Fang's Bites

Thursday Night Linkage

I was out at a job site all day preventing me from giving you links today. I’ll give them to you tonight. I did get back in time to give you video of the Kelly Tilghman apology on the Golf Channel and I just saw the re-air as the 1st Round of the Buick Invitational and it’s contrite and short. Hopefully, that will be the end of the story. But as Kelly returns, we find the Dana Jacobsen controversy just won’t go away.

The Big Lead blog contacted Scott Cronick of the Atlantic City Press who covered the Mike & Mike Celebrity Roast earlier this month. He tells the blog that Jacobsen never said “F*ck Jesus!” as the Catholic League and Christian Defense Coalition have said. The Sports Media Watch blog reports that the Christian Defense Coalition will hold a demonstration and prayer vigil outside ESPN headquarters demanding that Jacobsen be fired. Here’s the press release from the Christian Defense Coalition on the protest. The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty writes in his Best Seat in My House blog that Jacobsen’s suspension should be longer than a week. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that Jacobsen is paying the price in more ways than one. Michael Hiestand of USA Today in a rare Thursday column chimes in on the Jacobsen controversy.

Moving onto other subjects, Hoffarth has the text of Kelly Tilghman’s apology. In his golf blog, the Chicago Tribune’s Ed Sherman says there was an audio glitch when Tilghman was stating her apology (which was corrected in the primetime airing). World Golf News has a press release from Golfweek announcing a new editor replacing David Seanor who was fired after the noose cover controversy last week.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that WFAN’s Mike Francesca has signed a long term deal with the station.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his blog that the NFL has 13 of the 15 most watched TV shows this season. That’s impressive.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News is bored with the Big Ten Network/Comcast dispute.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla who will call the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game with Ron Franklin on Monday night. Bracht has his weekly media notebook. He also lists the TV ratings for the past week. And Bracht gives his viewing picks for the next few days.

Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant says ESPN will run a five part series on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moving to a new racing team for the upcoming NASCAR season.

Robert Crow from the Southern Illinoisan writes that ESPN’s College Gameday will be broadcasting live from the SIU Arena in advance of the game against Creighton Saturday night.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable magazine reports that CSTV.com and USAToday.com are teaming up to form an online alliance.

The NCAA is proud of TV ratings and attendance for college football during the regular season and college bowls.

Greg Stiles of the Mail Tribune (OR) writes that a new sports radio station will pop up in the local area and will include Dan Patrick in its programming.

That will do it for tonight. Friday megalinks coming up in the morning.

Your Late Tuesday Afternoon Links

Let’s give you a few links on this late Tuesday afternoon on the East Coast.

First, the Sports Media Watch says the NHL fell back to reality last Sunday with the first of 9 games on NBC. However, Chris Pursell of TV Week quotes a TV executive in his Pressbox blog saying the 1.1 rating on Sunday for the NHL can be considered a win. And in a story for this week’s print issue, Chris says the NHL is actually attaining ratings and attendance goals this season.

One more thing about the NHL, XM Satellite Radio will have the NHL All Star Game this weekend, plus coverage of the minor league All Star Games as well.

Sirius Satellite Radio subscribers get plenty of Super Bowl coverage thanks to NFL Radio, channel 124. And in addition, the Orbitcast satellite radio blog says there will be 12 live broadcasts of Super Bowl XLII including eight foreign language calls of the game.

Orbitcast also tells us that Sirius music channel Faction will be airing live from the Winter X Games starting this Thursday and all throughout the weekend.

In his Watch This! blog, Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the AFC and NFC Championship Games will be re-aired tonight on the NFL Network.

Neil Best of Newsday tells us to watch for extensive coverage of the Super Bowl in his newspaper and website.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post says the firing of Golfweek Editor David Seanor over the noose cover was the right move.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Time Warner Cable is indeed appealing this month’s arbitration ruling that it discriminated against MASN by keeping it off basic cable in North Carolina. Also from Broadcasting & Cable, Ben Grossman writes that NASCAR has extended Turner Broadcasting’s deal to operate its website through 2014. It’s a big win for Turner as it also completed a deal with the NBA to operate NBA.com and NBA TV. By the way, if you see Kelly Cross on NASCAR.com, tell her that the Fang’s Bites blog says hello.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says ESPN Deportes will broadcast much of the South American World Cup soccer qualifying tournament live.

