Fang's Bites

The Boston Red Sox “Boston Strong” Tribute

This video was played before today’s Kansas City Royals-Boston Red Sox game. There were Boston and Watertown Police officers, FBI, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. They all received heartfelt applause from the crowd.

And there was this video put together by the Red Sox to Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” and after it was done, there was not a dry eye in the house. Unfortunately, NESN cut away from it several times to show reaction from the crowd. So thanks to the Red Sox and MLB, we have the video in its entirety.

And then David Ortiz charged up the crowd with his F-bomb proclaiming Boston as “our f**king City!” Classic Big Papi.

Overall, a great pregame ceremony.

Quick Mid-Week Links

I’ll do some linkage here.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says Dick Vitale finally gets to call the NCAA Final Four, but for an international audience.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily reports that Fox is in talks with Regis Philbin to host a show on Fox Sports 1.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report wonders if having Gus Johnson on the World Cup will work for Fox.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter talks with CBS Sports Head Honcho Sean McManus about the network’s handling of Super Bowl XLVII.

Rick Kissell at Variety says the Super Bowl put CBS on top of the 18-49 ratings demographic and probably put it there to stay for the rest of the TV season.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says online streaming of the Super Bowl set a record.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News has NBC looking forward to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Anthony CrupiCrupiCrupi of Adweek says CBS did not experience a post-Super Bowl bounce on Monday.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age notes that Fox is already pitching advertisers for Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.

Bill Cromwell from Media Life Magazine says Budweiser’s touching Clydesdale Super Bowl ad was the most popular among the publication’s readers.

Jeff Pfeiffer at Channel Guide says Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl received its highest ratings ever on Sunday.

The Nielsen Wire blog has the final viewing numbers for Super Bowl XLVII on CBS. Still close to my prediction of 108.2 million.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says CBS failed to address the main issues facing the National Football League before, during and after its Super Bowl broadcast.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says ESPN has blanketed the country with satellite trucks in order to cover National Signing Day today.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell asks if movie ads were the true winners on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn writes that former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield will co-host a new reality show on MLB Network. Wait until you read about the premise.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC will begin its Olympics coverage from Sochi a day early.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Lindsay Vonn’s injury at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships put a damper on NBC’s Olympic media kickoff event on Tuesday.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable has added MSG Plus and MSG Plus 2 in the Capital Region.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Tennis Channel will air Rafael Nadal’s return to tennis today.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call feels CBS did not step up to the magnitude of Super Bowl XLVII.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says some local TV stations did not distinguish themselves during coverage of the Ravens Championship Parade.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros are changing radio stations.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says Super Bowl XLVII set a local ratings record.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds will remain on its flagship station and with it, air more Spring Training games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says on his weekly radio show appearance, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers offered the olive branch to Brett Favre.

Danny Ecker from Crain’s Chicago Business looks at how Windy City businesses fared during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks into Fox’s announcement of using Gus Johnson on soccer.

The Toronto Globe and Mail runs a Canadian Press story reporting that former pitcher Jack Morris will become a Blue Jays TV and radio analyst.

The Canadian Sports Media blog wasn’t happy about CTV cutting off Super Bowl coverage early for the second year in a row.

EPL Talk is not thrilled about having Gus Johnson on soccer.

Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead says SportsNation co-host Charissa Thompson has a new boyfriend and he works with the Alleged Worldwide Leader as well.

In Awful Announcing, Allen Kenney writes that due to ESPN’s high college football rights fees, Disney’s profits fell in the first quarter of its fiscal year.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth looks at the coverage that National Signing Day is receiving.

And that will conclude our linkage.

Bobby Valentine Tells Talk Show Host “I Would Punch You Right in the Mouth”

In his weekly spot on WEEI in Boston, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine had a rather contentious interview with Big Show co-hosts Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley. Valentine got worked up about one particular issue, about the reporting that he had arrived “late” for a game in Oakland in which the manager contends he was picking up his son at Oakland Airport and was stuck in traffic.

Ordway asked Valentine if he had “checked out” as manager to which Bobby replied, “What an embarrassing thing to say. Ya know, if I was there I would punch you right in the mouth.”

We have the interview courtesy of WEEI. The whole sequence lasts about twenty minutes. The fireworks begin at about the 2:52 mark.

Certainly made the afternoon more exciting today.

Let’s Break Out Some Monday Linkage

Here’s the Monday linkage wrapped in a nice bow for you.

From Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Michael Smith, they report that ESPN will pay an average of $80 million per year to air the Rose Bowl. That more than doubles the current contract which pays $30 million.

Liz Mullen of SBJ says a noted movie studio is forming a sports talent agency further melding Hollywood and athletics.

Also from Sports Business Journal, Chris Botta notes that Brooklyn is ready and waiting if the New York Islanders can’t find a new home on Long Island

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Bill Walton returns to national TV through ESPN as he’ll become the network’s analyst for Pac-12 basketball games.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that the early sign up numbers for NBC’s Olympic apps are encouraging.

Mike says NBCUniversal is looking to make the 2012 London Games a truly digital experience.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about turning 60.

Talkers Magazine, the so-called Bible of Talk Radio, lists its 2012 Heavy 100 of Sports Talk. I agree with Mike Francesa and Dan Patrick in the Top 3, the rest I have issues with including a few in the New England area, plus why is Joe Morgan on the list? And there are only two women.

Lisa O’Carroll of the London (UK) Guardian says Britain’s oldest and largest black newspaper has been denied credentials to the Olympics Stadium for the track & field events.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable notes that it’s expected that social media will be heavily used for the Olympics.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Captain Blowhard and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban are engaging in the next Great Twitter feud.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs wonders how NFL Network’s new morning show can sustain fresh content over a four hour period every day.

Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com tackles the question over whether the Boston Red Sox should fire advisor Bill James over his comments on ESPN Radio about Joe Paterno and the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

If it’s Monday, then it must mean that the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is in a bad mood about something.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Syracuse has negotiated an early exit to the ACC from the Big East Conference.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that ESPN is starting its weekday coverage of the Open Championship earlier than previously announced.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes writing in Press Box talks about the friendship that has developed between MASN’s Washington Nationals studio team of the great Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog noticed that Democratic gargoyle strategist James Carville wore a Nats t-shirt on MSNBC over the weekend.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has a look back at the weekend in sports television.

Mike Herndon of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register writes about the SEC releasing its early-season football TV schedule.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks back at the ten years since the failed US Olympic bids for the 2012 Games.

David imagines what if Houston had been awarded the 2012 Olympics.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says the Penn State scandal has been the talk of the town.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wants to organize a fan protest on the lack of movement on getting Padres games on local TV.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has your weekly sports calendar.

Sports Media Watch looks at Bill Walton making his return to ESPN.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media suggests how the NHL Network can stop the inexorable amount of game reruns during the summer.

Cork Gaines from the Business Insider’s Sports Page says MLB Advanced Media gave a hollow apology for a system-wide outage preventing fans from watching MLB.TV online Friday.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says truTV has given the go to a Shaquille O’Neal-fronted viral video show.

This is where we’ll end the links for today.

Former Red Sox Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield Joins NESN As Studio Analyst

Announced by NESN at the same time the Erin Andrews-to-Fox story broke, we learn that retired Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield will now become a studio analyst for the network. Wakefield retired during Spring Training this year after a stellar career with the Red Sox.

He had spanned 16 years in Boston starting in 1995 to 2011. He amassed 200 wins, 186 of which were with the Red Sox.

Wakefield’s first stint as analyst comes tonight during NESN’s pregame show. Here’s the NESN announcement.

