Fang's Bites

Some Thoughts on the Marathon Bombing Coverage

Now that a bad chapter for Boston and America is over, it’s time to look at some of the media coverage. I’ll do it all in bullet form and try to do it all in one sitting.

• First, the good from the week. Local channels in Boston really got the job done. WBZ, WCVB, WHDH and WFXT all provided bang-up coverage and didn’t fall into the trap of pack journalism. They had reporters throughout the area and kept digging for information. Reporters like Kathy Curran and Jack Harper of WCVB, Adam Williams of WHDH, Jim Armstrong, Christina Hager and Joe Shortsleeve of WBZ all provided solid information and showed their experience of being in the local market. WBZ anchor Jack Williams wasn’t afraid to offer an opinion during the coverage calling those responsible for the bombings on Monday, “S.O.B’s” and said as he signed off after a long shift, “Boston will go on. And we’ll get ‘em.” In addition, the stations provided their coverage online to computers, mobiles and tablets, expanding their audience beyond the Boston market. The stations acquitted themselves very well.
• The Boston Globe opened their site from behind the dreaded paywall to all readers and brought forth excellent reporting and writing throughout the week. They did have one hiccup in reporting on Wednesday that a suspect had been arrested, but after that, it recovered and continued to provide tremendous coverage. For an institution that has been maligned over recent management decisions and almost closing a couple of years ago, the Globe stepped up to show that it can report with the best of them. Here’s hoping that the Globe learned a lesson in this new day and age and will adjust with the times. It will bring back the paywall next week, but it probably picked up a lot of new readers as a result.
• Also WBZ Radio, the only newsradio station in town did very well in its reporting. Having listened extensively during the week, the station should win awards for its coverage.
• On Marathon Monday, ESPN’s Bob Ley and Jeremy Schaap anchored the bombing coverage on SportsCenter. Tapping the resources of ABC News and dispatching Steve Levy to Boston, ESPN gave viewers some tremendous coverage. Whenever there’s news that affects the sports world, Bob Ley is the person you want to offer some perspective.
• For network television, CBS and NBC both had extensive coverage. Anchors Scott Pelley and Brian Williams led their networks to understated and restrained coverage throughout. Impressed with both men, Pelley and Williams did not go off-kilter as some network anchors have done in the past. They made appearances in Boston and asked the right questions of their correspondents. In addition, NBC’s Kerry Sanders gave some solid observations while he was in Watertown in the hours after a shootout early Friday morning to the arrest of the suspect later that evening.
• Now to the bad. The cable news stations seemed to be on a one day delay in their reporting. CNN led the charge in reporting a suspect had been arrested on Wednesday. Fox did as well. But it was Megyn Kelly of Fox who began to question whether that was correct and eased Fox News out of that quandary while CNN continued to stay on course. And when a former FBI director shot down John King’s report on CNN, the network then went to debate whether their sources hung them out to dry. It was some of the worst television since ESPN2 allowed Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith to debate full-time. Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show who has been doing numerous takedowns of CNN over the last 12 months, did another one on Wednesday night calling the network, “The Human Centipede of News. “
• MSNBC seemed to be stuck in political debate and the implications of which side would benefit from an arrest. The network should just give up on reporting news and just stay with political debate.
• While social media has some bad sides, it seemed to be quicker on information than the cable networks. Some of it was wrong, but it was quickly corrected. Whether people were listening to the Boston Police Scanner or local reporters using it to offer information or Boston’s Mayor Tom Menino using it to declare the suspect was caught, Twitter was the medium of record. It’s true. The Boston Police Department’s Twitter feed offered up to date information on the Watertown situation to the one tweet declaring an arrest. Who knew a computer scroll would be “must see?”

Overall, the entire week was a lesson in journalism. And who would have thought that cable news, once the bastion of reporting would become the media dinosaur?

Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some links now.

Austin Karp at Sports Business Daily says the MLB TV partners saw record low ratings this season.

Sports lllustrated’s Richard Deitsch reviews ESPN2′s first foray into pro hockey since losing the NHL in 2005.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that Bob Costas is back calling postseason baseball for the first time since 2000.

Chris Strauss at USA Today says Monday Night Football on ESPN easily beat the MLB League Division Series on TBS.

Gary Mihoces of USA Today writes that former NFL’er, Monday Night Football analyst and actor Alex Karras has died.

Len Pasquarelli writing for SI.com has this remembrance of Karras.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski recaps ESPN2′s telecast of Tuesday’s KHL game.

The Sherman Report’s Ed Sherman talks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit about a resurgent Notre Dame program.

Ed says it appears that White Sox TV analyst Steve Stone won’t be splitting up with Ken Harrelson.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable notes that Andrea Kremer is joining NFL Network.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine looks at Philadelphia where there are a lot of radio and TV deals and where sports radio remains hot.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has video of an awkward CNBC interview of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in regards to …. Tim Tebow.

Michael Bradley from the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says the media has to appeal to fans to show compassion in the wake of Kansas City fans cheering the injury to Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel.

Ryan Hannable at Boston Sports Media Watch talks with NESN’s Jenny Dell about her first season as the regional sports network’s Red Sox on-field reporter.

Anthony Sulla-Heffinger, George King III and Mark Hale at the New York Post note that the Jets beat the Yankees head-to-head in the local ratings on Monday night.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times discusses WFAN’s move to the FM dial.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record also talks about WFAN going to FM.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says a local sports radio station will air selected AHL games.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post says Nationals fans are angry about the early start time for today’s NLDS Game 3 against the Cardinals and the fact that it’s on MLB Network.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle gets Milo Hamilton’s reaction to the Astros letting go of its radio team.

David has some local and national ratings.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman has the ratings of various events over the weekend.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Hall of Fame Reds voice Marty Brennaman will be throwing out the first pitch before today’s NLDS game against San Francisco.

Charles E. Ramirez, Ted Kulfan and Lynn Henning at the Detroit News remember long-time Red Wings public address announcer Budd Lynch who passed away this week.

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune has new Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco talking about the league’s TV rights and possibly creating its own in-house network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notices the omissions for the Ford C. Frick Award for the Baseball Hall of Fame Broadcasters Wing.

Tom talks with Jennifer Allen, the daughter of the late Los Angeles Rams coach George Allen, who narrates tonight’s NFL Network “Fearsome Foursome: A Football Life” documenary.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says losing Hockey Night in Canada would create huge holes for CBC in more ways than one.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says CBC is looking to fill NHL lockout holes with classic games as voted by viewers.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says CBC is hurt the most as the NHL lockout goes further into the regular season.

The Classic Sports TV and Media site gives us a fascinating look at how ABC filled college football and MLB Postseason conflicts with its #1 announcer for both packages, Keith Jackson.

Joe Favorito has some suggestions on how MLB teams could make money during rain delays.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing looks at the Boston Globe’s crusty curmudgeon Dan Shaughnessy blaming the internet for just about everything wrong in the world.

Sports Media Watch notes that taped delayed English Premier League action on Fox beat a live MLS game on NBC.

And that’s going to do it.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 95 — Chad Finn, Boston Globe

Today, our guest for the entire Sports Media Weekly Podcast is Chad Finn, the sports media and sometimes Boston Red Sox writer for the Boston Globe. This is the second time that Chad has been the guest on the podcast and it’s nice to have him on.

Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I discussed a plethora of topics with Chad including the recently announced NCAA Tournament coverage for the CBS/Turner Sports consortium, the plans for the Globe to cover new Ivy League champion Harvard University in the Tournament, the recent announcement of Bob Ryan to cut back his schedule after the London Olympics this summer, ESPN’s potential to smother the Peyton Manning story as it did with Brett Favre, Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, the Boston sports radio wars and how local sports media has been a great beat to cover.

A fun podcast and a shorter edition than in recent weeks, but I think you’ll like it. Find it on iTunes by doing a search for “Sports Media Journal” or

Your Monday Linkage

Back to work for many of you. Let’s get some Monday links in.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the networks have missed a competitive Tiger Woods.

Tom Weir of USA Today adds that Cleveland Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has pulled his Quicken Loans ads from Rush Limbaugh’s radio show over a budding controversy.

The independent Gannett Blog notes that all of USA Today’s sports staffers have been told to reapply for their jobs as part of a newsroom reorganization. Oh, that’s nice.

At Forbes, Douglas Alden Warshaw says Comcast is going all in on sports and chronicles how it survived the loss of NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol last year.

To Mashable where Sam Laird notes that ESPN is opening up its source code so developers can build apps around the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s sports information.

Michael Schottey at Bleacher Report says it’s time to end the archaic NFL blackout rules.

Nat Ives with Advertising Age writes that magazines like Sports Illustrated are finding at what price is best to bundle print and tablet subscriptions.

Also at AdAge, Brian Steinberg looks at NBC’s ad sales pitch for the London Olympics.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi says car rental company Enterprise will ramp up a new March Madness spot for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says MLB Network is gearing up for this week’s Cleveland-Arizona telecast which will feature nearly real-time audio from the field.

Double G Sports interviews Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle.

To Comcast SportsNet New England’s Tom Curran who says the Boston Globe treats the Red Sox and Patriots differently when it comes to their off-the-field business deals.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says it may take civil action to finally put an end to bounties in the NFL.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the ratings for the final round of the Honda Classic were good.

From the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner writes that a U.S. Senator is seeking an end to NFL blackouts.

Kevin Callahan of the Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier-Post talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about being booted out of the Monday Night Football booth.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Bram Weinstein is forever grateful to former Georgetown coach John Thompson.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times writes that a new sports radio talk show premieres today.

Tom also reviews the weekend in sports television.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Green Bay Packers have changed flagship TV stations.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman says local MLB teams are cashing in on huge rights fees, except for the Cubs and White Sox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cardinals have set their spring training radio schedule.

