Boomer Esiason Named As Contributor To CBS Sports Radio

Announced today by the upstart CBS Sports Radio, Boomer Esiason of WFAN’s Boomer & Carton, the NFL Today and Dial Global’s Monday Night Football has been named as a contributor. He’ll provide commentary and updates for the “CBS Sports Minute” that will be distributed during morning drive to member stations.

In addition, Boomer has been named as a “Senior NFL Analyst” for the network. He will be made available for interviews on member stations during the NFL season and the offseason.

With this new role, I don’t know if this affects his status as analyst on Monday Night Football on Dial Global as the syndicator is aligned with NBC for its new network.

Here’s the press release.

CBS SPORTS ANALYST AND WFAN HOST BOOMER ESIASON
NAMED AS EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR TO CBS SPORTS RADIO

NFL MVP Will Provide Weekday Morning Features For The “CBS SPORTS MINUTE” As Well As Serve As Senior NFL Analyst For The Newly-Created Network

CBS Sports Radio today announced leading television analyst and radio host Boomer Esiason will play a key role in the network’s programming when it launches in September on at least 90 stations nationwide. The 14-year veteran and NFL Most Valuable Player will deliver commentary and updates on the current headlines during the CBS SPORTS MINUTE. Additionally, Esiason will provide unique insight and opinion as CBS Sports Radio’s Senior NFL Analyst.

Esiason will be heard weekday mornings near the top of the hour from 6:00-10:00AM on CBS Sports Radio stations, including premier outlets WFAN in New York, WSCR in Chicago, KNBR in San Francisco and WIP-FM in Philadelphia, among others. Audiences across the country will also hear directly from Esiason throughout the NFL season as he weighs in on players, coaches, upcoming match-ups, and the day’s trending topics. He will similarly be available to CBS Sports Radio stations as the news warrants in the pre- and off-season.

Esiason is entering his 11th year as a studio analyst for THE NFL TODAY, the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show. He also co-hosts morning drive on 660 Sports Radio WFAN in New York with Craig Carton – the team will celebrate their fifth anniversary with the station in September. As one of the most successful quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, Esiason quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals during his career, and reached many milestones, including being named the 1988 NFL MVP, earning two Pro Bowl bids, and leading the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII.

“I’ve been fortunate to find a career that allows me to interact with fans who are just as passionate about sports as I am,” said Esiason. “I am thrilled to be taking on this new opportunity, which not only gives me the platform to discuss football, but a forum to voice my opinion on a variety of different topics in the world of sports.”

CBS Sports Radio will offer around-the-clock national sports coverage and programming from a variety of esteemed hosts and well-known industry experts. The network harnesses the power and resources of CBS RADIO and the award-winning CBS Sports. High-profile personalities from CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com will play a prominent role on CBS Sports Radio which will reach more than 10 million listeners when it debuts next month.

Cumulus Media, the largest pure-play radio broadcaster in the United States, is CBS Sports Radio’s exclusive syndicator and sales partner to secure affiliate agreements and ad sales with radio stations across the country. In addition, Cumulus will make CBS Sports Radio programming available on 67 of its owned stations.

Throughout his career, Esiason, along with his wife, Cheryl, has been a committed and very active participant in many charitable causes, including the Boomer Esiason Foundation, founded in 1993 to fight cystic fibrosis after his son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with the disease.

For more information on CBS Sports Radio click here.

That’s it.

Some Quickie Tuesday Links

I had surgery to remove a sebaceous cyst today so the blogging was minimal today. Trying to catch up now.

Here are some links.

Big buzz today regarding Bob Costas’ interview of Jerry Sandusky on Rock Center with Brian Williams last night.

Let’s get some links on that first.

Bob went on The Dan Patrick Show to discuss what was said, what wasn’t said and what you didn’t see on last night’s Sandusky interview.

Bill Carter of the New York Times has the story on how Costas got Jerry Sandusky on the phone.

Alan Sepinwall of HitFlix says Costas got the job done in his Sandusky interview.

Rebecca Ford of the Hollywood Reporter says Costas is being universally praised for last night’s interview.

At the Atlantic Wire, Dashiell Bennett wants to know why Sandusky agreed to do the interview.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports recaps the interview and tells us what it all means.

Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald says the Costas interview was the best one this year to date.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun writes that Costas gave Rock Center its signature moment.

Richard Roeper at the Chicago Sun-Times says Sandusky really didn’t help himself and might have made things worse.

While the interview got a lot of buzz, Ann Oldenberg of USA Today notes that it still lost in the ratings to ABC’s heavily promoted Gabby Giffords interview.

Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly says CBS got the last laugh over all of the networks when all was said and done.

Brian Lowry at Fox Sports reviews ESPN’s production of Saturday’s Nebraska-Penn State game.

Philadelphia sports radio talk show host Michael Bradley writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the Penn State story proves the need for in-depth reporting.

Now to other stories.

Lucia Moses at Adweek notes that corporate cousins HBO and Sports Illustrated will team up for a new TV series to air in 2013.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life talks with the CEO of a sports and entertainment agency on the impact of the NBA lockout on fans and the league’s TV partners.

Carolyn Braff of Sports Video Group profiles former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol as he’s about to be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says UFC is suing New York to open up the state for mixed martial arts. Currently, UFC and other MMA events are banned in New York.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at NFL Network’s new announcing team for Thursday Night Football.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Presidents Cup TV schedule on Golf Channel and NBC.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that one local radio station has released its high school basketball schedule.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron has the overnight ratings for some of the weekend’s sporting  events.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Steelers-Bengals game on Sunday drew big ratings locally.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal writes that the Green Bay blowout of the Vikings hurt ESPN’s ratings for Monday Night Football.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman tells Bulls fans there’s still hope for an NBA season.

Michael Martinez of the Reno Gazette Journal says TV station KTVN resumed newscasts Monday with tributes to the late sportscaster, JK Metzker.

Gazette-Journal columnist Dan Hinxman has some advice for Metzker’s three young sons.

Joe Favorito says “Movember” is gaining momentum.

Bob’s Blitz has the great video of Al Michaels and his son trashing CBS’ Boomer Esiason on the Howard Stern show yesterday.

And I’ll end it there for now.

Quick Tuesday Linkage

I’ll provide a few links now, then as I’m watching Catching Hell on ESPN, I’ll attempt a few more links to complete the set.

Earlier today, I wrote a recap of Blogs with Balls 4. Check it out.

One of the stars of BWB4 was Bomani Jones of BomaniJones.com. He wrote why he feels there’s a lack of black representation in the sports blogosphere.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson, Jr. will miss the MLB Postseason due to a pressing medical emergency with his son.

To Sports Business Journal and Fred Dreier who speaks with a few NHL players to get their takes on the league’s marketing and new TV contract.

John Lombardo of SBJ writes that the Phoenix Suns will hire a social media sideline reporter to track what’s trending among fans during the game.

Daniel Kaplan from SBJ reports that the NFL plans to keep its London regular season game on its schedule for the next few years.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says that the concept for DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL RedZone was based on a soccer channel in Italy.

Midwest Sports Fans has the video of NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes practically sexually harassing host Lindsay Soto live on NFL Total Access.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that MillerCoors is suing the New England Patriots alleging the team reneged on an exclusive deal.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says an FCC judge has thrown out a supplemental filing by Comcast in response to Tennis Channel’s complaint against the cable provider.

John writes that Time Warner Cable wants the FCC to allow a rule to lapse that calls for regional sports network programming as “must-carry” on cable systems.

Newsday’s Neil Best has the local Super Bowl logo for when the Big Game is played at the New Meadowlands in 2014.

Neil reviews the ESPN Films documentary on Steve Bartman that airs tonight.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY talks with the new New Jersey Devils voice Steve Cangialosi.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Barry Melrose will be joining NHL Network.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record looks at TBS’ MLB Postseason announcing teams that won’t include Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and CBS’ Boomer Esiason are on Maryland football’s placards. Both are Maryland alums. How about Tina Cervasio and Bonnie Bernstein too?

This will disappoint many fanboys. Busted Coverage has discovered that ESPN’s Jenn Brown is engaged.

I’ll leave it there for now. More linkage tonight.

Friday Megalinks Or The Return of Linkage

Due to being at jobsites for the last few days, I haven’t been able post links like I’ve wanted to. I apologize for that. I have tried to be diligent in updating as much as I can.

I have quite a bit to catch up with. I may be a blogging machine as I have to post a lot of things today. Plus, I to get ready to head to New York tomorrow for Blogs with Balls 4 so I’m going to be quite busy. Let’s get to the linkage.

But first, there’s always the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment planning.

National

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal writes that ESPN will do everything it can to head off NBC/Versus at the pass.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch asks if sports broadcasting and politics should mix?

Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press says the Big 12′s TV contracts helped to keep the conference together for now.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog notes that among various TV programming, sports in primetime continues to do well.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks with CBS/WFAN/Westwood One’s Boomer Esiason on how the NFL should investigate the Dallas Cowboys’ medical staff for clearing Tony Romo to play last Sunday.

Mike says ESPN is denying any responsibility for the recent college football chaos and says the Longhorn Network doesn’t have anything to do with it. I think Texas A&M, Missouri and other Big 12 schools would beg to differ.

Bob Velin of USA Today writes that CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery program will investigate the mysterious and unsettling death of boxer Arturo Gatti.

Mike McCarthy and Michael Hiestand of USA Today debate whether schools or TV wield the power in college sports.

John Taylor of College Football Talk writes that Brett Favre gets his first taste of being an analyst next week for CSS.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC has ruled that Cablevision-owned MSG Network cannot withhold its HD signal to other cable providers violating program-access rules.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that YES received its second highest rating ever for the American League East Division clinching game this week.

Mike says Golf Channel and NBC Sports are teaming up for a promotion to give a lucky viewer of “The Big Break” a chance to win a trip to see Notre Dame play in Ireland next year.

Tim Nudd of Adweek says the NFL has pulled an ad for its fantasy football product which used a picture of Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles after he was injured last week.

David Lieberman of Deadline reports that Time Warner Cable is planning to offer a low cost tier that will not include ESPN in the lineup.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown calling Cincinnati football coach Butch Jones something else.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has the sixth and perhaps final installment of New Era’s Yankees-Red Sox Alec Baldwin-John Kraskinski ads. They have been quite good. This latest one may have taken it a bit too far.

Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty reviews the ESPN Films documentary “Catching Hell”, on Steve Bartman and the 2003 Chicago Cubs.

Sports Media Watch talks with the crew of ESPN’s College GameDay.

SMW says despite being on tape delay, Fox drew a decent audience for its first English Premier League game on Sunday.

SMW notes that the ratings for CBS’ 2nd game of its NFL doubleheader dropped from last year.

SMW says the NBA lockout has forced the cancellation of the start of training camp and over 40 preseason games.

And SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito looks at one imaginative marketing campaign that helped Eye Black this week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviews “Moneyball.”

Darren has some interesting facts on sports participation in America.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group looks at how CBS Sports Network was able to bring the Tim Brando Show into a TV simulcast from his base in Shreveport, LA.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has this week’s network TV on-screen typos.

Ben Koo from AA says tomorrow is when Gus Johnson and FX get their real grand opening in college football.

At The Stir, Maressa Brown feels ESPN’s Erin Andrews is unqualified to demonstrate CrossFit.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that WEEI’s Glenn Ordway has suffered a rather severe pay cut due to lower ratings for his afternoon drive show.

At SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at a busy week in local sports media news.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes that Dale Arnold is pleased to be back with NESN after leaving in 2007.

Lang Whitaker and Ian Lovett of the New York Times give us an inside look at DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL Network’s RedZone.

John Jeansonne of Newsday reviews ESPN Films’ documentary on transgendered tennis player Renee Richards.

Newsday’s Neil Best says fans seem to be buying into the New York Islanders’ future.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post has news that some Time Warner Cable subscribers have been waiting for, that the company appears to be close to a carriage agreement with NFL Network.

Phil Mushnick at the Post can’t stand ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Justin Terranova of the Post says last month’s Russian plane crash that killed 44 members of the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl really hit home for MSG Network analyst Joe Micheletti.

