virtual competition simulating Preakness conditions and track.

PREAKNESS STAKES ALL-ACCESS

NBC Sports Group will implement its All-Access social media strategy for Preakness week on both NBC and NBC Sports Network. A dedicated social media producer will be on-site for behind-the-scenes content including Breaking News, photos and video from Pimlico.

Twitter: Viewers and Tweeters alike will be encouraged to join the conversation by using the hashtag #PREAKNESS. Reminders will appear on screen throughout all of NBC’s Preakness coverage.

• On-air integration of live tweets from celebrities, horse-racing experts and @NBCSN will be featured on screen throughout the broadcasts to keep viewers up to date with what’s happening and trending on Twitter.
• For the ultimate horse racing fan, @NBCSN will live tweet all week leading up to the Preakness, including the Preakness Draw, and provide interactive trivia and “Did You Know” tweets during the Preakness Classic broadcast. It will give fans behind the scenes access and information like never before.

Facebook: Fans will have the chance to join in on the Preakness broadcast:

• Everyone at home can pick their winner with the “Choose the Winning Horse” Facebook poll on www.facebook.com/NBCSports. The nation’s votes will be tallied and shown on-air during the Preakness broadcast.

PREAKNESS A RATINGS SUCCESS ON NBC:

Since NBC began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous seven years. Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 63% in the 11 years on NBC compared to the previous eight years on ABC.

PREAKNESS ON NBC (2001-2011)

Year Viewers
2011 8.8 million
2010 8.4 million
2009 10.9 million
2008 7.9 million
2007 8.4 million
2006 10.1 million
2005 9.3 million
2004 11.6 million
2003 8.6 million
2002 9.2 million
2001 8.7 million

PREAKNESS ON ABC (1993-2000)

Year Viewers
2000 5.5 million
1999 4.9 million
1998 5.2 million
1997 6.9 million
1996 5.1 million
1995 4.7 million
1994 6.5 million
1993 7.0 million

14.8 MILLION WATCH KENTUCKY DERBY: NBC’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby drew 14.8 million viewers, the third most-watched Kentucky Derby in 23 years, and up two percent from last year’s Derby. Since implementing NBC Sports Group’s ‘Big Event Strategy,’ the last four Kentucky Derby races have all recorded at least 14.5 million viewers.

NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby over the last 12 years averages more than 2 million more viewers than the previous 12 Kentucky Derby broadcasts on ABC (14.1 million vs.12.0 million, up 17 percent).

Link to NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby and hear Larry Collmus call the race: http://fangsbites.com/2012/05/the-138th-kentucky-derby-replay/

That’s all. Enjoy The Preakness Stakes.

Preakness Stakes Viewership Up From Last Year, Still 4th Lowest In Last Ten Years

NBC can say the ratings and viewership for the Preakness Stakes were up from last year, but looking at the overall numbers, they’re the fourth lowest in the last ten years. Saturday’s second leg of the Triple Crown drew a 5.6 rating with a 13 share up from last year’s 5.3/13. And the viewership for the race was 8.8 million, up from last year’s 8.4 million. But the 8.8 million viewers is the fourth lowest average total since 2001. Let’s take a look at the press release.

PREAKNESS VIEWERSHIP UP

8.8 Million Watch Preakness Race, Up 5% From 2010; Second Most in 5 Years

NEW YORK – May 24, 2011 – The NBC Sports broadcast of the Preakness Stakes, in which Shackleford held off Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom by ½ length, drew 8.8 million viewers, a gain of five percent over last year’s race and the second most-watched Preakness in five years, according to official national data provided today by The Nielsen Company.

• The race portion of the Preakness (5:56-6:41 p.m. ET) drew 8.8 million viewers, five percent more than last year’s race (8.4 million) and the second most-watched Preakness race in five years, topped only by the much-hyped boys vs. girls showdown in 2009 when filly Rachel Alexandra – with jockey Calvin Borel – beat Mind That Bird, which Borel rode to victory in the Kentucky Derby.
• The national rating for Saturday’s race portion was a 5.6 with a 13 share, up six percent from last year’s 5.3/13 and the second highest in five years.
• NBC Sports coverage of this year’s Preakness reached more than three million more viewers than the last Preakness broadcast by ABC in 2000 (8.8 million vs. 5.5 million, up 60 percent).

PREAKNESS A RATINGS SUCCESS ON NBC: Since NBC Sports began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous seven years. Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 63% in the 11 years on NBC compared to the previous eight years on ABC.

PREAKNESS ON NBC (2001-2011)

Year Viewers
2011 8.8 million
2010 8.4 million
2009 10.9 million
2008 7.9 million
2007 8.4 million
2006 10.1 million
2005 9.3 million
2004 11.6 million
2003 8.6 million
2002 9.2 million
2001 8.7 million

PREAKNESS ON ABC (1993-2000)

Year Viewers
2000 5.5 million
1999 4.9 million
1998 5.2 million
1997 6.9 million
1996 5.1 million
1995 4.7 million
1994 6.5 million
1993 7.0 million

BELMONT STAKES NEXT: NBC Sports Group presents 6½ hours of coverage of the 143^rd Belmont Stakes beginning Friday, June 10 as Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford could face each other.

BELMONT STAKES COVERAGE ON NBC
Fri. June 10, Belmont Classics, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Fri. June 10, Live from Belmont, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. June 11, Live from Belmont, 3-5 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. June 11, Belmont Stakes, 5-7 p.m., NBC
Sat. June 11, Belmont Wrap-up, 7-7:30 p.m., VERSUS

That’s it.

Doing Some Monday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this last Monday before Memorial Day.

By the way, if you’re on Facebook, hit my fan page and click “Like”. It acts like an RSS feed. All posts should be there and you can click on the links to see the latest information. Already, 375 people have signed up and you should as well. Thanks for reading that paragraph.

Also, I hope to do the mailbag tonight. I said that yesterday, but for some reason, weekends have become busier than weekdays for me. Not sure why that is. Anyway, the mailbag will be posted tonight and two lucky people will get a $50 gift card from Nike.com. I hope to get one more gift for you as well.

To the links now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today delves into the clip that went viral of ESPN’s and Rhode Island’s own Doris Burke mouthing a swear word during a report before the Oklahoma City-Dallas NBA Western Conference Finals on Saturday. For the record, ESPN taped that report and a techie in the production truck cued the tape to the wrong report. And forever being classy, Doris did not throw the technie under the bus.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reviews the book, “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN.”

David M. Shribman of Bloomberg also provides a review.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN is using its upcoming fall shows as a vehicle for marketing and advertising.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry tells sports editors that they should not be afraid to link to other sites.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com says NASCAR’s attendance is getting hit by the economy like many businesses across the nation.

Dr. Patrick Rishe writes in Forbes that there are many reasons to doubt Lance Armstrong’s contentions that he didn’t take performance enhancing drugs.

Bill King of Sports Business Journal writes about UFC positioning itself closer to the mainstream as it begins talks with Spike and possibly other networks to be the home of the mixed martial arts organization.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite his world crumbling around him, accused PED-user Lance Armstrong continues to rake in the endorsements.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post decides that he’ll throw darts at MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the Preakness Stakes received its lowest overnight rating in a little more than a decade.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg tries to give a synopsis on Ted Leonsis’ mad diatribes on radio, blogs and Twitter.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that TNT just fell shy in setting another ratings record for Game 3 of the NBA Conference Finals.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that TNT will move its Inside The NBA postgame inside AmericanAirlines Arena after encountering some rowdy Miami Heat fans last night.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune notes that Game 3 of the Bulls-Miami Heat series is expected to do really well in the ratings when the final numbers come out.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that Dick Ebersol’s resignation from NBC certainly ends an era in broadcast television.

Mike Klis of the Post reports that the Broncos are about to change flagship television stations.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes that Time Warner Cable has hired a veteran sports executive to lead its sports programming wing.

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

Matthew Fleischer of Fishbowl L.A. notes that ESPN Deportes has launched a SoCal-centric website.

Raju Mudhar in the Toronto Star looks at the tome chronicling at the history of ESPN.

Sports Media Watch has a couple of MLS-related ratings notes.

SMW says the NBA Draft Lottery failed to catch on with viewers this year.

Last week, my Twitter friend Stefanie Gordon at Not Your Typical Girl, took the picture of the Space Shuttle Endeavor that got picked up by every news outlet. She writes about her experiences and the whirlwind media tour that followed.

Noted public relations expert Gail Sideman at Publiside has some suggestions in case you’re ever caught in a similar situation as Stefanie.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead looks at why some college football teams play in ESPN-owned or ESPN-televised bowl games that end up costing them money.

The Big Lead also has an interview with James Andrew Miller, the co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World at ESPN.”

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media notes that the NHL Conference Finals are trending downward on NBC.

And that’s going to do it.

The NBC Sports Group Is All Over The Preakness Stakes

On Saturday, NBC and Versus will combine for coverage of the Preakness Stakes. It begins at 2:30 p.m. on Versus. NBC takes over at 4:30 p.m.

NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS PREAKNESS STAKES COVERAGE

Coverage From Pimlico Begins Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on VERSUS and Culminates with the 136^th Preakness Stakes on NBC on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET
Kentucky Derby Winner Animal Kingdom Headlines Field in Middle Jewel of Horse Racing’s Triple Crown
NBC Sports Group’s Triple Crown Coverage Continues with the Belmont Stakes June 11
“I think he will win here. He’s the best horse and I think he’s in a good spot.” – NBC Sports’ Mike Battaglia on Animal Kingdom
“Absolutely. Totally.” – NBC Sports’ Neumeier on if Animal Kingdom can challenge for the Triple Crown

NEW YORK – May 19, 2011 – Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom leads the field as the NBC Sports Group presents coverage of the 136^th running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., beginning Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on VERSUS and culminating with the Preakness Stakes Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

With a win Saturday at the Preakness, Animal Kingdom will head to the Belmont in hopes of becoming the first to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed, with jockey Steve Cauthen, in 1978. NBC Sports Group coverage of the Belmont Stakes begins Friday, June 10.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports coverage of the 136^th Preakness Stakes is co-hosted by Bob Costas and Tom Hammond alongside two-time Preakness winner Gary Stevens. NBC Sports’ broadcast team also includes race-caller and Baltimore native Larry Collmus; contributing analysts/handicappers Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Brothers.

Added for this year’s expanded coverage are Laffit Pincay, III, son of Hall-of-Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., to host the coverage on VERSUS; veteran horse racing analyst Randy Moss; and the Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman.

FEATURES AND STORYLINES: The features NBC Sports Group is preparing for its Preakness coverage include:

• A look at Animal Kingdom trainer Graham Motion.
• Bob Costas live interview with Animal Kingdom owner Barry Irwin.
• Norman Asbjornson trainer Chris Grove, a trainer with Maryland roots and a touching family story. His father, a former jockey, is the Maryland state racing steward and his 12-year old Noah son lost his leg to bone cancer at age four.
• Dialed In – with a win in the Preakness, the horse will earn the biggest payday in North American racing history ($6.1 million).
• Jockey Robby Alborado and his difficult Derby week.

PRODUCTION TEAM: The coverage of the Preakness Stakes will be produced by Fred Gaudelli and directed by Drew Esocoff, NBC Sports’ Emmy Award-winning “Sunday Night Football” production team. The VERSUS coverage will be produced by Rob Hyland, who has worked on the network’s horse racing coverage since 2001 and also produces NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football, and directed by “NHL on NBC” director Jeff Simon. The executive producer of NBC Sports and VERSUS is Sam Flood who has produced 11 Triple Crown races for the network.

PREAKNESS STAKES ON THE NBC SPORTS GROUP
Saturday, Live from Pimlico, 2:30-4:30 p.m., VERSUS

• Including races 8, 9, 10 LIVE

Sat. May 21, Preakness Stakes, 4:30-6:30 p.m., NBC
Sat. May 21, Preakness Wrap-up, 6:30-7 p.m., VERSUS

THE HANDICAPPERS
NBC Sports handicappers Neumeier and Battaglia, who correctly picked Animal Kingdom to win the Kentucky Derby, provided their thoughts on the Preakness in separate interviews and surprisingly came to similar conclusions about the race. Their answers are below:

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING TO NEUMEIER: “Animal Kingdom should be the favorite based on a sensational performance in the Kentucky Derby, and the only real question about him is, can he bounce back with a short 14 day period? I think that his job will be easier than the Derby because the field is smaller, and because there’s more front speed to line up for him to shoot at. The addition of Flashpoint, who’s a front-runner, and Dance City, along with Shackleford, will ensure a rapid pace that should be favorable to Animal Kingdom’s running style.

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING BATTAGLIA: “I think there’s actually more speed, more early speed, in the Preakness than the Derby because of Flashpoint. It looks to me like Flashpoint, going from the three hole, will have to go in the front and Shackleford, who made the pace in the Derby, he’s going to try to probably start out second or third in this one instead of going out and running and getting ahead. The race sets up great for another late run by Animal Kingdom. He was so impressive in the Derby that I think it comes down to, ‘will he handle the track here at Pimlico?’ If he does, I think he ought to win. “

BATTAGLIA ON ANIMAL KINGDOM’S AT THE PREAKNESS: “I think he will win here. He’s the best horse and I think he’s in a good spot.

NEUMEIER ON WHO CAN CHALLENGE ANIMAL KINGDOM: “There are a number of other newcomers that should be respected. First and foremost, I think Sway Away, who comes out of the Arkansas Derby and that has proven to be one of the best preps, is going to be in a mid-pack position. The question is, can he finish strongly? Mucho Macho Man, great story in the Derby and ran very, very well and he would be my second choice. Our reports are that the horse looks great. Dialed In ran a decent final 1/8 and will benefit from the pace that appears to be very hot in the race. I would say it’s Animal Kingdom’s race to lose and my next two would be Sway Way and/or Mucho Macho Man.”