Dan says this week, Joe Buck is co-hosting a local radio show that could lead to a podcast or a nationally syndicated show.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that quarterbacks help drive the NFL engine.

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

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says NBC Sports Group will attempt to attract viewers to the 2013 America’s Cup.

Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Yahoo is considering a bid for the Canadian TV and online rights for the 2014/16 Olympics after two combined efforts by CBC/CTV were thrown by the International Olympic Committee for being too low.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail wonders if CBC will pay a price with the NHL for Don Cherry’s candor on Coach’s Corner.

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says Cherry’s criticisms of Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are getting out of hand.

Joseph Hall at the Star says Cherry remains at odds with Burke.

Sports Media Watch says Tiger Woods helped drive the Honda Classic’s overnight ratings to a 10 year high.

SMW says North Carolina-Duke gave ESPN its highest college basketball overnight ratings in 3 years despite a blowout.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC’s overnight ratings continue on a steady upward trend.

And we’ll end the links there for today. Enjoy the rest of your Monday.

Tuesday Night Linkage

I owe you linkage. I’m in a bad stretch so linkage is scarce. I try to give you breaking news when I can.

Let’s start with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who reports that MLB on Fox will go eight straight weeks in primetime during the upcoming 2012 season.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King says it’s time for him to step down as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Matt Pepin of Boston.com announces that legendary writer Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe plans to retire after the London Summer Olympics. Ryan will be missed, but I have a feeling we’ll still be seeing him around.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand looks at how sports talk radio is thriving while other formats  in the medium are failing.

John talks with a DC-based sports radio show on how it focuses on doing its program the old fashioned way.

SBJ lists some of the markets where sports radio wars are hot and heavy.

And SBJ has a look at sports talk radio by the numbers.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center has hope for the future of sports journalism.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing has the MSG Network and TSN calls of the Jeremy Lin three pointer to beat Toronto to guide the New York Knicks to their 6th straight win.

Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog says Jason Whitlock is backtracking after his racist Jeremy Lin tweet from last Friday.

Edmund Lee of Capital New York goes inside the “hard-working” descriptions for Jeremy Lin.

Advertising Age notes that NBC is utilizing Google and ComScore to measure how people watch this year’s London Olympics.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News looks at a new internet streaming TV service that will challenge copyright laws, but has the support of rich investors and one particular media mogul.

Tim Nudd of Adweek talks about Ford creating a fake Sports Illustrated swimsuit model for an ad in this year’s issue.

Tim looks at Samsung’s Super Bowl ad which poked fun Apple groupies.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the awkward video of CNBC’s Darren Rovell asking SI Swimsuit Issue Cover Girl Kate Upton to be his Valentine.

Darren says SI had to put Kate Upton on the cover or suffer the consequences.

Jason Brough at Pro Hockey Talk has New York Rangers fans angry over the MSG/Time Warner Cable dispute.

Tom Lorenzo at SportsGrid says Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton will grant his first post-relapse interview to … Glenn Beck TV?

Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (ME) Daily News says Maine native Ricky Craven will be a NASCAR analyst for ESPN this season.

NESN has a behind-the-scenes video with its Boston Bruins rinkside reporter Naoko Funayama on her gameday preparation.

NESN also has Friends of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle and ABC6′s Courtney Fallon talking about their dream dates as they attended a charity event in Boston last weekend. Former NESN Red Sox reporter Heidi Watney was also there.

Over to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who says NBC is hoping the London Olympics will outpace the ad sales for the Vancouver Winter Games which ended up at a loss for the network.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says WFAN has made it official that Josh Lewin replaces Wayne Hagin on Mets broadcasts this year.

Bob’s Blitz looks at the overhyped CBS Radio mobile app for WFAN’s Mike Francesa who once proclaimed it to be a “Twitta Killa.”

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that despite not having Time Warner Cable subscribers watching, MSG Network’s ratings for Knicks games featuring Jeremy Lin are red hot.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record states that MSG will simulcast Knicks games in Spanish.

Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Phillies are hoping to cash in when their TV rights go up for bid after this season.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has samples of Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’ takes on the print media.

Jose Lambiet of the Miami Herald notes that local sports radio talk host Sid Rosenberg owes a lot of money to an illegal offshore gambling site.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Hall of Fame Astros announcer Milo Hamilton is expected to announce his retirement on Wednesday.

David speculates on who could replace Hamilton in 2013.

Steve Campbell of the Chronicle writes that Hamilton’s retirement is just one of the many changes expected for the ‘Stros.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman looks at the local ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says local viewers watched golf over the weekend.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News notes one of the finalists for this year’s MLB Fan Cave inhabitants.

John Daly at The Daly Planet feels NBC SportsTalk should bring NASCAR into the mix.

John also looks at ESPN’s NASCAR announcing lineup.

Sports Media Watch gives us last week’s sports television ratings.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC Sports Network drew decently last Sunday.

Steve looks inside the numbers of Sunday’s NHL on NBC Sports Network game.

Dave Kohl of the Broadcast Booth looks at Sid Rosenberg’s alleged gambling debts.

And we’ll end it there for now.

Our Mid-Week Linkage

Time for some sports media links for today. Let’s get to them without further delay.

Let’s start with USA Today and Michael Hiestand who looks at the record online numbers for the first live legal stream of the Super Bowl.

Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated lists the best and worst NFL announcing teams.

Over to Mike Farrell of Multichannel News who writes that the MSG Network/Time Warner Cable dispute could last a long time and there’s no end in sight.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says a magistrate judge has blocked an attempt by several former athletes wanting access to NCAA TV contracts in a dispute over EA Sports using their likenesses for video games.

Lacy Rose of the Reporter writes that actor/director Clint Eastwood is spearheading the launch of a new golf TV network.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC has refused to reverse a decision against Comcast requiring it to carry Tennis Channel.

Tim Baysinger of B&C notes that Animal Planet’s annual Puppy Bowl received a lower viewership than last year.

Adweek has all of your Super Bowl ads in 2 minutes.

Andrew Gauthier of TVSpy says an Old Milwaukee Beer spot with Will Ferrell that ran on Super Bowl Sunday in the 2nd smallest market of the country, is getting some of the biggest buzz this week.

Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel notes that ESPN had a section for commentors to complain about female announcers. ESPN has taken it down and issued a statement.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBC missed obscuring the now-infamous M.I.A. middle finger in the Madonna Super Bowl halftime show by less than on second.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says USA Network will air an inspirational NFL Films documentary on Friday.

TVNews Check has WCBS-TV claiming an NYC ratings victory for its coverage of Tuesday’s New York Giants Super Bowl parade.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says WNBC-TV won the New York ratings for last week thanks to the Giants playing in Super Bowl XLVI.

Laura Nachman says the Philadelphia 76ers’ ratings on Comcast SportsNet are way up over last year.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that Doritos and M&M’s were TiVO’s most watched Super Bowl ads for this year.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes about NBC’s ratings for Super Bowl XLVI.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a Great American Ballpark scoreboard operator will represent the Reds in MLB Network’s Baseball IQ game show.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers pleased with his guest analyst stint on NBC Sunday.

Robert Feder from Time Out Chicago notes a local sportscaster who has a side gig with a podcast on science fiction and pop culture.

To Crain’s Chicago Business and Ed Sherman who says this year’s Super Bowl ratings in the Windy City were down significantly from last year.

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune says a local sports radio talk show host was fired after calling a women’s college basketball analyst for the mtn. not just one but several derogatory terms.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Hall of Fame Dodgers voice Vin Scully won’t be calling Spring Training games until the team returns from Arizona.

Michael Passanisi of Fenway West is not a fan of the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy. Not many of us are.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes here and here.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog compares NFL to CFL ratings in the Great White North.

Mike Silva in Sports Media Watchdog looks at Mad Dog Radio’s Dino Costa ranting about teams removing media credentials.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of MSG Network host Al Trautwig pounding the table after the New York Rangers lost to the New Jersey Devils after a no goal call on Tuesday.

And Tim Ryan has a photo of NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posing with the dainty Zooey Deschanel? It’s not sports media, but I’ll take any excuse to post a link to a Zooey Deschanel pic.

Ok, we’re done. Enjoy your Wednesday and the college basketball games tonight.

Bringing Out The Sunday Links

Let’s provide the links on this Sunday.

Tim Goodman in the Hollywood Reporter writes about how the MLB Postseason remains compelling even without big market teams.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that Game 4 of the National League Championship Series became the third most watched NLCS game on cable.

John Eggerton of Multichannel says DirecTV will air the first ever 3D production of pro bull riding.

Mike says Golf Channel is off to record ratings for the PGA Tour’s Fall Series.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel notes that ESPN has closed its Content Development department which was responsible for its critically acclaimed “30 for 30″ series.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN.com college football reporter Pat Forde is leaving to join Yahoo! Sports.

Barry Janoff of The Big Lead writes that the NHL is now red hot for marketers.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says ESPN will not discipline New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica for an anti-President Obama piece.

From Media Bistro’s Agency Spy site, Kiran Aditham wonders which agency won the NBC Sports account.

In Sports Media Journal, Southern New England media mogul Keith Thibault delves into the controversial Boston Globe piece on the collapse of the Red Sox.

Matthew Holehouse of the London (UK) Telegraph looks at ESPN UK’s new virtual studio for its English Premier League broadcasts.

The Hartford Courant says both the State of Connecticut and NBC are not commenting about reports that NBC Sports could be moving its headquarters to Stamford.

To the New York Post where Phil Mushnick has some suggestions for the TV networks.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call speaks with former CNN Sports Tonight co-host Fred Hickman about his friend, the late Nick Charles.

