Fang's Bites

Some Quick Sunday Links

I’m going to provide a few links for you since they’ve been lacking here over the last few days.

We begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deistch who talked with ESPN’s Brent Musburger who will call Monday’s BCS National Championship Game.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News talks with ESPN’s Chris Fowler about the BCS National Championship Game.

Lang Whitaker from GQ talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews in advance of Monday’s BCS National Championship.

Brian Lowry at Variety writes that as sports rights fees become more expensive, expect cable to take over for network TV and pass on the cost to consumers.

Mike Ozanian at Forbes reports that Fox Sports is giving individual teams equity stakes in its regional sports networks to prevent them from taking offers from competitors.

Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg says this season’s NFL’s TV ratings were off slightly from last year.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy notes that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Roethlisburger is blaming ESPN for overhyping Denver QB Tim Tebow.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says the Orange Bowl on ESPN drew its lowest BCS TV ratings ever.

CJ Fogler of SportsGrid has videos of TNT paying tribute to the late Jim Huber this week.

Tom Lorenzo from SportsGrid has the video from last night’s Saturday Night Live’s Charles Barkley Post Game Translation App. Sharp-eyed viewers may notice Hazel Mae making an appearance.

Charles Apple of The American Copy Editors Society feels ESPN should be more careful in its on-screen graphics.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that CBS/Turner has signed Northwestern Mutual to be the exclusive insurance sponsor of the NCAA Tournament.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin did some investigating and found that salsa music played during last week’s Sunday Night Football game came directly from the NBC truck.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center laments the death of the newspaper sports column.

Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times provides his 2012 sports media predictions in the National Sports Journalism Center.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says LSU coach Les Miles stands to get millions if he wins the BCS National Championship.

Ken Belson of the New York Times says ESPN has obtained the rights to the New York City Marathon and pledges to show it live across the country, something NBC’s Universal Sports could not do.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post feels the New York Jets coaching staff is just plain insensitive.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette informs readers what MSG Network is airing today as its dispute with Time Warner Cable continues.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union says what a lot of people tweeted yesterday, that Mike Mayock talked too much during yesterday’s Cincinnati-Houston game.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says YES will air a handful of Fordham basketball games.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says the Bills will have a new flagship radio station for next season.

T.J. Pignataro of the News says the Sabres TV ratings have suffered since Time Warner Cable removed MSG Buffalo from its lineup.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner warns you that your cable bill will go up this year and sports will be to blame.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Comcast’s distribution deal with Disney, ESPN in particular, shows that the company is thinking about the long-term.

Mike McGovern of the Reading (PA) Eagle pays tribute to the late Jim Huber.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter will return in 2012.

The Huntington (WV) Dispatch feels ESPN needs a geography and history lesson about West Virginia.

David Knox from the Birmingham (AL) News talks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit about the BCS National Championship Game.

Dave Walker at the New Orleans Times-Picayune profiles LSU radio voice Jim Hawthorne.

Nakia Hogan of the Times-Picayune talks with an ESPN executive who denies the network has undue influence over college sports.

Berry Tramel of the Daily Oklahoman delves into Oklahoma University’s deal with Fox Sports to air sports on two of its regional sports networks.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Packers increased their TV ratings this season.

Bob says Milwaukee did not necessarily rate well for Monday Night Football.

The Chicago Tribune picks up a Variety story that Fox Sports wants to develop original programming that would air after live events.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says the Disney family is interested in buying the Dodgers.

Joshua Myers of the Seattle Times says the MLS’ Sounders have found an analyst for its games, but is still missing a play-by-play man.

Lehia Apana from the Maui (HI) News says Golf Channel’s coverage of this year’s Tournament of Champions has a few new wrinkles.

Sports Media Watch says despite strong numbers, last night’s Detroit-New Orleans drew the NFL’s lowest ratings for a Wild Card Playoff in three years.

SMW says Cincinnati-Houston suffered a precipitous ratings drop from last year’s Saints-Seahawks game.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing reviews Gus Johnson’s first year as top college football man for Fox.

In the Sports Media Watchdog, Mike Silva speculates on who should replace WFAN’s Mike Francesa if he leaves in 2014.

And that will conclude the links for today.

Some Back To Work Tuesday Links

On this day when many of you head back to work after the lazy holiday season, let’s provide some links as we get into the New Year.

I’m still saddened today by the passing of Turner Sports and PGA.com essayist Jim Huber. Reading the tributes on Twitter from those who knew him and those who did not, the man was widely well-liked. Jim gave us the facts, was willing to let the events come to him and never was one to call attention to himself. And when you finished reading or watching one of Jim’s essays, you felt the richer for having seen it.

Some links for you.

Scott Michaux from the Augusta (GA) Chronicle says Jim Huber’s passing was so sudden.

Michael Schulder, an Senior Executive Producer at CNN writes at SI.com, that Jim was not only a great writer, he was also a poet.

Ryan Ballengee at Golf Channel mourns Jim’s passing.

John Kim at PGA.com has an obit.

Carla Caldwell at the Atlanta Business Chronicle also has an obituary.

And the Turner Sports-run NBA.com has a story plus a video tribute to Jim Huber.