Sarah Mahoney of the Media Daily News reports that advertisers are targeting women in several Super Bowl ads. And David Goetzl writes that NBC and ABC have announced their Super Bowl Sunday counterprogramming plans.

That will finish the links for now. I’ll have a real time review of HBO’s Real Sports later tonight.

It’s your Saturday Linkage

Let’s give you some links today. Just to let you know, there will be no posts on Sunday. I will be attending the 12th TARCon in New York to meet some of my fellow Amazing Race fans plus I have learned there will be a few racers there as well. Most of the teams will be in California for the West Coast Viewing Party, however, the winning team will be in New York for the check presentation The Early Show on Monday (the e-mail campaign worked) and host Phil Keoghan will be there as well. Looking forward to it. Look for pictures here on Monday and Tuesday.

Also, wanted to thank former Fox Sports Public Relations guru Vince Wladika for sending me a nice note over the last few days. He’s a fan of Fang’s Bites and e-mailed me. It was much appreciated.

So without further delay, here are your links.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that many fans in both Kansas and Missouri won’t be able to see tonight’s basketball game because ESPNU picked it up and it’s not available in most of St. Louis.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News says perhaps the NFL Conference Championship Games should be carried by the Weather Channel instead of CBS and Fox.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says network executives don’t think snow is a four letter word when it comes to ratings.

Johnny Diaz of the Boston Globe looks at the Boston TV stations all vying for ratings based on their relationships with the New England Patriots.

Jim Williams writes in his DC/Baltimore Examiner Watch This! blog about the return of Tony Kornheiser to radio on Monday.

William Houston in today’s Toronto Globe and Mail writes that NBC is going to focus on the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby in its NHL schedule.

David Abramowicz of the Wall Street Journal previews the week ahead in Sports TV including Kelly Tilghman’s scheduled return to the Golf Channel.

The Canadian Press has golfer Jim Thorpe ripping Golfweek for its noose cover.

Patrick Sauer of Fast Company magazine looks into the strides Yahoo has made against ESPN.com.

Joey Johnston of the Tampa Tribune talks with ESPN’s Jay Bilas about the college basketball version of College Gameday which will air live from Gainesville today.

Paul Grimaldi of the Providence Journal writes about the number of reporters and NFL officials staying in Providence over Boston for the AFC Championship Game (if you don’t know, Providence is closer to the Patriots’ home of Foxboro, MA than Boston and it’s cheaper to stay in Providence than Boston).

Alan Siegel of the Gloucester (MA) Daily Times or as they say in Massachusetts, Glaw-sta, talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about the Patriots’ Tom Brady.

Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World talks with Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman about the NFC Championship Game.

Newsday’s Neil Best has some positive words about Will Leitch’s new book.

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) Morning News blogs that there may be hope for the Mountain West Conference’s TV deals which are probably the worst in the country.

Radar Online, a radio newsletter, looks at some of the gaffes sports announcers have made over the years.

Jo-Ann Barnas of the Detroit Free Press writes about NBC hoping to get some juice out of the US Figure Skating Championships which begin in St. Paul, MN next week. USA Today picks up an Associated Press story written by Nancy Armour which talks about figure skating in transition and US Figure Skating using NBC to promote its sport.

Tennis fans in Australia were irate at Channel 7 for not showing the thrilling five set match between Roger Federer and Janko Tipsarevic.

That will do it.

Some More Friday Links

I’ll give you a few more links before calling it a day.

Newsday’s Neil Best remembers the late Bobby Fischer, who was chess champion back in 1972.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth has more fallout of the Golfweek cover controversy.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune is hoping to hold off on buying a satellite dish so the Big Ten Network can hash out an agreement with Comcast. While we keep hearing word that BTN and Comcast are talking, Steve Batterson of the Quad City (IA) Times writes that there’s been no such discussion between BTN and Mediacom. Don Doxsie also of the Quad City Times writes that Iowa fans are learning to go without the Big Ten Network.

Doug Nye of The State in South Carolina says knowing past history will enhance a fan’s enjoyment of sports.

Jeff D’Alessio of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks with Sports Business Journal’s Daniel Kaplan about the five most powerful people in the NFL.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gets contrasting opinions on Cowboys QB Tony Romo from NFL Network’s Jim Mora and Fox’s Troy Aikman.