BATTAGLIA ON WHO CAN CHALLENGE ANIMAL KINGDOM: “It’s hard to leave Dialed In out. Even though he didn’t hit the bullet in the Derby, I think that he can bounce back. I like the Derby horses. I like Mucho Macho Man and Shackleford and I think those are the ones that I’m kind of going to key in on. Maybe Dance City for the one new shooter, but the horses coming out of the Derby, I think will run well again.”

BATTAGLIA ON DANCE CITY: “He comes out of the Arkansas Derby and Nehro only beat him a length and a half. He was reluctant at the gate that day and was causing all kinds of problems at the gate and got into a little bit of trouble. He doesn’t need to be in front; although he is a speed horse, but you always have to respect Pletcher when he brings one of these horses in and of the new shooters I think he’s probably the best new shooter to run well.”

CAN ANIMAL KINGDOM WIN THE TRIPLE CROWN?
BATTAGLIA: “You never know about that mile-and-a-half and coming back. That’s a tough thing to do to come back with the third leg of the Triple Crown. Belmont Park is a completely different type of track. They call it big sandy for a reason and we’ve seen a lot of Triple Crown hopes dashed there, so it’s definitely not going to be an easy task for him to win the Triple Crown. I definitely think he’s got a shot because I think he’s going to win this week and we just have to see how he comes up to Belmont, but I definitely think he’s got a shot.”

NEUMEIER: “Absolutely. Totally. His race in the Derby was sensational. Every speed figure measurer gave that a very strong number. We’ll see what the Preakness number is if he wins there. Should Animal Kingdom win the Preakness then you have a situation where he’s running for history and it would be an amazing story and he would be a major threat for a Triple Crown.”

NEUMEIER ON ANIMAL KINGDOM SHIPPING TO PIMLICO ON SATURDAY MORNING: “This is Graham Motion’s home. He trains about an hour from Pimlico. At the Preakness, all of the Stakes horses are in that one barn, so there’s a lot of commotion in that one barn, trainers, owners, press who are working at that barn so there’s a tremendous amount of attention that’s focused on that one area which the Stakes barn area at the Preakness. Had Motion come in here with Animal Kingdom Tuesday or Wednesday there’d be fuss, attention and distractions maybe for him and the horse. Hopefully he won’t get a flat tire and there will be little traffic.”

BATTAGLIA ON ANIMAL KINGDOM SHIPPING TO PIMLICO ON SATURDAY MORNING: “I think Graham Motion really knows what he’s doing. He’s keeping him comfortable. Of course we’d like to see him in that number one stall, but I think Graham is doing the right thing and you can’t fault him for that at all. He’s going to ship him the day of the race and horses do that all the time. It’s not big deal at all and I think he’s doing the right thing there.”

PREAKNESS A RATINGS SUCCESS ON NBC:
Since NBC Sports began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous seven years. Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 69% in the 10 years on NBC compared to the previous seven years on ABC.

Link to the past 10 years of the Preakness Stakes on NBC Sports: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/24467851#24467851

PREAKNESS ON NBC (2001-2010)
Year Viewers
2010 8.4 million
2009 10.9 million
2008 7.9 million
2007 8.4 million
2006 10.1 million
2005 9.3 million
2004 11.6 million
2003 8.6 million
2002 9.2 million
2001 8.7 million

PREAKNESS ON ABC (1993-2000)
Year Viewers
2000 5.5 million
1999 4.9 million
1998 5.2 million
1997 6.9 million
1996 5.1 million
1995 4.7 million
1994 6.5 million
1993 7.0 million

We’re done.

Cranking Out Some Mid-Week Links

As the rain continues to fall in the Northeast and the sun remains behind the clouds for one more day, I’ll provide some links for you. Trying to finish work before doing links and I’d like to provide these earlier, but sometimes, it can’t be helped. Anyway, here are the sports business and media stories that have been written today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand isn’t too excited about ESPN’s fall lineup.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports says the networks are a bit nervous not certain about the NFL season.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says Tony Kornheiser’s comments about a former Washington Post colleague Sally Jenkins could get him in hot water with his bosses again.

However, Dan Steinberg of the Post’s DC Sports Bog says Jenkins is not even offended by the comments and even goes to bat for Mr. Tony. So there’s no war here.

Your turn, Mike?

Rob Brunner at Entertainment Weekly has apparently broken the embargo by the publisher of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World at ESPN” and revealed some juicy bits that weren’t in the first excerpt made public by GQ earlier this week.

Andrew Gauthier of TV Spy says a Buffalo TV station remembered Chicago sports anchor Daryl Hawks who died last week covering the Bulls in Atlanta. Hawks was a native of Buffalo.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes will be offering some new programming in the fall.

Emma Bazilian at Adweek says Disney is prepared to step up in its bid to wrest Olympic TV rights away from NBC.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life recaps the ESPN Upfront presentation from Tuesday.

At ESPN Front Row, producer Jason Romano talks with Bob Ley about how he came up with the “ESPN Car Wash” moniker.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finds that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is well liked by marketers.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says Game 2 of the Bruins-Lightning NHL Eastern Conference Final set a huge local rating for Versus last night.

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston paid a visit to NFL Films.

Newsday’s Neil Best asks ESPN’s Vice President of Content John Skipper about the new book written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Greg Bishop from the New York Times talks with a classy Gus Johnson who’s looking forward to working with Fox and doesn’t close the door on returning to CBS down the road.

Howard Beck at the Times talks with a sports media consultant to athletes about how LeBron James and Dwayne Wade handle their pre and postgame interviews.

Also from the Times, Melissa Hoppert looks at the NBC Sports Group’s coverage of this weekend’s Preakness Stakes from Pimlico.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union compiles the French Open TV schedule for you.

Scott Levin of Buffalo’s WGRZ-TV says Matthew Barnaby’s domestic violence case has been delayed

At the Washington Post, Mike Wise talks with TNT’s Charles Barkley who says it’s no big deal having gay teammates because he’s played with gay teammates.

Dustin Long at the Virginian-Pilot reports on the ESPN split screen that will be employed during commercial breaks on NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase races.

Scott Rabalais of the Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate says ESPN’s College GameDay will be in town for LSU’s season opener about Oregon in September.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN’s NBA analysts had high praise for Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has some sports media news.

Ed says the Bulls’ introduction during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals took TNT’s Marv Albert and Steve Kerr back to the team’s glory days with Michael Jordan.

Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago says WMAQ-TV plans to replace the late Daryl Hawks, but does not have a timetable at this point.

NBC Chicago says the Bulls will give the Hawks family an autographed game ball from Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, the same game he was supposed to cover the night of his death.

Jeff Wolf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says Cleveland still carries a torch for LeBron James judging from the TV ratings.

Steve Carp of the Review-Journal writes that a Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez is getting closer to reality as it needs a TV partner now.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes that the networks are telling advertisers that they’re confident that the NFL season will be played, but behind closed doors, they’re saying something different.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Dan Patrick expressing regret about the backstabbing at ESPN.

Jack Humphreville from City Watch LA writes that bankruptcy may be the best option for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt as he awaits approval of his huge TV rights megadeal with Fox Sports.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Blue Jays announcer Alan Ashby can work well on TV and on radio, a rarity among broadcasters.

Deadspin notes that not only did CBS pass on the Colon Cowhack sitcom, but also the Mark Schlereth one as well.

A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin says the new ESPN book certainly won’t mend any fences between Michelle Beadle and Erin Andrews.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN is seeing a ratings uptick for MLB.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the final viewership numbers for Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference Final for Versus.

Joe Favorito says maybe it’s time baseball teams look to market rain delays.

Ok. I’m still absorbing what Michelle Beadle said about Erin Andrews. I’m not judging. Just absorbing. That is all.

NBC Sports Group All Over Kentucky Derby & The Triple Crown

Got this press release yesterday, but with everything going on, I did not have time to post it, but now I have some time. This is from The Group talking about Kentucky Derby coverage for next week. Some 14 hours will be aired on Versus and NBC starting on Thursday. NBC no longer shares Kentucky Derby Week with ESPN, it has the entire event to itself. Live coverage begins Wednesday with the Kentucky Derby draw and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, then Versus will have preliminary coverage Saturday morning starting at 11. Then NBC takes over with three hours of coverage at 4 p.m.

As mentioned yesterday, Tom Durkin has stepped down as Voice of the Triple Crown. He’ll be replaced by Larry Collmus, the track announcer at Gulfstream and Monmouth Parks. And NBC will have mainstays Bob Costas, Tom Hammond, Gary Stevens, Bob Neumeier, Kenny Rice and Donna Brothers on hand.

Versus will have Laffit Pincay III, the son of legendary jockey, Laffit Pincay, Jr., host its coverage along with the multi-faceted Randy Moss. Unfortunately, one of the worst hosts in the history of television, Jenna Wolfe will be on hand. The always lovely Maria Menounos of Access Hollywood will conduct celebrity interviews as the beautiful people love to go to Churchill Downs. Look for features on mint juleps and the hats worn by the women.

We have your press release from the NBC Sports Group.

NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS 14 HOURS OF KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE

Coverage From Churchill Downs Begins Wednesday, May 4 and Continues All Week on NBC and VERSUS
In All, NBC Sports Group Presents 27 Hours of Horse Racing’s Triple Crown
“Sunday Night Football” Producer Fred Gaudelli and Director Drew Esocoff Lead NBC Sports Group Production
Larry Collmus, Laffit Pincay III, Randy Moss, Jay Privman, Maria Menounos, Jenna Wolfe Added to Coverage

NEW YORK – April 27, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group will present 14 hours of Kentucky Derby coverage beginning on Wednesday, May 4 at 4 p.m. ET on VERSUS and culminating with the 137^th running of the Kentucky Derby on NBC, Saturday, May 7 beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

The expanded Kentucky Derby coverage, which includes eight hours on Derby Day on NBC and VERSUS, will include many new elements:

• Live coverage of the Kentucky Derby Draw, which will determine the post positions
• Additional commentators including a new race caller, Larry Collmus
• New production team
• 11 total hours on VERSUS, now part of the NBC Sports Group, including live coverage of the Kentucky Oaks and Derby Day races
• Three hours of “Derby Classics” (Smarty Jones, Barbaro, Mine That Bird) to air on VERSUS

27 HOURS OF TRIPLE CROWN COVERAGE: The NBC Sports Group will present 27 hours of Triple Crown coverage this season from Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont, including additional “classics” from the Preakness and Belmont, live racing from all three tracks prior to the three Triple Crown races and post-race coverage of the Preakness and Belmont on VERSUS. This marks the first time that all three races will be on one network since NBC last aired the Triple Crown in 2005.

COMENTATORS: The NBC Sports Group coverage of the Kentucky Derby will once again feature co-hosts Bob Costas, a 21-time Emmy Award-winner, and veteran NBC Sports commentator Tom Hammond; three-time Kentucky Derby winner Gary Stevens; contributing analysts/handicappers Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Brothers.

Added for this year’s expanded coverage are race caller Larry Collmus, the track announcer at Gulfstream Park and Monmouth Park who replaces Tom Durkin; Laffit Pincay, III, son of Hall-of-Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., will host the coverage on VERSUS; veteran horse racing analyst Randy Moss; the Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman; TODAY Show’s Jenna Wolfe will contribute features; and Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos will handle celebrity interviews.

PRODUCTION TEAM: The coverage on NBC will be produced by Fred Gaudelli and directed by Drew Esocoff, NBC’s Emmy Award-winning “Sunday Night Football” production team. The VERSUS coverage will be produced by Rob Hyland, who has worked on the network’s horse racing coverage since 2001 and also produces NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football, and directed by “NHL on NBC” director Jeff Simon. The executive producer of NBC Sports and VERSUS is Sam Flood who has produced 11 Triple Crown races for the network.

FLOOD ON NBC SPORTS GROUP COMMENTATORS: “We have had the premier broadcast team for NBC Sports’ Triple Crown races in place for years with Bob, Tom, Gary, Mike, Neumy, Kenny and Donna. Now, as we significantly expand our coverage on VERSUS, we are fortunate to add Laffit, Randy, Jay, Jenna and Maria to the team, along with Larry, who is a tremendous race caller.”

FLOOD ON PRODUCTION TEAM: “Fred Gaudelli is one of the most talented and dedicated producers in television sports. He and director Drew Esocoff set the gold standard for NFL coverage and will bring that same passion to covering the Triple Crown. We are lucky to have them for the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.”

NBC SPORTS GROUP TRIPLE CROWN COVERAGE (All Times ET):

KENTUCKY DERBY
Wed. May 4, Derby Classics – Smarty Jones, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Wed. May 4, Kentucky Derby Draw, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Thurs. May 5, Derby Classics – Barbaro, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Thurs. May 5, Live from Churchill Downs, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Fri. May 6, Derby Classics – Mine That Bird, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Fri. May 6, Kentucky Oaks, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. May 7, Live from Churchill Downs, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. May 7, Kentucky Derby, 4-7 p.m., NBC

PREAKNESS STAKES
Fri. May 20, Preakness Classics, 3-4 p.m., VERSUS
Fri. May 20, Black Eyed Susan Stakes, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. May 21, Live from Pimlico, 2:30-4:30 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. May 21, Preakness Stakes, 4:30-6:30 p.m., NBC
Sat. May 21, Preakness Wrap-up, 6:30-7 p.m., VERSUS

BELMONT STAKES
Fri. June 10, Belmont Classics, 4-5 p.m., VERSUS
Fri. June 10, Live from Belmont, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. June 11, Live from Belmont, 3-5 p.m., VERSUS
Sat. June 11, Belmont Stakes, 5-7 p.m., NBC
Sat. June 11, Belmont Wrap-up, 7-7:30 p.m., VERSUS

NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING: The NBC Sports Group is now the exclusive home to Horse Racing’s Triple Crown. This marks the first time that all three races will be on one network since NBC last aired the Triple Crown in 2005. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001.

KENTUCKY DERBY: In the 10 years that Churchill Downs and NBC Sports have been together the event has experienced remarkable growth. The Kentucky Derby is now seen by 7.4 million more viewers than the last Kentucky Derby broadcast by ABC in 2000 (16.5 million vs. 9.1 million, up 51 percent).