TIM WAKEFIELD JOINS NESN AS RED SOX STUDIO ANALYST

June 29, 2012 – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, announced today that former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield will join the network as a Red Sox studio analyst. Wakefield’s first appearance will be tomorrow, Saturday, June 30^th at 9:00 PM when he joins Tom Caron and Hall of Famer Jim Rice for one-hour of pre-game coverage before the Red Sox take on the Mariners in Seattle.

“Tim Wakefield has been an integral part of the fabric of the Red Sox and the New England community for the past 17 years,” said Sean McGrail, NESN President and CEO. “We are extremely happy to add Tim to our all-star lineup of studio analysts and believe that he will bring a unique perspective to our coverage with his knowledge of the team and the rest of the league.”

Wakefield retired at the end of last season after a 19-year MLB career, spending 17 years as a popular member of the Red Sox (1995-2012). He ended his career with 200 wins, 186 of them with the Red Sox, which ranks third behind only Cy Young and Roger Clemens on the Red Sox all-time career win list. He was the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 1995, an All-Star in 2009, and a two time World Series Champion. He was also a champion off the field as one of the most charitable players in the league. He was nominated eight times for the Roberto Clemente Award, and honored as the 2010 recipient of this prestigious award. His partnership with the Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston allowed him to spend time with patients. He has also been active with New England’s Pitching in for Kids organization, the Touch ‘Em All Foundation and the Space Coast Early Intervention Center in Melbourne, Florida.

That’s all.

Your Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some Tuesday links.

We’ll start with Matt Hayes of AOL Sporting News and he writes that the BCS is looking for a $5 billion TV deal over a decade for its new college football playoff.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley says the new college football playoff still can be improved.

Eric Fisher and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal write that the Washington Nationals and MASN continue to be at odds over what the team’s TV rights are worth.

Maury Brown in Baseball Prospectus goes inside the Nats/MASN TV rights dispute.

Mark Buteau and Alex Duff of Bloomberg report that NBC has signed a long-term extension to lock in the Tour de France.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says CBC and CTV are dropping their joint bidfor the 2014/2016 Olympic Games.

Charlie Warzel of Adweek says the PGA and Turner Sports are parting ways as the golf association will handle its digital rights in-house and no longer outsource it to Turner.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable writes that Ion will provide the WWE with a third night of programming.

In Multichannel News, Tim has an article about NFL Network’s NFL AM show.

Media Life Magazine notes that a Spanish language ad ran during ABC’s NBA Finals broadcasts.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says CBS’ Jim Nantz is now pimping his own wine label. Surprised it’s not called “Hello, Friends.”

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the amazing video of Mike Tyson on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption giving a preview of his new one-man Broadway play.

Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that the KHL has officially announced plans to play in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn while trashing New York’s Madison Square Garden in the process.

The ESPN Front Row blog fires a shot at the new upstarts CBS Sports Radio and NBC Sports Radio Network on behalf of ESPN Radio.

Ben Lee at Digital Spy UK says Wimbledon’s primetime coverage on BBC2 drew over a million viewers.

Tara Pringle Jefferson at Loop 21 has six questions for ESPN’s Sage Steele.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says NBA Draft prospect Anthony Davis has trademarked his unibrow.

Darren wonders if US Olympic 100 meter sprinter Justin Gatlin can be marketable once again after sitting out a four year ban for steroids.

Sports Video Group notes that NESN has signedanother content sharing agreement with a third New England TV station, this time in Vermont.

All Access interviews a radio industry analyst who feels the new CBS Sports Radio will do well for the parent company.

Ian Bethune at Sox & Dawgs has the funny video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy entertaining the viewers during a Red Sox rain delay last night.

Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston writes about the Red Sox being in no rush to replace their late public address announcer Carl Beane.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that a positive FCC ruling for Tennis Channel in its carriage dispute against Comcast could lead to more viewers for the network and make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Bob’s Blitz has WFAN’s schedule for Sunday when it celebrates 25 years as the Nation’s first sports radio station.

Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday notes that E! will air a special on New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.

Neil Best of Newsday looks at ESPN’s start-to-finish coverage of Wimbledon.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has MLB Network’s live game schedule through the end of July.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a former local sports anchor who’s making his mark in Detroit.

Laura Nachman says a part-timer at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is now part of the regional sports network’s starting team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Washingtonian magazine readers aren’t enamored with the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times chastises readers who complained about weather alerts about Tropical Storm Debby that cut into sports action.

At the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson looks at anti-Heat media comments almost a week after the team won the NBA Championship.

Marc Weiszer of the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald writes that ESPN is producing a documentary on the 2008 SEC Tournament game between Alabama and Mississippi State that was interrupted by a tornado that ripped through Atlanta.

Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports that the Hornets will have the soon-to-be Fox Sports New Orleans to call their home. Fox Sports NO will replace Cox Sports which is getting out of the pro sports business.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NFL Network will air clips of a Brett Favre interview all week long.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business says the local Comcast SportsNet affiliate will launch a new trivia game show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a clip of Frank Deford’s appearance on last night’s Colbert Report.

Simon Houpt and Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail look at CBC and CTV ending their joint bid for the 2014/16 Olympics after two prices were rejected.

Ann Dempsey from the Toronto Star also has a story on the CBC/CTV disbanding.

Bill Harris in the Toronto Sun says Olympic viewing in Canada after this year is up in the air.

Monika Warzecha of Toronto Life wonders if Canadians will be stuck watching NBC for the 2014/16 Olympics.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes TSN did well in showing the NHL Draft and EURO 2012.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says NBC and Shazam have teamed up to provide interactive coverage of the London Olympics.

And that’s going do it for our linkage.

Finally Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday megalinks. You’ve been owed some and I haven’t been able to do links for most of the week.

Of course, you have the Weekend Viewing Picks which provide plenty of college sports, soccer, baseball and the NBA and NHL postseason action.

Now let’s do your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today explores Jason La Canfora’s decision to leave NFL Network and bolt to CBS.

Media Rantz looks into the potential departure of Michelle Beadle from ESPN to NBC.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says E! will produce a special on New York Jets QB Tim Tebow.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report hears from a Fox Soccer executive on why the Fox Sports Media Group chose to air so many English Premier League games on the final day of the season.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk writes that despite reports to the contrary, it appears that the New York Jets won’t make another appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

Eriq Gardner at the Hollywood Reporter says a group of fans have filed a class action lawsuit against MLB and its TV partners on the antiquated and silly blackout policy.

Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel says while the Minnesota Vikings will finally get their long-awaited stadium, one state legislator attempted to sneak a bill ending all local NFL blackouts. I think that was a great idea.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable writes the long-anticipated Time Warner Cable Los Angeles Lakers-centric regional sports network will launch in October.

At Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that Fox has sold out its ad inventory for the UEFA Champions League Final.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says social media is changing the way we watch sports.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says there are times when the N-word should to be published in full.

Eric Goldschein at SportsGrid says CBC Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean stretched his analogy too far in comparing the 9/11 First Responders to NHL players this week.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at NBC/Golf Channel’s joint production of this week’s Players Championship.

Brandon Costa of SVG explores ESPN’s expanded multiplatform rights for NCAA Championships.

And SVG tells us about the Big East Conference’s in-house production of the league’s Baseball Tournament.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com looks into the dollars and cents of the major college sports TV rights contracts.