And Justin has five questions for Joe.

Lou Lumenick of the Post says “Moneyball” is one of the best baseball movies of all-time.

I’ll break my self-imposed embargo on the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman for a week for this story on the Yankees’ radio rights which are in flux and so are the fates of broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that MSG Network has named Steve Cangialosi to replace Mike “Doc” Emrick on New Jersey Devils games.

And Pete talks with Steve about his new gig.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette is not a fan of a new local sports talk show host.

Ken notes that NBC Sports is extending its “Summer at Saratoga” series for at least two more years.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has announced its Capitals and Wizards schedules.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the college football conference merry-go-round could have some legal ramifications.

Jim says the ratings for the NFL in both Baltimore and Washington were very strong.

South

In the Miami Herald, Joseph Goodman notes the irony of ESPN possibly saving college football from massive chaos.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel catches up with ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer.

Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham (AL) News says ESPN is not ponying up to air high school games from the region.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that an Astros broadcaster is celebrating 25 years with the club.

David asks readers if they find the idea of the Longhorn Network offensive.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says an Oklahoma State wide receiver will be profiled on ESPN’s College GameDay.

Midwest

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says Cleveland MLB team radio voice Mike Hegan is leaving he broadcast after this season.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Reds voice Marty Brennaman can’t campaign on-air for his former partner Joe Nuxhall for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award.

Micahel Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press wonders why the DirecTV/NBC series “Friday Night Lights” didn’t do better in the ratings.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says actor Brad Pitt saw “Moneyball” as a compelling story.

Bob says the Green Bay Packers will be showcased aplenty in the late afternoon window on both CBS and Fox this season.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship failed to draw viewers away from the NFL on Sunday.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with WMAQ-TV sports anchor Paula Ferris.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders why Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin has been missing of late.

Kevin Haskin of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal writes that CBS Sports Network was in town to air an NCAA Division II football game this week.

West

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Big Ten Network won’t allow the local Cox system to pick up Saturday’s San Diego State-Michigan game on a one-time only basis.

The North County Times’ John Maffei writes that unless fans can find a sports bar, they’ll have to listen to San Diego State on the radio.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says it’s too bad Southern California couldn’t see the end of the exciting Oakland-Buffalo game due to silly NFL rules.

Jim says HBO will replay last Saturday’s controversial Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a bankruptcy court has given the Dodgers permission to change their flagship radio station for next season.

Tom says the NFL secondary market rule needs to be changed.

Tom also has a few notes that he couldn’t get into his Friday column.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News looks at the Pac-12′s decision to stand pat, TV’s role in the whole thing and where BYU may be headed.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC’s P.J. Stock is regretting his initial comments on Wade Belak’s death.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog is not so fast to forgive P.J.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC has made some additions to its Hockey Night in Canada crew.

And there you have it for your links today.

Westwood One Radio Unveils Announcing Teams for 2011-12 NFL Season

This just in from Westwood One Radio, we have the announcing teams for Thursday, Sunday and Monday Night Football plus the Sunday afternoon doubleheaders. Not too many changes. We have Kevin Harlan back on Monday nights teamed with either Boomer Esiason or Dan Fouts. Dave Sims and James Lofton are the Sunday Night Football team and Ian Eagle will be joined by Trent Green on Thursdays. Howard David and Kevin Kugler will call the Sunday afternoon games.

Westwood One has been the main rightsholder dating back to when CBS Radio reobtained the NFL radio rights in 1987. We have your press release detailing the men who will call the action.

WESTWOOD ONE ANNOUNCES ALL-PRO BROADCAST LINEUP FOR THE 2011-2012 NFL SEASON

– Kevin Harlan & Boomer Esiason Return as Lead Monday Night Football Team –
– Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback Dan Fouts joins the NFL on Westwood One with James Lofton, Trent Green, Tony Boselli, Mark Malone, Dave Sims, Ian Eagle, Kevin Kugler and Howard David rounding out the lineup –

New York, NY – August 8, 2011 – Westwood One announced today its lineup of all-star broadcasters for the 2011-2012 NFL season. Kevin Harlan and Boomer Esiason will return as the lead announcers for Monday Night Football and Super Bowl XLVI. In addition, Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts joins Westwood One and will provide play-by-play and analysis for select Monday Night games and the Playoffs. Dave Sims and James Lofton return as the Sunday Night broadcast team. Ian Eagle and Trent Green will once again pair up for Westwood One’s Thursday Night broadcasts.

“The NFL season is on and Westwood One has assembled some of the best broadcasters in the business to bring America’s favorite sport to fans nationwide,” said Rod Sherwood, President of Westwood One. “The popularity of NFL football is at an all-time high and we look forward to helping our advertisers and station affiliates seize the moment and connect with more fans than ever before.”

Full broadcast teams for the NFL on Westwood One are as follows:

Sunday Night Football
Play-by-Play: Dave Sims
Color Analyst: James Lofton

Monday Night Football
Play-by-Play: Kevin Harlan
Color Analyst: Boomer Esiason (or Dan Fouts)

Thursday Night Football
Play-by-Play: Ian Eagle
Color Analyst: Trent Green

Sunday Afternoon Doubleheaders
Play-by-Play: Howard David
Color Analyst: Tony Boselli

Play-by-Play: Kevin Kugler
Color Analyst: Mark Malone

Westwood One is the exclusive network radio partner of the NFL primetime package, broadcasting the most games and the best match-ups throughout the entire NFL season. Westwood One has been an NFL network radio partner for more than four decades and the exclusive network radio partner since 1987. The Westwood One 2011-2012 NFL broadcast schedule features 57 national games, including:

Opening Kickoff game, 17 Monday Night games, including one doubleheader, 17 Sunday Night games (including Christmas Night), 7 Thursday Night games (including Thanksgiving Night), one Saturday Night game, a Thanksgiving Day doubleheader, 12 Postseason games, including the NFL Playoffs, the AFC and NFC Championship Games, the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Westwood One also delivers specialty programs, including: The NFL Today, NFL Preview, NFL Insider, NFL Sunday, and NFL Fantasy Football Forecast.

In addition to the 57 game primetime package, Westwood One will also present a weekly doubleheader starting on Sunday, September 11, 2011 and continuing each Sunday through January 1, 2011. These games will be chosen as the season progresses to ensure the best possible matchups. All stations airing Westwood One’s NFL Football coverage can be found using the Station Finder located at www.westwoodone.com beginning Wednesday, September 9, 2011.

WESTWOOD ONE 2011-2012 NFL BROADCASTERS

Kevin Harlan makes his return to Westwood One as the play-by-play voice for Monday Night Football games. Harlan was the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football games throughout the 2009 and 2010 NFL seasons as well as for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four on Westwood One from 2003-2007. Harlan also currently calls play-by-play for CBS Sports’ coverage of the NFL and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, as well as NBA Basketball on TNT. Harlan joined CBS Sports in 1998 as an NFL play-by-play announcer, after having served in the same capacity for Fox Sports since 1994. A veteran football and basketball broadcaster, this will be his 27th consecutive season broadcasting the NFL and this year’s NBA season marks his 24th broadcasting the NBA. Harlan spent nine seasons (1985-93) as the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs and was the voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons as well.

Boomer Esiason provides color commentary for Westwood One’s critically acclaimed Monday Night Football broadcast team and this marks his twelfth year broadcasting for the network. Esiason co-host’s The NFL Today for CBS Sports and also served as the Monday Night Football analyst for ABC Sports for two seasons before joining Westwood One. Boomer also spends mornings co-hosting a daily radio show on WFAN in New York, and co-hosts NFL Preview each week on Westwood One as well. Prior to embarking on a broadcasting career, Esiason was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in NFL history. He spent 14 years in the NFL and quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII. In 1988, Esiason was named NFL MVP by the Pro Football Writers of America and the Associated Press and was named the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1995.

Dan Fouts will serve as analyst for select Monday Night games this season in addition to his duties as an analyst for THE NFL ON CBS. He has been an analyst for THE NFL ON CBS for the past 3 seasons, as well as from 1988-93. Fouts worked for ABC Sports from 1997-2008, most notably alongside Al Michaels and Dennis Miller for two seasons as an analyst on “Monday Night Football”. Additionally, he served as play-by-play announcer for ABC’s coverage of Pac-10 college football. An NFL Hall of Famer, Fouts retired after 15 seasons with the San Diego Chargers, where he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection. Upon his retirement, he held 42 team records and eight NFL records, including most 300-yard passing games, and his 43,040 total passing yards made him the second-most-prolific passer in NFL history. Fouts earned NFL and AFC Player of the Year honors in 1982, and was named AFC Most Valuable Player in 1979 and league co-MVP in 1982.

Dave Sims returns for his sixth season as Westwood One’s play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night Football. Before switching to primetime, Sims called Westwood One Sunday afternoon games as well as the NFL Playoffs for nearly a decade. The two-time Emmy Award winner has also called play-by-play for NCAA Basketball regular season games and tournament coverage for the past eight years and in 2003, also hosted the NCAA Women’s Final Four. In addition to his Westwood One duties, Sims called the Big East Football TV Game of the Week for many years, has written for the New York Daily News and is currently the TV play by play voice of the Seattle Mariners.

James Lofton returns for his third season as an analyst for Sunday Night Football on Westwood One. Lofton served as analyst and sideline reporter for the NFL on Westwood One from 1999 – 2001 and rejoined the Network after a seven-year coaching stint with the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. He was the No. 1 draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1978, beginning a long career as an NFL wide receiver. In 16 season playing for Green Bay, the Los Angeles Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles, Lofton caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards, which was the most in NFL history at the time of his retirement. In 13 playoff games, Lofton caught 41 passes for 759 yards and eight touchdowns, including a seven-reception game in Super Bowl XXVI. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Ian Eagle enters his fourth year as play-by-play announcer for Westwood One’s NFL Thursday night coverage. For the past four years, Eagle also called the action for Westwood One’s coverage of the SEC Basketball Championship and the Regional Semi-Finals and Finals of the NCAA Tournament. Eagle is primarily known for his work with CBS Sports, calling NFL games and NCAA Basketball games since 1998. He also has served as the play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets television broadcasts since 1995, after having called play-by-play for radio broadcasts the previous year. He was the play-by-play radio voice for the New York Jets in 1997 and hosted Jets pre- and post-game shows on WFAN from 1993 to 1996. Eagle joined WFAN Radio in New York in 1990 as a producer and debuted as host of his own show in 1992. Eagle was awarded the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting while attending Syracuse University.

Trent Green returns to Westwood One for his second season as the Thursday Night game analyst after serving in a similar capacity for one year on Sunday’s with FOX Television. In addition, Green also serves as a studio analyst for the NFL Network and as an analyst for preseason games on television for the Kansas City Chiefs. Green spent 15 seasons in the NFL, playing quarterback for five different franchises. He was a member of the Super Bowl XXXIV Champion Rams, but enjoyed his best seasons with Kansas City from 2001-2006. While wearing a Chiefs uniform, he became only the 4th quarterback in NFL history to have three consecutive seasons of 4,000 yards or more passing. He finished his career with 162 touchdowns and over 28,000 yards passing.

Howard David will once again serve as play-by-play announcer for Sunday Afternoon games. David returned to the network in 2009 after an eight-year hiatus. He previously spent 23 years with CBS Radio/Westwood One broadcasting College Football, College Basketball, Masters Golf, US Open Tennis, the Olympics and NFL Football including six seasons as the voice of Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl. David’s broadcast background also includes calling play-by-play for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, as well as NBA Basketball with the New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. He has also hosted talk shows at WQAM in Miami, Sporting News Radio and currently co-hosts a show for Sirius NFL Radio. David was chosen as New Jersey Sportscaster of the Year four times, the NY “Air Award” for broadcast excellence and is also a recipient of a New York Emmy Award.