The shared vision of Churchill Downs and NBC Sports’ successful ‘Big Event Strategy’ to assemble the broadest possible audience led to the 2010 Kentucky Derby being the most-watched Kentucky Derby in 21 years, in addition to the year prior which was the most-watched Derby in 20 years. Last year’s Kentucky Derby averaged 16.5 million viewers, the most watched Kentucky Derby since 1989 when Sunday Silence won the Derby (18.5 million).

PREAKNESS STAKES: Since NBC Sports began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous seven years. Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 69% in the 10 years on NBC compared to the previous seven years on ABC.

BELMONT STAKES: NBC Sports broadcast the Belmont from 2001-05, including three straight years in which the Belmont had a Triple Crown at stake. The 2004 Belmont featuring Smarty Jones racing for the Triple Crown was seen by 21.9 million viewers, the most for a Belmont broadcast since Seattle Slew captured the elusive Triple Crown in 1977.

Since its involvement in the Triple Crown, NBC Sports has been honored with 11 Eclipse Awards for its thoroughbred racing coverage, Preakness (2002-03-05-06-08), Kentucky Derby (2007), Belmont (2004) and Breeder’s Cup (2001). Additionally, NBC Sports has won three Eclipse Awards in the features category: 2002 on War Emblem (Preakness broadcast), 2005 Afleet Alex (Kentucky Derby broadcast) and 2009 Mine That Bird (Preakness broadcast), and the 2005 and 2006 Preakness broadcasts were nominated for the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special.
And that will do it.

Tom Durkin Steps Down As Voice of the Triple Crown

This comes as surprising news as legendary horse racing announcer Tom Durkin has left NBC as the Voice of the Triple Crown. When NBC took over the Triple Crown from ABC in 2001, Durkin did the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. He continued to call all three races even when ESPN/ABC took the rights to the Belmont in 2006 so he’s had a streak of the last 30 Triple Crown races.

As NBC signed the rights to all three races again this year, Durkin citing stress told NBC he was resigning. Then he quickly had a change of heart, but just recently told NBC he was opting out of the races.

David Grening of the Daily Racing Form says Durkin had to seek treatment for stress before last year’s Triple Crown.

Before NBC acquired the Triple Crown, he was the original voice of the Breeder’s Cup calling the first 22 runnings before ESPN took over the rights.

Durkin will continue to call the Belmont as he works for the New York Racing Association, although only the in-house audience will be able to hear it. Durkin is one of the best at calling horse racing. He will be missed.

NBC says it will have a new caller of the Triple Crown. I’d love to hear Dave Johnson and his famous call of “And down the stretch they come!” but it appears the network is leaning towards Larry Collmus of Gulfstream and Monmouth Parks whose 2010 call of the “My Wife Knows Everything” and “The Wife Doesn’t Know” became viral.

Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of Sports Newser for the link.

Sirius XM To Air All of Horse Racing’s Triple Crown

Starting on the first Saturday in May, which falls on May 7 this year, and running through June 11, Sirius XM will carry all three races of this year’s Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby on the aforementioned May 7, the Preakness Stakes on May 21 and then the Belmont Stakes on June 11. NBC will carry all three races on TV, but through the Horse Racing Radio Network, Sirius XM will also air the races live for satellite radio subscribers.

In addition to being carried on satellite radio receivers, those who listen to Sirius XM on mobile devices can hear the races through their iPads, iPhones, iPods and some Android and Blackberry platforms.

The press release:

SiriusXM to Broadcast 2011 Triple Crown Nationwide

Live broadcasts of Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes will be available to satellite radio subscribers from coast to coast

NEW YORK – April 11, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) announced today an agreement to broadcast all three races of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown nationwide.

Both Sirius and XM radio listeners will hear HRRN’s broadcast of the 137^th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7, the 136^th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 21, and the 143^rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 11. All three race broadcasts will air live starting at 5:00 pm ET.

The broadcasts of all three Triple Crown races will also be available to listeners on SiriusXM Internet Radio and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and several BlackBerry and Android-powered smartphones.

“The Triple Crown represents three of the most anticipated events on the sports calendar and we’re very pleased to deliver every second from all three races to our subscribers,” said Steve Cohen, SiriusXM’s Senior Vice President of Sports Programming. “On race day, we’ll bring SiriusXM listeners so close to the action they’ll feel like they are standing at the rail.”

“We are thrilled that our award-winning race coverage will be available to the millions of subscribers on SiriusXM,” said Mike Penna, President of HRRN. “Our goal is to make listeners feel as if they are sitting next to us at the races and SiriusXM provides a tremendous platform for HRRN to share the unique experience of horse racing’s premier events.”

The Horse Racing Radio Network is the Eclipse Award-winning broadcast organization, providing live radio coverage of many of the sport’s biggest races. In addition to the Triple Crown events, SiriusXM will carry HRRN’s coverage of a select number of stakes races throughout the year, including the 137^th Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 6, starting at 3:00 pm ET.

Since 2005, SiriusXM has provided horse racing fans coverage of the Sport of Kings, offering live broadcasts of thoroughbred and harness races from around the country plus racing talk shows that offer a steady stream of news and analysis. Throughout the year, listeners can tune in to hear Down The Stretch, hosted by acclaimed track announcer Dave Johnson and journalist Bill Finley (Saturdays, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET) and At The Races with Steve Byk (weekdays, 4:00 – 7:00 pm ET). Both programs air nationwide on Sirius channel 126 and XM channel 243.

And we’re done here.

Let’s Do Some Tuesday Links

Time for linkage now.

Jun Yang at Bloomberg Businessweek reports that YouTube is in talks with the NBA and NHL to stream live games. Now that would be cool if it happens, but I’m skeptical that it will.

At MediaPost, Barry Janoff looks at some of the particulars of CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament programming and marketing opportunities.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the NBA and Hollywood have a genuine ongoing love affair.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says the first melding of Golf Channel and NBC Sports will occur tomorrow at the World Golf Championship-Match Play Championships.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that AT&T U-Verse has added Fox Soccer Channel HD to its lineup.

Bill Cromwell with Media Life Magazine takes a look at the ratings from some of the weekend’s biggest sporting events.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry marvels at the power of the web.

Trefis Team at Forbes says it’s ESPN that helps drives the Disney revenue engine.

Brad Cohen of SportsGrid noticed that ESPN’s Stuart Scott returned to SportsCenter sooner than expected following his cancer diagnosis.

Dylan Stableford at The Wrap says Stuart Scott’s return to ESPN was supposed to last an hour and instead ended up being a three hour marathon.

Ed DeRosa of the Thoroughbred Times writes about the Triple Crown returning to one network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if MSG will become a hot stock now that Carmelo Anthony has (finally) been traded to the New York Knicks.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says a former WEEI personality made some waves with a Facebook rant.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the NHL’s landmark deal naming Molson Canadian as its official beer.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman looks at the Carmelo Anthony media circus.

Newsday’s Neil Best also writes how the Carmelo Anthony saga was good for the NBA and the Knicks beat writers.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes about NBC re-obtaining all of the legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette examines how Versus will be involved in Triple Crown programming.

Ryan Sharro in the Baltimore Business Journal takes a look at NBC reupping the Preakness Stakes for five years.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes Versus’ role in NBC’s plans for the Triple Crown.

The Tampa Tribune says Sun Sports will once again be the exclusive carrier of Tampa Bay Rays games.

To the Dallas Morning News and Barry Horn who has a short post on the Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star Game ratings.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle reviews three sports documentaries.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says the NBA All-Star Game on TNT got a big ratings boost from last year.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Fox Sports Wisconsin’s coverage plans for the Brewers.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay Press Gazette writes about CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business talks with former sports columnist Dave Kindred who’s now teaching journalism in his native Illinois.

Pete Toms at the Biz of Baseball looks at what the Time Warner Cable deal with the Los Angeles Lakers means for the Dodgers.

Emma Carmichael at Deadspin writes about ESPN’s history of its personalities schilling for products.

Sports Business Watch explores Golf Channel’s rebranding when it’s on NBC.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media has some suggestions on how to improve Hockey Day in America for next season.

And I’ll end it there.

Horse Racing’s Triple Crown Back on the Networks of NBC

CNBC’s Darren Rovell had this earlier today, that the NBC Sports Group was re-obtaining the rights to the entire Triple Crown after airing 2/3 of the pie for the past five years. Now, the puzzle is complete once again. The NBC Sports Group has re-acquired the rights to the Belmont Stakes, piecing it together with the Kentucky Derby which was kept by NBC last October and the Preakness Stakes which was also kept in-house.

And Versus will be brought into the equation and through the new agreements with all three races, a total of 25 hours of coverage will be aired between the cable network and NBC Sports. As with the Kentucky Derby, the new agreements with the Preakness and the Belmont run through 2015. Here’s the announcement from The Group.

NBC SPORTS GROUP REASSEMBLES TRIPLE CROWN

Multi-Year Agreements to Renew Preakness Stakes and Reacquire Belmont Stakes
Previously Announced Kentucky Derby Extension Now Includes Increased Programming
More Than 25 Hours of Triple Crown Coverage on NBC and VERSUS

NEW YORK – February 22, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group will broadcast all three legs of horse racing’s prestigious Triple Crown, renewing the rights to the Preakness Stakes and reacquiring rights to the Belmont Stakes. As previously announced, NBC and Churchill Downs, Inc. renewed rights to the Kentucky Derby. This marks the first time that all three races will be on one network since NBC aired them in 2005. The agreements were announced today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Sports Group, Tom Chuckas, President and Chief Operating Officer, Maryland Jockey Club, and C. Steven Duncker, NYRA Chairman. Like NBC Sports’ agreement with Churchill Downs, each agreement announced today gives NBC exclusive rights to the Preakness and Belmont through 2015.

The agreements include coverage of the Black Eyed Susan Stakes and other Preakness-day and Belmont-day programming on VERSUS. Additionally, expanded Derby week programming including the Kentucky Oaks and Derby day programming will air on VERSUS. In all, the NBC Sports Group will broadcast more than 25 hours of Triple Crown coverage (detailed schedule to be released at a later date). Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

“Everyone at NBC Sports Group is delighted that the Triple Crown has been reassembled. We are now uniquely positioned to significantly expand the reach of these iconic events with extensive coverage on VERSUS,” said Ebersol. “As we previously announced, we are continuing our long-standing partnership with the Kentucky Derby. To add this extension with the Preakness while reacquiring the Belmont gives our new NBC Sports Group the three most important events in thoroughbred racing. And we want to thank Churchill Downs Incorporated and CEO Bob Evans for his leadership in paving the way for the Triple Crown to return to NBC.”

“We are pleased to renew our broadcast partnership with NBC Sports,” said Chuckas. “Our relationship with NBC allows us the opportunity to reach more than just sports fans. The partnership not only affords us the stature and exposure of a continued presence on network television but provides the added benefit of NBC’s consistent promotion through the Kentucky Derby leading into the Preakness.”

“We are thrilled to return our premier race to NBC Sports,” said Duncker. “They have done a terrific job covering horse racing, including their Kentucky Derby and the Preakness broadcasts over the prior decade. With an excellent production team that has pioneered innovative camera angles, and a tremendous group of on-air talent that offers unique insights into the races, NBC Sports will be a great partner for the Belmont Stakes.”

NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING: The NBC Sports Group is now the exclusive home to Horse Racing’s Triple Crown. This marks the first time that all three races will be on one network since NBC last aired the Triple Crown in 2005. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001.

KENTUCKY DERBY: In the 10 years that Churchill Downs and NBC Sports have been together the event has experienced remarkable growth. The Kentucky Derby is now seen by 7.4 million more viewers than the last Kentucky Derby broadcast by ABC in 2000 (16.5 million vs. 9.1 million, up 51 percent).

The shared vision of Churchill Downs and NBC Sports’ successful ‘Big Event Strategy’ to assemble the broadest possible audience led to the 2010 Kentucky Derby being the most-watched Kentucky Derby in 21 years, in addition to the year prior which was the most-watched Derby in 20 years. Last year’s Kentucky Derby averaged 16.5 million viewers, the most watched Kentucky Derby since 1989 when Sunday Silence won the Derby (18.5 million).

PREAKNESS STAKES: Since NBC Sports began broadcasting the Preakness in 2001, every Preakness telecast on NBC over that period attracted more viewers than any Preakness telecast on ABC in the previous seven years. Viewership for the Preakness is up an average of 69% in the 10 years on NBC compared to the previous seven years on ABC.

BELMONT STAKES: NBC Sports broadcast the Belmont from 2001-05, including three straight years in which the Belmont had a Triple Crown at stake. The 2004 Belmont featuring Smarty Jones racing for the Triple Crown was seen by 21.9 million viewers, the most for a Belmont broadcast since Seattle Slew captured the elusive Triple Crown in 1977.

Since its involvement in the Triple Crown, NBC Sports has been honored with 11 Eclipse Awards for its thoroughbred racing coverage, Preakness (2002-03-05-06-08), Kentucky Derby (2007), Belmont (2004) and Breeder’s Cup (2001). Additionally, NBC Sports has won three Eclipse Awards in the features category: 2002 on War Emblem (Preakness broadcast), 2005 Afleet Alex (Kentucky Derby broadcast) and 2009 Mine That Bird (Preakness broadcast), and the 2005 and 2006 Preakness broadcasts were nominated for the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special.

And that will do it.

DEVELOPING: The Group Secures The Rights to Horse Racing’s Triple Crown

This comes from CNBC’s Darren Rovell, the NBC Sports Group will announce today that it has secured the rights to all three races of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

In October of last year, NBC announced that it had reupped with the Kentucky Derby for five more years. Then last week, ESPN announced it was dropping out of the bidding for the Belmont after holding the rights since 2005.

Darren reports that Versus will be involved in the package airing the preliminary races and combined with NBC, will air an estimated 25 hours of Triple Crown coverage.

