Fang's Bites

Bringing Out The Monday Linkage

This weekend was a very lost weekend for me and for you on the blog as I was unable to do anything either Saturday and Sunday. I attended a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday in Massachusetts and that took most of the day, then I went to a sports bar that night to see the Manny Pacquaio-Sugar Shane Mosley fight and I’m glad I did not have to pay a cover as Mosley just did not do anything. I fought to stay awake as the fight was very boring.

And on Mother’s Day, I had several errands to run so the blog was very quiet. I was happy nothing broke because I would not have been able to do anything. But we’re back today and let’s get cracking on some overdue linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says ESPN/ABC’s NBA analysts were very down on the Los Angeles Lakers’ effort in their series-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Sports Business Daily has Screamin’ Gus Johnson calling reports of his departure from CBS “premature.”

SBD notes that the NBA Playoffs did very well in the weekend overnight ratings.

SBD also looks at the NFL possibly working under different rules from last year if the lockout is lifted.

Lacey Rose at the Hollywood Reporter writes that Golf Channel is giving CBS’ David Feherty his own primetime show.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the Pacquaio-Mosley fight will most likely lead to more boxing pay per view events.

Mike goes inside the new Pac-12 Conference media rights deals.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age talks with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about the league and its media rights deal with Comcast/NBC.

Diego Vasquez at Media Life Magazine writes on how sponsors can get true brand activation at the Preakness Stakes.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has video of what Oracle is doing to make the viewing of this year’s America’s Cup more enjoyable to fans at home.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid reviews the silly Captain Blowhard-Keith Olbermann renewal of their Twitter feud over the weekend.

That wasn’t the only Twitter feud this weekend, supermodel Chrissy Teigen and Jay Mohr had one also. Very silly these Twitter fights.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski looks at whether Versus’ Jeremy Roenick crossed the line or was being candid when he said San Jose’s Patrick Marleau was “gutless” following the team’s surprising loss to Detroit last night.

At ESPN Front Row, PR specialist Josh Krulewitz speaks with Hannah Storm on sports and Mother’s Day.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Animal Kingdom owner Bill Irwin’s candor during NBC’s Kentucky Derby broadcast enlightened an otherwise technical glitch-filled broadcast.

Jonathan Bombulie of The Citizens’ (PA) Voice notes that ESPN’s E:60 newsmagazine will profile the young fan of a minor league hockey team, who has been battling a debilitating disease.

Mark Brown from the Baltimore Sports Report talks with legendary Maryland Terrapins voice Johnny Holliday about Gary Williams’ retirement.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the local ESPN Radio affiliate had egg on its face for reporting a false rumor on Maryland’s coaching situation.

Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times has ESPN’s Herman Edwards giving some advice to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on enduring the filming of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” as the Bucs are a candidate for the series this summer, provided there is a season.

Rodney Page of the Times has a look at the weekend in sports TV.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel says the Pac-12 came out smelling like a rose in its new TV deals.

Bud Withers of the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Pac-12 can no longer be considered a college sports doormat.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business talks with Bulls radio voice Chuck Swirsky.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that fans got to see the Lakers’ fatal flaws yesterday.

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

Steve Gress from the Corvallis (OR) Gazette-Times says Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott definitely delivered for the league.

Eric Degerman of the Tri-City (WA) Herald says MLB Network has a nightly tribute to the late Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail has the ratings for the Fan 590 and TSN 1050 in April.

Raju Mudhar in the Toronto Globe and Mail says the city’s courtship of the NFL through the Ford family has one glaring omission.

Paul Kennedy at Soccer America feels ESPN2′s MLS soccer highlights last Saturday did the league a great disservice.

Daniel Feuerstein at MLS Talk has his thoughts on Fox Soccer Channel’s inaugural Soccer Night in America broadcast.

Sports Media Watch notes that the camera operator is the anonymous person who is a big part of the sports broadcast you watch.

SMW says Bulls-Hawks has been a big draw for TNT.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Night 23 of the NHL Playoffs.

Joe Favorito says boxing and horse racing are taking baby steps in getting back into the national conscience.

The Big Lead says ESPN’s Erin Andrews was among the beautiful people attending the Kentucky Derby and why not as Erin is a beautiful person.

And I’ll end the links there.