Patrick Rishe at Forbes says while the ACC signed a rich contract with ESPN, it still doesn’t compare to the Pac-12′s huge megadeal.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff chronicles her day spent at the MLB Fan Cave for espnW.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch crunches the numbers behind the ratings rise for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and the lower for the NBA Playoffs.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing also looks into the ratings for the NBA and NHL Postseasons.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead notes the disturbing arrest of the PA Announcer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth looks at some of the sports media stories that are irking him this week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

I haven’t been able to address the death of Carl Beane, the Red Sox public address announcer. Carl was a radio reporter in Western Massachusetts and also free-lanced for ESPN Radio, CBS Radio, Fox Sports Radio to report on various NFL and college games. He died this week when he suffered a heart attack and crashed his car. He was 59. It seemed everyone in New England had some connection to Beane. I’ll give you some of the stories that have been written about him this week.

David Scott at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog gets reaction from people at the network who knew him.

Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston says Beane felt he was born to be the Fenway Park public address announcer.

WEEI’s Mike Petraglia writes about his personal connection to Beane.

Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox paid tribute to Beane at last night’s game by not having anyone do the PA.

Amanda Bruno of the Springfield Republican writes that Beane was a role model and mentor to her.

To other stories now, heading back to the Globe, Chad Finn says the ACC got its huge deal and it will affect member school Boston College in many ways.

Chad says former Red Sox voice Jerry Trupiano is getting some familial help in trying to get the Houston Astros radio gig.

Desmond Connor of the Hartford Courant says the Big East’s interim commissioner is hopeful his conference can cash in on the recent big spending by ESPN and other networks.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with the legendary Vin Scully.

Richard profiles the person behind a fake Walt Frazier Twitter account.

Jack Bell of the Times interviews Fox Sports President Eric Shanks about Sunday’s unprecedented English Premier League coverage.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times rails over player unions defending their membership for the wrong reasons.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with NBC’s Pierre McGuire.

Justin has five questions for TNT’s Kenny Smith.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says a former local sports reporter is returning to her roots with Time Warner Cable’s Southern California network.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says technical difficulties plagued a local radio broadcast of the Yankees.

Pete says many of NBC/Golf Channel’s cameras will be focused squarely on one hole at the Players Championship this week.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record explores the new SNY deal to air UConn women’s basketball games.

At the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner asks if high school football is doomed.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call watched the train wreck of former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens appearing on Dr. Phil this week and being confronted by his multiple baby mommas.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post says MLB Network compared the swings of the late Mickey Mantle and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a new local sports radio morning host comes with some baggage from his old job.

David says Comcast and ESPN cut a deal this week for subscribers to watch the network online.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that Fox Sports Oklahoma will air specials next week on the state’s two major college football programs.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds TV and Radio ratings are up this season.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch explores the Cubs’ Kerry Wood blowing up at the local media this week.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin looks at NBC’s coverage of The Players Championship.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that a local sports anchor gets to talk news on the radio.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says the local media plans to cover Junior Seau’s public memorial today.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star notes that outgoing flagship TV station KCAL gave another farewell to the Los Angeles Lakers this week.

Jim looks at the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass which will get plenty of attention on NBC/Golf Channel at the Players Championship.

Jim provides his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Time Warner Cable’s new sports channels.

Tom tries to give Kings fans missing their local TV voices a silver lining.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News goes over the latest developments at the Pac-12 Networks.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s Ron MacLean had to clarify his 9/11 remarks before Game 6 of the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals series.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the announcing assignments for both CBC and TSN in the NHL Conference Final round.

And we are done. Enjoy your sports weekend.

NESN Announces Replacements For Jerry Remy Through 5/9

Red Sox fans have had to make due without popular NESN analyst Jerry Remy for the past few days. He’s been suffering from a sinus infection that forced him to miss the Chicago White Sox series. He started missing games last week in Minnesota and while he did work the rest of the Twins series, when he reached Chicago, NESN sent him home to recover.

Now, NESN has decided to give Jerry the rest of this week off and most of next week to recover. So over the next six games, Dennis Eckersley and Peter Gammons will fill in for the Remdawg. Last week, NESN has had to tap Roy Smalley from Fox Sports North, Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Gammons and various other guest analysts.

This is similar to what happened two years ago when Remy had cancer and NESN filled his slot with other analysts, mostly Eckersley. Here’s the NESN blurb on the replacement schedule.

NESN and their Red Sox color analyst Jerry Remy have decided to have him take the next week off to give him the best chance to fully recover from a sinus infection that has caused him to miss several games recently.  Remy expects to return to the NESN booth on Thursday, May 10^th when the Red Sox return from a quick three-day road trip to Kansas City to begin a four-game series against Cleveland.

During Remy’s absence, Dennis Eckersley and Peter Gammons will split the color analyst duties according to the following schedule:

Friday, May 4 – 7:00 PM vs. Baltimore – Dennis Eckersley
Saturday, May 5 – 1:00 PM vs. Baltimore – Peter Gammons
Sunday, May 6 – 1:30 PM vs. Baltimore – Peter Gammons
Monday, May 7 – 8:00 PM at Kansas City – Dennis Eckersley
Tuesday, May 8 – 8:00 PM at Kansas City – Dennis Eckersley
Wednesday, May 9 – 8:00 PM at Kansas City – Dennis Eckersley

That will do it. And I hope Jerry gets well soon.

E:60 Focuses on MLB With A Reveal From Former Red Sox Pitcher Oil Can Boyd

Tonight on E:60, the ESPN Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine focuses on Major League Baseball with three profiles, one on New York Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey, another on St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran and another on former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd.

Now the profile on Boyd done by ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney is interesting on several levels. First, Boyd is a rather colorful character. But then it gets dark as Boyd reveals that he regularly smoked pot at the ballpark even on days when he was pitching.

We have a brief preview with a transcription and also a couple of videos. This is amazing.

ESPN’s E:60 Profiles Beltran, Boyd, Dickey
“Oil Can:” “I’ve smoked pot my whole life.”

ESPN’s award-winning news magazine, E:60, will focus on Major League Baseball with profiles on the Mets’ knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey, former Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, and Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran tonight (Tuesday, May 1) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Excerpts from the April 19 conversation between Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and ESPN’s Buster Olney in the home locker room of the Red Sox’ AAA Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium:

“I’ve smoked pot my whole life, and never been a ball game that I wasn’t high on some marijuana from (expletive) Little League all the way through college.” – Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd

“I had said to myself that if I wasn’t pitching by the sixth inning of the ballgame, I wouldn’t pitch — and didn’t care if we won or lost.” – Boyd, on not starting Game 7 of the 1986 World Series

“I ain’t talked to him since. I mean, I love Bruce Hurst to death, but nobody can outpitch me, I’m sorry. And then When John McNamara tell me that I’m not pitching, I run right down the street to the crack house.” – Boyd, on manager John McNamara telling him he wouldn’t start Game 6 of the 1986 World Series

“Why’d you do this? I don’t really think that Negro League baseball should have been broken up.” – Boyd, on what he’d tell Jackie Robinson if he met him

“I can remember going and locking myself up in the bathroom and smoking some dope right there at the ballpark. And I had it under the bib of my cap, inside the crease inside of the cap. And when I was warming up in the ballgame it fell off my head. I jumped at the plate, and the hat fly off.  Every other pitch I pick it up, put it on. So one time, I’m so into what I’m doing, I’d forgot that the dope is under my hat. So I look on the ground and I’m like, ‘Damn, there’s little rocks everywhere, man.’ So, as I’m walking back, I pick it up like dirt…” – Boyd

Here is a two minute preview of the piece that will air tonight at 7 Eastern time on ESPN.

And E:60 producer Frank Saraceno, photographer Rich Arden and Buster Olney talk about the interview that airs tonight on E:60.

This should be quite the interesting interview.