Neal Zoren of the Delaware County Times says a retired Philadelphia sportscaster will have new book coming out this week.

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column notes that ESPN’s Lindsay Czarniak tied the knot with an MSNBC anchor.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has a few sports media tidbits.

The Miami Herald says E:60 will have a feature on a WWE wrestler who’s been locked in a battle outside of the ring.

Tommy Stevenson of the Tuscaloosa (AL) News says sports television coverage of this year’s devastating tornado has showed the city’s resilience to the nation.

George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press notes that ESPN’s College GameDay will be on the Michigan State campus this week.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times looks at HBO Sports tapping the Showtime ranks for its new division president.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog replies to a blogger who wants the CBC to be privatized and no longer be funded by the government.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes the passing of a Canadian sportswriter.

Sports Media Watch says the ratings for the NLCS are improving, but still down from last year.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media goes off the beaten path and says realignment in college football could mean some good things for Versus/NBC Sports Network.

Awful Announcing introduces the Dick Stockton Chronicles.

And that will do it for today.

Bringing Out The Thursday Links

Wednesday was a lost cause for me as I was away from the office all day and spending time with my week old nephew in Boston. I helped my sister out with a few things as she’s dealing with her first child. There will be days like that on the blog for the next few weeks so please be patient. For the next time that occurs, I’ll do my best to write features ahead of time so the blog won’t be completely bare like it was Wednesday.

Let’s do the links.

Sports Business Daily addresses the fallout of the Boston Globe article on the Red Sox September swoon authored by Bob Hohler, but seemingly came directly from the Red Sox front office on the collapse of the team and the sullying of former manager Terry Francona.

Current’s Keith Olbermann, a friend of Terry Francona, comes to the ex-Red Sox manager’s defense and fires back at Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino.

Nate Davis of USA Today writes that CBS NFL analyst Phil Simms once talked with the late Raiders owner Al Davis to become a coach of the team.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has Fox Sports less than bullish on using Hank Williams, Jr. on any of its programming.

From the ESPN Ombudsman, Jason Fry and Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute give their take on ESPN’s handling of the Hank Williams, Jr. mess.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated says soccer insiders are very interested in seeing whether ESPN or NBC Sports Group wins the bidding for the 2018/2022 World Cups.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand handicaps the World Cup rights race.

Lindsay Powers of the Hollywood Reporter says a rain delay in the American League Championship Series last night ended up hurting Fox in the primetime ratings.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid notes that Tim McCarver was proven tremendously wrong during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a dominant Jimmie Johnson is not good for NASCAR.

ESPN PR man Nate Smeltz in the ESPN Front Row blog tells us how the network will replace NBA games in the first two weeks of the canceled regular season.

Patrick Bernard of the Stamford (CT) Patch wonders if NBC Sports will move its operations to Stamford, CT.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir feels the NBA season could stand to lose some more games.

From the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, Ken McMillan says Army’s basketball season opener will be aired live on CBS Sports Network.

Paul J. Gough of the Pittsburgh Business Times writes that the Pirates will have a new radio flagship next season.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals have hired a consultant to help them get fair market value from MASN for their TV rights.

Dan Kausler, Jr. of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with ESPN’s BCS guru about Alabama and LSU.

Greg Auman at the St. Petersburg Times speaks with ESPN’s Urban Meyer about his coaching future and his work at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

In the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht says this year’s renewal of the annual Red River Shootout did monster ratings in Oklahoma City.

The Indiana Pacers and Fox Sports Indiana have announced that Brooke Olzendam (Collins) will be the team’s new host/sideline reporter of its broadcasts if and when the season gets underway.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Fox Sports Wisconsin is keeping mostly mum on losing Bucks games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Times has a look at the football TV schedule, both college and pro for this week.

Tom quotes Lakers legend Jerry West on the late broadcaster Chick Hearn.

J.J. Fidler of the Grunion (CA) Gazette writes about a local woman who has hit the big time with Fox.

The Oregonian reports that ESPN has chosen the spot on the University of Oregon campus from where ESPN’s College GameDay will air live this Saturday.

The Thoroughbred Times notes that ESPN will air a documentary on ill-fated Triple Crown candidate Charismatic.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR seems to be finally picking up from its 2010 ratings woes.

SMW notes that this year’s American League Championship Series got a ratings boost from Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Tuesday’s edition of NHL Overtime on Versus almost became Fight Night.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing says Terry Francona’s too brief gig with should have taught the networks something staying about the status quo.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth notes that three Midwestern radio stations had interesting local baseball-football doubleheaders over a two day span last week.

And that’s where we’ll end things for now. I’ll do my best to catch up with the press releases.

Mid-Week Linkage For You

Let’s do some linkage for you on the day before the real action on the NCAA Tournament begins. I tried watching last night’s Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Wofford game, but I just couldn’t. It was tough. So I went to Lost which was a bit more exciting.

To the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks to the CBS executive in charge of putting the tip times together for the NCAA Tournament.

The Nielsen Wire blog looks at Tiger Woods’ return to golf and what it means for the ratings for The Masters.

In Mediapost, Wayne Friedman writes that CBS and ESPN won’t see any more money with increased viewership in The Masters because advertising has already been sold and inventory is limited by the Augusta National Country Club.

Anthony Crupi in Mediaweek says ESPN and CBS should see increased ratings for The Masters with Tiger’s return and the PGA Tour should benefit as a result.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the big winner at The Masters will those be holding the coveted badges to get into Augusta National to see Tiger.

Darren wonders if the controversial secret coin flip that put the New York Jets on the opening Monday night in their new stadium will cost the team or help it.

And Darren gives us an idea what a 96 team NCAA Tournament bracket would look like.

Lisa Olson in Fanhouse says the last six months for Erin Andrews have been a nightmare.

Cameron Frye wonders if two and a half months are enough for Michael David Barrett, the man convicted of stalking Erin.

Eric Fisher in Sports Business Daily reports on the purchase of the Citizen Sports Network by Yahoo. 

Claire Atkinson of Broadcasting & Cable says Univision is close to selling out its ad inventory for the World Cup.

Richard Sandomir writes in the New York Times that the New York Giants and New York Jets are in a battle to sell out seats in their new stadium.

Richard says team owners have to work harder in these economic times to make money.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News feels CBS’ announcing team won’t be talking much about Tiger Woods’ ordeal during The Masters.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post says Tiger Woods at The Masters will be must-see TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Thursday NCAA Tournament schedule for the local CBS affiliate.

Pete says Time Warner Cable will pick up the New York State girls’ high basketball championship games.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and the Philly CBS station will both air NCAA Tournament specials.

Jim Willams in the Washington Examiner writes that Tiger Woods will be lampooned on South Park tonight.

Jim writes that Lance Armstrong’s return to cycling this year will be aired on Universal Sports this weekend.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has Thursday’s NCAA Tournament TV schedule for the Metroplex.

Barry has Friday’s TV schedule and notes one glaring omission.

Barry has more on the aforementioned omission.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans are lobbying to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks later this year.

The Chronicle’s David Barron writes about another media feud, this one between CNN’s Roland Martin and ESPN’s Rick Reilly, and adds a few NCAA Tournament notes.

And David is not in favor of the University of Houston playing two home football games on Friday nights in direct competition with high school games.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the local CBS affiliate and its digital station will be able to show twice the action during the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business urges Tiger Woods to speak to the media before The Masters gets underway.

Ed explains why Tiger chose The Masters to make his return to golf.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notices a trend among sports teams to blanket their fans.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Globe says the Vancouver effect is producing a ratings mixed bag for Olympic sports.

Amanda Bruno at Batter-up with Bruno notes that the Boston Globe sports section as well as one of its writers have won Associated Press Sports Editors Awards.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA Tour at the right time as last weekend’s stop in Florida dropped by over 40% in the ratings.

SMW notes that a good lead-in from the SEC Championship on Sunday gave the Celtics-Cavs good ratings for ABC.

Joe Favorito explores Spongetech which bought sponsorships with teams and venues last year and now is under Federal investigation for faulty business practices.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore lists the dates of NHL playoff action on NBC.

Steve investigates why the local ratings for Sunday’s Washington-Chicago game on NBC were low.

We’ll end it there.

Late Night Linkage

Here are some links for you on this late night Monday going into early Tuesday.

First a favor to ask. My lovely friend, Steelergurl, is asking you to fill out a survey on NFL and new media. It won’t take more than five minutes of your time. If you’re an NFL fan, she wants to know how you get your NFL news, what news sites you visit, what blogs you read, which players you follow on Twitter, that type of thing. I appreciate if you could fill out the survey. Steelergurl thanks you in advance.

Now to the links.

Sports Illustated’s Richard Deitsch gives us his Bucket List, the list of sporting events he would like to witness before he passes. Richard is one of 16 SI writers who provided their lists for a special feature on the magazine’s website.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has video of two interviews he conducted while at one of the nation’s largest horse sales.

The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager looks at the merits of inducting cockroach Art Modell into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If Modell ever gets in after he moved my beloved Browns to Baltimore, I vow never to mention the Pro Football Hall of Fame on this blog again.

Speaking of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggests changing the format of the induction ceremonies.

From the Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen learns that the Boston Globe has filled the vacancy left when NBA beat writer Marc Spears left for Yahoo! Sportts.

Newsday’s Neil Best caught up with Luis Tiant on the night before the ESPN documentary, “The Lost Son of Havana” on his trip to Cuba aired Monday. Neil also reviews the documentary.

Neil says Friday’s Red Sox-Yankees 15 inning classic was a ratings bonanza for YES.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the NFL and PGA scored in the ratings on Sunday.