I’ll provide more details as they become available.

Gathering The Thursday Linkage

Time for some linkage on this Thursday. Trying to get this in before I have to get some work done today. I’ll do as many links as I can.

USA Today picks up a story from Ronald Blum of the Associated Press in which Fox Sports Ele Jefe del Mundo David Hill expects a big audience for the UEFA Champions League final this Saturday.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred loves certain sports movies.

Jon Weisman in Variety says Golf Channel will air a documentary on Tom Watson’s long-time caddy based on John Feinstein’s book.

Laura Martinez from Multichannel News says ESPN Deportes is going to launch a multimedia campaign for the World Cup.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that ESPN is starting an in-house creative unit to develop custom branded spots for certain clients.

Channel Guide Magazine looks at this weekend’s NASCAR All-Star Race and where you can see it.

Writing in CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s SportsBiz blog, Sandra Carreon-John of Saatchi Sport & Entertainment says the sports business is not as sexist as some women would have you believe.

Writing in Forbes, the Biz of Sports’ Maury Brown says ESPN will use your iPhone to throw a bunch of news at you. 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that NFL Network will air next week’s Super Bowl XLVIII announcement.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times says the Preakness Stakes lost viewers from last year and from the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.

From the Albany Times Union, Pete Dougherty writes that Fox Sports is going to have internal discussions regarding Chris Myers’ remarks about Hurricane Katrina victims when he guest-hosted on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday.

In the Messenger Post (NY), noted author Curt Smith says Nashville Predators voice Pete Weber is one of the best in his sport.

Laura Nachman has Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s coverage plans for tonight’s Flyers-Canadiens game.

Tim Lemke looks at a Houston Astros program that asks fans to recycle some of their electronic gadgets.

David Teel from the Newport News (VA) Daily Press says the new ESPN/ACC deal puts the conference in a better position to compete with the SEC and Big Ten.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has another update on the new Florida Marlins Stadium.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has some various sports business news and notes including the latest Blackhawks ratings.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says some Blackhawks fans are wondering why WGN-AM isn’t picking up all of the team’s playoff games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is not a fan of the NBA Draft Lottery (scroll down).

Bob Mayhall from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat profiles FoxSports.com NASCAR writer and Gateway City native Lee Spencer.

Scott Dochterman of the Iowa City Gazette says the Big Ten Network is a big key, but not the main reason for the conference’s expansion according to league Commissioner Jim Delaney.

Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports that Sirius XM will carry all 64 games of the World Cup. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has your first look at Chris Berman’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that a BBC Sport documentary on the world’s best sprinters missed Canada’s contributions to the sport. 

To William Houston of Truth & Rumours who tells us there’s a reason why TSN gave up its Blue Jays schedule so easily to Rogers Sportsnet.

Fox Sports Midwest says it will send its July 2 game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers to troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Mark Newman of MLB.com says MLB Network will air the All-Star Game Red Carpet Special on July 13.

Jon Weinbach from Fanhouse says despite not being liked by the conference’s coaches, it appears ACC Sunday Night Hoops, created for Fox Sports Net, will continue when the new ESPN contract begins after the 2010-11 season.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Chuck Hanf, from the Two Cents from Beantown blog tells the media that got on Red Sox star Mike Lowell that they don’t have their heads screwed on straight for criticizing him for wanting to leave the team after he felt he wasn’t contributing.

Back to Maury Brown, this time in the Biz of Baseball. He gives kudos to Major League Baseball for televising its draft, but it has a long way to go before reaching the popularity of the NFL and NBA Drafts. 

Sports Media Watch speaks with NBA Digital Managing Editor Mike Doyle.

SMW notes that the ratings for Game 2 of Celtics-Magic failed to measure up to last year’s Conference Final ratings.

Joe Favorito says even though it doesn’t have to, the Green Bay Packers continue to grow their brand during the offseason.

And we will finish there for the links.

Our Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some links on this rainy Wednesday in the Northeast. By the way, last night I went to a great Japanese restaurant in Providence, Haruki East on Wayland Avenue. Highly recommend it. And on a rainy Tuesday night, there was a wait so that tells you it’s quite popular. Ate there with my parents and my cousin and his girlfriend. The food was definitely worth the wait. Sushi was great and so was the Tempura. Great food in a great city.

Ok, done with the restaurant review. To the links.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he has TNT’s Marv Albert not having the slightest idea as a young announcer that Phil Jackson would end up being a successful NBA coach.

Bruce Jenkins of Sports Illustrated says the world media including Tennis Channel failed to properly describe Roger Federer’s whiff during match point of the Madrid Open on Sunday. 

David Tanklefsky of Broadcasting & Cable comes out of ESPN upfront presentation with the impression that the network is totally embracing social media and becoming more interactive with viewers.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Versus brought in the highest ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs since Nielsen started measuring them in 1994.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek notes that TNT has won the cable primetime ratings for the third week in a row thanks to the NBA Playoffs. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the NHL is red hot in the TV ratings.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life writes that sports has helped to raise broadcast TV viewing levels to even with last year.

Subbing for CNBC’s Darren Rovell, Chad Walters says teams can save money by eliminating some waste.

Phillip Michaels of Macworld reviews the ESPN SportsCenter XL app for the iPad.

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com says reporters covering the LeBron Watch have the toughest beat in the media.

I should not do this because this will probably get shut down, but we have a Neil Best sighting. Newsday’s Neil Best writes that Fox is looking at expanding its MLB offerings into primetime on Saturdays.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Preakness Stakes saw a ratings downtick from last year.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says Nationals fans can listen to Stephen Strasburg’s next start tonight.

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times says Peter Gammons had to correct a statement he made on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday.

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News looks at what the new ESPN/ACC rights deal means for the Big 12.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that a local radio station is picking up high school football games for the fall.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press reports that former Fox NFL analyst Ray Bentley is joining a local radio station.

In the Indianapolis Business Journal, Anthony Schoettle says IndyCar is gaining more confidence in Versus. 

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that viewers found Versus in droves for Game 2 of the Blackhawks-Sharks series last night.

Phil says Blackhawks fans have to make due without TV voice Pat Foley calling the NHL Western Conference Finals due to Versus and NBC having exclusivity.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Big Ten conference commish Jim Delaney isn’t revealing much about the league’s expansion plans.

Curtis Zupke from the Orange County (CA) Register says NHL TV ratings continue to increase. 

Jon Wilmer of the San Jose Mercury News looks at what the ESPN/ACC deal will mean for the Pac 10′s TV negotiations.

Will Reisman in the San Francisco Examiner writes that Versus cut off the end of the third stage of the Tour of California on Tuesday.

Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times says the WNBA’s Storm had several glitches with its inaugural in-house telecast on FSN Northwest. 

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explains why the NHL Conference Finals began on the same days for the first two games.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals did well for TNT, but not as well as last year’s ratings aberration.

And SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that Jeremy Roenick who did a great job for NBC during the Olympics, will join NBC’s studio for its coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Matthew Coller at the Biz of Hockey writes that an exciting NHL postseason is paying dividends for the league besides TV ratings.

SportsbyBrooks looks into the tight-lipped investigation into the death of LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg.

And we’ll end our links there for now. Back later with breaking news and the return of the Sports Media Weekly podcast following a week’s absence.

Monday Back To Work Links

Ok, we haven’t done linkage since Thursday. Was busy Friday and Saturday and on Sunday, I rested. So it’s time to give you stuffage today. You deserve it.

I am experimenting with logos on the top of the page so if you see something different over the next few days, you’ll know that I’m trying some new things. In addition, I’ll be ready to make an announcement regarding Fang’s Bites very soon. But let’s get to first things first.

Here’s the story from Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Michael Smith regarding ESPN nosing out Fox Sports for a multimedia rights deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference. The story also notes that Turner Sports is looking for regular season basketball games to compliment its recent entry into the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says rising ratings for Versus and NBC for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will bode well for the league’s TV negotiations.

In Sports Illustrated, Peter King writes in Monday Morning Quarterback that he’s hopeful that “NFL Matchup” will be saved (scroll down to #7). 

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk says NFL Films is optimistic that ESPN will pick up ownership of NFL Matchup.

Pip Bulbeck of the Hollywood Reporter says Australia’s SBS network will air 15 World Cup games in 3-D.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week’s NewsPro section feels sports journalism needs to change with the times.

Jon interviews ESPN’s John Anderson.

Jon opines that NBC Sports will help Comcast gain a foothold in broadcast TV and shore up its sports programming.

Jarre Fees of TV Week’s NewsPro section speaks with the Executive Director of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, Dave Goren, about the state of the organization. One aside. I interned at WJAR-TV in the 1980′s and Dave was sports producer for the channel. He since went on to be a sports anchor in North Carolina and now is the Executive Director of the NSSA. Do Dave a favor and join the NSSA for just $30. That’s quite affordable.

Hillary Atkin writing in the NewsPro section looks at Philadelphia’s WTXF-TV getting fans’ input for its sportscasts.

Hillary also has a story on Mary Carillo who has gone from being a tennis analyst to a host and journalist.

Hillary talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews. 

Debra Kaufman in NewsPro says 3-D is adding another dimension to sports broadcasting. 

I welcome Friend of Fang’s Bites Trenni Kusnierek of the MLB Network to the blogging world. She has begun her new blog, “Girl Talk” on MLBlogs and she has two posts there already.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry looks at the Wall Street Journal giving courtesy titles to athletes and other figures in its new sports section.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says it’s now not worth it to be an NFL team doctor based on the grief from lawsuits.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Jets and its personal seat licenses policy.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union notes that Saturday’s Preakness Stakes ratings were considerably down from last year.

Tim Lemke announces that he will doing work with Sports Business Radio starting next month.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s Sporting Bog says Redskin star Fred Smoot is looking for opportunities in sports media after his playing career. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with the program director of one of DC’s sports radio stations.

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the weekend in sports on TV.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel debunks some myths about Hank Aaron.

Natalie Meisler of the Denver Post says Colorado State University has made some changes in its football broadcasts.

Dusty Saunders of the Post says ESPN’s Rick Reilly is becoming feistier as he focuses more on TV.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth has your SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels Rogers Sportsnet overhypes its coverage of the Memorial Cup.

One piece of news from last week in Canada. William Houston in Truth & Rumours notes that the Blue Jays will drop TSN as a rightsholder and put all of its games on Rogers Sportsnet. Just two years ago, the Jays divided its games on Rogers Sportsnet, TSN and CBC. Now, just one carrier will air the game.

William says CBC is about to make its Bold cable channel an HD channel just in time for the World Cup.

The Sports Media Watch says Celtics-Magic Game 1 held up well for ABC on Sunday.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media writes that NESN got high ratings for Game 7 of Bruins-Flyers from last Friday.

Steve says there are many pros and cons for having Bob Cole call the Montreal-Philadelphia series for CBC.

Good friend Ian Bethune of Sox & Dawgs has the video of ESPN’s Outside the Lines story in which former Red Sox Bernie Carbo admitted he wanted to go all gangster on Keith Hernandez back in the 1980′s. Interesting stuff.

That is going to do it for now. I have a couple of network press releases to post. They’re screaming at me so I’ll post them now.

Replay of 2010 Preakness Stakes

Usually, I embed both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes within hours of the race, but this year, I was in Ithaca on the day of the Derby and went out again the next day to Boston Sports Blogapalooza so I totally forgot to embed it. But I won’t forget the Preakness Stakes and we won’t have a Triple Crown winner again this year as Derby Winner Super Saver ran out of gas and Lookin At Lucky takes the second jewel.

I don’t think ESPN allows embedding of the Belmont Stakes as it owns the rights to that race. But if I can, I try to do so when the race is run.

NBC Sports and Sirius XM Preview the 2010 Preakness Stakes

As they did for the Kentucky Derby, both NBC Sports and Sirius XM will provide full national TV and radio coverage of the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, live from the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Here’s a long press release from NBC Sports and we’ll do a jump break after that.

SUPER SAVER AND JOCKEY CALVIN BOREL HEADLINE FIELD IN PREAKNESS STAKES, SATURDAY 4:30 PM ET ON NBC

“I’m gonna win the Triple Crown this year.” – Borel to NBC’s Donna Brothers after Winning Kentucky Derby

1. Super Saver, 2. Lookin at Lucky, 3. First Dude – NBC’s Battaglia’s Preakness Picks

“It wouldn’t surprise me one iota if he turned the tables on Super Saver on Saturday.” – NBC’s Neumeier on Lookin at Lucky

 

NEW YORK – May 13, 2010 – Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver with jockey Calvin Borel, who told NBC Sports reporter Donna Brothers following his Derby win that he was going to win the Triple Crown, leads the field as NBC Sports presents exclusive coverage of the 135^th running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., beginning Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, live in high definition. 

Borel, whose win at the Derby was his third in four years, returns to Pimlico where he won the Preakness Stakes last year aboard super filly Rachel Alexandra. Super Saver, who will break from the No. 8 post, will get his main competition from his next door neighbor in the starting gate, Lookin at Lucky (No. 7 post) who is trained by Bob Baffert. With a win Saturday at the Preakness, Super Saver and Borel will look to become the first to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed, with jockey Steve Cauthen, in 1978. 

RACE COVERAGE: NBC Sports coverage of the 135^th Preakness Stakes is co-hosted by Bob Costas and Tom Hammond alongside two-time Preakness winner Gary Stevens. NBC Sports’ broadcast team also includes race-caller Tom Durkin; contributing analysts/handicappers Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Brothers. The Preakness Stakes on NBC is produced by Sam Flood and directed by David Michaels.

NBC SPORTS FEATURE ON BOREL AND SUPER SAVER: For the second straight year, NBC Sports Preakness Stakes broadcast will feature the story of the Kentucky Derby winner. Last year’s feature on Mine That Bird, produced by Emmy Award-winning producers Rob Hyland and Jack Felling, won the prestigious Eclipse Award for best television feature. 