Tony Boselli returns for his second season as full-time color analyst for Westwood One’s broadcasts of Sunday Afternoon NFL games. Boselli began his national broadcasting career in 2007, working as a game analyst for the NFL on FOX. In 2009, he joined Westwood One where he worked as a part-time analyst for both NFL and College Football. In addition, Boselli has also co-hosted a local daily morning radio show in Jacksonville. The first player ever drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Boselli was chosen #2 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. After six seasons with the Jaguars, which included five Pro Bowls, three All-Pro teams and two trips to AFC Championship Game, injuries forced him to retire in 2006. Selected as a member of the 1990s NFL All-Decade Team, Boselli was the first inductee into the Jaguars ring of honor, and received the prestigious Ed Block Courage Award in 2000. Boselli is a 1994 graduate of the USC where he was a 3-time All-American and winner of the 1994 Morris Trophy, given annually to the top offensive lineman in the Pac 10.

Kevin Kugler returns for his third season as play-by-play announcer for Sunday Afternoon NFL games. He also serves as the lead announcer for Westwood One’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and Final Four. Kugler has served the voice of the College World Series for the past seven years, and has done play-by-play for Westwood One’s coverage of the Masters, College Football, and the 2008 and 2010 Olympic Games. Kugler also co-hosts a daily sports talk show in Omaha, and recently won the Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year Awards for the 7th time in eight years.

Mark Malone returns for his fourth season as both a booth analyst and sideline reporter for the NFL on Westwood One, and his third season as the host of NFL Insider. Prior to joining Westwood One, he served as Sports Director for WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he garnered four Emmys for his work. Malone also spent a decade with ESPN where he hosted many NFL shows including Edge NFL Match-up, NFL Tonight, and Monday Night Countdown. Malone, an All-American quarterback at Arizona State and first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, played for 10 years in the NFL, quarterbacking the Steelers to the 1984 AFC Championship Game.

Jim Gray joined Westwood One in 2001 as host of the network’s Monday Night Football pre-game and halftime shows and this marks his eleventh season fulfilling the same role for the network. Gray also serves as courtside reporter for Westwood One’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and as on-course reporter for the Masters. A prominent network television reporter for over two decades, Gray currently covers boxing for Showtime, has been a contributor to the Golf Channel, and also has served as a courtside reporter for the NBA on CBS, NBC, ABC and most recently ESPN. Gray’s numerous credits include: seven Olympic Games, 22 Masters, thirteen Super Bowls, seven World Series and 15 NBA Finals. Gray has won eight Emmy Awards and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Scott Graham returns for his third season as pregame, halftime and postgame host for the network’s Sunday NFL coverage. Graham has spent over twenty years as a radio and television sportscaster including play-by-play for both the NFL and NFL Europe on FOX. He has also spent the last 15 seasons as The Comcast Network’s primary play-by-play voice of college basketball, and continues to call college hoops for ESPN. On the radio side, Graham served as the play-by-play voice of the Philadelphia Phillies for eight seasons from 1999-2006. For nearly a decade prior to that, he hosted the pregame and postgame shows for the Phillies on CBS Radio in Philadelphia. Since 2003, Graham has narrated a variety of programs, commercials, and features produced by NFL Films. His voice has most often been heard on NFL Game of the Week, in weekly game previews on NFL.com, and in various season highlight films for NFL teams.

And that does it.

Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, Howie Long, Nick Faldo & Other Big Name TV Analysts Team Up To Form Online Venture

It’s an interesting mix of big names from golf, MLB and NFL banding together to form a new interactive website. In addition to the names listed above, Cal Ripken, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles and who does work with TBS during the MLB Postseason is part of what will be known as TXNSports.com. This is an offshoot of The Experts Network which was formed earlier this year. Their first project will be a live online NFL Draft webcast that will be powered through Big Lead Sports.

Disclosure: Fang’s Bites is a member of Big Lead Sports, but is an independently owned blog.

On April 25th, Cris Collinsworth of NBC Sports and Showtime; Boomer Esiason of CBS Sports, Westwood One Radio and WFAN, Howie Long of Fox Sports and Phil Simms of CBS and Showtime will take part in an online NFL Draft preview show. For more on what this company is, we have the press release.

COLLINSWORTH, ESIASON, FALDO, LONG, RIPKEN AND SIMMS TO LAUNCH TXNSPORTS.COM

The Experts Network (TXN) Is A Digital, Licensing, Merchandising, Endorsement, and Sponsor Integration Group Directed by 16W Marketing
TXN TO PARTNER WITH BIG LEAD SPORTS FOR LIVE DRAFT PREVIEW SHOW

Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Nick Faldo, Howie Long, Cal Ripken Jr. and Phil Simms, who joined forces earlier this year to form The Experts Network, now announce the launch of TXNSPORTS.com on April 26^th, 2011.  The team, which under the direction of 16W Marketing will collaborate on digital and social media programming, represents the most well respected, award-winning roster of former champions and respected analytical voices in sports television.

Big Lead Sports, the leading independent digital sports company with more than 19 million users, will partner with TXNSports.com on April 25 when the Network produces its first-ever sports show previewing the NFL Draft. The show, which will feature Collinsworth, Esiason, Long and Simms, will include exclusive draft breakdown by the top voices in NFL television. It will be streamed and promoted across all of Big Lead Sports’ digital platforms, along with other content to be developed by TXN and Big Lead Sports.

In addition to launching TXNSports.com, the members of TXN will team up to for endorsements, appearances, voice-overs and testimonials, among other marketing endeavors. TXN will also direct and create digital platforms and original sports content for other forms of digital distribution.

TXN launched its first digital effort with Turner/SI.com to produce Behind-The-Mic, a series of web-based vignettes providing exclusive expert analysis on news and issues in sports.

“This team has the voice and the power to collaborate in a way that is truly unique in sports, media and marketing. The guys who form TXN and are launching TXNSports.com represent an expertise, a demographic and a lifestyle; they are trusted, familiar and popular,” said Frank Vuono, Partner, 16W Marketing. “On the great stage provided by the Big Lead, TXN will connect in a new and fan friendly platform.”

“We are proud to work with 16W Marketing and TXN on the launch event and online platform,” said Chris Russo, Big lead Sports CEO. “The key to success today is to provide fans with high quality content from leading experts. Working with TXN, we can deliver a great event and a unique online experience for our 19 million users.”

“This is a great opportunity to work with a team I respect as the most popular and influential voices in sports,” said Boomer Esiason. “We each bring something a little different to the programming and the partnership and we are already having some fun with the group at 16W collaborating on new ventures and programming ideas.”

Founded as Fantasy Sports Ventures, in October, 2006, Big Lead Sports (BLS) is an integrated marketing and media company with a focus on digital/fantasy sports.   BLS brings together leading independent voices across all major sports on BigLeadSports.com. The company reaches more than 19 million+ users per month and is the leading independent digital sports property (not owned by a major media company or sports league). Leveraging its large, highly engaged audience, BLS develops custom marketing and media campaigns for leading national advertisers. The campaigns combine traditional online media with custom games, content modules, widgets, and other interactive features that highlight the advertiser’s brand. Chris Russo, the former head of the NFL’s New Media Division, is the founder and CEO of Big Lead Sports.

Collinsworth is the Emmy Award-winning analyst and the lead analyst of NBC Sports Sunday Night Football and contributor to Showtime’s INSIDE THE NFL. Esiason is an analyst for CBS Sports NFL TODAY and the co-host of Boomer and Carton on WFAN NY. He is also the lead analyst of Monday Night Football on Westwood One Radio Network. Faldo is the lead analyst of golf for CBS Sports and The Golf Channel. Long is a lead analyst for NFL on FOX pre-game show. Cal Ripken Jr. is an analyst for MLB on Turner. Simms is the lead analyst for the NFL on CBS, and a contributor to INSIDE THE NFL on Showtime.

And that is it.

Giving You The Friday Megalinks

Ok, let’s do the Friday megalinks. Getting a late start as I’ve been all over the place today, but better late than never.

Check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for information on the sports and entertainment programs for the first weekend in October.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ESPN creating a new brand that will target women and could eventually become a dedicated TV channel. This was already scoffed at on Twitter. We’ll see how this evolves. Asides from ESPN Mobile, the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s ill-fated cell phone brand, when the network commits to an idea, it will usually work so we’ll see.

Eleanor Barkhorn from The Atlantic shares her thoughts, pro and con, on the new ESPN women’s brand. 

A Girl’s Perspective on a Boy’s Game blog has some thoughts on ESPNW.

Dylan Stableford at The Wrap notes there are many women who aren’t in love with ESPNW.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser has more on the new ESPN venture.

Joe Posanaski of Sports Illustrated has a very good tribute to Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser says the Boston Globe will put all of its web content content except sports and breaking news behind a pay wall. 

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks into the history of one of his favorite leads and finds it doesn’t quite measure up to its legend.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse notes that weather delays at the Ryder Cup will force NBC to go live with its coverage on Saturday instead of planned taped coverage.

Fanhouse’s Brett McMurphy has a facetious look at the first televised college football game.

Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports says the Ryder Cup has to move to an earlier date to avoid inclement weather.

Spencer E. Ante of the Wall Street Journal notes NFL games are about to be seen on tablets.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter notes that Fox has pulled 19 of its channels including several sports regional networks off Dish Network over, what else? A carriage dispute.

Andrea Morabito from Broadcasting & Cable says in addition, MSG Network and MSG Plus were pulled from Dish over a pricing dispute.

John Consoli of Mediaweek looks at Fox making Game 3 of this year’s World Series an extra early start.

Mike Freeman of CBS Sports says LeBron James can’t call racism over criticism over “The Decision” when he’s never taken a stand in his life.

The Huffington Post has TNT’s Charles Barkley ripping James for his comments. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says US Ryder Cup team outfitter Sun Mountain Sports is getting heat over its non-waterproof raincoats.

And we have more in this video featuring Darren on CNBC.

MSG Network To Simulcast WFAN’s Boomer & Carton

To help eat programming hours, some regional sports networks have signed deals to simulcast local sports radio programs. YES in New York picks up Mike Francesa’s WFAN show for five hours. MASN in the Baltimore-Washington, DC market picks up Scott Garceau and John Riggins for the afternoon drive block. Now MSG Network in New York has signed WFAN’s morning drive show, Boomer & Carton, hosted by Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton. Interesting because WFAN’s anchor shows are now split on rival networks. Anyway, the simulcast on MSG begins on September 14.

‘Boomer and Carton’ coming to MSG

Popular weekday morning sports-talk hosts’ show to be simulcast live

MSG Network and CBS RADIO’s Sports Radio 66 WFAN announced today that they will bring The FAN’s “Boomer & Carton” show, New York’s No. 1-rated morning radio show among Men 25-54, to television for the first time starting Tuesday, September 14.

The program, hosted by Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, will be simulcast on MSG Network from a new studio at WFAN every weekday morning from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. 

“Boomer and Craig have quickly become an integral part of the sports media landscape in New York,” said Dan Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “They are opinionated, intelligent and passionate about New York sports, and we’re excited to bring WFAN’s ‘Boomer & Carton’ show to our viewers.”

“Boomer and Craig have established themselves as one of the top morning show teams in sports broadcasting, sharing their insight, influence and sense of humor with listeners from all over the tri-state area,” said Don Bouloukos, Senior Vice President/Market Manager, CBS RADIO New York. “Their popular show has a large following among radio and online audiences. This natural brand extension to MSG will boost the visibility of WFAN and the Boomer and Carton program with early morning television viewers. We are pleased to enter into this partnership with MSG who, like us, are pioneers in their industry built on the premise of bringing live, original content to a mass audience through a variety of media assets.”

“Over the years, I’ve enjoyed working for WFAN and MSG – two sports giants in the industry,” said Boomer Esiason.  “There couldn’t be a better fit due to the long-standing history both entities have had with NY sports.”

Added Carton, “As a kid growing up in New Rochelle there was nothing more amazing than going to Knicks games at Madison Square Garden. Having the opportunity to partner with MSG now as an adult is just as amazing. Boomer and I look forward to bringing our radio show to MSG Network and allowing all of our listeners to watch what we do while they continue to listen to us on The Fan.”

In addition to four hours of live programming weekday mornings, MSG Network will also telecast “best of” compilation shows each weeknight and on weekends. Highlights from each show will also be available for streaming at MSG.com and wfan.com.