Hilary Potkewitz of Crain’s Business New York writes that a New York Giants Super Bowl appearance may not translate into merchandising dollars.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay Post Gazette says Packers fans may not be able to see the NFC Championship game in HD.

Andy Giegerich of the Portland (OR) Business Journal says Comcast SportsNet Northwest is seeing higher ratings for Trail Blazers games as compared to when FSN Northwest carried them last season.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald wonders if NBC can get ratings for the NHL now that the Winter Classic is history.

Mark Katz of the Dayton Daily Herald talks with Dayton native Dan Patrick about doing his daily radio show. And Katz writes that Patrick felt it was the right time to leave ESPN.

Chros McDougall of the Columbian Missourian talks with current ESPNer John Anderson.

Christine McConville of the Boston Herald says NESN plans to expand its Red Sox Spring Training coverage starting next month.

CBC and the International Skating Union have signed a broadcast agreement that includes the World Figure Skating Championships for this and next year. Lyndon Little of the Vancouver Sun isn’t too happy about an early start time for the women’s free skate at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships on Sunday which was done for TV.

Phillip Derriman of the Sydney Morning Herald wonders if the TV channels set up by American sports leagues will be done by sports leagues in Australia.

Quite a bit of links on a late Friday. Not bad. Coming up, College Basketball Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks, NFL Picks and I still have to do an Amazing Race episode recap from last Sunday so expect all that coming up in the evening hours.

Time for Friday Megalinks

Last night I took a break from the blog and my computer and watched my URI Rams inexplicably lose to St. Louis, the same team that scored just 20 points against George Washington a week ago, then watched some Australian Open coverage.

I am happy to see Tennis Channel pick up early evening coverage at 7 p.m., then hand off to ESPN2 whenever the Worldwide Leader is ready to pick up after its commitments. It makes for better comprehensive coverage of the first Grand Slam of the Year. Perhaps when Tennis Channel picks up more cable systems, it can get the entire tournament instead of just two to three hours a night. It’s been enjoyable.

Ok, let’s get to your Friday links now.

First, from the “This Is Not A Surprise” Department, Golfweek has replaced Dave Seanor, the editor responsible for putting a hangman’s noose on the cover of this week’s issue in regards to the Kelly Tilghman controversy. I had a feeling this was going to be incendiary and it was.

Next, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes about how CBS analyst Phil Simms’ advice during a 2005 radio interview still resonates with Brett Favre today.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Under Armour is seeing a huge stock price fall today after news about its Super Bowl ad was released.

East and Mid-Atlantic Region

Let’s go East to South and then head West today. Starting with Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe, she says local TV stations will be rolling out the cameras for pregame coverage for the AFC Championship this weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NFL analysts Troy Aikman, Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino can all relate to Eli Manning’s maturity as a quarterback. And Sandomir writes about the controversial Golfweek magazine cover.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News who has been in a rotten mood for the first three weeks of 2008 informs us that the NFL cares about ratings and not about “ideal playing conditions.” He says the NFC Championship should be played in a dome. So we never would have had the 1967 Ice Bowl if Raissman had his way. Whatever.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post remembers former New York Met Don Cardwell who died earlier this week. The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson. And he talks with former Giants coach and current Westwood One Radio analyst Jim Fassell about the change in the team throughout the season. In his blog, Terranova writes that a Wisconsin TV station will pre-empt its normal airing of Seinfeld so Eli Manning won’t be able to watch his favorite show the day before the game.

Neil Best always has a bunch of stuff for readers on Fridays and today is no exception. Let’s start with his column in Newsday which focuses on Fox Sports’ Pam Oliver who made the comment in Week 2 that the Giants defense was listless on the sidelines. Neil also has a story on the Golfweek cover. From his blog, Neil adds a couple of paragraphs that were dropped from his column. And he adds a few things about Pam Oliver including her comments that she’s not speaking to Eagles QB Donovan McNabb after he threw her under the bus earlier this season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his Best Seat in My House blog about the healthy dosage of coverage for the Australian Open this year.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has a news and notes column starting with the Eli Manning-Seinfeld story.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his blog that Ravens fans have forgotten about Jason Garrett and are now focusing on Martyball.