Fox Soccer Channel To Debut Soccer Night in America

We have Hockey Night in Canada, Football Night in America, so why not a Soccer Night too? Starting this Friday, Fox Soccer Channel will repackage and rebrand its MLS games on Friday and Saturday nights as part of “Soccer Night in America”. There will be new graphics as well as a whole new video introduction. Fox Soccer Channel will provide full studio pregame, halftime and post game coverage. And Fox will bring in new cameras as well as provide clearer replays. This will be something to watch.

Here’s the Fox Soccer Channel press release.

FOX SOCCER INTRODUCES SOCCER NIGHT IN AMERICA

New Graphic-Look & High-Tech Production Elevates MLS on FOX Soccer

Los Angeles (May 3, 2011) – FOX Soccer, America’s premier soccer-only channel, is taking its live, HD coverage of Major League Soccer to the next level as it introduces SOCCER NIGHT IN AMERICA on Friday, May 6, when the expansion Portland Timbers host the Philadelphia Union.  Exclusive coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. live from JELD-WEN Field, home to what has quickly become one of MLS’ most spirited fan experiences.

FOX Soccer already carries more MLS games than any other network, but now SOCCER NIGHT IN AMERICA delivers those matches in a slick new package. Re-designed, state-of-the-art   graphics headline the new look, and along with the addition of super slow-motion camera technology, it creates a production style that draws FOX Soccer much closer to the world-renowned standards set by FOX Sports.

“We are essentially elevating FOX Soccer’s MLS broadcasts to match the game’s excitement and pace to ensure fans have a premium viewing experience,” said David Nathanson, FOX Soccer’s General Manager.

The new graphics package incorporates Vizrt technology, which provides digital, real-time 3D and virtual graphic displays for a crisp, 21^st Century look. Super slow-motion cameras and digital recorders added to game coverage capture action at 90 frames per second compared to the 30 frames per second of traditional slow motion, thus providing stunningly clear replays, especially in HD.

Former U.S. National Team and MLS players Eric Wynalda and Christopher Sullivan team up for SOCCER NIGHT IN AMERICA’s” pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage. J.P. Dellacamera has the play-by-play, with former MLS standout Kyle Martino handling analysis in the booth and Brian Dunseth contributing sideline reports.

This inaugural “Soccer Night” falls in one of FOX Soccer’s 20 exclusive MLS broadcast programming windows. All remaining Friday and Saturday night MLS games on FOX Soccer come under the SOCCER NIGHT IN AMERICA banner.

For the latest MLS news, information and FOX Soccer’s 2011 telecast schedule, please visit http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/mls. For a complete list of FOX Soccer’s programming, please visit www.foxsoccer.com.

Remaining 2011 MLS Schedule on FOX Soccer (all times Eastern):

Friday, May 6, 2011 – Portland Timbers vs. Philadelphia Union, 10:30 PM

Saturday, May 14, 2011 – Real Salt Lake vs. Houston Dynamo, 9:00 PM

Friday, June 3, 2011 – Los Angeles Galaxy vs. DC United, 11:00 PM

Friday, June 10, 2011 – New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution, 8:30 PM

Saturday, June 11, 2011  – Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 10:00 PM

Friday, June 17, 2011 – Sporting Kansas City vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 8:30 PM

Saturday, June 25, 2011 – San Jose Earthquakes vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 11:00 PM

Saturday, July 2, 2011 - DC United vs. Philadelphia Union, 7:00 PM

Saturday, July 9, 2011 - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire, 10:30 PM

Saturday, July 16, 2011 – Seattle Sounders FC vs. Colorado Rapids, 4:00 PM

Saturday, July 23, 2011 - tbd, tbd

Friday, July 29, 2011 - Philadelphia Union vs. Colorado Rapids, 7:30 PM

Saturday, July 30, 2011 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 7:30 PM

Friday, August 5, 2011 - Colorado Rapids vs. Columbus Crew, 9:30 PM

Saturday, August 13, 2011 – Sporting Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 8:30 PM

Saturday, August 20, 2011 - Portland Timbers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 10:00 PM

Saturday, August 27, 2011 - Chivas USA vs. Real Salt Lake, 10:30 PM

Friday, September 9, 2011 – Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids, 11:00 PM

Friday, September 16, 2011 – Portland Timbers vs. New England Revolution, 11:00 PM

Friday, September 23, 2011 - Sporting Kansas City vs. Philadelphia Union, 8:30 PM

Saturday, October 1, 2011 - Toronto FC vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 15, 2011 - Seattle Sounders FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 10:30 PM

Saturday, October 22, 2011 – tbd, tbd

And that’s it. Looking forward to the new package.