The “Boomer & Carton” show debuted on WFAN on September 4, 2007 and less than two years later was the No. 1-rated morning radio show in New York among Men 25-54 according to Arbitron, a position they have held for every quarterly ratings report since.  Boomer and Carton’s program features local sports talk, news headlines, and interviews with current and former sports icons, league personnel, and a variety of national celebrities from the entertainment and music industries. Talkers Magazine has named Boomer and Carton to their “Heavy Hundred” list of the 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America for the past three years. WFAN is currently building a new studio for the show that will be used for the simulcast. MSG Network will produce the television show from 11 Penn Plaza – across the street from Madison Square Garden – home of the MSG Media group.

MSG Network is home to the Knicks and Rangers, as well as a plethora of award-winning original programming. This Spring, MSG was honored with 15 Emmy Awards by The New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), more than any other station or network in the region.

Boomer Esiason’s successful career as an NFL quarterback spanned 14 years with the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. The four-time Pro Bowl selection was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1988 and awarded the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 1995 for his philanthropic work. He has raised in excess of $80 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation to fight cystic fibrosis since 1993, when his son was diagnosed with the disease. Upon retirement from the NFL, Esiason made his debut as an analyst for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” broadcasts. He is currently studio analyst on CBS Sports’ The NFL Today pre-game show and calls Monday Night Football, Playoff and Super Bowl broadcasts for the Westwood One radio network. In addition, Esiason hosted “The Boomer Esiason Show” on MSG for seven years.

Craig Carton has spent nearly 20 years in the broadcast industry since beginning his career in 1991. After moving to various stations around the country, with notable stops in Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Denver, New York and New Jersey, Carton returned to his hometown to co-host WFAN’s morning show. During the course of his radio career he has been recognized by Philadelphia magazine in their 30 Under 30 issue, and was ranked as high as No. 9 on Politicsnj.com’s 2007 Power List of New Jersey’s most politically influential personalities. At the time, Carton could be heard afternoons on NJ 101.5. In addition, he can be seen on Spike TV hosting Weekend Pre-Game every Thursday.

That’s it.

Three CBS Sports Super Bowl Press Releases

While I attended the Bloomberg Sports Baseball launch in New York today, three press releases from CBS Sports flew into the Fang’s Bites inbox. I could not post them right away, but I give them to you now. All deal with the Super Bowl which CBS Sports is airing next Sunday.

First, CBS tells us that NFL Today studio analyst Boomer Esiason will be pulling double duty during the Super Bowl, being part of the Super Bowl Today pregame show as well as being the game analyst on Westwood One Radio. This is a duty that Esiason has performed twice before for CBS/Westwood One.

CBS SPORTS’ BOOMER ESIASON DOES DOUBLE DUTY IN SOUTH FLORIDA AT SUPER BOWL XLIV

Esiason to Serve in Studio as Analyst on CBS Television Network’s Pre-Game Show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, then in Booth as Game Analyst with Call of Westwood One’s Broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV

            CBS Sports’ Boomer Esiason will play two positions for the CBS Television Network and Westwood One’s broadcasts of Super Bowl XLIV live from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 7.

            Esiason will join James Brown, Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher in anchoring the CBS Television Network’s pre-game show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY (2:00-6:00 PM, ET), in previewing the game with news, features, highlights and analysis, as well as all the excitement leading up to Super Bowl XLIV. 

Immediately following CBS Sports’ SUPER BOWL KICKOFF SHOW (6:00-6:25 PM, ET), Esiason will make his way up to the Westwood One broadcast booth to join play-by-play announcer Marv Albert, along with Mark Malone and James Lofton as sideline reporters, to call the game on radio. 

Esiason also pulled double duty for both CBS Sports and Westwood One for Super Bowl XXXVIII (Houston) and Super Bowl XLI (Miami). This year marks his 10^th year broadcasting the Super Bowl on Westwood One and his fourth as part of CBS Sports’ Super Bowl coverage. 

CBS also previews the “Phil Simms All-Iron Team: Super Bowl Edition” program that airs before the Super Bowl Today next Sunday.

“PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM:  SUPER BOWL EDITION” HIGHLIGHTS ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL TEAM TO BE UNVEILED ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, FEB. 7 ON CBS SPORTS

CBS Sports lead NFL analyst, New York Giants Super Bowl XXI MVP and 15-year NFL veteran Phil Simms, along with his play-by-play partner, Jim Nantz will unveil the PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM:  SUPER BOWL EDITION on Sunday, Feb.7 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET), prior to THE SUPER  BOWL TODAY on the CBS Television Network.

           

Hosted from Miami, Fla., home of Super Bowl XLIV, this year’s All-Iron Team highlights the All-Time Super Bowl Team. These men make up Simms’ All-Time Super Bowl team that best represent the qualities of Iron Men and have defined their roles in their teams winning a championship.

            Traveling all over the world from Hawaii to Ireland, the PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM includes the first broadcast interview in 20 years with Jake Scott, a safety from the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins team and Super Bowl VII MVP, who now lives a simple life in Hawaii. The show also looks at a day-in-the-life of Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. 

            In addition, the one-hour special also includes an in-depth look at legendary defensive guru Buddy Ryan, architect of the famed “46-Defense” which led the Chicago Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX and father of New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan. 

            The All-Iron Team consists of six Hall of Famers, 37 combined Super Bowl wins, 46 combined Super Bowl appearances, seven combined Super Bowl MVP Awardees and four combined NFL MVPs.

CBS Sports showcases all 12 All-Iron players, coaches and owner with their game highlights and up close and personal profiles, both on and off-the-field.

The All-Iron Team trophy is an old fashion cast “iron” signifying Simms’ obsession with ironing. According to Simms’ mom, Barbara, “As a child Phil even ironed his football and baseball uniforms.” To this day, he is still committed to his creases.

Steve Karasik produces and Pete Radovich directs. Mark Wolff is Coordinating Producer of the All-Iron Team.

And CBS will unveil some high speed cameras and new graphics packages for the Big Game.

HIGH-SPEED CAMERAS AND HIGH-TECH GRAPHICS HIGHLIGHT CBS SPORTS’ TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES FOR SUPER BOWL XLIV COVERAGE

            When CBS Sports presents Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, Feb. 7 (6:00 PM, ET) from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. live on the CBS Television Network, highlighted among the technological advances that will be incorporated during its coverage are high-speed cameras and informative high-tech graphics displays. Super Bowl Sunday also features the CBS Television Network’s biggest one day of programming in high definition television format.

?HIGH-SPEED CAMERAS

THE SUPER BOWL ON CBS will feature six high-speed cameras, known as SuperVision, that will be in hard and hand-held configurations located on the field, in the stands and on sideline carts. Each camera will have the ability to shoot 300-500 frames per second (normal cameras shoot 60 fps) in 1080i high definition format. These Vision Research Phantom V-640 cameras are supplied by Inertia Unlimited and are particularly used in determining questionable calls on the field (ie. fumbles, receptions, out-of-bounds, etc.) from all different angles.

?HIGH-TECH GRAPHICS

In addition to the regular first down line, available on CBS Sports’ primary cameras throughout the 2009 NFL season, five other cameras will be calibrated with the first down line by SportsVision including Skycam and endzone cameras.  As was done during the regular-season, EyeVision will be utilized as a multi-dimensional tool for Phil Simms’ analysis. Given the situation of a field goal or an extra-point conversion that passes above the goal posts, virtual extensions of the goal posts can be added to determine the flight path of the ball and whether the kick was good or not. Hyper Zoom, provided by ORAD, will allow CBS Sports’ coverage to zoom into any video utilizing high resolution. And, the launch of a new animation package for new elements for transitions, roll outs and open animation will be integrated to upgrade existing graphic elements.

?SAP (Secondary Audio Programming)

CBS Sports will broadcast the Super Bowl in SAP. Armando Quintero and Benny Ricardo will call the action for the Network’s SAP broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV.

?HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION

CBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl XLIV will be the Network’s biggest one day of programming in high definition television format as SUPER BOWL XLIV (6:28 PM, ET, kickoff), the pre-game show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY (2:00 PM, ET), and the halftime show, as well as all it’s ancillary pre-game programming including THE ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL (12:00 Noon, ET) and PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION (1:00 PM, ET), will be broadcast in HDTV. CBS Sports’ Super Bowl XLIV HDTV broadcasts will feature the highest definition television format – 1080i lines of picture resolution – and 5.1 digital surround sound.

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call the play-by-play of SUPER BOWL XLIV, along with Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots reporting. Lance Barrow will produce and Mike Arnold will direct.

Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports and serves as executive producer for the Network’s coverage of the NFL and Super Bowl XLIV. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.  Ken Aagaard is Executive Vice President, Engineering, Operations & Production Services, CBS Sports.

That does it for this post. Time to shut the blog down for the night.

My Take on The Top 25 Football Announcers

Lists by publications are made to stir debate and also give them a bit of publicity. The list that was published today by The Sporting News and sister publication Sports Business Daily/Sports Business Journal certainly does that. Already, I’m a bit perturbed that college and NFL announcers are mixed together as are play-by-play callers and analysts.

If it were up to me, I would separate the play-by-play men from the analysts. But that’s me. Just for kicks, here’s the list in full.

1. Gary Danielson, CBS
2. Cris Collinsworth, NBC
3. Al Michaels, NBC
4. Phil Simms, CBS
5. Kirk Herbstreit, ABC/ESPN
6. Troy Aikman, FOX
7. Ron Franklin, ABC/ESPN
8. Verne Lundquist, CBS
9. Joe Buck, FOX
10. Jim Nantz, CBS
11. Mike Tirico, ESPN
12. Brad Nessler, ESPN
13. Brent Musburger, ABC/ESPN
14. Jon Gruden, ESPN
15. Daryl Johnston, FOX
16. Ron Jaworski, ESPN
17. Greg Gumbel, CBS
18. Sean McDonough, ABC/ESPN
19. Todd Blackledge, ESPN
20. Dan Fouts, CBS
21. Bob Papa, NFL Network
22. Mike Patrick, ABC/ESPN
23. Chris Fowler, ESPN
24. Gus Johnson, CBS

25. Dick Enberg, CBS

I’m not enamored with this list. I’ll separate play-by-play and analysts and go from there.

Play-by-play and this includes college football and NFL.

1. Al Michaels – NBC’s Sunday Night Football
Probably the best all-around play-by-play voice ever. He’s called so many big games and rises to the occasion whenever there’s a big moment. Al does a tremendous job in doing football and yes, he does the wink-wink with the point spread, but there’s no one better at setting the scene, giving perspective and breaking down complicated moments than Al. Tops at play-by-play hands down.

2. Ron Franklin – ESPN College Football
Being forced out by ESPN after the college basketball season. Very classy. After Keith Jackson, one of the best ever to call college football. He’s a great fit at games. Why ESPN took him off the primetime package of games is beyond me. Ron is a very comfortable fit in the booth whether he’s calling the Big 12, SEC or other big conferences. ESPN is mistreating Ron this season.

3. Verne Lundquist – SEC on CBS
Calls a very good game. One of the announcer who just exudes college football. He wasn’t happy when CBS took him off the NFL after the 1998 season, but then he started on a tremendous run calling the SEC and he’s become quite comfortable calling the games. Whenever there’s a big game in the SEC, Verne is there and he’s very smooth. Love him and Gary Danielson.

4. Sean McDonough – ESPN/ABC College Football
One of my favorite announcers, his best sport is baseball, but he’s very good at college football and is unfortunately partnered with one of the worst analysts, Matt Millen. Sean is not afraid to call out bad plays and he’s also very good in spotting trends. Works extremely well with his partners to draw out the best analysis. Unfortunately, Millen’s credibility is shot.

5. Jim Nantz – NFL on CBS
He doesn’t scream. Jim gives the nuts and bolts of a game quite well. Has grown into a very good play-by-play man. He works well with Phil Simms. Jim won’t raise the decibel level on your TV. He’ll just provide you with the facts which is what you want.

6. Ian Eagle – NFL on CBS
He’s not on the list, but he should be. And he’s becoming a very good all-around announcer, calling the NFL, the NBA, college basketball and tennis. CBS would do everyone a favor in promoting him to the 3rd or 4th announcing team next season.