Other sports media links.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says ESPN has responded to a column written by The Oregonian’s John Canzano saying the network has bought access to the Rose Bowl while sacrificing journalism.

John Ourand & Michael Smith from Sports Business Journal report that Oklahoma University will have plenty of its sports programming seen in the Sooner State as well as Texas thanks to a new deal signed with Fox Sports.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age says NBC has sold out its Super Bowl XLVI ad inventory in sharp contrast to the last time it aired the Big Game when it was selling ads in the week leading up to the event.

And Brian writes that some Super Bowl advertisers are looking to make a big splash like Apple did with its famous “1984″ ad.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg Business Week writes that NBC is getting as much as $4 million per 30 second ad for the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of money.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes about the neverending dispute between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable.

If you watched the NHL Winter Classic yesterday, you may have noticed a new ad from Bridgestone Tires with a fake press conference involving various ESPN personalities, one TNT analyst and if you’re really sharp-eyed, a reporter from Sports Business Journal. Shirley Brady of Brand Channel looks at the ad campaign that will climax at the Super Bowl.

To Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where he laments the death of Versus.

Jeff Sonderman at the Poynter Institute looks at how Philly.com handled comments in the reporting of Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin’s alleged molestation of seven children.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group mourns the passing of an ABC Sports production legend.

Dan Daley of SVG looks at how Turner Sports wired its NBA broadcasts when the league returned to play on Christmas Day.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Time Warner Cable has put NBA TV in MSG Network’s channel slot.

Richard says HBO’s 24/7 on the NHL Winter Classic is another part of the network’s winning formula in sports documentaries.

Richard looks at the Super Bowl ads selling out and setting a revenue record for NBC.

Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC did its best to sell hockey during yesterday’s Winter Classic.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash catches up with former WABC-TV sports anchor Scott Clark.

Will Leitch at New York Magazine wants to know what’s going on with the MSG/Time Warner Cable spat.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette tells Time Warner Cable subscribers what they’re missing tonight on MSG and MSG Plus.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that two ESPN’ers and also Capital Region natives get an on-air reunion during this week’s Orange Bowl broadcast.

Pete says Fox Sports Radio has debuted yet another morning show.

WCAU-TV in Philadelphia has announced a deal to pick up ACC Network basketball games this season.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has highlights of the DC NFL Team Radio Network’s season finale from Sunday.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has some thoughts on the holiday weekend in sports television.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that Jim Rome is promising a return to H-Town in the near future after his local affiliate dropped his radio show.

To the Daily Oklahoman where Mel Bracht says ESPN got the job done for last night’s Fiesta Bowl.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post is a fan of NFL RedZone.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian says Comcast SportsNet Northwest has struck a deal allowing fans without access to the channel to view Portland Trail Blazers games online. For a fee, of course.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times feels Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira should call things both ways.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL Winter Classic drew its lowest overnight rating ever.

Sports Media Watch notes that TNT is putting Charles Barkley courtside this week.

SMW notes the Rose Bowl saw its lowest overnight rating in years.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer is banning his players from Twitter and CNBC’s Darren Rovell is pissed.

Barry Janoff from The Big Lead looks at the aforementioned Bridgestone ad campaign.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people angry over Matt Millen’s analysis during last night’s Fiesta Bowl. Millen was really awful last night.

Lots of good links for you today. That will do it.

Turner Sports Statement on The Passing of Jim Huber

One of the nicer men in sports television, Jim Huber of Turner Sports and PGA.com has passed. Don’t have too many details. He was a great writer, an excellent anchor and a man who never screamed “Look at me!”

Jim was an old school anchor who just let the highlights or the words be the star. Jim followed Fang’s Bites regularly, would every once in a while pass an encouraging tweet my way. He was also a voracious reader and it showed in his essays on TNT during the Open Championship or the PGA Championship.

Jim was part of a great CNN Sports staff in the 1980′s into the 1990′s with Nick Charles, Dan Patrick, Dan Hicks, Hannah Storm, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini, Keith Olbermann, Daryn Kagan, and Van Earl Wright among others.

He will be missed.

We have a statement from David Levy, President of Turner Sports on the passing of Jim Huber.

BREAKING NEWS…

…from David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Re: Passing of Jim Huber

The Turner Broadcasting family suffered a great loss and we are saddened by the passing of our colleague and friend, Jim Huber. A terrific Emmy Award winning journalist and essayist, Jim made so many contributions during his more than 27 years with our company. He was a gentleman and wonderful individual and will be deeply missed. We send our condolences to his wife, Carol, and son, Matt.

More details on Jim’s passing as they become available.

UPDATE, 10:00 p.m.: Scott Michaux, a sports columnist in Augusta, GA has the details on how quickly Jim passed.

Jim Huber woke with cough on Christmas, was diagnised with acute leukemia on 28th and died Jan. 2. Few deserve to RIP more than him. Sad day

— Scott Michaux (@ScottMichaux) January 3, 2012

As one person tweeted me, this really makes you count your blessings. Jim had tweeted how he had been taking care of his wife, Carol who had been sick. So sad that Jim passed so quickly. From Twitter, it was touching to read how he would take her to the hospital and how much he truly loved his wife.

So sad to hear of Jim’s passing.