Fang’s Bites on a Red Sox Spreecast

Coming up at 9:30 p.m., your humble blogger will be the guest on a Red Sox-themed Spreecast hosted by Seth Everett of WIP/KYW in Philadelphia, Fox Sports Radio and 1010 WINS in New York. We’ll talk the latest on the Red Sox in anticipation of the team’s home opener on Friday. You can see it live below.

And of course, the video will be archived so if you can’t watch it live, you can see it later. And right here, of course!

NESN & WBZ-TV Announce New Strategic Partnership

NESN and CBS Boston have announced a on-air partnership that will affect both parties.

Starting Friday, NESN’s Red Sox announcing team involving Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy and Jenny Dell will be seen on WBZ-TV on the station’s local newscasts for pregame appearances for all games, road and away.

WBZ’s sports staff including Dan Roche will become regular guests on NESN’s Red Sox pregame shows. In addition, WBZ will provide weather reports on NESN’s Red Sox pre and postgame shows as well as during rain delays. And WBZ’s weather forecasts will be incorporated year round into NESN Daily’s highlight shows.

We have the joint press release from NESN and WBZ-TV.

NESN AND WBZ-TV ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

WBZ AccuWeather to be the “Official Forecast of NESN’s Red Sox Coverage!”

April 12, 2012 – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, and WBZ-TV, the top-rated Boston broadcast station in primetime, announced today that they have entered into a partnership that will connect the two market leaders in a unique content sharing relationship associated with NESN’s Red Sox and Bruins coverage. The partnership, thought to be the first-of-its-kind in the country between a regional sports network and a broadcast station in the same market, will launch on Friday, April 13 for NESN’s exclusive coverage of the Red Sox home opener and will feature a number of regularly scheduled game-day activities, including:

1. NESN Live Shots for WBZ-TV Newscasts
   NESN will provide live pre-game reports from Fenway Park and all NESN road telecasts for WBZ-TV’s 6:00 PM and Noon newscasts. The live shots, which will primarily feature NESN’s Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy or Jenny Dell, will take place throughout the baseball season beginning tomorrow for the home opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.
2. WBZ-TV Sports Anchors on NESN
   WBZ-TV sports anchor Dan Roche will appear as a regular guest on NESN’s Boston Red Sox pre-game shows, joining NESN host Tom Caron and Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice, Peter Gammons, and NESN’s newest analyst, former MLB slugger Matt Stairs.
3. WBZ-TV Weather Updates on NESN

·         WBZ-TV News’ team of AccuWeather meteorologists, led by meteorologist Todd Gutner, will provide the “Official Forecast of NESN’s Red Sox Coverage.”

·         WBZ-TV’s AccuWeather team will provide NESN with weather updates for NESN’s pre and post-game shows.

·         WBZ-TV’s AccuWeather team will provide NESN in-game weather updates during rain delays.

·         WBZ-TV’s AccuWeather updates will also be provided year-round to NESN Daily, NESN’s nightly sports news program, which airs at 10:00 PM on non-game days or immediately following NESN’s post-game coverage on Red Sox and Bruins game days.

“This unique partnership brings together two of the strongest and most popular media companies in New England in a way that we think complements the strengths of each organization,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “WBZ-TV has a long-standing history as a local leader in the Boston market and we are looking forward to working closely with them.”

“We are delighted to partner with NESN, the region’s top-rated sports network, and combine the significant resources of our two powerhouse media organizations to bring viewers even more comprehensive and compelling weather and sports content during Red Sox and Bruins seasons,” said Ed Piette, President and General Manager of CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV.

That concludes this post.

Back For Some Linkage

Yesterday, I focused on several press releases before heading out for errands. Today, it’s back to the links.

Daniel Kaplan at Sports Business Journal writes that the NFL wants to set up local zones in Super Bowl host cities similar to what Indianapolis did with a village and zip line this year.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes explores the sale of the San Diego Padres and how it contrasts greatly from the Dodgers sale.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores NBC’s plans for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and I liked what I saw during the first night of coverage on Wednesday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News feels NBC’s multiplatform coverage of the NHL postseason should increase ratings and open ad sale opportunities.

John Koblin at Deadspin looks at ESPN’s free agents and handicaps who stays and who goes.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable notes that one company will provide multiscreen coverage of the Olympics to computers.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing writes that HBO is interested in the Atlanta Falcons for the next season of Hard Knocks.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life explores how the NHL is expanding its brand by marketing a 21 foot tall replica of the Stanley Cup in New York’s Times Square.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley says no media outlet is safe from the budget ax.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group looks at SNY’s studio renovations.

SVG’s Ken Kerschbaumer tells us how ESPN’s 3D production of The Masters^® has grown over the years.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Masters champion Bubba Watson is bound to be a marketing champion as well.

Ira Kantor at the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox have chosen Comcast to provide computer networking services at their ballparks.

To Fishbowl NY and Jerry Barmash who says MSG Network saw excellent ratings for the New York Rangers this season.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says MLB Network is looking to gain “exclusive content” for the channel.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says CBS Sports Network airs a special on the Army Spring Football game this weekend.

Laura Nachman says a legendary Philadelphia sportscaster passed away over the weekend.

John F. Morrison of the Philadelphia has the obituary for late sports talk show host Steve Fredericks.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic plans to expand its Baltimore Ravens offseason coverage.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner has a couple of NHL on NBC analysts handicap the Capitals chances against the defending Stanley Cup Champions Boston Bruins.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that embattled Miami sports radio host Sid Rosenberg has been fired after his latest brush with the law.

And Radio-Info says another embattled sports talk show host takes Rosenberg’s place on his former station.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says a new sports talk show will debut in the market on Monday.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says ESPN’s Skippy Bayless had to backtrack from claims about his high school basketball career on First Take this week.

Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star says new royals TV analyst Rex “The Wonder Dog” Hudler is hoping to win over fans in his new gig.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that NHL fans will see more postseason games on TV than ever before.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Broadway play on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times misses Dodgers voice Vin Scully as he’s had to miss broadcasts due to a cold.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a local sports talk show host who late last year acknowledged he has Parkinson’s Disease now finds himself without a job.

The Chronicle gets the host’s reaction to his firing.

Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News says the firing came as a surprise.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC Sports Network’s NHL ratings are down from last year’s record ratings on Versus.

Martin Charles writes in the Sports PR blog says it’s important for athletes to get media training to understand how to properly handle reporters’ questions.

The Big Lead talks with multi-faceted Julie Alexandria.

And that’s going to do it for now.

Jenny Dell Makes NESN Debut

After an offseason search that led to region-wide speculation and a hiring that was reported with the fervor of a Presidential Cabinet appointment, Jenny Dell will make her long awaited NESN debut and be introduced during Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

She replaces Heidi Watney who left after last season to join Time Warner Cable’s Southern California regional sports network.

We have the NESN press blurb.

NESN’s new Red Sox Reporter Jenny Dell (@JennyDellNESN) will be officially introduced by Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy during NESN’s coverage of the Boston Red Sox – Philadelphia Phillies spring training game on Saturday, March 24th. NESN’s game coverage begins at 1:30 PM from JetBlue Park at Fenway South.

That is all.

Some Quick Monday Night Linkage

Since we did our linkage this morning, there have been several stories worthy of links and they really should not wait until Tuesday. So I’ll do a set of links right now.

We start with Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead who reports on a fake tweet about ESPN’s Erin Andrews leaving the network (her contract is expiring) and the personalities at the Alleged Worldwide Leader who are negotiating new deals.

MediaRantz recaps how this tweet got circulated and had to be quickly debunked by ESPN.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes over an interesting Twitter feud between comedian Norm Macdonald and ESPN’s Rick Reilly.