7. Dick Enberg – NFL on CBS
Dick has slipped over the past few seasons. One of the announcing elite, but he has made mistakes and miscalls. Still is better than many younger announcers.

8. Tom Hammond – Notre Dame Football on NBC
I think NFL Network should have hired Tom to replace Bryant Gumbel last season. He calls Notre Dame football quite well on NBC and only calls one NFL game a year, the Wild Card playoff game for the Peacocks. I’m glad he got to call 8 Notre Dames this season. He should have a full slate of games.

9. Sam Rosen – NFL on Fox
Sam is a very good nuts and bolts guy. He’s also a very good NHL announcer calling the New York Rangers on MSG Network. He’s always there with down and distance, who made the tackle and sets the scene very nicely. Sam should get more recognition for his work.

10. Gus Johnson – NFL on CBS
Yes, Gus yells. Yes, Gus screams. But yes, Gus can give you a signature call that gives the fan the exclamation point and proper perspective. The best case in point was during the Denver-Cincinnati game in Week 1. Tremendous stuff.

11. Mike Patrick – ESPN/ABC College Football
ESPN took Mike off the NFL when it lost the Sunday Night package and gained Monday Night Football. I thought Mike, Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann were perfect on SNF and should have remained the team for MNF, but what do I know? Mike is quite solid on college football. There are times when I wonder what hair color Mike is going to be from week to week, but that’s minor. He does get a tad too excited, but he’s very good.

12. Brad Nessler – ESPN/ABC College Football
There was a time I didn’t like Brad, but he’s grown on me. I can see Brad becoming a main guy for college football once Brent Musburger decides to retire from announcing. I like his style. He’s not forceful. His style is perfect for college football. I do hope to see him on some bigger games down the road.

13. Kenny Albert – NFL on Fox
A second generation announcer, Kenny has risen to the “B” team for Fox Sports. He’s been with Fox since the network got the NFL package in 1994 and he’s been a very good fit at the network. Another hockey guy who can call the NFL very well. I would take Kenny over Joe Buck any day.

14. Bob Papa – NFL Network
Bob does a great job calling the New York Giants on radio and does a very good job doing the games for NFL Network. Sometimes, the Thursday Night games are stinkers, but no fault to Bob as he doesn’t schedule the games. Bob is another guy who does multiple sports, NFL, boxing, basketball and does all of them well. He lets the action come to him and does a very good job in spotting trends. I’m hoping to see him get more games down the road.

15. Greg Gumbel – NFL on CBS
Greg was the #1 guy on the NFL on CBS and I liked he and Phil Simms. For some reason, CBS took him off, put him on the NFL Today for two seasons, then placed him on the #2 team with Dan Dierdorf. Greg is another guy who won’t go over the top. A very good nuts and bolts announcer and will give you the straight facts. Very good announcer.

16. Dave Sims – Westwood One Radio
Dave is one of the best announcers on radio, bar none. There was a time when he was so busy, you would see him doing Big East football on ESPN Regional TV, hear him doing the NFL on Westwood One Radio, basketball on ESPN and then perhaps a radio talk show guest spot. He calls Sunday Night Football on Westwood One and is a great listen. Calls the game well, spots the players, gives down and distance and is our eyes when we have to hear the radio call. Very good play-by-play man.

You may notice I’ve omitted Joe Buck who I think is horrible on the NFL. I’ve also left off Brent Musburger who I don’t think is a top notch college football announcer. He was a better host and is a better at doing college basketball, but I don’t think he belongs in the upper echelon of that sport either. Again, you can debate away.

Now to the analysts.

1. Phil Simms – NFL on CBS
I enjoy listening to Phil. He’s not afraid to admit he’s wrong. He studies tape every week and can spot things in the booth that other analysts cannot. I enjoy listening to his analysis whenever he calls a game.

2. Gary Danielson – SEC on CBS
I’ll agree that he’s the best college football analyst in the game today. He’s become an ardent apologist for the SEC which I find strange, but overall, Gary is an analyst who can spot a play before it happens. Very enjoyable listen. He and Verne Lundquist have become one of the best announcing teams on TV today.

3. Todd Blackledge – ESPN/ABC College Football
Todd and Gary traded positions a few seasons back. Remember Todd was teamed with Verne in the early aughts? He then left CBS to return to ESPN and then CBS hired Gary away from ESPN. Anyway, Todd has become a premier analyst in college football. Working with Brad Nessler, he’s an analyst who does a very good job in the booth. And his features finding great eating establishments in each town he visits have become must see TV.

4. Cris Collinsworth – NBC’s Sunday Night Football
There are times when Cris makes me scratch my head, but overall, he’s a quite good. When he did Thursday Night Football on NFL Network, he had to carry Bryant Gumbel for two seasons and that wasn’t easy. Cris is so good that he could be a studio analyst or a game analyst and for three seasons was both! It’s not easy to replace John Madden, but after 10 weeks of the NFL season, Cris has made the transition quite nicely.

5. Pat Haden – Notre Dame Football on NBC
It’s too bad that Notre Dame has fallen off the nation’s radar because Pat Haden would be considered one of the elite analysts. Pat used to be the top college football analyst for CBS and also did Sunday Night Football games on CBS Radio. Did them both well. Pat is also not afraid to scold bad quarterback play when he sees it.

6. Troy Aikman – NFL on Fox
I never thought I would see Troy in the booth when he was a player. I didn’t think he had TV in him, but he’s become quite good. At first, he was brought along by Daryl Johnston and Cris Collinsworth as he rose up the ladder on Fox. Now, he can stand alone and I wish he weren’t teamed with Joe Buck so we can really hear some good analysis. Troy is one of the best analysts in the NFL and I enjoy his work.

7. Bob Griese – ESPN/ABC College Football
Ok, taco comment aside, Bob is one of the better analysts in college football. He was teamed with Keith Jackson for a very long time and they formed one of the better announcing teams from the late 1980′s through the 1990′s. Bob may have slipped a bit, but he’s still good at spotting trends, noting passing routes and good on the telestrator.

8. Dan Dierdorf – NFL on CBS
I like Dan’s work from his days on Monday Night Football through now. Still keeps up with the game and gives a good perspective having been in the trenches on the offensive line.

9. Dan Fouts – NFL on CBS
Dan can analyze the NFL or college football with the best. He’s worked with some of the best play-by-play men, Al Michaels, Keith Jackson, Verne Lundquist and his current partner, Dick Enberg. Dan also had to deal with the failed Monday Night Football experiment with Dennis Miller. But through it all, Dan has persevered. His analysis is quite good. He’s had broadcasting in his background thanks to his dad who worked for CBS in the 1960′s. It would be nice if Dan had the opportunity to call a playoff game or two for CBS.

10. Jon Gruden – ESPN’s Monday Night Football
In less than one season, Gruden has shown that he can be one of the better analysts if he chooses to remain on TV. The thing is that no one believes he’s going to stay in the broadcast booth for long, despite signing a multi-year deal with ESPN this week. There were times earlier this season when I could not tell him or fellow analyst Ron Jaworski apart, but now I can. Jon has shown some humor and he’s not afraid to do so at his own expense. He’s very good and if he decides to stay in TV he can be one of the best analysts ever.

11. Daryl Johnston – NFL on Fox
Daryl has done TV for so long, it’s hard to remember that he got his start with CBS in 1998. He’s very smooth and yes, he has to endure Tony Siragusa who interrupts him quite often, but Daryl is such a team player that he seems to have fun with it. Moose’s analysis is solid and while he won’t be on the “A” team on Fox, he does get to call one playoff game a season and does it well teaming up nicely with Kenny Albert and Goose.

12. Craig James – ESPN/ABC College Football
Whenever Craig is in the booth, I enjoy his work. When he was in the studio, especially for ABC with Doug Flutie, I didn’t. I can’t explain it. But Craig is a good listen.

13. Ron Jaworski – ESPN’s Monday Night Football
Ron has a tendency to overhype things, but coming into the booth to replace Joe Theismann two seasons ago was a good thing. To be honest, he didn’t wow me last season when he started with Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser, but with Jon Gruden, has formed a good analysis team.

14. Boomer Esiason – Monday Night Football, Westwood One Radio
He’s good in the studio on the NFL Today, but when he’s on radio with either Marv Albert or Dave Sims on Monday Night Football, Boomer really shines. I like listening to his analysis and he’s not afraid to speak out when he has to. He and Marv are a good team, but I did enjoy when Boomer worked with Howard David.

15. James Lofton – Sunday Night Football, Westwood One Radio
James and Dave Sims are a very formidable radio team. James can spot trends as well and can give perspective on routes from his wide receiver days. Plus, being a Hall of Famer gives him a lot of credibility.

So you have my list of top football broadcasters.

Westwood One Radio Unveils 2009-10 NFL Announcing Teams

After battling the ESPN College Football schedule press release for over an hour and a half as I edited it and tried to get it to format properly, this release from Westwood One Radio arrived in the Fang’s Bites inbox. This should be considerably easier to edit compared to ESPN’s mile long release. Take a look at who will call NFL games for the league’s national radio partner.

ANNOUNCES

ALL-STAR BROADCASTERS

FOR THE 2009-2010 NFL SEASON

-- The Best NFL Announcers on Radio Featuring Hall of Fame Players and Broadcasters –

-- Marv Albert & Boomer Esiason Return as Lead Monday Night Football Team –

-- Kevin Harlan & Warren Moon join the NFL on Westwood One with Dave Sims, James Lofton,

Ian Eagle, Randy Cross, Howard David, Dan Reeves, Kevin Kugler,

and Mark Malone rounding out the lineup --

New York, NY – July 22, 2009 – Westwood One announced today its lineup of all-star broadcasters for the 2009-2010 NFL season. Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason will return as the lead announcers for Monday Night Football and Super Bowl XLIV. In addition, veteran NFL broadcaster Kevin Harlan and Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon join Westwood One and will also provide play-by-play and analysis for Monday Night games and the Playoffs. Dave Sims returns as play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night games and will be joined by NFL Hall of Famer James Lofton. Ian Eagle and Randy Cross will team up for Westwood One’s Thursday Night broadcasts.

“The best quality games call for top quality broadcasters and we are thrilled to have assembled such an amazing lineup for the 2009 NFL season,” said Gary Schonfeld, President of Westwood One Network. “Legendary sportscasters, Hall of Fame NFL players, winning NFL coaches and an unparalleled schedule of games will make for great radio this fall. Fans, stations and advertisers are in for a real treat.”

Full broadcast teams for the NFL on Westwood One are as follows:

Sunday Afternoon Doubleheaders

Play-by-Play: Howard David

Color Analyst: Dan Reeves

Play-by-Play: Kevin Kugler

Color Analyst: Mark Malone

Sunday Night Football

Play-by-Play: Dave Sims

Color Analyst: James Lofton

Monday Night Football

Play-by-Play: Marv Albert (or Kevin Harlan)

Color Analyst: Boomer Esiason (or Warren Moon)

Thursday Night Football

Play-by-Play: Ian Eagle

Color Analyst: Randy Cross

Westwood One has been an NFL network radio partner for more than four decades and the exclusive network radio partner since 1978. As the exclusive radio partner of the NFL, the Westwood One 2009 NFL broadcast schedule features 57 national games, including: the Hall of Fame game, Opening Night game, 17 Monday Night games, including one doubleheader, 16 Sunday Night games, seven Thursday and Saturday Night games (including Thanksgiving Night), Thanksgiving Day doubleheader, Christmas Night, 12 Postseason games, including the NFL Playoffs, the AFC and NFC Championship Games, the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida. Westwood One also delivers specialty programs, including: The NFL Today, NFL Preview, NFL Insider, NFL Sunday, and NFL Fantasy Football Forecast.

In addition to the 57 game primetime package, Westwood One will also present a weekly Sunday afternoon doubleheader starting Sunday, September 13, 2009 and continuing each Sunday through January 3, 2010.

Westwood One is home of the most prestigious sports broadcasts on radio. Westwood One’s lineup includes regular season NFL football, the Playoffs and the Super Bowl; NCAA Football and Basketball including the Final Four; College World Series; Frozen Four; the Olympics; the Masters and more.