During its Preakness Stakes coverage on Saturday, NBC Sports will tell the story of Kentucky Derby winning horse Super Saver, with jockey Calvin Borel, surging to victory in the 136^th Kentucky Derby. With the win, Borel won his record third Derby in four years; while trainer Todd Pletcher and owners WinStar Farm realized their first Derby win. The feature will explore the story of the three year old colt, Super Saver, and its connections – from jockey Calvin Borel’s trajectory in the sport and prowess at Churchill Downs to trainer Todd Pletcher’s first Derby win after 24 previous starters. And, as the Preakness approaches, Team Super Saver aims to realize Borel’s promise to win America’s coveted Triple Crown.

THE HANDICAPPERS

NBC Sports handicappers Neumeier and Battaglia provided their thoughts on the Preakness in separate interviews and surprisingly came to similar conclusions about the race. Their answers are below:

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING TO NEUMEIER: “The Preakness Stakes is so much different than what we saw two weeks ago at the Derby. In the Kentucky Derby, the front-runners went out very, very, very fast and we won’t see this kind of pace in the Preakness, which changes the entire complexity of the race. Super Saver was sixth or seventh in the early stages of the Derby. He may well be on the lead in the Preakness which is fine for Borel and Todd Pletcher because there doesn’t seem to be the kind of front-running speed that we saw at the Derby. It actually gives Super Saver an advantage. Assuming he breaks properly he will either have perfect position or he will be on the lead and won’t be rushed. So this pace will suit him well and I give him a reasonable chance to win on Saturday though he has only won one race this year and I don’t think he’s a super horse.”

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING BATTAGLIA: “Super Saver and Lookin at Lucky both got good draws in the No. 7 and No. 8 slots. There is definitely not as much early speed as there was in the Derby so I would expect Borel to send Super Saver from the No. 8 post. I think he will be much closer to, if not on the lead. I also think that Martin Garcia would want to get Lookin at Lucky in the race a little earlier also. He has shown some decent early speed in the past and he will definitely be a factor.” 

BATTAGLIA ON THE “NEW SHOOTERS”: “I kind of like First Dude in the race as a long shot from the No. 11 post. He has some tactical speed.” 

NEUMEIER ON THE “NEW SHOOTERS”: “Of the new shooters that I would favor, First Dude would be my top pick. I would put Schoolyard Dreams on my list too. He beat Super Saver at the Tampa Bay Derby and he’s from the same connections that brought us Musket Man, who performed well in both the Derby and the Preakness last year.” 

NEUMEIER ON WHO CHALLENGES SUPER SAVER: “His main competition will come from Lookin at Lucky. You have to draw a line through his last race (the Derby) because he was bothered and bumped and clanked and blocked. He’s a horse that has been in trouble in four of the last five races but he may benefit from a jockey switch. Matt Garcia, the new jockey, and Bob Baffert have had success together and, should he get a free run and not get into the kind of trouble that this horse has unfortunately been involved in – he’s been anything but lucky, I give him a chance. He’s clearly the second best horse in the race and it wouldn’t surprise me one iota if he turned the tables on Super Saver on Saturday.

BATTAGLIA ON PLETCHER SADDLING A SECOND HORSE IN THE PREAKNESS: “It’s unusual that the trainer of the Derby winner starts another horse in the Preakness. The only one I can find that has ever done it is Lukas and, of course, Pletcher is Lukas’ protégé.  Lukas did it twice. One year, he won the Preakness with Derby winner Charismatic but the other year, with Thunder Gulch, Lukas beat the Derby winner with Timber Country. Aikenite might get a good trip with Castellano from the rail.

BATTAGLIA’S PREAKNESS PICKS:

1. Super Saver

2. Lookin at Lucky

3. First Dude

CAN SUPER SAVER WIN THE TRIPLE CROWN?

BATTAGLIA: “I think he can win the Preakness but the Belmont is a whole other cup of tea. If he wins the Preakness then he’s got Nick Zito sitting there waiting with Ice Box (for the Belmont). If you look at that race, Ice Box may have been best at the Derby.”

NEUMEIER: “I’d be surprised if Super Saver can win the Triple Crown even if he wins the Preakness.”

PREAKNESS A RATINGS SUCCESS ON NBC:

NBC Sports coverage of the Preakness Stakes now reaches five million more viewers (nearly double) than the last Preakness Stakes broadcast by ABC in 2000 (10.9 million vs.5.5 million, up 98 percent).

In fact, EVERY Preakness on NBC over the past nine years had more viewers than ANY Preakness on ABC over the previous eight years.

Link to the past nine years of the Preakness Stakes on NBC Sports: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/24467851#24467851

PREAKNESS ON NBC (2001-2009)               

Year    Viewers

2009    10.9 million

2008    7.9 million

2007    8.4 million

2006    10.1 million

2005    9.3 million

2004    11.6 million

2003    8.6 million

2002    9.2 million

2001    8.7 million

PREAKNESS ON ABC (1993-2000)

Year    Viewers

2000    5.5 million

1999    4.9 million

1998    5.2 million

1997    6.9 million

1996    5.1 million

1995    4.7 million

1994    6.5 million

1993    7.0 million

KENTUCKY DERBY HAS MOST VIEWERS IN 21 YEARS: NBC Sports’ coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby was the most viewed Kentucky Derby in 21 years according to data provided by The Nielsen Company. The race averaged 16.5 million viewers, topping last year’s 16.3 million and two million more than the 14.2 million in 2008. Saturday’s race was the most watched Kentucky Derby since 1989 when Sunday Silence won the Derby (18.5 million).

NBC Sports coverage of the Kentucky Derby now reaches more than seven million more viewers than the last Kentucky Derby broadcast by ABC in 2000 (16.5 million vs.9.1 million, up 51 percent).

Link to NBC Sports’ coverage of the Kentucky Derby and hear Tom Durkin call the race: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/36891056#36891056

SEE THE PREAKNESS ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE: Users on the go can watch the Preakness Stakes live on their mobile phones exclusively through NBC Sports Mobile and NBC 2Go.  Plus, fans can watch exclusive video and race highlights on NBC Sports Mobile (m.nbcsports.com). 

Coming up, Sirius XM’s coverage plans for the Preakness after the jump.

SIRIUS XM RADIO TO OFFER LIVE COVERAGE OF THE PREAKNESS STAKES

Second jewel of the Triple Crown will air live May 15 on SIRIUS channel 126 and XM channel 243

Exclusive SIRIUS XM talk show “Down The Stretch” to provide horse racing fans with news and analysis

NEW YORK – SIRIUS XM Radio will offer listeners nationwide a live broadcast of the second jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, from Baltimore, MD, this Saturday, May 15 (5:00 – 7:00 pm ET) on SIRIUS channel 126 and XM channel 243.

The live race broadcast will air as part of a special edition of SIRIUS XM’s exclusive horse racing talk show, Down The Stretch, hosted by acclaimed track announcer Dave Johnson and noted journalist Bill Finley. SIRIUS XM listeners will hear Pimlico Race Course announcer Dave Rodman provide the live wire-to-wire call of the Preakness as Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and jockey Calvin Borel attempt to take another step in their bid for the 12^th Triple Crown in thoroughbred racing history.

In addition, Johnson and Finley will host Down The Stretch live from Pimlico at its regularly scheduled time, Saturday from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET on SIRIUS channel 126 and XM channel 243. Johnson and Finley will take calls from listeners and provide fans with race day news and analysis, plus interviews with jockeys, trainers and owners. 

That’s it.

Some Tuesday Links

Been busy once again today so I’m going to give you some linkage now and perhaps some linkage tonight.

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

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Verizon FIOS will pick up two Yankees games produced in 3-D that will air on YES in July.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Comcast SportsNet California saw its highest San Jose Sharks ratings with the series clincher against Detroit on Saturday.

Mike writes that DirecTV will be the first provider to pick up GolTV in HD.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that more babies are being named Colt as a result of former Texas QB and soon-to-be Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy.

Darren says Pimlico Racetrack is using a bold all-you-can-drink promotion to lure people back to the Preakness Stakes.

Darren discovers that Phil Mickelson owns the rights to Five Guys Burgers restaurants in Southern California.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News would like to see more of Bob Ojeda on SNY Mets’ telecasts.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NBA is taking a hit with three of the four NBA Conference Semifinals ending in sweeps.

Pete writes that the NHL is smartening up and staggering the start times of the two Eastern Conference semifinal games tomorrow.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call gives praise to ESPN’s Outside the Lines sports news magazine.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that Universal Sports carries the Giro D’Italia all week long.

Jim talks about the ESPN Family of Networks airing over 20 Pac 10 football games this fall.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says ESPN is about to sign a new sponsor for the Orange Bowl.

Dave Matter of the Columbia (MO) Tribune has a feature story on the Big Ten Network saying the channel holds the key towards the conference’s expansion plans.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News writes that a local sports radio host is doing a guest spot on a Metroplex station this week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says ESPN’s E:60 explores one of the darkest stories tonight.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman says the Blackhawks are winners at the box office and on TV even when they lose games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News picks up an AP story in which a Falcon is quickly becoming a new star at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Tom notes that the Floyd Mayweather-Sugar Shane Mosley fight brought in the second highest gross for a pay per view bout.

Sports Media Watch says the Cavs blowout of the Celtics last Friday did not lead to good ratings for ESPN.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore is annoyed with Versus for cutting out of games too quickly.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN is now going after Erin Andrews’ Creepenstein for reimbursement for security and assisting in the Feds’ investigation.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while MLB Network had the biggest launch of a channel in cable history, its ratings are still quite low.

We’ll end it there for now.

Monday’s Linkfest

Time to do some linkage on this back-to-work Monday. Sunday was a busy day, today is already shaping up to be a busy day so let’s give you the links as we have them.

First, Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media breaks news that Fox Sports is shaking up its top NFL production crew and also splitting up a long-time team. Chris has been working on this story for quite some time and give him credit for breaking it.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suggests that jockey Calvin Borel choose a third horse so he can get his personal Triple Crown, having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes on two different horses.

The Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand who broke the NFL TV deal story yesterday comes back with a story on Versus being pleased with its ratings for the Indy Racing League although they’re very small.

Jon Show of the SBJ writes that Tiger Woods’ return to golf has led to higher ratings for the PGA Tour’s TV partners.

Newsday’s Neil Best has the news that Tony Kornheiser is out on Monday Night Football. says the Fox’s and MLB’s decision to move up World Series start times is a step in the right direction.

Phil Mushnick from the New York Post says Yankees fans deserve someone better than John Sterling to call their games on the radio.

Laura Nachman writes that an Atlantic City TV sports anchor is the victim of station budget cutbacks.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner gives thumbs up to NBC’s coverage of the Preakness.

Christina Bellantoni of the Washington Times says ESPN was streamed over the White House live feed for ten minutes last week.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in televised sports.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says big cable is the winner in the upcoming NFL Network deal with Comcast.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business continues his talk with Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with Nuggets radio voice Jerry Schemmel about the team’s playoff run.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth explains why KCAL tape delayed Saturday’s Dodgers-Marlins game.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News has the winners of the Northern California Sports Emmys. John talks about a new sports radio station in the Bay Area that launches today.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star says Rogers Cable has agreed to carry TSN2 in time for this week’s Blue Jays series against the Red Sox.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that NHL Commish Gary Bettman uses his Sirius XM show to put forth his agenda.

Alex Weprin and Claire Atkinson of Broadcasting & Cable say ESPN is trying to broaden its audience to reach advertisers.

The lovely Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks at the ratings increase for the Preakness Stakes.

The Sports Media Watch says the Celtics’ loss in its series with the Orlando Magic spells bad news for TNT.

That’s going to conclude this post for now. Every time I try to do links, news breaks. Yesterday, it was the NFL TV deals, today we have the World Series games starting earlier and Jon Gruden replacing Tony Kornheiser in the Monday Night Football booth and I’m keeping an eye on the network upfronts this week. This is going to a crazy week, I just know it. Back later.

Preakness Stakes Ratings Up From Last Year and Best in 19 Years

Call it interest in Mine That Bird, call it excitement over Rachel Alexandra winning, call it whatever you want, just know that NBC Sports is crowing over the overnight ratings for the Preakness Stakes. It’s rare to get a Sunday press release, but when you get great ratings for a certain event, you don’t wait until Monday to crow about it. Take a look at what NBC is saying and a list of the highest rated markets for the race.

“SUPER FILLY” PUSHES PREAKNESS RATINGS

Overnight Ratings up 27% from '08, Highest since '04 and Second Highest in 19 Years

NEW YORK - May 17, 2009 - The NBC Sports broadcast of the Preakness Stakes in which Rachel Alexandra became the first filly in 85 years to win the race as she held off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird by a length, had the highest overnight rating since 2004 and the second highest rating in nearly two decades. For the Preakness, NBC Sports continued its broad promotional effort to reach casual fans that led to the most watched Kentucky Derby in 20 years.  

The race portion (6:00-6:45 p.m. ET) earned an overnight rating of 7.9/18 a gain of 27 percent over last year's race (6.2/14) when the much-hyped Big Brown won to take the first two legs of the Triple Crown. The overnight rating for yesterday's race portion was the highest since 2004 (9.2/20).

All of the segments of NBC Sports' broadcast yesterday showed significant ratings gains:

- The total program (5-6:45) received an overnight rating of 6.3 and a share of 15 up 24 percent from last year (4.7/12), the highest since 2004 (7.2/16) and the second highest since 1990 (7.8/20).

- The Preakness Stakes special (4:30-5 p.m. ET), which featured an extended look at the story of Mine That Bird, posted an overnight rating of 2.7 and a 7 share up 42 percent from last year (1.9/5).

- The prerace (5-6 p.m. ET) produced a 5.1/12 up 46 percent from last year (3.5/9).

- The rating peaked from 6-6:30 p.m. ET at an 8.6/19.

With the Preakness and its "Girl vs. the Boys" storyline, NBC Sports continued the broad promotional effort designed to reach the casual fans that led to the most watched Kentucky Derby in 20 years. There were stories about the Preakness on Friday and Saturday on the TODAY show as well as jockey Calvin Borel's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last Tuesday. 