Brian Kaminski of the Tarentum Valley (PA) News Dispatch writes about a fan winning a one year contract to be on the air for a Pittsburgh sports radio station.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner goes over Michael Vick’s interview on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Jim talks about Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic extending their exclusive content deal with the Washington Redskins.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times reports that the deal allows CSN to exclusively air the Redskins’ exhibition games in HD.

Andrea Adelson from the Orlando Sentinel writes about the first two stops of the college football season for ESPN’s College Gameday.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the local Fox affiliate is expanding its high school football coverage.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business debunks a SportsbyBrooks report that Jay the Rat is moving to the Chicago Tribune.

In the Chicago Daily Herald, Ted Cox has Jay The Rat saying the deal has yet to be finalized.

But SportsbyBrooks is standing by its story.

I’m at the point where I just don’t care about Jay the Rat.

Vince Horiuchi of the Salt Lake Tribune writes the local NBC affiliate will not air a poker game show because of the owner’s stand on gambling.

MLB Network airs its second minor league game ever next Monday.

Golf Channel says it will stream coverage of Day 1 of the Solheim Cup which is the women’s version of the Ryder Cup.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media has scanned the SEC’s media policy for your perusal.

Holly Anderson of Yahoo! Sports also looks at the new relationship between ESPN and the SEC that forged the new media policy.

Owen Gibson of the Guardian writes about ESPN’s entry into the UK airing English Premier League games.

Matt Eley in The Publican says ESPN has won the rights to air Italy’s Serie A league soccer in the UK.

That will do it for the late night links.

Moving Through the Friday Megalinks

Around 3 p.m., I was ready to do the Friday megalinks so I could leave my evening free, but thanks to some unknown issue that prevented many bloggers who use Google’s Blogspot service from logging in, I could not do them. So I’m doing them at night. Again.

Anyway, let’s get these done so I can move on to other things.

As usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks. Baseball and the start of the NFL dominate our viewing weekend.

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry takes precedence on the networks. Saturday and Sunday, the games are on national TV with the worst that the networks have to offer. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are on the case on Fox for Saturday at 4:10 p.m. Then ESPN with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan call the game Sunday night at 8.

If you need an alternative this weekend, MLB Network will have the Cubs-Rockies, Saturday night and TBS’ Sunday game is Minnesota-Detroit. Of course, I have the schedules below, but if you want to see what Fox, ESPN and TBS have to say about their games, click here.

The NFL exhibition season starts Sunday with the Hall of Fame game between Buffalo and Tennessee. Both teams will wear throwback jerseys as the NFL celebrates the 50th anniversary of the old American Football League and you’ll see plenty of celebration with the NFL this season.

On Saturday, there’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies which both ESPN and NFL Network will carry. Since Comcast started carrying NFLN on digital basic last week, you’ll have the chance to see how NFLN covers the ceremonies, but you won’t be able to avoid Chris Berman no matter what you do because he’s delivering the introduction speech for Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson. The less I say about Berman, the better. The Hall of Fame inductions start at 7 p.m. on both ESPN and NFL Network.

Golf Channel and CBS have the last PGA Tour stop before next week’s PGA Championship, and this tournament, the Bridgestone Invitational has 49 of the top 50 golfers. Tiger Woods is always in contention at this tourney. Golf Channel kicks off coverage at noon on both Saturday and Sunday with CBS coming in at 2.

NASCAR stops at Watkins Glen for a race and I don’t feel like writing the sponsor. Suffice to say, ESPN carries the race on Sunday starting at 2.

UFC 101 is this Saturday and it’s on pay per view at 10.

The US Open Series continues this weekend and the men are in DC for the Legg Mason Classic while the women are still on the West Coast for the LA Women’s Tennis Championships. ESPN2 and Tennis Channel team up for coverage and the times are listed below.

If you want to see beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh in first action since giving birth, she’s at the Hermosa Beach Open this Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.

And if you want to avoid sports, there’s IFC’s miniseries, Bollywood Hero which is on IFC Saturday at 10 p.m. I also suggest the series premiere of 10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa (the winner of The Next Food Network Star last week) which is on Sunday at 12:30 on Food Network.

There’s True Blood which last week had its best episode on HBO, Sunday night at 9. If you don’t have HBO, National Geographic Channel has a fascinating special called “Drain The Ocean” which looks at what’s really on the ocean floor. That’s on Sunday night at 9 as well. My viewing picks for the weekend are here. Check them out.

Now time for the links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Cris Collinsworth is ready to take the mantle from John Madden this Sunday.

From the Wall Street Journal, Michael Judge reviews ESPN’s documentary, “The Lost Son of Havana”.

Sports Business Daily’s William Cooper catches up NFL Network’s Rich Eisen who emcees the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies on Saturday.

William has another article for SBD and it’s regarding Virgin America making a splash by sponsoring this weekend’s Hermosa Beach AVP Tour stop.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says an unsold sponsorship for a tennis exhibition later this month might be a good bargain.

Darren writes the New York Jets are doing one thing right by embracing Twitter.

And Darren looks into the deferred contracts that the Arizona Diamondbacks are paying well into the next decade.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media looks at a Redskins fan who became an embedded team beat reporter for CBSSports.com.

The Hugging Harold Reynolds blog chronicles how it got mistaken for a Harold Reynolds impersonator on Twitter and got banned in the process.

The Sports Media Watch looks at the ratings to date for the MLB on Fox.

SMW looks at the big ratings for the Buick Open thanks to Tiger Woods’ win last Sunday.

James Young from Variety says Telemundo and mun2 stand to get high ratings for the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifying match.

By the way, DirecTV is putting mun2 on channel 203 for the soccer match on August 12.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says Fox Sports Detroit and Comcast are working together to put the Tigers On Demand.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that Turner Sports is already launching new media coverage for next week’s PGA Championship.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks at the machinations of WEEI and the new WBZ-FM leading up to next week’s launch of 98.5 FM The Sports Hub.

Chris Reidy of the Globe writes about ESPNU being made available on Comcast systems in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Amanda Bruno of the Batter-up with Bruno blog looks at the possibility of the Boston Globe charging for its content online.

Kristine Leahy has Friday’s edition of The Five on WEEI.com.

And WEEI.com has something called “The WEEIk That Was“. This may be the one and only time we link to this.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at this week’s Hofstra University sportscasting workshop originally targeted at teens, but getting a more diverse crowd this year.

Neil says Rutgers University has a new analyst for its football radio network.

Neil discusses the new Sunday Night Football announcing team. Neil talks about the possibility of having SNF’s sideline reporter Andrea Kremer Tweet during the games.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is angry for no good reason.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post gets on ESPN for failing to explain the background of the Nolan Ryan beating of Robin Ventura. Like the network should have had a three minute thesis on the whole issue. What exactly do Raissman and Mushnick want? I don’t understand sometimes. No, make that most of the time.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for Giants radio play-by-play man Bob Papa.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Giants linebacker Gary Clark isn’t waiting for retirement to look at a broadcasting career.

In his blog, Pete mentions that an Albany TV sports anchor gets a plum assignment for NBC at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Philly.com has pictures of the Phillies honoring their late broadcaster Harry Kalas by putting his portrait on their Wall of Fame.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks about the weekend sports fare on TV.

Jim says he would like to hear more of the Examiner’s sports staff on DC sports radio.

And Jim writes that Joe Theismann returns to the airwaves this Monday.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald talks about Cris Collinsworth moving from the studio to the booth for NBC this season and also mentions a Miami sports radio host moving to Boston.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks with ESPN’s Lee Corso who hopes to be back on TV in time for the College Gameday season premiere in Atlanta.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says native Cris Collinsworth looks forward to being a game analyst again.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that an area university will video stream its games on the internet so parents can watch their kids in action.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says new Sirius NFL Radio host Rich Gannon sang the praises of the Packers.

Tom Miller of the Janesville (WI) Gazette writes about an ESPN photographer who’s accompanying NFL insider Chris Mortensen on his road trip.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business talks about a new show that premieres on Comcast SportsNet Chicago this Sunday.

And Ed has his winners and losers of the week.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald writes that the Allstate Arena will weather the loss of the Arena Football League’s Chicago Rush.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the post-Madden era begins on Sunday.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at the sports radio ratings.

Dan mentions that two Missouri University football games are heading to pay per view.

West

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says it appears that Chargers fans may have to deal with local regular season blackouts for the first time since 2004.

John Maffei in the North County Times says a San Diego sports radio station’s hard work paid off when Jake Peavy was traded.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star feels Cris Collinsworth has some big pants to fill.

Jim writes that the NBA is now treating Christmas Day as just another day.

Diane Pucin in the Los Angeles Times writes that despite being fired from Fox Sports, Steve Lyons still takes a shoot-from-the-hip attitude to Dodgers games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News takes a look at some of the youngest generation who might down the road be heard on our TV and radios.

Tom has his usual extensive media news and notes. Tom also looks at the week in blogging and also links to Fang’s Bites once again. Thanks, Tom!

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says some Hollywood directing star power is looking to bring 3D to hockey.

That will do it for the megalinks.

Late Night Sunday Links

Let’s give you a few more links before shutting things down for the night.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says the BCS’ transition to cable is complete with the Rose Bowl going to ESPN in 2011.

My new best friend, Neil Best of Newsday writes that Brett Favre will be one of the first guests on Joe Buck’s new HBO show on Monday. Neil is amazed at the new partnership between NBC and Pro Football Talk.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable says Favre was on top of Buck’s wishlist for the first show.

The Arena blog had the patience to transcribe the normally boring Bill Simmons podcast which this past week had an interview with the very stunning Erin Andrews.