WESTWOOD ONE 2009-2010 NFL BROADCASTERS

Marv Albert, the voice of Monday Night Football on Westwood One, returns for his eighth year as play-by-play announcer. For over 25 years, Albert has served as primary play-by-play voice for the NBA on NBC and TNT, along with play-by-play announcing for NFL football, college basketball, boxing, NHL All-Star games, and has hosted studio and pre-game shows for Major League Baseball. Albert has won six Cable Ace Awards, three New York Emmy awards and was named New York State Sportscaster of the Year an unprecedented 20 times. In 1997, he was awarded the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors given to sports journalists.

Boomer Esiason provides color commentary for Westwood One’s critically acclaimed Monday Night Football broadcast team and this marks his ninth year broadcasting for the network. Esiason co-host’s The NFL Today for CBS Sports and also served as the Monday Night Football analyst for ABC Sports for two seasons before joining Westwood One. Boomer also spends mornings co-hosting a daily radio show on WFAN in New York, and co-hosts NFL Preview each week on Westwood One as well. Prior to embarking on a broadcasting career, Esiason was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in NFL history. He spent 14 years in the NFL and quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII. In 1988, Esiason was named NFL MVP by the Pro Football Writers of America and the Associated Press and was named the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1995.

Kevin Harlan makes his return to Westwood One to do play-by-play for Monday Night Football games. Harlan was the play-by-play voice of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four on Westwood One from 2003-2007 and currently calls play-by-play for CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and NBA Basketball on TNT. Harlan joined CBS Sports in 1998 as an NFL play-by-play announcer, after having served in the same capacity for Fox Sports since 1994. A veteran football and basketball broadcaster, this will be his 26^th consecutive season broadcasting the NFL and this year’s NBA season marks his 23^rd broadcasting the NBA. Harlan spent nine seasons (1985-93) as the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs and was the voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons as well.

Warren Moon returns to Westwood One as an analyst, where he worked for three seasons from 2001-2003. He is also entering his 6^th season as the radio analyst for the Seattle Seahawks, and has served in numerous capacities over the years on television, including a stint in the booth for the Pac Ten College Football Game of the Week on FOX. Moon began his pro career with the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League, winning an unprecedented five straight Grey Cups. He signed with NFL’s Houston Oilers in 1984, and played 17 seasons in NFL where Moon completed 3,988 of 6,823 passes for 49,325 yards and threw 291 touchdowns. Despite spending his first six professional seasons in the CFL, Moon ranked third all-time in NFL passing yardage and fourth in touchdown passes thrown at the time of his retirement. Moon was selected to nine Pro Bowls; was named the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1989 and was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Dave Sims returns for his fourth season as Westwood One’s play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night Football. Before switching to primetime, Sims called Westwood One Sunday afternoon games as well as the NFL Playoffs for nearly a decade. The two-time Emmy Award winner has also called play-by-play for NCAA Basketball regular season games and tournament coverage for the past seven years and in 2003, also hosted the NCAA Women’s Final Four. In addition to his Westwood One duties, Sims called the Big East Football TV Game of the Week for many years, is currently the TV play by play voice of the Seattle Mariners and has written for the New York Daily News.

James Lofton returns to Westwood One after a seven-year coaching stint with the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. Lofton served as analyst and sideline reporter for the NFL on Westwood One from 1999 - 2001. He was the No. 1 draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1978, beginning a long career as an NFL wide receiver. In 16 season playing for Green Bay, the Los Angeles Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles, Lofton caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards, which was the most in NFL history at the time of his retirement. In 13 playoff games, Lofton caught 41 passes for 759 yards and eight touchdowns, including a seven-reception game in Super Bowl XXVI. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Ian Eagle enters his second year as play-by-play announcer for Westwood One’s NFL Thursday night coverage. For the past two years, Eagle also called the action for Westwood One’s coverage of the SEC Basketball Championship and the Regional Semi-Finals and Finals of the NCAA Tournament. Eagle is primarily known for his work with CBS Sports, calling NFL games and NCAA Basketball games since 1998. He also has served as the play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets television broadcasts since 1995, after having called play-by-play for radio broadcasts the previous year. He was the play-by-play radio voice for the New York Jets in 1997 and hosted Jets pre- and post-game shows on WFAN from 1993 to 1996. Eagle joined WFAN Radio in New York in 1990 as a producer and debuted as host of his own show in 1992. Eagle was awarded the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting while attending Syracuse University.

Randy Cross returns to Westwood One as an analyst, where he worked for three seasons from 1990-1992 including the network’s coverage of Super Bowl XXIV. He will continue to call games for CBS Television as well, where he has worked as a booth analyst from 1989-1993 and then again from 2002 – present. Cross also served three years as a studio analyst for THE NFL TODAY on CBS and four years at NBC Sports as an analyst for its NFL broadcasts, selected Notre Dame games, the 1995 Fiesta Bowl and as a reporter for Super Bowl XXXII. A 13-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowler, Cross was a center and guard for the San Francisco 49ers and helped lead the team to three Super Bowl championships. A two-time All-American at UCLA, he was the 49ers’ second-round pick in 1976 and missed only eight games over 13 years.

Howard David returns to Westwood One as play-by-play announcer for Sunday Afternoon games. David spent 23 years with CBS Radio/Westwood One broadcasting College Football, College Basketball, Masters Golf, US Open Tennis, the Olympics and NFL Football including six seasons as the voice of Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl. David‘s broadcast background also includes calling play-by-play for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, as well as NBA Basketball with the New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. He has also hosted talk shows at WQAM in Miami, Sporting News Radio and currently co-hosts a show for Sirius NFL Radio. David was chosen as New Jersey Sportscaster of the Year four times, the NY “Air Award” for broadcast excellence and is also a recipient of a New York Emmy Award.

Dan Reeves, former NFL player and head coach, returns to Westwood One for his fourth season as an analyst. Reeves played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1965-1972, during which the Cowboys went to the Super Bowl twice. After his retirement, he became a Cowboys’ Assistant Coach under Tom Landry for nine seasons, three of which resulted in Super Bowl appearances. In 1981, Reeves was named head coach and Vice President of the Denver Broncos, making him the youngest head coach in the league at the time, at age 37. Reeves piloted the team to three Super Bowl appearances in his 12 seasons at the helm. Reeves then took over as head coach of the New York Giants from 1993-1996, and in 1993 was named NFL Coach of the Year by the Associated Press. From 1997-2003, Reeves coached the Atlanta Falcons and in 1998, Reeves won his second Coach of the Year Award for leading them to the Super Bowl, his NFL record ninth appearance in the big game. Reeves won 201 games in 23 years as a head coach, ranking him 7^th in NFL history. All six coaches ahead of him on the career list of victories have already been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Kevin Kugler transitions from NCAA Football on Westwood One and makes his debut as play-by-play announcer for Sunday Afternoon NFL games. For the past three seasons, he has been the lead voice of the College Football Game of the Week and has called the past five College World Series for the Network as well. Kugler also serves as the radio play-by-play announcer for the NCAA Men’s Final Four broadcast and as the lead announcer for Westwood One’s regular season college basketball package. In addition, Kugler broadcast the Masters and the 2008 Summer Olympics for Westwood One, including calling the Gold Medal Basketball game in Beijing. Kugler also co-hosts a daily sports talk show in Omaha, and recently won the Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year Awards for the 5^th time in the past six years.

Mark Malone returns for a second season as an analyst and sideline reporter for the NFL on Westwood One, and will add duties as the host of NFL Insider. Malone spent a decade with ESPN where he hosted many NFL shows including Edge NFL Match-up, NFL Tonight, and Monday Night Countdown. Prior to joining Westwood One, he served as Sports Director for WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he garnered four Emmys for his work. Malone, an All-American quarterback at Arizona State and first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, played for 10 years in the NFL, quarterbacking the Steelers to the 1984 AFC Championship Game.

Jim Gray joined Westwood One in 2001 as host of the network’s Monday Night Football pre-game and halftime shows and this marks his ninth season fulfilling the same role for the network. Gray also serves as courtside reporter for Westwood One’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and as on-course reporter for the Masters. A prominent network television reporter for over two decades, Gray currently covers boxing for Showtime, is a contributor to NBC’s Today Show, and also has served as a courtside reporter for the NBA on CBS, NBC, ABC and most recently ESPN. Gray’s numerous credits include: seven Olympic Games, 22 Masters, twelve Super Bowls, seven World Series and 15 NBA Finals. Gray has won eight Emmy Awards and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Scott Graham joins Westwood One as the new pregame, halftime and postgame host for the network’s Sunday NFL coverage. Graham has spent over twenty years as a radio and television sportscaster including play-by-play for both the NFL and NFL Europe on FOX. He has also spent the last 13 seasons as The Comcast Network’s primary play-by-play voice of college basketball, and continues to call college hoops for ESPN. On the radio side, Graham served as the play-by-play voice of the Philadelphia Phillies for eight seasons from 1999-2006. For nearly a decade prior to that, he hosted the pregame and postgame shows for the Phillies on CBS Radio in Philadelphia. He currently hosts a daily show on Sirius/XM’s MLB Channel. Since 2003, Graham has narrated a variety of programs, commercials, and features produced by NFL Films. His voice has most often been heard on NFL Game of the Week, in weekly game previews on NFL.com, and in various season highlight films for NFL teams.

Nice to see Tommy Tighe out of the studio host role. He was unlistenable with his stupid puns and silly rhymes. Scott Graham is a good choice to replace him. Much better than Tommy Tighe. I’m also glad to see that Howard David is back on Westwood One’s NFL coverage. Great radio play-by-play man. More later.

The Recovering From Blogs With Balls Links

I’m back from New York after attending the Blogs With Balls conference. Actually, I got back around midnight, but I was so tired, I hit the bed and didn’t get up until after 9:30 this morning. I updated Twitter from the conference between 10 and 4, but after that, I couldn’t do anything as my iPhone battery ran out. I should have brought my iPod Touch with me as a backup. Next time.

It was a good time and I’ll give you an entire recap coming up. I’ll do the links first.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who just finished doing a fellowship at the University of Michigan says the Red Wings loss in the Stanley Cup Finals adds to Motor City’s malaise.

Newsday’s Neil Best links to a great MLB.com video showing all four calls of the now-infamous Luis Castillo dropped pop-up leading to a dramatic Yankees win over the Mets on Friday.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says in the Yankees universe, silence is deafening.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman speculates on the next TV move for Boomer Esiason.

I ask the New York Post, what have you done with the real Phil Mushnick because he actually writes a very good preview piece on the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black today. There’s no hate, venom or vitriol. Is this the real Phil Mushnick?

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette looks forward to watching MLB Network’s “The Pen” tonight.

Laura Nachman says a former Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia reporter is now part of MLB Network.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner profiles Fang’s Bites fav from the 2008 Olympics Lindsay Czarniak who’s working the pits today for TNT’s coverage of the Lifelock 400.

The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager recaps a discussion on Twitter during CNN’s Reliable Sources segment today. Ray also wonders why NBC did not follow up with a replay of the mad scramble in front of the Pittsburgh net in the final seconds of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman reports that the FBI is investigating the owner of the Windy City’s web radio station for questionable business practices.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks with Joe Buck about the new HBO show.

Artie Gigantino from the San Francisco Examiner enjoyed Comcast SportsNet California’s story on former Kings guard now Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Let’s catch up on some posts from the Sports Media Watch. SMW says 16 million people watched Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Belmont Stakes performed relatively well despite having no shot of a Triple Crown winner this year. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals cleaned up in the ratings on Friday. And here’s Paulsen’s Weekend Ratings Predictions.

Steve Lepore’s Puck The Media also talks about the Game 7 ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Joe Favorito talks about the responsibility athletes and the media have.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says the 100th Millionth fan attending an MLB game was found on Saturday.

Hmmm. That’s all I can find for now. I’ll be back later with the Blogs With Balls recap and hopefully some more stuff today. See you later.

Friday/Saturday Megalinks

Mostly due to laziness, I’m doing the Friday megalinks late at night. I was at work today and that took precedence, but I did do some blog posts during the day, but any links. So I’ll take care of that now and combine Friday’s and Saturday’s links together.