Promo spots for the Preakness Stakes, which included the voice of a 10-year old girl as Rachel Alexandra, aired throughout NBC Primetime, the TODAY show and Late Night with Jay Leno as well as across the many cable networks of NBC Universal.

Top Twenty Markets for the Preakness (Race Portion):

1) Baltimore               25.1/51
2) Louisville               21.3/38
3) Ft. Myers                17.3/32
4) West Palm Beach   14.8/27
5) Columbus               13.3/26
6) Buffalo                   13.0/25
7) Dayton                    11.7/24
8) Providence             11.5/27
T9) Tampa                  11.2/23
T9) Orlando                11.2/22
11) Albuquerque         10.9/24
12) Richmond             10.8/21
13) Pittsburgh             10.7/20
T14) Indianapolis       10.5/22
T14) Hartford             10.5/21
16) Nashville              10.4/20
17) Knoxville             10.0/18
18) Memphis              9.6/18
T19) Cincinnati          9.3/18
T19) Greenville          9.3/17

Certainly not bad at all for NBC. Not surprised to see Baltimore as the highest rated market, but I am surprised to see my home market Providence ranked at #8. I’m doing links for you as we speak, but I didn’t want to wait to get this up.

Preakness Stakes Replay – Rachel Alexandra Wins

Here’s the video of the Preakness Stakes in which heralded filly Rachel Alexandra took the lead around the 13 pole and then held off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to win. Watch the video.

And a much better call from Tom Durkin this time.

Late Night Friday Megalinks Now Saturday Megalinks

Let’s give you the Friday megalinks.

Find the Weekend Viewing Picks here.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes about former Yankees pitcher David Wells moving to the TBS announcing booth.

John Paul Newport of the Wall Street Journal writes that former ABC Sports golf analyst Bob Rosburg died Thursday.

Matt Foran of the Nielsen ratings wire blog says internet buzz for Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez spiked as news of their steroids use broke.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at one of the contestants for this year’s World’s Strongest Man.

Joe Favorito looks inside the Miami Dolphins’ Land Shark deal to rename its stadium.

Steve Lepore of Puck the Media says Versus nabbed over a million viewers for Game 7 of the Penguins-Capitals series. Steve says Versus has set its announcing teams for the NHL Conference Finals. And NHL fashionista Wrap Around Curl hopes the league will not follow MLB and market pink hats.

The Sports Media Watch writes that advertisers may have jumped the gun on hyping LeBron James and Kobe Bryant for the NBA Finals. SMW notes the excellent ratings for the NHL regionally, but not nationally. And Paulsen says that the NBA’s ratings on network TV have eroded thanks to all of the games on cable.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that an FCC judge is ready to hear the case between MASN vs. Comcast on Monday.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Thursday’s Game 6 of the Lakers-Rockets series set a basketball ratings record for ESPN.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel writes that MLB has been granted a patent on setting internet blackouts for its MLB.TV service.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks at the latest sports-related lawsuit.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the Boston sports fan has been quite busy with the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox all playing simultaneously at times.

Newsday’s’ Neil Best talks with Sirius XM’s Chris Russo about life without former WFAN partner Mike Francesa. Neil adds his thoughts on Russo’s satellite radio show. Neil also looks at the new Spike TV reality show hosted by former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin on those hoping to get a team roster spot. Neil writes that Irvin used a premiere party for the show as a fundraiser for the Cowboys scouting assistant who was paralyzed when the team’s practice bubble collapsed. Neil has a bit more on the reality show. Neil marks an important date in the history of sports television.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels the New York Yankees need a refresher course in public relations as they’ve failed at it in recent weeks.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick lectures us on cheating. Just what we need.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with NBC’s Donna Brothers about the Preakness Stakes. Justin has five questions for SNY Mets voice Gary Cohen.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union feels ABC is rooting for the Lakers to make it to the NBA Finals. Pete writes that a 50-1 shot winner in the Kentucky Derby is certainly bringining in some compelling storylines for the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the NHL Network will pick up Canada’s Memorial Cup tournament for Junior Hockey. Ken is tired of listening to the Yankees’ John Sterling.

UPDATE: 5/16/09, 12:15 p.m. – Well, I fell asleep trying to do the megalinks around 1 a.m. and listening to the Red Sox lose to Seattle. Well, picking up where I left off, I’ll add Saturday links here as well.

Back to Ken Schott, he reviews Spike Lee’s documentary on Kobe Bryant and actually likes it.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News feels the Kobe doc is a mixed bag.

Ray Frager of Sports Media Journal has some news and notes.

To Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner. He says Kobe Bryant’s documentary and the NBA’s Games 7 will be part of a busy viewing weekend. And Jim previews the Preakness Stakes with NBC’s Gary Stevens.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald enjoys Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN’s NBA broadcasts.

David Martindale of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks at the Kobe Bryant documentary.

Ray Buck of the Star-Telegram gave Dallas Mavericks TV analyst Derek Harper a chance to chime in on the Mavs loss to the Denver Nuggets.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that a long time sports radio executive has left his station.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reviews Spike TV’s reality show, 4th and Long. Barry looks at the various radio spots 4th and Long host Michael Irvin did across the country. Barry also tries to predict the finalists of 4th and Long.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman also looks at 4th and Long. And Mel has his usual media notebook.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press looks at the next generation of TV analysts.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says tonight’s ESPN doc on Kobe Bryant will show an insider’s look at the egomaniac.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Chicago-Detroit will get top billing in NBC’s NHL coverage. Ed also talks with Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz about his decision to televise home games full-time.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says the NHL Western Conference Finals will be difficult to find as Versus will air as many as five games in the series.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar urges the Rams to put ex-coach Jim Hanifan back in their radio booth. Dan notes other changes in the Rams radio broadcasts for this upcoming season.

West

Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic talks with Diamondbacks radio analyst Tom Candiotti.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with a long-time sports radio executive about a local station that’s getting a makeover.

John Maffei from the North County writes that the Mountain West’s conference baseball tournament will get some extra attention on TV and across the country next week.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has a look at the Kobe Bryant documentary. Jim says former MLB on Fox pregame host Jeanne Zelasko will be calling Dodgers games on the internet.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News reviews the Kobe doc. Tom has more on the documentary in his extensive media notes. Tom looks back at the week in blogging and other media. Tom writes that it did not take long for the Dodgers to take Manny Ramirez’s mug off its billboards all over LA.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News looks at the Pac 10′s TV contract.

John Ryan of the Mercury News says despite the flap over his recent article in D magazine, David Feherty will be working at the Texas Open for CBS this weekend.

And that concludes the megalinks. Enjoy your weekend.

Your Wednesday Press Release Action

I have what I believe will be the first part of two or three press release posts. It’s all good stuff.

Starting with the CBC, the network has made take Game 7 of Anaheim-Detroit on Thursday, giving one of its Conference Final games to TSN. Had CBC not stepped up, TSN would have had a conflict between Anaheim-Detroit and Carolina-Boston, just as Versus has here in the States. Here’s the release:

2009 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS PROGRAMMING ADVISORY: CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA ADDS GAME SEVEN

CBC to broadcast Anaheim Ducks at Detroit Red Wings, Game Seven;

TSN to broadcast Carolina at Boston, Game Seven on May 14

CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA announced updates to their broadcast schedule for Round Two of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. CBC will air Game Seven of the Anaheim/Detroit series, live from Joe Louis Arena on Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. ET, while TSN will broadcast a yet to be determined Conference Finals game originally scheduled to air on CBC TV. This ensures Canadians will see all games from Round Two of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs nationally and in their entirety.

Bob Cole will handle play-by-play duties for Game Seven of the Anaheim at Detroit series on Thursday, alongside analyst Greg Millen and rinkside reporter Elliotte Friedman. Ron MacLean hosts the entire evening, and will be joined by Kelly Hrudey and P.J. Stock, while Jeff Marek and Scott Morrison will be front and centre at the Stanley Cup I-Desk. Hockey fans can visit CBCSports.ca 24 hours a day, seven days a week for wall-to-wall coverage of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including live and on-demand video streaming of all games broadcast on CBC.

NBC Sports previews the Preakness Stakes.

“SUPER FILLY” RACHEL ALEXANDRA BATTLES KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD IN PREAKNESS STAKES, SATURDAY 4:30 PM ET ON NBC

“It’s like the San Francisco 49ers when they went from Joe Montana to Steve Young – it wasn’t a bad changeup.” – NBC’s Stevens on Mine That Bird’s jockey switch

“The most fascinating Preakness in decades.” – NBC’s Bob Neumeier

NEW YORK – May 13, 2009 – Super filly Rachel Alexandra, winner of the Kentucky Oaks by more than 20 lengths and with Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel on board for the Preakness, looks to become the first filly in 94 years to win the Preakness Stakes. She will take on Derby winner Mine That Bird, Derby runner-up Pioneerof The Nile and up to 11 other horses as NBC Sports presents exclusive coverage of the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., beginning Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, live in high definition.

Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner as an improbable 50-1 longshot, seeks to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 but he will have to do it without his Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel. Instead, Borel will be on Rachel Alexandra who he rode to a 20-length win in the Kentucky Oaks.  Hall-of-Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Mine That Bird.

The story of Rachel Alexandra being entered into the Preakness and the firestorm of media coverage that ensued, including the connections of Pioneerof the Nile and Mine That Bird talking about colluding to keep the filly out of the race, makes this, according to NBC's Bob Neumeier, "the most fascinating Preakness in decades."

Rachel Alexandra, who was sold shortly after her dominating performance in the Kentucky Oaks with her new owners entering her in the race, will be only the fourth filly since 1980 and the 53rd filly ever to enter the Preakness. No filly has won the Preakness Stakes since Rhine Maiden in 1915 and Rachel Alexandra is also the only winner in the 135-year history of the Kentucky Oaks to enter the Preakness Stakes.

FILLIES IN PREAKNESS STAKES SINCE 1980

· Genuine Risk   1980 (Won Kentucky Derby, 2nd in Preakness)
· Winning Colors  1988 (Won Kentucky Derby, 3rd in Preakness)
· Excellent Meeting  1999 (5th in Kentucky Derby, pulled up in Preakness)

NBC Sports horse racing analyst Gary Stevens rode the filly Winning Colors to a Kentucky Derby victory in 1988 and took third at the Preakness. He said "Rachel Alexandra makes goose bumps stand up on the back of my neck, like a good race horse used to when I was on her back."

FILLIES TO WIN PREAKNESS STAKES

· Rhine Maiden   1915
· Whimsical   1906
· Flocarline   1903

RACE COVERAGE: NBC Sports coverage of the 134th Preakness Stakes is co-hosted by Tom Hammond and Bob Costas alongside two-time Preakness winner Gary Stevens. NBC Sports' broadcast team also includes race-caller Tom Durkin; contributing analysts/handicappers Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Brothers, who retired in 1998 after an impressive 11-year career as a jockey. The Preakness Stakes on NBC is produced by Sam Flood and directed by David Michaels.

NBC SPORTS BROADCAST TEAM BREAKS DOWN THE PREAKNESS:

GARY STEVENS ON THE PREAKNESS FIELD: "This is a great setup for the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra going in there. She provides an honest pace and will be able to stick around and she doesn't have to be on the lead, she's very versatile. That should help Pioneerof the Nile because I think what he needs is a horse with class and speed that can carry him within the shadows of the wire. When Pioneerof the Nile gets in front he seems to go aloof a little bit and think the game is over. Rachel Alexandra will carry him and get a much better effort out of him. I also think there is going to be much more early pace than there was even in the Kentucky Derby. So what does that do to Mine That Bird? It helps his chances of repeating the Derby performance. If he can repeat the Derby performance, this race setup may be even better for him."

GARY STEVENS ON RACHEL ALEXANDRA'S CHANCES OF WINNING: "She's the best I've seen in a very long time. I'm just worried about the new connections and if she can come back this quick in two weeks rest and repeat the same performance. She's going to have to run equally as well in the Preakness as she did in the Kentucky Oaks to beat this field."

GARY STEVENS ON WHERE RACHEL ALEXANDRA RANKS AMONG FILLIES: "I rode three fillies that are in the Hall of Fame: Winning Colors, Serena's Song, and Silverbulletday. I don't want to take away anything from any of the great fillies that I rode but Rachel Alexandra makes goose bumps stand up on the back of my neck, like a good racehorse used to when I was on her back."

GARY STEVENS ON MINE THAT BIRD WITHOUT BOREL: "I don't think that it'll make any difference. It may have made a difference going into the Kentucky Derby because I don't think anybody else would have been brave enough to ride him like Calvin did, he had taken the horse back so far. But Mike Smith is a Hall of Famer. We saw the ride that he put on Giacomo when he won the Kentucky Derby; he wove his way in and out of traffic. He's in a class of his own. He has studied films.  For me it's like the San Francisco 49ers when they went from Joe Montana to Steve Young – it wasn't a bad changeup."

TOM HAMMOND ON SO MANY DERBY HORSES IN PREAKNESS FIELD: "Seven horses from the Derby, including the top four finishers, are coming back for the Preakness so Mine That Bird hasn't scared anybody away. The other trainers want to find out if he is for real."

TOM HAMMOND ON RACHEL ALEXANDRA ENTERING PREAKNESS: "Certainly Rachel Alexandra is capable and you can see this from the reactions of owners and trainers. A couple of owners even thought about maybe trying to keep her out of the race by entering another horse, that tells you how much they think of her and how much respect they have for her."

TOM HAMMOND ON RACHEL ALEXANDRA'S SIZE: "She's as big and strong as many of the horses in the race, in fact bigger and strongly than the Derby winner, Mine That Bird, who is just a little bit of a horse himself."