Matt says Digger Phelps wasn’t on his “A” game during Sunday night’s Bracketology show on ESPN.

John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal has CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus talking about the new authentication and pay system for the March Madness mobile app.

Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor notes that the ESPN Films documentary on Magic Johnson’s HIV-positive announcement 20 years ago shows how far we have come in our attitude on the disease.

Conor Nagle at Wei Under Par writes that NBC went into bizzaro world in attempting to cover Tiger Woods’ leg injury at the WGC Cadillac Championships.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that the NHL on NBC hit a season low overnight rating on Sunday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the numbers with March Madness.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that fans hoping to watch this weekend’s ECAC Hockey Championships will have to do so online (scroll down).

Katie Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard has ESPN’s Joe Lunardi saying that local fans give him the hardest time when it comes to his brackets.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams has CBS/Turner’s Jim Nantz and Marv Albert both talking about the NCAA Tournament.

Dave Walker at the New Orleans Times-Picayune says social media has helped to popularize March Madness.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the departure of Texans’ offensive lineman Eric Winston will leave a big hole at a local sports radio station.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the networks, announcing assignments and tip times for games of local interest from the NCAA Tournament.

Writing in OnMilwaukee, departing local sports radio host Doug Russell has one wish for the market as he leaves town.

Aaron Morton of the Deseret (UT) News explains to BYU fans where they can find truTV.

Sports Media Watch says the NCAA Tournament Selection Show had its lowest overnight ratings since 1989!!!!

Carol Einarssen at Race Journal Online has Cheers and Jeers for Fox’s NASCAR coverage.

Sox & Dawgs has video of Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine speaking with former ESPN colleagues Karl Ravech and John Kruk during Monday’s exhibition game against Miami.

And that will complete the posts for Monday

Our Tuesday Links

Let’s provide some links now.

John Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal write that local NBA TV ratings are up thus far.

Eric Fisher of SBJ writes that sports arenas have an issue with providing more bandwidth as fans demand wifi access.

Paul White at USA Today says the newly-renamed Miami Marlins are ready for their reality TV closeup.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says Los Angeles Lakers radio voice John Ireland was busted by Jay Leno’s Show of Hacks for putting on makeup during a game.

Michael O’Connell at the Hollywood Reporter says thanks to the Daytona 500, Fox won Monday night’s ratings over strong network competition.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable reports on a sports fan lobbying group that’s asking the FCC to end the NFL’s archaic blackout policy.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says despite lower ratings from last year, the NBA is pleased with the numbers for the All-Star Game.

Mihir Bose of the London (UK) Evening Standard looks at the upcoming bidding for the English Premier League TV rights by talking with an ESPN Europe executive. It’s expected that incumbents Sky Sports and ESPN will have to fend off a heated bid by Al-Jazeera.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says Dan Patrick almost got into a heated exchange with David Letterman last night.

Sports Video Group says ESPNsoccernet has launched a new mobile app.

At Her Campus, Annie Wang talks with a close friend of Jeremy Lin’s on he views Linsanity in Communist China.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says reviews the upcoming ESPN documentary on the 20th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV positive.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that today ends a long streak for Jeremy Lin.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says a local radio station will air a handful of Red Sox exhibition games.

Pete says this year’s MAAC Tournament will be online except for the finals.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the NBA’s pay per view League Pass package is free for this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Oklahoma City was the 2nd highest rated local market for the NBA All-Star Game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says rain delay coverage of the Daytona 500 on Sunday scored well in Suds City.

And Bob says Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver is given good odds to win this season’s Dancing with the Stars competition.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego has tapped a news anchor to become its first-ever Padres studio host.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times talks with ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham about winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says Twitter scooped TV in breaking NHL trades yesterday.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog kept track of which Canadian networks RDS, Rogers Sportsnet or TSN broke the trades yesterday.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing says ESPN ignored the NHL Trade Deadline yesterday.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead explains why ESPN chose to ignore the deadline.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media declares Rogers Sportsnet the winner in NHL Trade Deadline Day coverage.

In Tennis Space, former player Mark Petchey tells how he became a TV analyst.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin gets an internal ESPN e-mail about Twitter.

Sports Media Watch looks at the Daytona 500′s ratings.

And that’s going to do it for now.

NESN Officially Announces Jenny Dell As Red Sox Field Reporter

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe broke the news last week and ESPN helped to confirm the story by deleting all of her videos from its website. Now, NESN has made the announcement official by unveiling that Jenny Dell, a UMass grad, will be the new on-field reporter for Red Sox games, replacing Heidi Watney who left after last season. Heidi will become the Lakers sideline reporter for Time Warner new regional sports network.

Dell who has been seen mostly on ESPN.com and on the X Games, will join in February.

NESN also announces that former designated hitter/first baseman and outfielder Matt Stairs will be a part-time studio analyst for the 2012 season.

Here’s the press release.

NESN ADDS JENNY DELL AND MATT STAIRS TO RED SOX BROADCAST TEAM

January 30, 2012 – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, announced today that Jenny Dell will join the network as its Red Sox field reporter and Matt Stairs will join as a Red Sox studio analyst. Dell and Stairs will join NESN’s popular and talented Red Sox broadcast team that includes play-by-play voice Don Orsillo, color commentator Jerry Remy, studio host Tom Caron, and the network’s trio of Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice and Peter Gammons, who all serve as studio analysts.

Jenny Dell

Dell comes to NESN from ESPN where she served in several different roles, including on-air reporter. The University of Massachusetts graduate has reported from the last two Super Bowls and delivered AccuScore reports for ESPN.com. She also has experience behind the camera, working since 2008 at several different high profile events and programs for ESPN, including Major League Baseball (MLB), Monday Night Football, National Basketball Association (NBA) and NASCAR coverage. Dell, a Connecticut native, will begin working for NESN in February.

“Jenny is smart, resourceful and displays a professional approach to reporting,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “Her ability to connect with viewers makes her the ideal choice to join Don and Jerry as part of our Red Sox coverage this season.”

Matt Stairs

Stairs retired in 2011 after a 19-year MLB career with a record 12 teams, including one year with the Red Sox (1995). He finished with a .262 career batting average while slugging 265 home runs and 899 RBIs. He holds the major league record for pinch-hit home runs in a career with 23. A native of Frederickson, New Brunswick, Canada, Stairs played for Canada in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He currently resides in Bangor, Maine, where he serves as an assistant coach for the local high school hockey team.

“Matt brings incredible passion for the game of baseball and a great sense of humor,” said McGrail. “He adds a unique perspective since he has played with or against most of the current major league players, including one year with Adrian Gonzalez in San Diego.”

Red Sox on NESN

On February 19th NESN begins 46 days of live coverage from the Red Sox new Spring Training home JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, Florida. In addition, this Thursday, February 2nd at 10:00 pm, NESN will broadcast the Red Sox Town Hall, which is being held on February 1st in Worcester, Massachusetts. NESN’s Tom Caron will host new Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine and Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington for an interactive conversation in front of approximately 800 fans at Worcester Technical High School.  Fans not at the event can submit questions in advance at NESN.com/TownHall or via Twitter by sending a tweet to @NESN and including the hashtag #TownHall.

That’s it.

Churning Out Some MLK Day Linkage

Let’s do some linkage on this MLK Day, a holiday for some of you.

We’ll begin with a story from an unusual source, Newsweek/The Daily Beast. Nick Summers of Newsweek writes about how ESPN’s subscriber fees could force cable providers to place the network on pay tiers.