Of course, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks to start.

We go into the last weekend of the NFL regular season with the AFC East, the NFC South, the AFC West and an AFC wildcard spot still in the balance. Both CBS and Fox have doubleheaders and the very last game of the regular season, Sunday night’s Denver-San Diego game will decide the winner of the AFC West and the last playoff spot. The entire viewing schedule plus distribution maps can be seen in the NFL Viewing Picks.

There are four college bowl games taking place this weekend, three on Saturday and on Sunday. ESPN will carry all of them. The Meineke Car Care Bowl kicks off the tripleheader on Saturday pitting West Virginia and North Carolina at 1 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., it’s the Champ Sports Bowl with Wisconsin battling Florida State, then in primetime at 8 p.m., it will be the Emerald Bowl as Miami (FL) takes on Cal. Then on Sunday, the Independence Bowl has Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech at 8:15 p.m.

Not much for college basketball this weekend as the holiday break takes hold. But CBS has West Virginia at Ohio State, Saturday at 4 p.m. You can take a gander at the national schedule in the College Basketball Viewing Picks.

Now onto the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand gives you a 2008 sports media quiz.

Pat Eaton-Robb of the Associated Press looks at Chris Berman who enters his 30th year at ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Detroit Lions with a chance to go 0-16 have plenty of merchandise to commemorate the possibility of a reverse perfect season. And Darren looks at the lengths one man went to buy the famous Honus Wagner baseball card.

Joe Favorito says the Portland Trail Blazers expanded on last year’s initial Hanukah night with success.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable says the renewal of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry brought ABC some nice Christmas ratings. Alex adds that MLB Network continues to add to its on-air roster.

John Eggerton of B&C writes about the Christmas Day launch of the new Ski Channel which started airing on various cable systems and DirecTV.

Multichannel News has a video produced by R. Thomas Umsted which looks inside the launch of the MLB Network.

The Sports Media Watch says Celtics-Lakers was the second highest rated NBA regular season game of this decade. The SMW says ABC’s NBA doubleheader including Celtics-Lakers did well. SMW says after seven seasons of broadcasting the NBA, ESPN/ABC seems that its finally hitting its stride.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick rips poker on ESPN.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with CBS’ Boomer Esiason about the Jets’ season finale against Miami. And Justin has five questions for Fox NFL Sunday’s Howie Long.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says while the media rips the Yankees for spending in a down economy, history shows that the spending doesn’t always lead to a championship.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the NFL is the 800 lbs. ratings gorilla. Neil has some numbers in his blog to back his column. Neil reviews the year in sports media. Neil also reviews the year’s most watched sporting events. Finally, Neil reviews his sports media predictions for this year.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union writes that NBC is hoping for an assist from the weather for the NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott lists his top ten broadcast media stories of 2008.

Laura Nachman says a former CN8 host is moving over to Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

South

Roger van der Horst of the Raleigh News & Observer talks ACC hoops with ESPN analyst Jason Williams. Roger says the ACC is dealing in a position of weakness as it prepares to negotiate a new football TV contract.

Doug Nye of The State says the NFL’s Greatest Game Ever Played remains as important today as it was in 1958.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has the NFL explanation as to why Denver-San Diego was chosen as the Sunday night game instead of Dolphins-Jets.

Dave Darling from the Orlando Sentinel looks back at some of the best sports quotes of 2008.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram suggests some sports books to buy with your holiday bookstore gift card.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says local Cowboys fans will be able to watch their team in action this weekend without fear of blackout.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News has some reaction to various sports media actions. In his blog, Barry catches up with Stars TV analyst Daryl Reaugh. Barry writes that ESPN NFL analyst Emmit Smith took the coin used in the last ever Texas Stadium coin flip. And Barry says ESPN’s Marcellus Wiley is blaming the Cowboys’ strength and conditioning coach for the team’s annual folds.

The Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht talks with ESPN/ABC college football analyst Craig James about his passion for ranching.

Midwest

Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic says Fox’s Jeanne Zelasko is applying for the Dodgers TV play-by-play gig.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Chargers’ Philip Rivers is a good fit on TV.

The North County Times’ John Maffei says that Al Michaels is happy to have a “home game” this Sunday night.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says the TV ratings bear out that the Dallas Cowboys are truly America’s Team.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that snow at Wrigley Field would make for a perfect day for NBC for the NHL Winter Classic. Tom has a shortened version of his media notes, but lots of video. Tom asks why not Jeanne Zelasko for the Dodgers play-by-play gig. Finally, Tom reviews his week in blogging.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer previews the MLB Network launch.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that TSN is providing plenty of coverage of the World Junior Hockey Championships from Ottawa.

Sheri Levine of the Canwest News Service says TSN will offer ten days of coverage from the event.

And that’s going to do it.

The Wednesday Links

Here we go with your links today. Let’s get started.

With USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about CBS Sports taking back Dan Fouts after a stint at ESPN/ABC and bringing in Warren Sapp for Inside the NFL.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that CBS and ESPN are seeing good ad sales for the NFL despite the sluggish economy.

Mike Shiels from Mediaweek says CBS will launch an NFL web-only show during the season.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that Sirius XM President and CEO Mel Karmazin wanted to know where Neil got his source from regarding the Chris Russo-to-satellite radio story. Neil writes a story about the Mad Dog being introduced at Sirius headquarters yesterday. Neil talked with WFAN/CBS’ Boomer Esiason about the Mike & the Mad Dog split. Neil also got reaction from CBS’ Phil Simms who was a regular guest with Mike & the Mad Dog. Neil gets reaction from ESPN’s Mike Tirico about Mike & the Mad Dog.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about Chris Russo going to Sirius XM. Richard also writes about ESPN’s high interest in bidding for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

Stuart Elliot of the Times looks at the ads targeted at women during the Olympics.

Tim Mullaney and Gillian Wee of Bloomberg News says NBC’s Olympic viewing has declined since Michael Phelps’s part of the Games are over.

Tim Cuprisin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NBC is adding online viewers to its overall viewing audience for the Olympics. Bob Wolfley of the Journal Sentinel writes a majority of viewers for the Olympics are women.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell catches up with gymnastics gold medalist Nastia Liukin.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog says calling Olympic events off a monitor in New York is not the same as having the announcers in Communist China.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes that Michael Phelps could see as much as $100 million in endorsements.

From the Washington Post, Leonard Shapiro gives us his loves and hates of NBC’s Olympics coverage. Paul Farhi of the Post has some suggestions for NBC on how to improve its coverage. And Paul notices that the “Up Close and Personal” features are shorter this year.

I just saw that Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 200 meters in a record time of 19.30 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson’s 19.32 set in Atlanta.

Ron Judd of the Seattle Times was touched by one particular moment at the weightlighting venue yesterday. And Ron is excited by ESPN’s promise to do the 2014 and 2016 Olympics live if it wins the bid.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that NBC’s gymnastics analysts were hardly objective.

Steve Springer of the Los Angeles Times agrees.

T.J. Simers of the Times has Dodgers 2nd baseman Jeff Kent backtracking from his comments about Vin Scully.

Joe Favorito talks about the Baltimore Orioles honoring its 50 millionth fan entering Camden Yards last week.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record talks about Versus adding to its college football lineup.

That’s all for now.

The Thursday Linkage

With this being Thursday, I have a lot of stuff to do and there’s the NCAA Tournament to keep track of so let’s get to some links now.

From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Bill Doyle talks with ESPN’s Steve Phillips who’ll be traveling to Japan to call the Red Sox-A’s games next week.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald has a story on WEEI’s Glenn Ordway who’s daughter seems to be fine after a harrowing ordeal at childbirth. We’re happy to hear that she’s recovering nicely.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has an update on NESN’s search for Tina Cervasio’s replacement and other related stuff.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks with Screamin’ Gus Johnson of CBS Sports and has a mention of legendary Tribune NBA reporter Sam Smith deciding to leave the paper.

Tom Dorsey from the Louisville Courier-Journal says March Madness takes over the TV and workplace for the next couple of days.

Matt Huggins of the Mitchell (SD) Daily Republic says this is the most wonderful time of the sports year.

Julia Boorstin of CNBC says no matter how you watch the NCAA Tournament whether it be online, on TV or through satellite, CBS wins.

Christine Brennan of USA Today suggests to have the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours at the same site on the same day. Not a bad idea and it would cost less for the NCAA to have one site instead of two.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is in Day Nine of his Minor League Baseball logo contest.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says WPEN will take on ESPN Radio’s programming for most of the day.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that CBS/WFAN’s Boomer Esiason has joined USA Football as a spokesman and contributor.

The Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

Chris Hogg of Digital Journal says the NBC Sports website got hit by a malicious attack yesterday.

That’s it for now. Back after the late afternoon games.

Friday Megalinks Combined with Saturday Links

My fault that the Friday megalinks weren’t here yesterday. Lots of issues that I don’t need to get into, but I’ll give them to you today with your weekly Saturday links.

Let’s go:

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes about Fox’s plans for its silly Red Carpet Super Bowl pregame show.

TV Week has the sports TV ratings for the week ending January 20.

Let’s go from East to West

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes about WBZ-TV being the “official Patriots station”.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times tells us that Marv Albert is still learning from his mentor, the late Marty Glickman.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman lectures the media on how to do their jobs when asking Bill Belichick questions during Super Bowl week.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Boomer Esiason is going to have to make a choice soon. Mushnick’s arguments here really don’t water.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Giants fans who want Super Bowl tickets are finding the process frustrating.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says Orioles fans remain interested in the team despite the recent hard times.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says there’s a lot to watch this weekend even if there’s no football.

South

Doug Nye of The State says the Buick Invitational is a pick to click this weekend. And Nye says there was a lot of talk about South Carolina basketball coach Dave Odom’s retirement announcement this week.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says WQAM beat rival 790 The Ticket in the most recent Arbitron ratings.

Dave Darling in the Orlando Sentinel says there’s going to be plenty of sports to watch before the Super Bowl.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox will cover other things besides the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says former Dallas Mavericks announcer Allen Stone has found a new calling in life.

Ray Buck from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson share the same philosophy when it comes to the Super Bowl.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News asks are you ready for a lot of football?

Midwest

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says NBC hopes to bring figure skating back into the national spotlight.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin writes that NBC is pulling out all of the stops for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this weekend.

Bob Wolfley has Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson talking about their frozen experience in Green Bay last week.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says KSDK hopes to resolve problems with hockey and golf conflicts when it airs the Cardinals during the spring and summer.

West

Scott D. Pierce in the Deseret Morning News writes that Versus will keep the NHL for the next three seasons.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says he’s relieved not to hear about LaDanian Tomlinson this week. And here are the ratings in San Diego from last week.

John Maffei of the North County Times says CBS and the Golf Channel are showcasing a lot of the San Diego area thanks to the Buick Invitational.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star previews the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on NBC.

Christine Daniels writes in the Los Angeles Times about the technical glitch that marred Kelly Tilghman’s apology on the Golf Channel on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth says there’s a whole lot of apologizin’ going on. He has a follow up to the column in his Farther Off the Wall blog. And there’s his extensive media notes as well.

Canada

In the Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich writes that the CBC is hoping to jump into the all-sports parade.

And William Houston writes in the Toronto Globe and Mail that CTV is charging a premium for Super Bowl spots.

I’ll have another post later. Keep it here.

Mid-Week Linkage

Hello. Every day, I briefly check WEEI to hear who’s hosting the morning show for Dennis & Callahan. Today, it was Bob Lobel and Steve Burton from Channel 4 in Boston along with Jon Meterperel. Unless something happens quickly, it appears that Entercom is willing to continue without its signature show for as long as it takes. Of course, the contracts of John Dennis & Gerry Callahan expire on Friday. We’ll see if this gets resolved, but the chasm between the two sides might be too big at this point. Anything changes, I’ll let you know.

The PGA Tour is reeling after Tiger Woods missed the first leg of the FedEx Cup “playoffs”, the Barclays, and now, Phil Mickelson is skipping the third leg, the upcoming BMW Championship in Chicago. CNBC’s Darren Rovell explains why the top two players in the world aren’t so willing to play.