South Region

From The State in South Carolina, Doug Nye has some TV news and notes.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald talks about the hiring of former Red Sox radio announcing hack Glenn Geffner by the Florida Marlins.

Dave Darling in today’s Orlando Sentinel writes about Deadspin’s Will Leitch who’s new book is being released on Tuesday.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the NFL playoffs are the 800 lb. gorilla of the airwaves.

Midwest Region

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that Golfweek’s cover only exacerbates the Kelly Tilghman controversy.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman is surprised with the NFC Championship matchup.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Judd Zulgad says the CBS and Fox production crews are preparing for cold weather this Sunday.

West Region

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News writes that Fox is getting up to $3 million per 30 second ad for the Super Bowl.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Chargers could really foul things up and be a Super Bowl spoiler for Fox. Here are the ratings for the last weekend in San Diego. Note the ratings for the Chargers-Colts game.

In the North County Times, John Maffei writes about the cold weather preparation for the network crews in the AFC and NFC Championship games.

The Ventura County Star’s Jim Carlisle says Packers QB Brett Favre is always fun to watch.

In her Sound and Vision column, the Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels previews the viewing weekend including the NFL Conference Championships.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth says the networks would love to see snow in the Conference Championship games. And he has a healthy helping of media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog today.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Patriots’ pursuit of perfection is the main storyline for the AFC Championship.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says boxing is picking itself off the canvas as a viable television sport.

Blogs

The Sports Media Watch has the story that Golfweek has fired editor David Seanor over the noose cover. Paulsen has some various notes as well.

The 38Cliches blog has reaction to Glenn Geffner going to Florida to butcher four innings a game for the Marlins this coming season.

Awful Announcing notices that Versus is going to have The Karate Kid movies on this weekend.

The Biz of Baseball notes that veteran writer Hal Bodley will be covering the sport for MLB.com.

John Crowe of The Crowe’s Nest blog (and Executive Producer of 790/99.7 The Score in Providence) has some Friday musings.

And Joe Favorito has some tips for those wanting a job in sports marketing and PR.

That’s it. We have more things to do today so keep it here.

Golfweek is Stirring the Pot

The Golfweek cover story on the Kelly Tilghman controversy is definitely legitimate since it became Golf’s biggest story and transcended the sport. However, the cover of a hangman’s noose is something that certainly fanned the flames especially when the controversy was beginning to die down.

Now, the cover has not only caught the eye of bloggers, journalists, but PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem who calls the cover “outrageous”.

Having read the story from Scott Hamilton on the Golfweek website, the content itself covers all angles and it’s very solid. In fact, an editorial from the Golfweek board explains why it chose to make the controversy its top story and that’s fine. The comments by Tilghman made news and deserved coverage by Golfweek.

But the cover of the noose (and I have chosen not to show it here, but you can see it on other sites) has brought the controversy back into the forefront. In fact, the choice of the noose rather than have Kelly on the cover has led to even more debate.

Golfweek wants to sell magazines, but putting a noose can only lead to negative results. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports in his blog that PGA officials plan to meet with Golfweek today to talk about the cover.

Magazine editor David Seanor tells USA Today that the cover was meant to spur “intelligent dialogue”, but does it have to be a noose which has negative connotations to the African American community?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wonders if the cover went too far. Bill Ordine of the Baltimore Sun says instead of spurring dialogue, the cover has spread the flames. The San Diego Union-Tribune says the magazine is courting controversy instead of covering it. Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel says Golfweek is making sure the controversy remains on the frontlines. Dan Shanoff blogging for The Sporting News says the cover was a play for attention (scroll down).

We’ll see what ramifications will come to Golfweek and its editor. This is only the beginning.

More Thursday Linkage

Let’s give you a few more links on this Thursday.

It appears the Kelly Tilghman controversy isn’t going away. Newsday’s Neil Best who broke the story isn’t too pleased that Golfweek magazine is fanning the flames with an incendiary cover showing a hangman’s noose. Jerry Potter of USA Today talks with the magazine’s publisher who claims it was done to spark dialog and debate. I can think of better ways than a noose. And Justin Terranova of the New York Post wonders if the cover was necessary.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that cable channels are announcing their plans to counter program against the Super Bowl halftime show. And Hoffarth looks into Jose Canseco’s plans to find another publisher for his sequel to his first book on steroid use in baseball.