Another new friend, Jerod Morris of Midwest Sports Fans has a very good post on what he learned over the Raul Ibanez controversy. By the way, my best to Jerod. His dog is at vet this weekend for an obstruction of the gall bladder. He should be ok. The dog, that is. Jerod is fine.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com has the first of two parts on recapping the Blogs With Balls conference.

David Carr of the New York Times looks at what the Boston Globe sale could fetch for the NYT.

Jeff Z. Klein of the Times looks at NBC’s ratings for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Hockey says Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Friday garnered good viewership numbers.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says both the Yankees and Mets broadcasts of Friday’s choke by the Metropolitans missed something at the end.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says the FBI searched the offices of a local sports web radio station over accusations of faulty business practices.

Becky Yerak of the Tribune says the fate of that internet station is totally up in the air.

Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register was on hand to watch ESPN’s taping of Homecoming with Kurt Warner.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News previews Monday’s 4th and Long episode on Spike.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Universal Sports has seen gigantic growth in one year under the NBC Universal umbrella. Let’s bring it over to DirecTV, ok?

Michael Bamberger of Sports Illustrated writes in Golf.com that putting the LPGA Championship on Golf Channel at the expense of CBS and NBC was the right move.

I’m beginning to see some stories I can give you for Monday’s links so I’ll end this here for tonight.

Some Tuesday Links

Let’s do links for you now. I may have to leave early so I’ll do what I can for now.

Starting with Michael Smith of the Sports Business Journal, he writes that TNT made a little “dig” in its NASCAR coverage by e-mailing a video to viewers signifying the beginning of its six race season.

John Ourand in the Sports Business Daily writes that the annual Army-Navy game is going to be on a three city rotation starting next year.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal says ESPN/ABC’s Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy appear to be not convinced of the Magic’s ability to win the NBA Finals.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Roger Federer may be a winner on the court, but not necessarily in the endorsement court. Darren says projected 1st pick in the MLB Draft Stephen Strasburg is already a winner in memorabilia. Darren writes that Starter is pinning its hopes on resurrection on Tony Romo.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Tiger Woods set New York abuzz with his practice round at the Bethpage Black course on Monday.

Neil adds that there are still plenty of seats available for the Mets-Yankees series this weekend.

In his blog, Neil laments about the possible demise of the Boston Globe. Neil asks readers to pick the ratings winner of what will be a busy Tuesday night in sports. Neil reports that Verizon is in line to be a sponsor of the new Giants-Jets stadium. Sometimes, Neil attends events so you don’t have to. And Neil says NESN’s ratings for the Red Sox are slowly getting back to normal after the Celtics and Bruins playoff runs.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman rips SNY’s Keith Hernandez for not ripping Carlos Beltran.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that the Belmont’s ratings weren’t great, but not bad either. Pete says golf showed the biggest ratings gain over the weekend.

Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that a local cable TV company is gearing up for the state high school baseball championships.

Laura Nachman says two Philly sports personalities will be signing their books this weekend.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has the first part of an enterprise story on how the Lakers went Hollywood.

Shelly Darby of the Detroit Free Press says the NHL is not allowing Joe Louis Arena to show Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on the big screen.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says golf and basketball were ratings winners this past weekend. Ed says former White Sox slugger Frank Thomas will be an analyst for the Cubs-White Sox series.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the NBA Finals finished a close second to the Brewers in the local ratings (scroll down).

I don’t know who wrote this article for the Bradenton Herald, perhaps the writer is hiding under his or her desk, but whomever wrote it feels the MLB Draft should not be in primetime. Whatever, dude.

This is interesting. Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News is also asking readers to pick ratings winners tonight.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN/ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy is admitting he’s pulling punches on his brother.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News wonders if anyone will watch the MLB Draft on MLB Network tonight.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL Stanley Cup Finals are a ratings dud for CBC.

Steve Clarke of Variety writes that ESPN may be a bidder for the cash-strapped Setanta Sports channel which is in dire financial straits.

BBC News says Setanta is on the verge of collapsing.

Bill Wilson of the Beeb explains why Setanta is in so much trouble.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media wonders about IBM sponsoring the Colin Cowherd show. Chris says there’s something big brewing among the SEC schools.

Joe Favorito says USA Wrestling is making a big move to solidify the sport for the Olympics.

The Sports Media Watch says the WNBA and LPGA did not do well in the ratings over the weekend.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Sports says he’s all aTwitter.

NESN’s Naoko Funayama went along for a taping of the network’s new show, “Pocket Money” based on SNY’s “Beer Money” show.

The Towleroad blog says on Sunday, ESPN’s Outside the Lines will cover the University of Nebraska wrestling gay porn controversy.

The MLS Talk blog says the English Premier League and Women’s Professional Soccer are ratings winners for Fox Soccer Channel.

That’s going to do it for now.

Wednesday Into Thursday Linkage

Because I was at a jobsite today, I was not able to provide links so I’ll catch up on them now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Steven A. Smith who is leaving ESPN this week. Michael writes that Tweeting by TV announcers is gaining momentum.

Bill Griffith writing for Sports Illustrated gives his grades to ESPN and NFL Network for the Draft.

Ben Klayman of Reuters says Red Sox owner John Henry is making an offer to buy the Boston Globe.

Over to Newsday’s Neil Best who breaks news that NBC is unlikely to renew Jerome Bettis on Football Night in America. Neil says if Saturday’s Pittsburgh-Washington NHL Playoff game goes beyond one overtime, NBC will shuffle it over to Versus to make way for the Kentucky Derby. Neil says on Tuesday, the Yankees barely beat the Rangers in the ratings. Neil says the Baltimore Sun has parted ways with excellent sports media writer Ray Frager, a regular Fang’s Bites link and I certainly hope Ray finds work very soon. He is an excellent reporter and I have come to enjoy his columns. We exchanged e-mails back in February and he will be missed in the Friday megalinks.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says lost in the reporting on Under Armour’s earnings yesterday was the fact that its shoe sales are climbing fast up the charts. Darren reviews the reasoning behind the price reduction for selected Yankee Stadium premium seats. Darren says it’s one thing for Jenny Craig to own a horse running in the Kentucky Derby, but she might want to change his name. Darren says Wells Fargo was shamed into taking Wachovia’s name off of this week’s PGA Tour stop.

Tom Hererra of the AOL Fanhouse blog talks with the ravishing Erin Andrews.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union is not feeling the love for Versus and I totally agree with him.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says MLB Network will air the first round of this year’s MLB Draft. Ken also talked to local elementary school students today about his job.

Mike Kerwick of the Bergen (NJ) Record profiles ESPNews anchor Mike Yam who takes care of his grandmother when he’s not in Bristol, CT.

Laura Nachman says Wednesday was the last day for one Philly sports anchor.

Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says FSN Pittsburgh is taking some heat for back-to-back in-game blackouts last week.

Scott Brown of the Pittsburth Post-Tribune writes that Thursday could be the final day for the NFL Network on Comcast systems across the country.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has the TV schedule for the Capitals-Penguins NHL Playoff series.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says NBC will stay with Caps-Penguins in the local markets even if the game cuts into the Kentucky Derby.

Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times says former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Grudin was comfortable in front of the cameras during the NFL Draft.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News notes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is not a fan of the Mavericks. Barry says in the series clincher with San Antonio, the ratings for the Mavs finally hit paydirt.

Jerry Garcia from the San Antonio Express-News was amused by TNT’s Spurs edition of “Gone Fishin’”.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that after Clear Channel’s bloodletting of a local sports radio station, it replaced all but one local program with Fox Sports Radio.

Speaking of the Clear Channel bloodletting, Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog goes into some of its other sports radio stations that let go of staff this week. Clear Channel means we’re clearing staff.

George James Malik of Michigan Live says Fox Sports Detroit will have up to four games of the Red Wings-Anaheim Ducks series.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says the NFL Draft’s ratings were solid.

WTMJ in Milwaukee talks with MLB Network’s and Fang’s Bites fav Trenni Kusnierek. Thanks to LC over at the 38 Cliches blog for that link.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with TNT’s Doug Collins who almost became coach of the Bulls before this season.

Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star says CBS/TNT’s Kevin Harlan returns to the Chiefs to call two exhibition games this summer. He was the radio voice of the Chiefs from the mid-1980′s to early 1990′s.

Samuel McKewon of the Nebraska State Paper reports that former ESPN and CBS College Sports college football analyst Trev Alberts has become the Athletic Director of Nebraska-Omaha despite not having any administrative experience.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News did play-by-play for an inning of minor league baseball today. Really. And Tom links us over to a press release on the whole thing. And Tom talks of his experience calling the game. I can’t wait to get a hold of the .mp3 file that Tom will post on Friday.

Ted Green of the Los Angeles Times writes a blasphemous blog post calling out Vin Scully?

Richard Guzman of Los Angeles Downtown News reports that Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket will get some new digs.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star says fans actually found the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts games online when its flagship radio station could not air some games due to various conflicts. Chris says thanks to having the Calgary Flames on its air, TSN’s ratings were up while CBC’s were down.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says May is a good month for boxing on Pay Per View.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that TNT’s NBA ratings are solid gold.

Mike says the Chicago Blackhawks gave Comcast SportsNet Chicago its highest rated NHL game.

Kevin Downey from Media Life Magazine says TNT is seeing its best ratings ever for the first round of the NBA Playoffs while ESPN’s are sluggish.

The Sports Media Watch says the NHL Playoffs did not score for NBC last weekend. SMW says the NFL Draft’s ratings were flat with last year. Paulsen notes that Yankees-Red Sox are still a ratings draw. And SMW has some news and notes on various media personalities.

I will end it there. Good night now. Oh actually, I have one more press release to give you. I’ll say good night later.

A Rainy Friday Megalinks Session

With it raining heavily here in the Northeast, nothing much is going on, so it’s time to give you your regular Friday megalinks.