TOM HAMMOND ON BOREL'S AMAZING RIDE ON MINE THAT BIRD: "Chip Woolley, the trainer, said that he thought that Mine That Bird had been ridden incorrectly his last two starts. He thought he had moved prematurely, moved too soon. He thought that it was a horse that wanted to lay back and make one big run. Calvin Borel went on You Tube to watch some of the prior races from Mine That Bird before he rode him in the Kentucky Derby and he agreed with that assessment. He looked like a horse that wanted to conserve early and then make one big move. It takes a lot of confidence. It takes a certain kind of jockey to be able to drop as far back as he did and wait as long as he did. The patience he showed was just unbelievable. Then to have the courage and confidence to gun him through that little spot on the rail and give the horse credit to go through a spot like that, a lot of horses won't do that. It may have been a fluke, and we'll find out on Saturday, but that's not taking anything away from the ride that Calvin Borel gave him and the performance that Mine That Bird Put up."

MIKE BATTAGLIA ON THE PREAKNESS: "The Preakness definitely is a different race with the presence of Rachel Alexandra. She will definitely be the favorite and with good reason. It wasn't just the fact that she won the Oaks by 20 lengths; it was also the way she did it. She appeared to be just galloping and Calvin Borel didn't ask her to run at any point in the stretch. Running against the boys with just two weeks rest is a formidable task but from what I saw in the Kentucky Oaks it will take a lot to beat this filly."

THE PREAKNESS ACCORDING TO BOB NEUMEIER: "It may not be exactly akin to the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King but the late emergence of champion filly Rachel Alexandra into the Preakness field does set up a fascinating new dynamic into the race.

"Typically, fillies have difficulty competing with colts at the highest levels of racing, which helps explain why a filly has not won this race in 94 years, but Rachel Alexandra is clearly in her own racing stratosphere, as her eye-popping 20-length win in the Kentucky Oaks would attest.

"To underscore the point, her jockey Calvin Borel has given up the mount on Kentucky Derby upset winner Mine That Bird to ride "Rachel," a startling, almost unprecedented move. Add to it the fact that the co-owner of the Derby winner and the owner of runner-up Pioneerof the Nile were conspiring to find ways to keep the filly out of the race makes the story even juicier. Add it all up and you have the ingredients to the most fascinating Preakness in decades."

GARY STEVENS ON "DARK HORSES" TO WATCH: "You've always got to be concerned about the fresh faces that are coming in. Big Drama is coming in and getting a lot of respect right now. I think all of the additions are going to have a tough time beating my top three, Rachel Alexandra, Pioneerof the Nile and Mine That Bird."

NBC SPORTS FEATURE ON MINE THAT BIRD: Mine That Bird with jockey Calvin Borel shocked the millions of viewers watching the Kentucky Derby as he passed 18 horses on his was to winning the Derby as a 50-1 longshot. In a feature during the Preakness broadcast NBC Sports will look back at how the undersized gelding first purchased for $9,500 defeated a field of highly touted million-dollar thoroughbreds. The feature will tell the story of the horse's unlikely connections -- three horsemen from New Mexico -- to the jockey who guided the colt to victory, only to leave to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. NBC Sports will look at how the biggest thoroughbred racing upset in years came to be, and how the team behind Mine That Bird has continued to overcome obstacles on the way to the second leg of the Triple Crown.

PREAKNESS STAKES LUCKY U GAME: NBC Sports and The Maryland Jockey Club of Baltimore City present The Preakness Stakes Lucky U Game, a contest where a lucky fan can win a cash prize and a trip to the 2010 Preakness Stakes. After the field for the 2009 Preakness Stakes is set on Wednesday, May 13, horse racing fans will be able to vote for the horse that they think will win. The winner will receive $10,000 in cash and a 2010 Preakness Stakes VIP Experience provided by The Maryland Jockey Club, including tickets to the Preakness and other Preakness Stakes events, round-trip transportation, and accommodations. Viewers of NBC's Preakness Stakes broadcast and other fans will be invited to enter by sending a text message for their choice from their cell phone. Standard text messaging charges apply. Fans can also enter by going online to NBCSports.com/lucky.

WATCH MINE THAT BIRD ON NBCSPORTS.COM: Go to NBCSports.com and follow Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird on an isolation camera.

SEE THE PREAKNESS ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE: Users on the go can watch the Preakness Stakes live on their mobile phones through NBC2Go and NBC Sports Mobile.

PREAKNESS A RATINGS SUCCESS ON NBC: Since 2001 when the Preakness Stakes moved from ABC to NBC, average viewership has increased by more than 2 ½ million viewers an increase of 50% over the previous eight years on ABC.

KENTUCKY DERBY HAS MOST VIEWERS IN 20 YEARS: NBC Sports' coverage of Saturday's Kentucky Derby was the most viewed Kentucky Derby in 20 years. The race averaged 16.3 million viewers, two million more than last year's 14.2 million (up 15 percent) and the most since 1989 when Sunday Silence won the Derby (18.5 million).

NBC Sports coverage of the Kentucky Derby now reaches seven million more viewers than the last Kentucky Derby broadcast by ABC in 2000 (16.3 million vs.9.1 million, up 51 percent).

Here’s TNT quotage from last night’s NBA doubleheader.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA Playoffs – Tuesday, May 12, 2009

TNT’s “40 Games in 40 Nights” NBA Playoffs coverage continues on Wednesday, May 13th with exclusive coverage of the Dallas Mavericks @ Denver Nuggets (Game #5) at 9 p.m. ET.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Is it talent? Is it how hard you play? How hard you want it? Because I really think that the Orlando Magic are the better team.”– Webber on the Magic needing to play better.

“I think that too, but not from the neck up.” – Barkley.

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Game #1: Orlando Magic (88) @ Boston Celtics (92) – Boston leads the series 3-2

Announcers: Marv Albert, Reggie Miller with David Aldridge reporting

Miller on Celtics forward Glen Davis hitting the game winning shot in Game #4: “If you took a poll of the 30 NBA coaches and you tell me that if they’re playing the Boston Celtics and they can take the ball out of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Eddie House’s hands and you don’t care who else is going to take the game-winner, they would take it. Glen Davis made a great shot and a great effort. It was a big play on his part.”

Magic guard Rafer Alston on it being a ‘bounce back’ series: “This series has been a bounce back series, we actually hope that’s the case tonight. I think each team always has answered the call in the next game and I think it’s our turn now. It’s going to tough in their home building, but we are a team that’s ready and we believe in each other.”

Miller on the Magic going with a bigger front line: “(Magic head coach) Stan Van Gundy has gone to the ‘twin tower’ look of (Dwight) Howard and (Tony) Battie and a 6’10” small forward in (Hedo) Turkoglu (against the Celtics). They create a very big line for the Magic.”

Miller on the importance of guard Ray Allen to the Celtics: “(The Celtics) need (Ray Allen’s) offensive production if they are going to be successful against the Magic.”

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Halftime Report

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber

Barkley on why the Magic are going to win their series against the Celtics: “The reason why I think Orlando is going to win the series is because they have better players overall. Dwight Howard is the best player in this series, (to go along with Hedo) Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and they’ve got better scorers.”

Smith on Celtics guard Rajon Rondo playing bigger than a typical point guard: “(Rajon Rondo) plays bigger than he is. (He’s) not only controlling the tempo, he’s getting (the Celtics) extra shots. This is going to be a long series because he is rebounding just like Dwight Howard rebounds.”

Barkley on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologizing to Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin and his mother on his blog: “Mark Cuban is my guy but he was wrong. I wish he would’ve done this yesterday. I wish he would’ve walked up to the mom and (Kenyon Martin) at the game yesterday. But he apologized (on his blog) and that’s all you can do.”

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Miller on what Celtics guard Rajon Rondo needs to do in the off-season if he wants to become an elite point guard: “If (Rajon) Rondo wants to take the next step to become a great point guard, this summer I would take a month off after the season to let your body heal. Then I would get into the gym and shoot 500-700 fifteen to twenty-two foot jump shots to get that down consistently, and I would shoot over 1000 tear drop (shots) ala (Spurs point guard) Tony Parker.”

Miller on the resilience of the Magic: “The Magic have an answer. Every single time the Celtics are getting ready to make a run someone on the Magic makes a move or hits a three pointer.”

Celtics forward Kendrick Perkins on young players being forced to grow up quickly in the playoffs: “(Playing in the playoffs) makes you grow up real fast. If you haven’t grown up, you will, especially going through this process. If you’re a competitor in the game of basketball, you want to win. It’s basically bringing out my personality and my character out and being the person that I am in the game of basketball. You have to love it. You embrace opportunities like this.”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Celtics guard Paul Pierce following the game

Pierce on the Celtics wanting to win the series more that the Magic: “I said before the game that this is a game of wills. That’s all it really was. When we came out here and we were down ten points with four minutes left…it’s about will and who wants it more. There’s no denying that this team has that (will) from start to finish.”

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Gamebreak:

Johnson, Smith, Barkley and Webber

Barkley on Orlando’s struggles on offense in Game #5: “It’s so frustrating to watch Orlando play. They never go to Dwight Howard…the only time Dwight Howard touched the ball was when they threw it to him in-bounds (at the end of the game).”

Webber on the Magic needing to play better: “Is it talent? Is it how hard you play? How hard you want it? Because I really think that the Orlando Magic are the better team.”

Barkley: “I think that too, but not from the neck up.”

Webber on Dwight Howard not getting enough shots: “(Dwight Howard) only got ten shots and he is the best player on the (Magic). Their whole strategy was a tactical error.”

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Game #2: Houston Rockets (78) @ Los Angeles Lakers (118) – Los Angeles leads the series 3-2

Announcers: Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins with Craig Sager reporting

Collins on the Rockets lacking depth on their front line: “A problem for the Rockets is that they don’t have any depth on their front line. They don’t have (injured centers) Yao Ming or Dikembe Mutombo and they are very thin and small on that front line.”

Collins on Rockets forward Ron Artest needing to play inside more: “I’d like to see (Ron) Artest get into the paint more often. He’s settling for the three (point shot) a little too often.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on the significance of losing in the playoffs: “I’m not a big proponent of losing by 30 points or losing by one point. What’s the difference? A loss is a loss. It’s not going to carry over into the next game. It’s not going to linger. In the playoffs, a loss is a loss.”

Collins on the Rockets needing to adjust their game since Yao Ming is out with an injury: “With no Yao Ming, (the Rockets) can’t come down and throw the ball into the post. They are going to have to trust each other, make the extra pass and they are going to have to be disciplined enough to keep your spacing so you can have room to work and (Aaron) Brooks can find people.”

Collins on the toughness of the Boston Celtics: “You cannot put a price on mental and physical toughness. Boston has (both).”

Bryant on Rockets guard Aaron Brooks: “We had to pay more attention to him. He’s a great shooter and we can’t give him too many open looks.”

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Halftime Report

Announcers: Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Webber

Smith on how Lakers forward Pau Gasol doesn’t let guard Kobe Bryant get double-teamed: “I told Kobe before that when Shaq (O’Neal) was there, the only reason he was going to really miss Shaq was he’s the best one-on-one basketball player in the world that gets to play one-on-one. He doesn’t get double-teamed. That’s what Pau Gasol is doing right now, not letting (Bryant) get double-teamed.”

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Collins on how Lakers forward Pau Gasol has to perform consistently: “You have to perform once you get to this stage (in the playoffs) and the stakes are higher with the pressure. The guy that has to perform consistently is Pau Gasol. He has to be (the Lakers) second option every night. That’s the guy that has to be there for Kobe (Bryant).”

Collins on Lakers guard Trevor Ariza: “Last year (Trevor Ariza) came off the bench and he was getting acclimated (after his trade from Orlando). (The Lakers) love his speed, his athleticism and his size. They hope at some point in time, he’s going to be a lock-down defensive player.”

Collins on injured Rockets center Yao Ming: “All you hear from the Rockets is that he’s the best teammate they’ve ever had. He’s the hardest worker and my heart breaks for him not being able to play.”

Collins on how the Lakers success on offense leads to aggressive defensive play: “I think that when they play good offense, they get excited and they play better defense. Whereas, I think the Rockets play good defense and when they play good defense, it helps their offense. Anytime the Lakers get things going offensively, they become more aggressive (defensively), they get into passing lanes and they get deflections.”

Collins on NBA legendary coach Chuck Daly who passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to (Daly’s family) and all the people who are walking around this arena thinking about chuck and he’s meant to the NBA and all the championships. He was a mentor, he was a teacher, he reached out and he was always there to help someone at anytime. He will be missed and his void will never be filled. Whether I played for him or coached against him, (I will remember) how well we he was dressed, the coifed hair, and that dignity and class that he carried his life on a daily basis, and he was someone I cared deeply about.”

Collins on being rumored to be a candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers head coaching job: “I have not spoken to (the 76ers) and I want them to understand that. I feel very badly if there was a miscommunication. I talked to Phil Jasner, the great beat writer for the (Philadelphia) Daily News, and I have not talked to the Sixers. So if there is any misinformation, I feel very badly for (76ers GM) Eddie Stefanski for the situation this might have put him or the Sixers in…it’s good that we can get that clarified and if there was any misinformation with the way it was reported or the way I said it, to make it look like I had spoken to them, I have not spoken to them.”

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Inside the NBA

Announcers: Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Webber

Webber on how a center can contribute when he’s not scoring: “As a scorer and as a big fella, if you’re not scoring or you’re not in the game, one of the best things to do is play hard and rebound and get back and try to get some easy points that way.”

Webber on the Lakers/Rockets series being over: “I think (the Lakers/Rockets series) is over. You have to take advantage of teams when they don’t have that player or that momentum. I believe in momentum and I believe in the right time, I think the right time for that team (the Rockets) to try to win was tonight. I don’t think they have a chance, I think it’s over.”

Smith on why it is not going to be easy for the Lakers to beat the Rockets: “(Houston) plays with too much effort to just say they are going to lose that easily, and also, the Lakers turn it on and off. We know that (the Lakers) are the most talented team, they have the most skills, they have one of the deepest, if not the deepest, benches. They have more skilled players, but what they don’t always do is they don’t always play with effort because they are so skilled. The Rockets, the only way they can play well is with effort. In Houston, what I saw last game, with the effort, it’s not going to be a cake walk.”