The DC/Baltimore Examiner’s Jim Willliams says the Baltimore media is now focusing on another candidate for the Ravens coaching job after Jason Garrett turned them down.

NBC Sports has a press release on its NHL flexible schedule which begins this Sunday.

Here’s a press release detailing TNT’s coverage for NBA All Star Weekend next month.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about NBA TV and NBA.com moving to CNN Center as Turner Sports will manage both for the NBA. And R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News also has the story of Turner managing the NBA’s digital properties.

Continuing on the Turner Sports bandwagon, here’s another press release touting the relaunch of PGA.com which is managed by Turner.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports that FSN North will air three games of the Houston Aeros, the Minnesota Wild’s minor league affiliate.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley talks about the Longest Day, the 1962 NFL Championship Game involving the Giants and Packers, which was the first time NFL Films shot a game.

Jason McMahon of the Capital (WI) Times writes that Madison radio stations which are part of the Packers Radio Network cannot carry the NFC Championship Game unless they pick up the Westwood One broadcast.

Jon Hemingway of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Verizon Fios customers in Portland will now be able to see Comcast SportsNet Northwest. However, the channel is still not available on DirecTV and other non-Comcast cable providers in the area.

That’s it. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

It’s the Thursday Links

Trying to get these out while my talkative employee is out. He just won’t shut up. Anyway, let’s get you the links.

First, Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says the analysts calling the AFC and NFC Championship games feel the cold weather will play a factor in both games.

The lovely Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News writes about FSN Detroit anchor Mickey York who gets to move back to Detroit after working out of FSN’s Seattle hub, but still doing shows for FSN Detroit from the Pacific Northwest. Eric Lacy of the Detroit News says Comcast and the Big Ten Network are trying to hash out a deal.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht has a story on Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman getting ready for the cold in Green Bay. Mel then has his media notebook. And we get his weekend viewing picks.

Langston Wertz, Jr. of the Charlotte Observer says the Kelly Tilghman controversy shows the pitfalls of live TV. Steve Elling of CBSSports.com wonders what Golfweek magazine was thinking by putting a hangman’s noose on its cover in regards to the Kelly Tilghman story.

Dallas TV critic Ed Bark writes in his blog about Belo8 sports anchor Dale Hansen not adhering to a company policy of criticizing the co-owned Dallas Morning News.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Hall of Fame broadcaster Myron Cope is back in the hospital. Cope was the color analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers for many years and created the Terrible Towel that is waved during the games. Also from the Post-Gazette, Dev Meyers has a story of a 19 year college student who’s already working NFL games for various networks.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives us an update on the Gabibbo/Big Red controversy.

From the Best Seat in My House blog, Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a story on ESPN+ college basketball analyst Bucky Waters being suspended for making a racially charged remark during the St. John’s-UConn game last week. And Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has the original story on the suspension.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that WFAN’s Chris Russo will fulfill a lifelong dream by seeing Sunday’s NFC Championship at Lambeau Field. Best also chronicles his visit to NFL Films and talking with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks about Fox mixing politics and football on Super Bowl Sunday. The New York Times’ David Stelter talks about Fox’s plans on the TV Decoder blog.

The Boston Herald’s David Exum talks with ESPN Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions Julie Sobieski about the upcoming NASCAR season.

Radio Ink magazine reports that 1050 ESPN Radio in New York has signed an agreement with legendary Long Island rock station WLIR to carry its signal to Eastern Long Island. Katy Bachman of Mediaweek has the story as well.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter tells us that the National Basketball Association will turn over the day-to-day operations of NBA TV and other digital media to Turner Sports while still owning the properties.

Michael Roberts of the Denver Westword News writes about former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly cooling his heels as he waits to join ESPN this year.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says Tony Kornheiser was seen in the XM Satellite Radio headquarters in DC earlier this week. His show returns to XM next Monday.

MLB.com has hired former USA Today baseball columnist Hal Bodley as a senior correspondent.

The Lincoln (GA) Journal talks about Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell’s induction into the Georgia Hall of Fame next month.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports that FSN Midwest will change its name to FSN Kansas City today.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN has announced its Executive Producer for Olympic coverage in 2010.

That’s all for now.