As usual, we go over your Weekend Viewing Picks.

Baseball’s last weekend of the regular season is going down to the wire with pennant and wild card races. ESPN has the Cubs-Brewers tonight at 8. Fox has coverage of four games on Saturday, but strangely has the meaningless Yankees-Red Sox game instead of the Marlins-Mets game. And Yankees-Red Sox isn’t even the main game, going to just one-fourth of the country. The entire slate and announcing assignments can be seen here. TBS has Mets-Marlins, Sunday at 1 p.m.

College Football has some interesting games now that #1 USC was upset on Thursday by Oregon State. One of the better matchups takes place in the SEC with Alabama visiting Georgia on ESPN at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. The College Football Viewing Picks will help you to sort out your schedule for a rainy Saturday.

The NFL goes into its first real bye week and it leaves us with a slim picking of games. Yes, there’s the AARP Bowl between Arizona and the Jets, with a matchup of older QB’s, Kurt Warner vs. Brett Favre and the lone late afternoon game will be on Fox, as Washington travels to Dallas at 4:15 p.m. Sunday. Of course, the NFL Viewing Picks has everything you need to know about announcing teams, coverage maps, DirecTV channel assignments and Sirius Satellite Radio channel assignments.

The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup culiminates this weekend with the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Golf Channel and NBC team up for coverage on Saturday and Sunday. Golf Channel takes the morning coverage Saturday at 10 and Sunday at 11. NBC then takes over at noon Saturday and then at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Golf Channel has same day coverage of the LPGA’s Navistar Classic, Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

NASCAR’s Camping World RV 400 will be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. on ABC.

The Formula 1 circuit heads to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix which Speed will have Sunday morning at 7:30.

Now to your links:

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says Fox has two games missing from its MLB schedule for Saturday.

The Sports Media Watch says one businessman is suggesting that Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia game be postponed. The SMW has some football names and notes. And the blog has some stuff on ESPN.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog has the first of a mult-part look at the setup of ESPN’s College Gameday at the University of Georgia campus this weekend.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell crunches the numbers from USC’s upset at the hands of Oregon State and finds that both schools may have made money on the deal.

Joe Favorito appreciates the planning behind the Montreal Canadiens’ centennial celebration for this season.

Erin Andrews Sexy Time. Deadspin is all over it.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott from Boston Sports Media Watch goes in-depth into Red Sox beat reporter Sean McAdam’s departure from the Providence Journal and joining the Boston Herald.

Because of the recent migration by several Boston sports reporters, Bruce Allen of the BSMW put together a Media Movement Scorecard.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with NESN Bruins voice Jack Edwards.

The great Neil Best of Newsday touches upon a bunch of subjects in his Friday column including catching up with the stenographer who does the closed captionining for the Mike Francesa show on YES. Neil has a bit more with the stenographer in his blog. And Neil says Mets manager Jerry Manuel could hold a clinic on media relations.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick remembers the late New York Giants radio analyst Dick Lynch.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with ESPN’s Jesse Palmer and ESPN/ABC’s Craig James about Alabama-Georgia. Justin has five questions for SNY’s Ron Darling.

The constantly bitter and increasingly angry Bob Raissman wonders why the Mets aren’t on Fox tomorrow.

Laura Nachman says Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy has been tapped to do the Nationals-Phillies game for Fox on Saturday.

Over to the Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager who writes that ESPN’s Ron Jaworski is impressed with the Ravens’ offense.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner writes that former DC sports radio talk show host John Riggins returns to Sirius NFL Radio starting today. And in the Baltimore Examiner, Jim writes that Fox NFL analyst Brian Billick feels his former team, the Ravens could make the playoffs.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says FSN Detroit followed Red Wings forward Dan Cleary as he took the Stanley Cup to his native Newfoundland over the summer.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald grades the city’s baseball TV and radio announcers.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox’s Daryl Johnston likes Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the new sports radio station in town won’t stoop to low brow humor.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says last Sunday’s Chiefs-Falcons game was the lowest in the market dating back to 2001.

South

Doug Nye from The State says the TV ratings prove that the NFL is as popular as ever.

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson talks about TBS tinkering with its MLB postseason coverage this season.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Dave Darling talks with Tampa Bay Rays voice Andy Freed (formerly of the Pawtucket Red Sox) about the team’s amazing rise to the playoffs.

Eric Crawford of the Louisville Courier-Journal feels ESPN should end its Friday night college football games.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says ESPN has jumped on the Dallas Cowboys’ bandwagon.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle tells us that Astros radio voice Dave Raymond will be working on the radio during the offseason.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says FSN Big 12 analyst Gary Reasons will be on the field for the TCU-Oklahoma game tomorrow. Mel discusses ESPN’s plans for a 23 hour college basketball season opening marathon in October. And Mel has his weekend viewing picks.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says more and more Utah Jazz games are heading to cable and off free TV.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Padres radio broadcast team will remain intact for 2009. Jay also has the ratings from San Diego over the last week.

John Maffei of the North County Times is happy that Vin Scully is returning to the Dodgers for his 60th season.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star says the TBS’ staff feels the Dodgers despite their record cannot be taken lightly.

From the Los Angeles Times, Steve Springer writes that a local sports radio host is now looking for work.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News says coming up next week, the Tampa Bay Rays won’t be hidden from the national spotlight anymore. Tom has the first part of his media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog. And here’s part 2 of his notes.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says ESPN/ABC college football analyst Ed Cunningham is one of a handful of former NFL lineman who have lost weight to change his quality of life.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at the Boston Globe’s new weekly sports publication.

Digital Home Canada says CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Radio returns to Sirius Satellite Radio on Monday.

The Montreal Gazette says CBC has added 10 Montreal Canadiens games to its Hockey Night in Canada schedule.

The Canadian Press says CTV/TSN has recorded a new version of the Hockey Theme which until last season, played the beginning of every CBC Hockey Night in Canada game. And a preview can be heard at the TSN.ca site.

That’s it for now.

Giving You Thursday Linkage

Well, since there’s no live stream of Amazing Race Asia, I have to wait for someone to post the results on Reality Fan Forum. I know I have a loyal readership in Asia for the recaps. If anyone wants to provide a live stream of the show on a site that I will not mention here, please feel free to e-mail. My address is on the left.

Here are some links for you.

Newsday’s Neil Best remembers New York Giants radio analyst Dick Lynch who passed away on Wednesday. And Neil says Lynch was an integral part of the Giants family.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times attended an NBA refereeing media seminar.

Maury Brown’s Biz of Hockey has a look at a new broadcasting agreement the NHL has signed in Asia.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Penguins are airing 47 and possibly more of its games in HD.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Michael Beasley’s stretching of the truth about adidas continues. Darren also looks at some of the top promotional acts in Minor League Baseball.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says a new book about the Cowboys won’t be greeted warmly by the team.

Bruce Allen from the Boston Sports Media Watch says the Globe is starting up a new weekly publication devoted to sports.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog has a guest column today from an official from Idaho State University’s athletic department on why a blogger has been credentialed for its football games.

In a related note, Keith Thibeault of the Sports Media Journal talks about him being credentialed this past summer for Pawtucket Red Sox games to help cover games for a blog. I linked to this last night, but I thought it would be interesting to link to this again.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says tonight’s MLS game on ESPN begins Hispanic Heritage Month on the network.

Lauren Bertolini of the Syracuase Post-Standard writes that NBC’s Bob Costas was honored in town last night.

The 38Cliches blog isn’t too thrilled that Dave O’Brien won’t be on the Red Sox Radio Network during the postseason.

SportsbyBrooks has the video of the deflation of the Hoosier Dome roof.

I’ll end it there for now. I’ll be back later.

It’s a Crazy Thursday … Tony Mazz to the Boston Globe

In what’s turning out to be a crazy day for breaking news, Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch tells us that Tony Massarotti, a long-time writer for the Boston Herald, is moving crosstown to the Boston Globe. This sparks a bunch of moves at the paper, especially for Red Sox coverage.

This also means the end of Tony Massarotti’s appearances on WEEI as Boston Globe reporters are banned from appearing on the radio station.

One Quick Tuesday Link

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has an update on the Boston Globe trying to find a replacement for Red Sox beat writer Gordon Edes who’s leaving for Yahoo Sports.

David writes that the Globe is trying to head off WEEI’s website relaunch by hiring its own internet Red Sox beat writer and looks at the possible candidates for the position. As usual, stay tuned.

You may remember earlier this month, WEEI hired former Boston Herald writers Rob Bradford and Michael Felger to write for its website. We’ll continue to monitor.

Hunting Down Some Tuesday Links

I don’t have anything cute to write as an introduction this morning. Let’s just get to the links.

Matthew Futterman and Suzanne Vranica of the Wall Street Journal report that NBC plans to charge $3 million per 30 second spot for Super Bowl XLII.

Neil Best of Newsday has a column today about the opening of the Sports Museum of America which is located at near Ground Zero. Neil also talks with Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman about Roger Clemens, a year after he announced he was returning to the Yankees. Neil pastes a story from the Sports Business Journal about how the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium is a big deal. And Neil says Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has secured a fellowship at the University of Michigan (Congrats, Richard!).

The Big Lead has an interview with Buzz Bissinger, another part of the author’s massive apology tour.

Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning Call says Bob Costas is this generation’s Jim McKay.