Webber on the elite coaching experience of Lakers head coach Phil Jackson: “I’m not disrespecting the Rockets, I love watching them play because of how hard they play. The Lakers are lackadaisical, but they went to the championship last year, let’s remember that. Phil Jackson has how many rings, nine? And one thing he does is he coaches demeanor. There are no Josh Smith dunks at the end, there’s nobody getting happy after Game #2, and even yesterday, we were all saying they were disappointed and Phil Jackson was like, ‘disappointed?’ What he was saying was, ‘I don’t owe us in here anything, I don’t owe the fans anything, we lost a bad game, you all don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He was saying, ‘we have championships, we’re going right back,’ so yeah, I think they are going to close them out at Houston.”

Smith on Magic center Dwight Howard telling the press he needs the ball more: “In the immortal words of Michael Ray Richardson, it sounds like, ‘the ship be sinking.’ That’s what it sounds like to me. That sounds like a team that’s unraveling because now it comes to a point where I have to demand the ball in the paper. Your point guard sits right next to you, your coach is right over there, you don’t have to demand the ball in the paper. Hakeem Olajuwan demanded the ball a lot from me, every single play, but he never demanded the ball from me in the paper. So he came to my locker and he said, ‘listen, David Robinson cannot guard me, get me the ball the first five plays, forget what we just said, let’s run this play for me.’ I said, ‘Ok, I can’t do the first five times or I’ll get taken out of the game, but I’ll do it three.’ We came up with a compromise, but we didn’t have to do it in the paper and we won two rings.”

Barkley on the Celtics working harder to win than the Magic: “Dwight Howard can’t say that (he needs the ball), we can say that. The ship be sinking. I loved Orlando to win this series, but it just goes to show you, Doc Rivers has done a fantastic job, they are grinding their behind off. It just goes to show you grinding will beat talent. Clearly, Orlando has more talent top to bottom than the Celtics. If you just play hard, it’s an easy game.”

Smith on his conversation with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban regarding Cuban’s subsequent apology for the comment he made to Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin’s mother, which Cuban posted on his blog: “I talked with Mark (Cuban) today at length. He was a little upset with comments I had made on Twitter. I said a personal attack deserves a personal response, period, end of story. If you say something to someone directly, you need to be there, if you say it in the paper, ok, you can apologize in the paper, you said it in a blog, you can apologize in a blog. I felt he knew where (Kenyon Martin’s) mom was that time, he could have figured out where she was again, that’s what I had a problem with. He said he made several attempts throughout the day and the day before to contact her. I accepted that, but I said, ‘Mark, I wish you had done it a different way and you would have done it directly to his mom where (it was) visible because it became visible to the world. But he said he called the agent, he called Kenyon, he waited for Kenyon to come out to shoot around before the game, he never came out and said he wouldn’t talk to him.”

Webber on Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s apology on his blog to Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin’s mother: “It’s not enough for me because he needs to go to the family. Sitting on it when I first came in today I thought it was cool, but the longer it went I started thinking it was kind of cowardly, putting in phrases like, ‘you can come sit next me.’ I’m one of the best talkers when it comes to us hanging out and I could throw you a backhanded compliment. When I started thinking about it, we’re just a bunch of mama’s boys. I think it takes a handshake, a look in the eye and after that it’s just over. You have to look a man in the eye.”

And here’s what ESPN has to say about Spike Lee’s overindulgent movie on Kobe Bryant.

Commercial-Free Kobe Doin’ Work Premieres Saturday

ESPN Films’ presentation of director Spike Lee’s Kobe Doin’ Work will be televised Saturday, May 16, at 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN HD without commercial interruption. The 90-minute documentary chronicles a single game in the life of the NBA’s 2008 MVP, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angels Lakers. Through the vantage points of 30 cameras, the film chronicles the April 13, 2008, game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs at STAPLES Center. Set to the first musical score and original song “Levitate” by Grammy Award-winning artist Bruce Hornsby, Kobe Doin’ Work will give viewers an inside look at how Bryant prepares, plays and winds down on game day.

That’s it for now.

Mid-Week Links

I’ll give you some links on this Wednesday morning.

Sean Gregory of Time says tonight’s Game 7 between Pittsburgh and Washington should be a great event, but will be sparsely watched because it’s on Versus. I could not agree more.

Newsday’s Bob Glauber talks about the closing of the New York Football Giants’ press room at Giants Stadium. Bob adds a few more memories in his blog.

Neil Best before he became a media writer also spent some time in the press room.

Neil talks about the empty seat issue at Yankee Stadium. Neil also writes about the memorabilia sale from the old Yankee Stadium. Neil says the Yankees won’t allow fans to go to the Legend Suite area before the game to get players autographs, something that was allowed in the old place. Neil has a transcript of his talk with a Yankee official on this.

More stuff from Newsday, Ken Davidoff recaps Roger Clemens’ appearance on ESPN Radio yesterday.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News writes about Spike Lee’s overindulgent movie on Kobe Bryant.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal shares a story of a Dallas sportswriting legend.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says the Preakness Stakes will be covered on radio this Saturday.

Laura Nachman lists the Philly sports radio personalities who have made the big step to TV.

Ron Green of the Charlotte Observer feels David Feherty’s misstep should not hurt his TV career.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes that a local TV news anchor returns to his sports roots.

Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune also looks at the station’s reorganization of its sports department.

Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN College Gameday analyst Desmond Howard about Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Mavs’ ratings are slowly inching up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

David Woods from the Indianapolis Star says Olympic sports are getting TV coverage thanks to Universal Sports.

Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press looks at a local professor who heads up FSN’s Sport Science’s experiments.

Tom Daykin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the local ESPN Radio affiliates are moving their headquarters.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the Blackhawks’ decision to allow home TV broadcasts is now paying off.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times writes tennis analyst John McEnroe is a great ambassador for the sport. Very true.

Scott Wolf from the Los Angeles Daily News writes that the host of a soccer radio show got into trouble for making remarks about a British tragedy.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that TNT’s NBA coverage is first-rate.

John Ryan from the San Jose Mercury News writes that Comcast and Dish Network came to an agreement on A’s games.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star wonders what happened to a Gol TV commentator.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that TNT won last week’s cable primetime ratings thanks to the NBA Playoffs.

Kevin Downey of the Media Life Magazine talks about the increasing ratings, small as they are on Versus, for the NHL.

MASN is doing a casting call for Orioles and Nationals fans to be in a commercial.

The Sports Media Watch says hockey continues to do well in the local markets. SMW says NASCAR’s ratings continue to fall. SMW also has the weekend ratings.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media tells us that once again, the NHL has two Games 7 scheduled within an hour of each other on Thursday.

Those are your links for today.

The Monday Night Update

There’s a lot to get to including CBS naming the announcing team for the Elite XC mixed martial arts event it will carry later this month, plus a few other things. So let’s get to them now.

First, Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website says Fox Sports Net plans to broadcast its entire lineup in HD by this time next year.

Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC’s roundtable discussion on horse racing at the Preakness was kind of a makeup for its lack of coverage of the Eight Belles tragedy at the Kentucky Derby. Neil also has a summary of how the Yankees, Mets and ESPN broadcast teams called the Carlos Delgado non-home run on Sunday night. And the big news from CBS is that Screamin’ Gus Johnson will call the MMA event on May 31.

The Big Lead says it will live blog the event.

Let’s go to the Sports Media Watch for a few things. First, Game 7 of the Cavs-Celtics gave ABC an 82% boost in the NBA’s ratings from last year. That’s 82%!! NBC continues to see increased ratings for the NHL. And overnight ratings for the Preakness Stakes were down from last year despite having Big Brown as the winner.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says NBC was a double winner with the NHL this weekend. John Consoli of Mediaweek tells us that NBC’s NHL ratings were 14% higher over this same weekend last year.

Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable says WWE’s Smackdown will debut on MyNetworkTV in October. Also John Eggerton of B&C says that the Ski Channel plans to launch in August.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News writes that ION network will show programming from NFL Films and Madison Square Garden Network.

Ian over at the Sox & Dawgs blog is smitten with NESN’s Heidi Watney as am I.

LC at the 38Cliches blog has a lecture for Celtics’ radio voice Sean Grande.

That’s going to do it for now.

Monday Morning Stuffage

Let’s give you the links for this back to work Monday.

By the way, I’ve added two new sites to my blogroll. One is called “Lina in Lancaster” and the other is “The Traveling Food Critic“. Both are run by my cousin so I ask that you click on the links, visit both sites and tell her you like her blogs. Neither have anything to do with sports, but because she’s family, I ask that you give her a few clicks to run up her hit count. I thank you and my cousin thanks you. And tell her you came over from Fang’s Bites

Our first media-related link is from David Scott from Boston Sports Media Watch. He has the winners and losers from the whole John Tomase/Spygate affair.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today says he’s sick of Spygate, but he wouldn’t mind seeing Patriots coach Bill Belichick testify in front of Congress. And Mike mentions that Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson of FSN gets more face time on Best Damn Sports Show Period, plus she’s going to be a sideline reporter for the NFL on Fox. More of Charissa is good for the public. And let me say that I was one of the first blogs to jump on the Charissa bandwagon.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says fans who went to the rained Mets-Yankees game on Friday got soaked, literally and figuratively.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that after working for TSN at the World Hockey Championships, Pierre McGuire will return to NBC for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union wonders why networks don’t disclose that they’re showing taped coverage of golf. And Pete says umpires blew a home run call in last night’s Mets-Yankees game and so did ESPN’s Joe Morgan.

From WCBS radio, apparently Sports Director Jared Max noticed that ESPN showed stock footage of the Manhattan skyline during last night’s Mets-Yankees game.

Ray Frager from the Baltimore Sun reviews NBC’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes. And Ray has some more thoughts in his blog.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says NBC rebounded in the Preakness after dropping the ball in the Kentucky Derby. And Jim ‘ in his Watch This! blog.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times also says NBC did well on Saturday in his weekly Shooting From the Lip post in his blog.

From the Eye on Sports Media blog, Christopher Byrne says a horse breeder he talked to won’t watch competitive horse racing.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if the owners of Big Brown didn’t leave some money on the table for the horse’s breeding rights.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Maury Brown, writes in the Biz of Hockey blog that the International Ice Hockey Federation has voted the 1980 Miracle on Ice as the top hockey story in the last 100 years. That’s really a no brainer. In his Biz of Baseball blog, Maury has the comments made by TBS’ Skip Carey and Ron Darling in Sunday’s Brewers-Red Sox game.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says a local sports radio station is ending a simulcast that will leave listeners outside of Denver without access.

Jack Bogacyzk from the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail says the West Virginia-Pittsburgh game will get some national exposure on ABC this Thanksgiving weekend.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says CBS College Sports will be on Cablevision systems come this July.

Crain’s Business Detroit says FSN garnered slightly higher ratings for the Red Wings from last year.

Lots of good stuff on this Monday. I’ll be back later with an update.

Sunday Linkage

After running some errands this morning, I’m back and it’s time to give you some links.

We start with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who talks with Harold Reynolds who did a stint with SNY this weekend. And Richard says unlike the Kentucky Derby where he feels NBC Sports dropped the ball in the Eight Belles tragedy, the network did a good job covering the issue in its coverage of the Preakness Stakes.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Mets’ closer Billy Wagner’s weekly interviews on 1050 ESPN Radio are must listens.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post writes that the Mets aren’t learning their lessons from last year.

Neil Best from Newsday has a review of YES Yankees analyst Bobby Murcer’s new book. And Neil has a bit more about the book in his blog.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at a documentary on an 87 year old surfer who’s still riding the waves and has lived a rather interesting life. And Tom has more on Dorian Paskowitz and his family.

David J. Warner of the AOL Fanhouse blog has word that ESPN may convert ESPN Classic into an “ESPN3″ channel devoted to soccer and international sports.

Mark Haselden of South Carolina Now profiles Rosalyn Durant, the recently named Vice President and General Manager of ESPNU.

Here’s a chat former WBZ-TV sports anchor Bob Lobel did for Boston.com.

Joe Favorito writes that the WNBA season is starting off strong.

That will do it.

Video: Big Brown’s Victory in the Preakness

Here’s Big Brown’s convincing win in yesterday’s Preakness Stakes. Unfortunately, no nip slips this time.

Saturday Links

Sorry for the delay in fresh material. Last night, my computer shut down on me and I thought I would not get it back. And I had to leave my house early this morning and just returned so I give you some overdue links.

First, the Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn writes that the NBC broadcast of Game 5 of the NHL Western Conference Finals marks the last game in which the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will be able to have 100% access to the series. Versus, as you may know, is not totally accessible across the country and will have the rest of the series.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says the NHL has recovered nicely after NBC slighted the league one year ago today.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News looks at last night’s edition of HBO Real Sports which was re-edited to include Andrea Kremer’s interview with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh.

Bruce Allen from Boston Sports Media Watch has the video of Bill Belichick’s comments on CBS in response to the Matt Walsh interview on HBO.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a look at some sports radio talk lineup changes in the market.

Timothy McNulty of the Chicago Tribune in an editorial says the sale of the co-owned Cubs can’t come soon enough for the Trib, and he has a word of advice for sister paper Newsday as it’s being sold to Cablevision which owns the New York Knicks and Rangers.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the new Speedo swimsuit is going to make a big splash the Summer Olympics in Communist China. By the way, just a word of warning, Darren is pictured in the swimsuit.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekly weekend ratings predictions. The SMW also says ABC’s ratings for the NBA playoffs are up 17% over last year.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner looks at NBC’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says last week’s bowling event on CBS was a ratings disaster.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog says ESPN might do better with other programming in the mornings instead of nine hours of SportsCenter.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says it’s about time Dish Network added Comcast SportsNet Bay Area HD to its lineup.

And that will do it. I’ll be here with Sunday links in the morning.