Let’s go to USA Today where Michael Hiestand looks at the weekend TV ratings. Hiestand also writes about the NFL announcing and studio teams for the network TV partners.

The Hartford Courant picks up wire copy on the changes in the NFL TV networks’ lineups.

Molly Willow of the Columbus Dispatch looks forward to the return of Monday Night Football and the “Jacked Up” segment on Monday Night Countdown.

Steve Zipay of Newsday writes about Boomer Esiason’s debut on WFAN.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on the new stadium for the New York Giants and Jets.

Let’s check out the latest on the Big Ten Network. Joe Rexrode of the Lansing (MI) State Journal writes that Comcast still won’t budge in this dispute. Students of Michigan State will be able to see BTN on campus. Walt Moody of the Centre (PA) Daily Times says Pennsylvania viewers of BTN could not view the Appalachian State-Michigan game. Mike Joseph also of the Centre Daily Times writes that a Penn State trustee is lobbying Pennsylvania legislators to support BTN.

Jack Bogacyzk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail says West Virginia will not get a payday for playing Marshall on ESPN2. This marks first time the two schools will have played at Marshall’s field since 1915.

ESPN will contribute to Good Morning America’s third hour which will be seen online only.

All of the Phoenix Suns games will be on TV and in HD.

The Mayors of Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina have written a joint letter to Time Warner Cable asking the company to pick up MASN.

TSN, one of two all-sports TV networks in Canada, has signed an 8 year extension to show Toronto Maple Leafs games. By the way, the Leafs will be seen on no less than four different outlets. And William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Rogers Sportsnet has ponied up the cash to become the primary regional carrier of the Leafs. Rogers has its own release here.

Those are the links for now.

Back to Work Tuesday Links

They say you’re supposed to come back from a three day weekend recharged. Whomever said that should be shot. I’m not recharged. I’m dragging more than usual. I think we should have a five day weekend so we come back Thursday, then leave for home on Friday. That’s what we should have. I think I would really be recharged, but a three day weekend, there’s not enough time to relax.

Anyway, enough about me, let’s get to the back to work links.

For those who think Dennis & Callahan would return to WEEI today, you would be wrong. The station now enters an important phase with the Patriots’ season beginning this weekend and the Red Sox heading into the postseason and its morning show is in flux. David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has the latest.

John Molori of Boston Sports Media Watch has an article on CBS’ Jim Nantz who is preparing for his third season of lead play-by-play man on the NFL.

Neil Best of Newsday has a new entry in his Watch This! blog and he says he’s missed blogging during his vacation.

One show that went on the air today as scheduled was Boomer & Carton on WFAN. Steve Zipay of Newsday had a preview. The New York Daily News’ David Hinckley also has a preview.

Darren Rovell of CNBC wonders who really is the winner of the Appalachian State-Michigan game.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick calls bullshit on a bunch of networks. Also from the New York Post, something we linked to last week, that ESPN will drop scripted programming for the foreseeable future.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that tonight, Fox Sports Net affiliates across the country will have a two hour re-air of the Big Ten Network’s Appalachian State-Michigan game. The Detroit Free Press also reports on the FSN re-air.

Tim Cronin of the Chicago Daily Southtown has his take on the Big Ten Network’s first moments. Rick Petersen and Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register says the lack of BTN on Mediacom systems gives Iowa residents few options for the game against Syracuse this Saturday. Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says BTN scored with ad sales despite a smaller than expected audience. Jay Hart of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the ESPN College Gameday crew had to take back its comments on Appalachian State.

Andrew Hinkelman of the Anchorage (AK) Daily News has a profile of native Mark Schlereth who’s been busy for ESPN.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says NBC is tweaking the technology for Sunday Night Football.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News writes that the NFL is still a cash cow for its network partners.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star has a story on one local sports radio talk show host who wants to stay with his radio station.

Up in Canada, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun talks about the 15th anniversary of all sports radio station, The Fan 590 and talks about its influence throughout the US and Canada.

That’s it for now.

Friday Before Labor Day Links

Good morning. Quick report on the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. The US won two more golds with Jeremy Wariner leading an American sweep of the men’s 400 Meters and Allyson Felix easily beat 100 Meter gold medalist Veronica Campbell of Jamaica and the rest of the field in the women’s 200 Meters. Great to watch track & field just as I arrive at work. I’ll miss this next week.

Ok, time to give you links for today. This will be a mega-update so let’s get to them without further delay.

First, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch went to ESPN Thursday and recaps his visit. He also has progress reports from yesterday, part one is here, this is part two, you’ve got part three here, and this is the last one.

Susan Bickelhaupt of the Boston Globe talks with NBC Sports producer Tommy Roy who is part of the team bringing the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, MA to the airwaves this weekend.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today discusses ESPN’s college football weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on one of the best sports analysts on TV, John McEnroe, who is parlaying his angry teenage persona into some acting gigs.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick is usual grumpy self, going after ESPN for announcing that 50 Cent will be doing the open for college football on ABC. And NYP’s Justin Terranova has five questions for SNY’s Mets analyst Ron Darling.

The Bucks County Courier Times’ Laura Nachman writes about the on-going Comcast/NFL Network feud.

Doug Nye of The State in South Carolina writes about a new documentary on the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. And Nye’s TV best bet for the weekend is Florida State-Clemson, another version of the “Bowden Bowl”, this Monday night.

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel is warning University of Central Florida fans not to flock to their computers to see Saturday’s game at NC State on ESPN360 because their internet providers don’t have an agreement with the service. Also in the Sentinel, Dave Darling gives 10 reasons why the Bowl Championship Series works.

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson talks to former Miami coach Larry Coker who will call his old team’s season opener tomorrow on ESPNU.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks about more high school football games being televised.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune looks at two books devoted to college football.

Bob Wolfey in today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the Big Ten Network is hoping that cable subscribers will defect to DirecTV.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad writes that Minneapolis Fox station, KMSP is hoping the Vikings’ home opener next Sunday is sold out.

In the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jay Posner writes about arch-enemies Ted Leitner and Lee Hamilton working together on San Diego State University football games. And Posner says there could be a new sports radio station in San Diego …. or perhaps not.

The North County Times’ John Maffei also writes about the odd couple of Leitner and Hamilton joining forces.

Larry Stewart in the LA Times talks about the opening weekend of college football on TV.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes about former Dodger announcer Ross Porter returning to radio to give commentaries.

From the Sports Media Watch blog, Paulsen notes that for the 9th straight week, ratings for MLB on Fox are down.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is off the Ana Ivanovic beat for now and is back on the David Beckham beat. Darren correctly points out that with Beckham out, with all this hype, the attendance numbers for his appearances have been overblown.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog reports that NBC’s John Madden will return to Sirius NFL Radio for the 4th straight year as a weekly guest.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS’ Boomer Esiason in advance of his new radio show which premieres on WFAN next Tuesday.

Up to Canada we go and the Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says the Super Series between Canada and Russia is getting higher ratings than expected.

And the Toronto Globe and Mail’s William Houston reports that the Canadian Olympic Committee is looking into launching a cable channel devoted to amateur sports.

Sunday Links or Day 7 of the D & C Lockout

We’ll probably find out tomorrow regarding the Dennis & Callahan lockout from WEEI. With their hopes of a competing regional network dashed, I’m thinking D & C are probably going to re-sign with Entercom. Stay tuned.

Let’s get to some links for you.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner in his Watch This! blog has a preview of tonight’s action. And he also calls the NASCAR Hot Pass feature on DirecTV one of the best innovations in sports television.

In the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn says Fox’s Daryl Johnston may do NFL games, but he isn’t afraid to speak out about disability payouts to former players.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch goes over the Big Ten Network-cable dispute. And Caesar goes over Tim McKernan’s decision to stay in St. Louis to do radio over going to New York to work for SNY as an anchor.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News looks at the changes this season in the Fox NFL Sunday pre-game show.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has his usual Sunday column right off the bat, he trashes ESPN for its self-promotion during the Little League World Series, even down to the graphics it shows during at-bats.

Over to the New York Daily News where Bob Raissman writes that there will be on pressure on Boomer Esiason not to become a clone of Don Imus when he and Craig Carlton start their morning show on WFAN in September.

Bill Robinson in the Marietta (OH) Times says local cable company, Suddenlink, is among the cable companies that have not signed with the Big Ten Network.

Bryan Curtis of the New York Times’ Play magazine looks at the phenomenon of ogling at female sideline reporters. Also in Play, Charles McGrath talks to Nick Faldo of CBS and the Golf Channel.

Jonathan Landreth of the Hollywood Reporter looks at the task of bringing the Olympics in Beijing to reality, not only for China, but for the networks that will cover the games.

In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ray Buck talks to Eddie George who will try to show the positive side of sports in a new program premiering on FSN.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that the NFL Network is seeing an increase in subscribers, albeit a small increase, but the NFL Network will take what it can get at this point.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that his city has a higher percentage of households that don’t get cable or satellite TV as compared to the national average. Interesting.

Not bad for links on a Sunday. I’ll be back later with Videos of the Week.

WFAN Hires Boomer and Craig for Morning Show

Lost in the shuffle in the Dennis & Callahan lockout and the death of Phil Rizzuto is the news that WFAN has officially announced that Boomer Esiason will be the new host of its morning show. To help out, Craig Carlton, one of “The Jersey Guys” on New Jersey 101.5 will be co-host. The show is officially called “Boomer and Carlton In the Morning”. Kind of unoriginal, but what are you going to do?

They officially replace Don Imus who was ousted earlier this year for his “Nappy headed hos” comment. And this announcement comes on the same day that CBS Radio settled with Imus for $20 million. It frees up Imus to find employment elsewhere and also allowed CBS Radio to finally make the announcement about Esiason and Carlton.

The press release also mentions that Esiason will continue to Monday Night Football on Westwood One Radio, although I wonder if he’ll be able to do an entire season.

The Wednesday Links

Time for the links on this Wednesday.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent about the NBA referee gambling scandal. You may remember Vincent was in charge when the Pete Rose gambling story ruled the front pages.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the NBA TV partners still have confidence in the league despite the referee gambling scandal.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that Don Imus more than likely won’t be returning to WFAN and Boomer Esiason will be his replacement.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks about ESPN’s re-entry into NASCAR with plenty of bells and whistles.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner compares David Beckham’s MLS debut on Saturday to Geraldo Rivera’s opening of Al Capone’s safe. Harsh, but there’s a certain ring of truth to it. And Williams says in his blog that the ratings for Saturday on ESPN was a big hit as far as soccer is concerned.

CBS will air a PGA Championship preview this weekend.

Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star says Indiana University fans are worried that they won’t be able to see games once the Big Ten Network launches.

Continuing on conference TV networks, Mark McGrane of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Mountain West Conference is concerned about carriage for the mtn. channel which is still struggling to get agreements with cable companies.

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein writes that WMVP’s Dan McNeil returns from suspension today. Apparently McNeil insulted a Comcast Sportsnet Chicago executive on the air. Real nice, Dan. And Greenstein reports that WSCR morning show host Mike North has garnered his best ratings since moving to morning drive.

Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette has praise for ESPN’s new College Football Live show which debuted this week.

In Bob Wolfey’s column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jon Anderson of ESPN says he was surprised that Dan Patrick announced his departure from the network (scroll down).

That’s it for now.

Primetime Viewing Picks

Before I do the choices, let me give you a bit of small breaking news, not full blown scale BREAKING NEWS.

Neil Best of Newsday spoke with Boomer Esiason’s agent and he found out that Boomer is pretty much the top choice to host the WFAN morning drive show. Even though Friend of Don Imus, Bo Dietl stated that the I-Man is coming back in September, it sounds to me the door to WFAN is closed. But does this mean the Imus return is to another syndicator or XM Satellite Radio? Makes one wonder.

Ok, to the primetime viewing choices.

Kansas City at Red Sox – NESN, 7 p.m.
San Francisco at Cubs – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Wait ‘Til Next Year: The Saga of the Chicago Cubs – HBO, 7 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother – CBS, 8 p.m.
Victoria Beckham: Coming to America – NBC, 8 p.m. (just out of curiousity)
Dateline NBC – NBC, 10 p.m.