The Sports Media Watch reports that CBC’s Don Cherry has been hired by ESPN do some analysis work for the NHL Conference Finals. This is a good move. William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has more on the story.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News says if fans want to watch the Stars in the NHL Western Conference Finals, they’re going to have to request their cable provider pick up Versus.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes that Game 6 of the San Jose-Dallas series rated very high in the Bay Area.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup playoffs are getting more TV exposure in upstate New York.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News has some more vitriol and today it’s aimed about the Joe Girardi Show on YES.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Kentucky Derby ranked #1 with viewers from the weekend sporting events.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune says the NBA will now be focus of the sport viewing and he adds that he supports NBC’s decision not to show Eight Belles suffering on the Churchill Downs track.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the Cleveland Cavaliers are rating well during the NBA playoffs.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Wachovia Bank’s promotion tied to the champion’s margin of victory from this past weekend’s Wachovia Championship could end up losing money for the bank.

The Boston Herald’s Joe Fitzgerald has a story on former sports anchor Bob Lobel.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notices that the Dodgers are playing Indiana Jones on May 22, but so are the Blue Jays, the Nationals, basically every MLB team and he notes why Indy is on every team’s schedule. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball goes further into the MLB promotion with the latest Indiana Jones movie.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says FSN broke away from the Royals game on Saturday for 7 minutes almost missing a dramatic comeback.

Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News says June 1 is when Rick Reilly gets back to work … for ESPN.

Nick Bowton of the Salisbury (NC) Post says thanks to TV, the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan is more recognizable than ever.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times looks at the traveling roadshow that is the Fox Sports NASCAR production unit.

Mike Joy of Fox Sports says the network has unveiled a new ticker revealing real-time information during NASCAR races.

Gare Joyce of the Financial Post profiles Keith Pelley, the man who will oversee the CTVglobemedia-Rogers consortium which will broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

That’s going to do it for now.

Some Monday Links

Back to the work grind today. Not totally happy to be here, but gotta earn a living.

Let’s give you some links.

First, David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch has more on the Gordon Edes Boston Globe buyout saga, plus an offensive blog post at Yahoo! Sports that stayed up for at least 24 hours.

From USA Today, Michael Hiestand goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN and the NFL Network during their coverage of the NFL Draft. He also breaks news that former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick joins Fox Sports as a game analyst for this season.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun asks readers what they think about Billick joining Fox Sports. And Ray says ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt had Baltimore on his mind Saturday night.

Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune says NBC Sports plans to have primetime coverage of the US Golf Open. Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that coverage will begin at 4 p.m. ET on NBC, June 14.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if a new book on the NFL helped to “Blind Side” the Draft this year. And Darren tells us what he thinks about having retired QB Brett Favre on the cover of the Madden ’09 video game.

Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the Packers blog has video and written excerpts of Brett Favre’s interview on ESPN.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is pulling his hair out over the lack of hustle he sees in baseball games.

Newsday’s Neil Best tells us in his blog that he saw seven movies Sunday at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. Neil commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the infamous Lee Elia tirade.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says Elia is making the sports talk show rounds today.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News writes about Dodgers announcer Vin Scully being honored at his alma mater, Fordham University this week.

The Boston Sports Media Watch’s daily Approval Ratings focus on WEEI’s John Dennis.

The Sports Media Watch says the search for the new New York Knicks coach could have an adverse effect on ESPN and TNT.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says both the Avalanche and Nuggets are disappointing on national TV.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball has comments from the TBS Sports crew during Sunday’s Yankees-Indians game.

The Louisville Courier-Journal’s C. Ray Hall talks with ESPN’s Kenny Mayne about his new book.

That’s it for now.

A Megalink Friday

It’s time for the megalinks. Let’s get into them, but first, let’s look at the viewing menu for this weekend.

The NFL Draft is the Viewing Pick of the weekend. Both ESPN and the NFL Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the Draft starting Saturday at 3 p.m. and continuing through Sunday. This year’s draft is starting later, but there will be less time in-between picks so the first round should go quicker than the unbelievably long six hours of last year. Both ESPN and the NFL Network will have a four hour pre-draft show at 11 a.m. Chris Berman, Mel Kiper, Jr., Todd McShay and Steve Young will be among the hundreds of analysts who will be seen on the Alleged Worldwide Leader. Rich Eisen anchors the coverage for the NFL Network.

Both the NBA and NHL Playoffs are in full swing. The NHL has just begun the Conference Semifinals while the NBA is still in the midst of the first round. NBC will have Game 2 of the Detroit-Colorado series on Saturday with the New York Rangers visiting Pittsburgh on Sunday. Versus will carry Philadelphia at Montreal on Saturday night and Dallas at San Jose on Sunday.

ABC, ESPN and TNT will all have coverage of the NBA playoffs this weekend.

Fox has its usual regionalized coverage of Major League Baseball on Saturday featuring the Yankees at Cleveland. WGN carries the White Sox hosting Baltimore, Saturday night and the Cubs at Washington on Sunday afternoon. TBS’ Sunday Afternoon Baseball will cover the Yankees-Cleveland and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball will be in Detroit to cover the Angels-Tigers at 8:05 p.m.

Motor racing fans will have plenty of stuff to watch this weekend. The Formula 1 circuit will be in Spain for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Speed Channel will pick up that race at 7:30 a.m., Sunday.

The Indy Racing League will be in Kansas City for the Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300 on ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m Sunday.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention NASCAR. The Nationwide Series’ Aaron’s 312 airs on ABC Saturday at 3 p.m. The Sprint Cup Series’ Aaron’s 499 airs on Fox Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The PGA Tour is in Irving, TX for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Golf Channel has the 2nd round coverage at 3 p.m. today. CBS picks up coverage on Saturday at 3 p.m.

The entire sports TV listings can be seen at USA Today.

Now let’s get to your links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks about the NFL Draft having its own language.

Now I’ll start in the East, then go west, then fill in the country in the middle.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch reports that the Boston Globe is playing hardball with Gordon Edes’ buyout application.

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe has a column remembering legendary sports anchor Don Gillis who called play-by-play for just about every sports team in Boston during his career. Gillis died this week at the age of 85. Martin Pave of the Globe looks back at Gillis’ long career.

Also from the Globe, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell talks with Boston Celtics’ TV voice Mike Gorman about calling the playoffs.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Harold Reynolds gets to reunite with his old college roommate, Mets’ GM Omar Minaya. H.R. was hired yesterday to work as a studio analyst during selected Mets games on SNY.

Newsday’s Neil Best also writes about Reynolds going to SNY and briefly goes into HR’s wrongful termination lawsuit against ESPN that was settled last week. In his blog, Neil talks more about Harold. Neil also expands on another item in his Friday column which was about the increased ratings for Versus for the NHL playoffs.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post reviews some of the things that irritated him on TV and Radio this week. Mushnick reports that Harold Reynolds will start his new gig at SNY tonight. The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with YES Network’s David Cone about the Yankees’ struggling starting pitcher Ian Kennedy. And Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about the NFL Draft.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says the NFL Draft will be covered gavel-to-gavel this weekend.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks with ESPN’s Floyd Reese about what goes on in an NFL Draft War Room.

West

From the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Scott D. Pierce says if the Utah Jazz reach the NBA’s Western Conference semifinals, fans will have to be prepared not to watch the games on KJZZ-TV.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner says less will be more in the NFL Draft telecasts on ESPN and the NFL Network this year. Posner has two recommendations for sports viewing this weekend. And Jay has the ratings from San Diego last weekend.

Interesting that the North County Times’ John Maffei also goes into the “less is more” theme in his column about the NFL Draft on ESPN.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes about a new NBC Sports special which will show some of its archival material on Sunday. It’s probably worth TiVoing.

John Scheibe of the Los Angeles Times also does the “less is more” thing talking about the NFL Draft coverage in the Sound and Vision column.

From the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth also discusses the NFL Draft on ESPN. Hoffarth also has his media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog.

Midwest

Over to the Akron Beacon Journal, George M. Thomas says the NFL Draft rules the viewing weekend.

Mark Curnutte of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with ESPN’s Merril Hoge who will be involved in the NFL Draft coverage for the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley says once the NFL Draft is over, look out for Snap Judgment Monday.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that the NFL Draft may be shorter, but there will still be plenty of time for analysis.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is happy to see less talk at the NFL Draft.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that the NFL Draft has become a made-for-TV event.

Heading over to the Chicago Tribune, Teddy Greenstein talks to the reporters who were on hand for the infamous meltdown by Cubs manager Lee Elia some 25 years ago. And Teddy has his weekend viewing picks.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan talks with former Royals second baseman Frank White who will make his FSN debut tonight.

South

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN plans faster coverage for the NFL Draft. Mel’s notebook includes the discussion of Bob Costas’ live show next Tuesday on HBO. And Mel tells us what to watch this weekend.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hopes that mental illness will not scare NFL teams from drafting Texas Christian Defensive End Tommy Blake whose story has been the subject of an E:60 profile.

Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle talks with Rockets broadcasters Jim Foley and Gene Peterson who will both retire at the end of the season.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel writes about the live Town Hall meeting Bob Costas will conduct on HBO next Tuesday.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the NFL Draft plans to pick up the pace this year.

But despite the NFL Draft dominating the weekend, Doug Nye of The State says the NBA playoffs provide more excitement.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wants to expand its programming.

Blogs

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at some of his favorite college football trading cards.

The Big Lead has the video of WFAN’s Mike Francesca’s non-reaction to David Letterman’s comments about him when partner Chris Russo appeared on the Late Show earlier this week.

Awful Announcing says Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth are the voices of the new Madden ’09 video game which the blog says pretty much confirms them as the new NFL Network announcing team.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Basketball blog reports on the excellent ratings for TNT during the NBA playoffs.

And that will do it for today. Primetime and Late Night Viewing picks coming up later.

It’s Wednesday – Another Writer Leaves the Boston Globe and NBC Reups with the NHL

Let’s get to your links.