Michael Hiestand at USA Today reports that CBS wants Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow as a guest analyst for The NFL Today before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

Hiestand delves into the overnight ratings for NFL Divisional Playoffs Sunday.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today notes that several TV analysts and national radio hosts ripped the officiating in yesterday’s New York Giants-Green Bay Packers NFL Divisional Playoff Game.

Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable says filmmaker Peter Berg who’s “On Freddie Roach” series premieres on HBO this week, wants to produce a similar series on Washington State head football coach Mike Leach.

Michael Malone from B&C tells us that Sunbeam-owned TV stations in Boston and Miami were pulled from DirecTV forcing viewers to scramble to find ways to watch yesterday’s NFL action and the Golden Globe Awards.

Alex Weprin at TVNewser says Current TV host Keith Olbermann went to visit MLB Network, which housed his former MSNBC offices and found some interesting mementos.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of a Chicago Blackhawks fan professing his love for Comcast SportsNet reporter Sarah Kustok.

Brandon Costa from Sports Video Group looks at how the College of Charleston produces its own basketball telecasts for ESPN3 and local TV affiliates.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell doesn’t like how colleges and universities are restricting their student-athletes from using social media.

The Tennis Times has a video giving us an inside look at the Australian Open Media Day.

Dan Lamothe of the Springfield Republican’s Red Sox Monster blog notes that former NESN Red Sox reporter Heidi Watney returns to New England next month for a charity auction.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the Tim Tebow TV phenomenon.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is not a fan of Daryl “Moose” Johnston.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that the Dial Global/Westwood One broadcasts of the NFL Conference Games will be heard locally.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says a local talk show host is heading to Motown.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun actually praises CBS’ production of the Houston-Baltimore game.

The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins conducted the first interview with former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno since the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke.

Sally also answered readers questions on the interview and how she got Paterno to speak with her.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN tennis analyst Darren Cahill about the Australian Open.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Tom Jones reviews the weekend in sports television.

Also from the Times, Eric Deggans wonders why news anchors were doing promos for a local Monster Truck event.

One more from the Times, Laura Keeley says Florida State fans lined up to be part of ESPN’s College GameDay’s appearance on campus on Saturday.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron isn’t a fan of the two minute commercial CBS gave to Subway during The NFL Today postgame show yesterday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reports that ESPN has settled a wrongful termination lawsuit put forth by former play-by-play man Ron Franklin.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the NFL insiders were reporting on possible Packers coaching news yesterday.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman looks at the 20th anniversary of sports talk radio in the Windy City with several local personalities.

To the Denver Post where Dusty Saunders talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz about the demise of the Broncos and Tim Tebow on Saturday.

Dawn C. Chmielewski of the Los Angeles Times looks at how ESPN is trying to push 3-D on the unwanting American people.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with ESPN Radio LA host Marcellus Wiley about his acute memory loss and also has his 20th annual bests and worsts in SoCal sports talk radio.

Tom has more with Marcellus in his blog.

Tom also has his SoCal sports calendar for the week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail notes how slow motion has revolutionized sports television.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing is echoing what I’ve been saying the last couple of weeks, and that he’s becoming a fan of Joe Buck.

Sports Media Watch also looks at the ratings of the New York Football Giants and Green Bay Packers on Fox.

The Wiz of Odds looks into ESPN allegedly taking credit for a story originally reported by someone outside of the network. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Joe Favorito wonders what’s next for Tim Tebow both as a player and as a marketer.

And that will conclude our linkage for today.

Some Tuesday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I haven’t written a sports media thoughts post in quite some time. I owe you one do let’s do this without further delay. As always, they come in bullet form.

• Last night’s BCS National Championship Game between Alabama and LSU was another dull affair, just like their first game in the regular season. ESPN did its best to step up for the game. Brent Musburger seemed to be in hype mode more than usual. Kirk Herbstreit was on his game as analyst. As Alabama’s defense was in lockdown mode, not allowing LSU past mid-field until midway of the 4th quarter, Brent and Kirk were quick to point out the differences in approach by coaches Nick Saban and Les Miles.Production of the game was also championship-worthy. Replays were sharp and close calls were resolved through ESPN showing the correct angles.However, ESPN overused last year’s BCS National Championship Game coaches, Gene Chizik of Auburn and Chip Kelly of Oregon. Both were dull and in need of personality transfusions. ESPN barely used their own analysts for College GameDay.Because the game was so dull, Musburger could not make a tie-in to sponsor Allstate as he did last year for Tostitos. He did overuse “Honey Badger.” What last night’s game did was to assist the skeptics’ screams for a college football playoff or at least a Plus One game. Overall, I give ESPN a B+ for the game.
• Still no word on whether NESN is any closer to a replacement for Heidi Watney as Red Sox field reporter. Of the candidates NESN has conducted interviews and those I’ve been able to confirm through several sources include Erin Hawksworth of Fox Seattle, Courtney Fallon of ABC6 in Providence, and Britt McHenry from WJLA-TV in Washington. I told you last month that Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle was interviewed and is not believed to be a candidate at this time. If anything happens, I’ll certainly let you know.
• You have to believe that CBS is happy to be riding the Tim Tebow wave as it heads to Foxboro, MA this weekend as Denver takes on the New England Patriots in the NFL Divisional Playoff round. The only game during Wild Card Weekend to see massive gains over last year was Sunday’s Pittsburgh-Denver game, garnering an amazing 25.9/43 overnight number for CBS. This would mark the 5th straight week CBS and its number one team, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will have called the Broncos and Tebow. No matter how you feel about Tebow, he draws ratings and makes people watch. I don’t expect Saturday night’s game to draw near the Wild Card ratings because Saturday is not a big TV night, however, if Denver-New England is close going down to the wire, expect big numbers.
• Here’s looking forward to ESPN2/Tennis Channel’s coverage of the Australian Open starting Sunday night. Coverage will begin every night at 7 p.m. ET. Finals will take place in the wee hours of the morning at 3:30 a.m. on the East Coast, but it will lead to some very good tennis. The 16 hour time difference between Melbourne and the US Eastern time zone means for some disjointed viewing, but it’s always fun to see the summer weather from the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s looking forward to hearing from Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Pam Shriver, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Bill Macatee, Martina Navratilova and Justin Gimelstob for two weeks.

And that’s going to it for the thoughts this morning.

Some Quick Thursday Links

I’ve been all over the place. I think I’m busier on unemployment than when I was working. It’s cut into my blogging time. Thanks for your patience during this time.

I’ll provide a few links for you.

With the Bill Conlin story continuing to explode, let’s get some links there first.

If you’re not familiar, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin hastily retired after Philadelphia Inquirer investigative reporter Nancy Phillips wrote a story about four people accusing the Baseball Hall of Fame writer of molesting them as children in the 1970′s.

Daily News editor Larry Platt writes how hard it is to report on one of your own.

Gail Shister from the Philly Post talks with Phillips on how she broke the Conlin story.

Mike Silva’s Sports Media Watchdog was angry over the initial reaction from the Baseball Writers Association of America to Conlin.

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News says the BBWAA doesn’t speak for him.

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin chronicles a strange e-mail conversation he had with Conlin the day before the story broke.

To other stories now, Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that new media is putting teams in competition with traditional media to break stories.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age has details on NBC’s plans to stream Super Bowl XLVI online and to give online viewers access to the TV ads that are a big part of the game.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for NESN National, firing a big shot at MSG Network.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost’s Media Daily News says the NBA is offering its League Pass out-of-market package free to cable and satellite customers at no cost for the first two weeks of the season.

Yesterday, there was a minor Twitter scuffle that started when Deadspin creator Will Leitch (now of New York Magazine) tweeted his morning run. CNBC’s Darren Rovell got irritated with it and called him out. It then led to Late Show with David Letterman staff writer Justin Stangel to get involved. Stangel was unfollowed by Rovell a couple of weeks ago over a tweet and he’s been bitter about it ever since.