First off, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch reports that another writer from the Boston Globe is leaving practically decimating the paper’s sports department. David says NBA beat reporter Peter May is the next to accept the Globe’s buyout. And David wants you to know that he’ll be live blogging the press conference introducing Derek Kellogg as the new UMass basketball coach.

Next, Michael Hiestand of USA Today says both ESPN and the NFL Network will air four hour pregame shows leading into the NFL Draft on Saturday, and Michael writes that NBC has renewed its option to pick up the NHL for next season.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about NBC Sports taking on the NHL for another season (scroll down). And Neil has a bit more about NBC reupping NHL in his blog. Neil also lists the schedule for the Rangers-Penguins. As a matter of fact, I have the entire NHL Conference Semifinals schedules right here.

Business First of Buffalo picks ups John Ourand’s story from the Sports Business Journal about NBC’s renewal with the NHL.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter has details of the NBC deal with the NHL.

Matthew Futterman from the Wall Street Journal says NBC will pick up Games Four, Five and Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals under the new deal. It currently televises the finals starting with Game 3.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Hockey has a quick blurb about the NBC renewal.

The Toronto Star picks up an Associated Press story about NBC Sports and the NHL.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s William Houston also writes about NBC Sports and the NHL renewing their relationship. And Houston says CBC caught a break with getting the Philadelphia-Montreal series in its traditional Saturday night slot for two consecutive weeks plus it will get the other Eastern Conference semifinal series of the Rangers-Penguins.

The final word on the NBC Sports’ extension with the NHL will come from NBC Sports itself.

Subscribers to Sirius Satellite Radio will be able to listen to every pick of the NFL Draft through Sirius NFL Radio.

We’re approaching the 25th anniversary of one of the best rants in sports history. Former Cubs manager Lee Elia was a bit fed up after a losing streak and he went after the fans who showed up for day baseball at Wrigley Field which at the time did not have lights and he went into a tirade. Listen here. Great stuff.

Bob Wofley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Ron Jaworski now has a higher opinion of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the New Orleans Hornets is the feel-good business story of the NBA season.

The Inside Track girls of the Boston Herald have an article on Heidi Watney, NESN’s newest hire for Red Sox games. Dan Lamonthe of the Mass Republican writes in his Red Sox Monster blog wonders if Heidi will take Red Sox Nation by storm.

Lisa Nicita of the Arizona Republic writes about the winner of FSN Arizona’s KidCaster promotion.

Gregory Broome of the Ocala (FL) Star-Banner says a local golf course will be featured on a Golf Channel reality show.

That’s it for now.

It’s a Tuesday Link Day

Let’s give you the links right off the bat.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has some breaking news from the Boston Globe and NESN. First he reports that the Globe’s Gordon Edes is planning to leave the paper for Yahoo.com. That is a big blow to the paper. And he mentions that NESN has finally hired Heidi Watney as the sideline reporter for Red Sox games.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that in the world of publishing, “Best Game Ever” is used quite often in book titles.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says Jeff Van Gundy overlobbied for Mark Jackson for the Knicks’ coaching job on ABC this past Sunday.

Newsday’s Neil Best says more talk on SNY doesn’t necessarily translate to more viewers. Neil blogs about the increased talk at SNY. Neil wonders what ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. does the other 11 months of the year. Neil asks what defines a network. And Neil writes about the presidential candidates groveling for votes on WWE Raw last night. I really want to Rick-roll this next link, but I’ll save that for another day. I don’t even want to describe it. Click at your own risk.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette has a couple of hockey-related notes in his blog.

Laura Nachman reports about the new President of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.

Rick Green of the Erie (PA) Times-News is not a fan of the NFL Draft.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun writes in his Medium Well blog about a new NFL Network program titled, “Football Factories”.

John Keim of the Baltimore Examiner says the appearance of former Ravens coach Brian Billick on the NFL Network this weekend could be an audition for other networks.

Jim Williams of DC/Baltimore/San Francisco Examiner writes that it will be a big hockey night in both Washington and the Bay Area.

The Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro catches up with former WRC-TV sports anchor George Michael a year after his departure from the station.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff opener did well in the ratings on Saturday.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Bears have a new flagship TV station.

Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News writes that Papa John’s will keep its name on its college bowl game for two more years.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune wonders why the networks were rushing for the NFL schedule to be released. And Del Grande writes about Arena Football’s biggest fan.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews tonight’s edition of E:60 which includes the ambush interview of Miguel Tejada.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean should swear off bad language.

Eric Kuzmiak of the Bleacher Report says ESPN is showing preference to the NFL at the expense of the NBA and NHL Playoffs.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the lovely Candace Parker has picked up two endorsement deals.

That’s it for now.

Wednesday Linkage or How Media Buyouts Affect You

It’s been a big week for media layoffs and buyouts. As someone who follows the sports media, it seems like every week, a local news or reporter is bought out or has had his/her contract terminated as part of cost cutting. It’s happening in newspapers, TV and radio. But this week, the bloodletting has cut really deep.

Yesterday, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch broke the news that Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan accepted a buyout from her paper.

This week, CBS has been has been laying off staffers at its Owned and Operated stations across the country. Michele Greppi of TV Week says the cuts at the CBS O&O’s and CBS News are part of a major restructuring at the company.

WBZ in Boston was hardest hit with 30 layoffs. WBBM in Chicago let go of 17 employees and KPIX in San Francisco said goodbye to 14. It did not matter if the employee was newly hired or a long-time veteran. As far as sports reporting is concerned, WBBM decided to part ways with anchor Mark Malone who has done work at ESPN. A weekend sports wrap up show in New York was cut and in Boston, long-time sports anchor Bob Lobel accepted a buyout from WBZ-TV.

David Scott has more on Lobel’s departure which ends an era in Boston sports reporting. The lovely Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald talked with Lobel after he got the bad news. The Boston Herald’s Steve Buckley treats Lobie as if he was a pioneer, which he was not. And the following story has nothing to do with sports, but I link to this story only for my own personal interest. Included in the WBZ cuts was entertainment reporter Joyce Kulhawik on whom I had a massive crush when she did features on Evening Magazine in the early 1980′s. She was the last full-time entertainment and arts TV reporter in Boston and her departure was not a surprise.

Chuck Barney of the San Jose Mercury News says long-time KPIX sportscaster Rick Quan was part of the CBS station cuts. Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times talks about the staff cuts at WBBM-TV.

Unfortunately, the buyouts have become the norm in the media business. As I mentioned last month when my friends at sports radio station WSKO in Providence lost their jobs, on-air talent will most likely be able to find other work, but the grunts and behind-the-scenes people are the ones that get hurt the most. Plus, the product whether it be the stories you read or watch suffer as staffs get stretched thin and have to make up for those who have been cut. When I entered the news business in the mid-1980′s, radio was already cutthroat, but it was nothing like it is now. Media is in transition as it tries to determine how to provide news and sports in a timely manner.

Your newspaper is practically out of date when it arrives on your doorstep. In addition, fewer people are reading papers. The traditional early and late evening newscasts are losing viewers and sportscasts on local news program are being cut as people turn to other outlets like ESPN and the internet to get their information. This is a new age for information and newspapers and local TV stations have to figure out how to use the internet as a tool and not treat it as shovelware.

Ok, enough of me, let’s get to other links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has the weekend TV ratings. And Hiestand talks with CBS Sports’ Billy Packer who will not say if this Final Four will be his last.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has the winner of the Minor League Baseball Logo Contest after 17 days of voting. And Darren has a new twist in ballpark food.

Neil Best of Newsday has his take on NESN’s hiring of Tina Cervasio’s replacement.

The Sports Media Watch says the Davidson-Kansas game ended a series of downward trends for CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament. And the SMW has the final weekend ratings.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune looks forward to the Final Four on CBS.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun received an e-mail from CBS’/ESPN’s Jay Bilas in regards to Frager’s post on the manlove for Tyler Hansbrough.

Laura Nachman says the Phillies’ home opener scored for KYW-TV, a 90% increase from last year! And Laura says a local TV sports anchor is recovering from a car accident.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball blog has the latest Bon Jovi video promoting the Sunday MLB package on TBS.

Rick Dean of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal writes that Cox Cable will not pick up 40 Kansas City Royals games from FSN. Kirk Seminoff of the Wichita Eagle also explains why Cox will not pick the entire Royals TV schedule.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says Comcast SportsNet’s first day on the air on Monday was a success.

Mark Berman of the Roanoke (VA) Times says MASN2 will be put on expanded basic cable so fans can watch overflow Orioles and Nationals games.

Andrew Neff of the Bangor (ME) Daily News talks with Red Sox announcer-in-exile Sean McDonough.

Rick Kushman of the Sacramento Bee says NBC Sports will most likely treat Communist China with kid gloves during the Summer Olympics.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions site says ESPNews HD has been added to the DirecTV lineup. By the way, ESPNews HD looks absolutely great.

David Goetzl of the Mediapost Publications says ESPN will put its Masters coverage on TV and online.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Masters coverage on CBS and ESPN will focus on Tiger Woods and offer some new technology.

Aaron Williams of the Redding (CA) Record-Spotlight says a local radio station is dropping ESPN Radio in favor of music.

That’s your update for today.

BREAKING NEWS: The Jackie Mack Attack Leaves Boston Globe

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch reports that long-time Boston Globe NBA writer and columnist Jackie MacMullan is leaving the paper. She has joined several sports staffers at the Globe who have accepted buyouts and decided to go elsewhere.

You have seen Jackie at ESPN doing work on various shows. Most likely, her presence at the Worldwide Leader will increase now that she’s free from the New York Times Company.

As David also reports, Jackie is the highest profile writer from once-venerable sports staff to accept a buyout. Columnists Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy remain at the paper.