Leitch wrote this post in Deadspin about his tweeting and Darren today. To their credit, Leitch and Rovell made up so all’s good apparently. Stangel and Rovell are a different story. Darren does have a sense of humor about being called the Twitter Police and this is his Twitter profile pic.

Speaking of Darren, he has this report on CNBC looking at the increase in broadcast rights fees for sports.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing has part one of his Sports Media Wishlist for 2012. He also has part two of this wishlist.

Joe Gill at Boston Sports Then and Now looks at how the Boston Red Sox used Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s likeness without permission.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the premiere of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers/Rangers garnered over one million viewers over a week’s worth of airings.

Obsessed With Sports looks at how ESPN makes money on the non-BCS bowls.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that come Saturday, the Bengals will be blacked out again in Cincinnati.

I’ll leave it there. Wanted to give you some links.

Some Quick Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll do a few thoughts on what’s transpired in sports media this week. As always, they come in bullet form.

• The NFL came out smelling like roses after the league’s owners approved the new 9 year agreements with CBS, Fox, and NBC. Not only does the league have stability with its players with a long-term Collective Bargaining Agreement, but also with its TV partners. Some fascinating tidbits have come out in the new contracts including increased flex scheduling allowing CBS to air a handful of NFC games and Fox airing some AFC games to give more attractive matchups a wider audience.Also, NBC gets to air a Divisional Playoff game in addition to a Wild Card. It looks like ESPN will get a Wild Card Playoff game and NBC Sports Network will air a Sunday morning pregame show making a crowded landscape even more so.

  I like the Thanksgiving Night game going to NBC from the NFL Network. In fact one thing that’s been overlooked is the fact that NBC will have a Thanksgiving Night NFL game and a Black Friday NHL game during the November holiday weekend. The NHL game will get plenty of promotion the night before which is a very good thing.

  We also know that there will be more Thursday Night Football next season. And even if the NFL decides to have 10-12 games on the in-house NFL Network permanently, I’m okay with that. It won’t happen because the NFL wants a third cable partner (NBC Sports Network or TNT) and the cash it will receive for an 8 game package for the first half of the season.

  Overall, we learned that with CBS, Fox and NBC each shelling out an average of $1 billion/year and ESPN almost $2 billion/year for Monday Night Football, the four networks have in essence said that they cannot do without the NFL.

• HBO’s season premiere of 24/7 Flyers/Rangers on Wednesday was another success. Already, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has made an impression with his takes on the universe and life in general. In addition, HBO’s cameras catching Sean Avery’s all-too-knowing “I know you’re in trouble” look at the Rangers’ Artem Anisimov after last week’s mock sniper rifle incident against the Tampa Bay Lightning was priceless. With HBO’s stellar production values, Liev Schreiber’s tremendous narration and some interesting personalities like Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, it looks like the second edition of HBO’s NHL 24/7 is another hit.
• I had the opportunity to watch a bevy of sports media reporters on the New York regional sports network, SNY on Wednesday as they all opined on the year in sports. SNY split the reporters into a NYC and National sports media panel. Newsday’s Neil Best, the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman and Phil Mushnick of the New York Post comprised the NYC panel. Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, USA Today’s Mike McCarthy, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir formed the national panel. Chris Carlin was the host and did a very good job as moderator, weaving between the two different panels throughout the show. He adroitly asked questions and allowed the reporters to talk without interjecting.Some of the topics discussed included the Penn State and Syracuse media coverage, announcers and the stories they predict will be big in 2012. I thought Ourand, Best and Deitsch came well during the discussions. I thought Mushnick came off as pious and nitpicky. Overall, it was a good show and fast-paced. I hope it has an opportunity to air in other parts of the country.
• And I’ll end with news on the search to replace NESN’s Heidi Watney as Red Sox field reporter. Fang’s Bites has learned that Jen Royle is no longer in consideration for the job. Apparently the position is Erin Hawksworth’s to lose. Here’s hoping that Jen gets the opportunity to return to Boston as she wishes.

I think I went longer than expected as these thoughts were quite extensive. Check out the regular Friday features, Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, College Basketball Viewing Picks, NFL Viewing Picks and Weekend Viewing Picks all throughout the morning.

Back with you later.

Some Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

While I’m away from a computer this morning, I provide these thoughts to you so you have some fresh material here. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend.

As usual, I’ll go in bullet form.

• We’re three games into NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football schedule and the duo of Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock have already made my list of favorite announcing teams. After five years of juggling announcers, NFL Network may have finally found some stability in the broadcast booth. And the problems that plagued its production: missed replays, coming out of replays late and graphics that made no sense seemed to have disappeared. If NFL Network gets an expanded schedule next season, I look forward to hearing Nessler and Mayock on more games.
• With the NBA Lockout seemingly settled, the big beneficiary would be ESPN/ABC as the league’s new Opening Day would be Christmas, December 25. The networks would divide three games on that day. Also, TNT which has desperately missed the NBA on Thursday nights will be happy to have doubleheaders again. While I’m not an NBA watcher, I could get behind a 66 game schedule and a Christmas Opening Day every year. This is something the NBA should seriously consider, but it won’t.
• With the college football conference championship games coming up this weekend, I’ll be interested to see how Fox handles the Pac-12 and Big Ten Championships on successive nights with the same announcing crew of Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster. While Fox’s last foray into college football with the BCS was next to disastrous, at least this trio has worked an entire season on FX. I feel Fox should have assigned two crews, but I know the network wants to gain as much mileage from having Gus call both games. Still, flying from Eugene, OR to Indianapolis overnight is not going to be much fun.
• As NESN is considering candidates to replace Heidi Watney as its Red Sox field reporter, I can tell you that an early favorite, Molly Sullivan, sideline reporter for the mtn., is no longer in the running. I’ve heard NESN felt she wasn’t right for the job. Plus Molly said on Twitter that she’s comfortable with her current gig and staying in Las Vegas where she currently lives.
• I hear NESN is considering Jen Royle of 105.7 FM in Baltimore. Good article on her Sunday by Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle. Jen was back in New England to do another guest stint on WEEI. Once again, she killed co-hosting with Kirk Minehane. I don’t know if Jen is a top candidate on NESN, but as I’ve said in the past, she should be.

  Another person NESN should consider if it already hasn’t is Courtney Fallon of WLNE in Providence. Just on the job for three months, Courtney has already made an impression here. She would be good on NESN. And if it doesn’t want to hire her for the Red Sox reporter’s job, the network should at least consider her for its NESN Daily show.

• I’ve seen just a few episodes, but Brian Kenny seems to have found a signature show in Clubhouse Confidential on MLB Network. Now if only Brian could find that boxing gig to go with his baseball assignments.
• Speaking of MLB Network, I miss Trenni Kusnierek. I know she’s happy co-hosting a sports show on WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee.

And we’re done. Enjoy your Monday

NESN Makes Don Orsillo Signing Official

After Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe broke the news yesterday on Twitter and it being followed by several New England outlets reporting the development, NESN finally made it official today with a press release announcing that Don Orsillo has signed a four year contract, remaining as Red Sox TV voice through the 2015 season. Both Turner Sports and MLB Network made a concerted effort to sign Orsillo to be their lead announcer, however, Orsillo remained where he’s been the Red Sox voice since 2001. He and Jerry Remy have formed a very popular team among Red Sox Nation.

Under the new contract, Orsillo will continue to call the MLB Postseason on TBS when his Red Sox duties are done for the regular season.

Here’s the official NESN press release.

NESN SIGNS DON ORSILLO TO CONTRACT EXTENSION

BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, announced today that Don Orsillo has agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will keep the popular Red Sox play-by-play voice with the network through the 2015 season. Orsillo has served as NESN’s Boston Red Sox play-by-play announcer since 2001, calling over 1,400 regular season games on NESN.

“Don is one of the pre-eminent play-by-play announcers in the league and one of the reasons NESN’s Red Sox broadcast is considered among the best in business,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO.  “He brings passion and meticulous preparation to his work every night, along with a sense of humor that has endeared him to Red Sox Nation.”

Orsillo has raised his national profile by serving as a play-by-play announcer for TBS during the network’s MLB playoff coverage for the past 5 seasons. In addition to his play-by-play duties on NESN, Orsillo is also hosting Red Sox Hot Stove LIVE this off-season which airs Tuesdays at 6:00 PM.

Orsillo, a native New Englander, will continue to live in northern Rhode Island.

NESN’s Statement on Heidi Watney

I guess it’s official now. After reports surfaced this week that Heidi Watney was finished at NESN after four seasons as Red Sox field reporter, we get this official statement from the New England Sports Network.

Statement from NESN President & CEO Sean McGrail:

“Heidi Watney will not be returning to NESN next year. She is pursuing other opportunities that would bring her closer to her family on the west coast. We respect Heidi’s decision and would like to thank her for everything that she has brought to NESN over the past 4 years and wish her the very best.”

Whenever networks make statements like these, they’re always terse, contain “pursue other opportunities” and end with “we wish him/her well.” Translation, “we didn’t pick up his/her contract and have someone else in mind for the position,” but they can’t say that.

Best of luck to Heidi. She had a fan here and will be missed on this end. I hope she continues to do well in SoCal with the Los Angeles Lakers and Time Warner Cable.

Let’s Do Some Monday Linkage

Ok, I won’t be in all day on Tuesday, although I will have my iPad and I’ll try to post any breaking news from a conference in Taunton, MA tomorrow. But while I’m in the office now, it’s time for some linkage.

Starting with Sports Business Daily, we learn that Game 4 of the World Series soundly beat Sunday Night Football, but the rating was still the lowest Game 4 overnight ever.

SBD talks with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon about working ten years on “Pardon The Interruption”.

To SBD’s sister publication, Sports Business Journal and John Ourand who looks at NBC Sports’ move to pack up its operations and move to Connecticut.

Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated says Tim McCarver is no longer useful as an analyst. I totally agree.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says a unique four-way trade between three networks allowed CBS to air the November 5th LSU-Alabama game in primetime.

Soccer writer extraordinaire Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated has some thoughts and concerns on Fox’s winning bid for the FIFA World Cups from 2015 through 2022.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that Fox’s and Telemundo’s winning World Cup bids definitely upset the soccer TV apple cart.

Bill Cromwell from Media Life Magazine says Fox’s and Telemundo’s bids show soccer has truly arrived on the big stage in the United States.

Multichannel News looks at MLB Network’s offseason studio show schedule.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball looks at the final ratings for Game 4 of the World Series on Fox.

A couple of media moves.

Congratulations to Timothy Burke, the owner of the 30fps.Mocksession and Gifulmation sites. He becomes the Video/Assignment Editor for Deadspin. Timothy had been with SportsGrid.

And a heartfelt congrats to Kristi Dosh, the Sports Biz Miss, who now becomes ESPN’s Sports Business reporter. Kristi’s site which she founded, the Business of College Sports will be headed up now by Alicia Jessop.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders why Tim Tebow has so many haters.

Keith Thibault from Sports Media Journal feels the Red Sox media coverage during the postseason is a teaching moment for journalism students.

Sheldon Spencer of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog looks at the 200 head gear picks Lee Corso has made on ESPN College GameDay.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick wishes he can listen to the World Series on radio.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the World Series ratings.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union explores the CBS move of LSU-Alabama into primetime.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Army-Air Force now gets a network TV timeslot.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner asks if the Big 12 will poach other conferences in order to survive.

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times has a look back at the weekend in sports television.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says World Series Game 4 outrated the Cowboys in the Metroplex on Sunday.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the Texans are receiving praise from the national media.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Carson Palmer’s debut for the Raiders did well locally, but not enough to make the KC-Oakland game #1 in the market.

John says HBO’s Boxing After Dark will be in town next month.

Bob Wofley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Fox’s Jimmy Johnson warning the Packers about a couple of tough games coming up.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch feels ESPN should have given Albert Pujols historic night more play over the Michigan State Hail Mary pass.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post says Broncos QB Tim Tebow remains under the national media’s microscope.

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

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star feels the NHL has a chance to gain some ground on the NBA during the league’s extended lockout.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some Monday thoughts.

Sports Media Watch says ratings were flat for the only Chase for the Sprint Cup NASCAR race on network television.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media speaks with ESPN’s John Buccigross.

Bob’s Blitz has the video of ESPN’s Hannah Storm helping out Josina Anderson during a live spot during Sunday’s SportsCenter.

Robert Littal of Black Sports Online has the video of CBS’ Greg Gumbel dissing wrestler Hulk Hogan for his diss of Broncos QB Tim Tebow. Man, Tim Tebow is such a lightning rod.

And that’s where I’ll end it for today.

Providing Some Sunday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage on this Sunday morning. Some good stuff to get to.

TVbytheNumbers says World Series Game 3 easily won the primetime ratings last night over college football and repeats on NBC.

The Associated Press has an in-depth story on how Fox and Telemundo won the rights to the 2015-22 World Cups.

Marisa Guthrie and Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter report on NBCUniversal’s all-in bid for Telemundo for the rights to FIFA’s World Cups from 2015 through 2022.

R. Thomas Umstead from Multichannel News writes on the winning bids by Fox and Telemundo for the US media rights to the World Cup.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel says a Cox Cable employee in Arizona has pleaded guilty to inserting a brief clip of a porno movie during the Super Bowl in 2009.

Also from Multichannel, Mike Reynolds writes that Golf Channel is adding five international tournaments to close out 2011.

Oh here we go again. There’s another silly carriage dispute and it involves Fox again. Remember last year’s Cablevision/Fox dispute that left the network off cable systems in New York and Philadelphia? Well, this time Fox is having a dispute with DirecTV and among the channels that could be pulled: FX, Fox Soccer & Fox Soccer Plus, Speed, Fuel and 19 Fox Sports Net regional channels. That’s just great. We get the latest from Alex Weprin from TV Newser.

John Ourand from Sports Business Daily also looks at the Fox/DirecTV dispute.

Phil Swann of TV Predictions has a suggestion on how to prevent these disputes in the future.

Richard Pagliaro of Tennis Magazine writes that ESPN has obtained the online rights of several women’s tennis tournaments.

Glenn Davis from SportsGrid has the video of Michigan State’s amazing Hail Mary pass to win last night’s game against Wisconsin.

At the Sox & Dawgs blog, good friend Ian Bethune has the full page ad former Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein placed thanking Red Sox fans.

Jeré Longman of the New York Times looks at Fox and Telemundo winning the World Cup bids.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks back at the 25th anniversary of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series from NBC’s point of view.

The great Bob Glauber of Newsday has a story on several NFL teams showing concern about being miked up for games and having their signals heard not only on TV, but by opposing teams.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has the preposterous theory that the World Series is watered down.

Paul Tharp of the Post says the lure of tax breaks led NBC Sports to move its headquarters to Connecticut.

Harvey Zucker of the Jersey Journal reviews ESPN’s documentary on boxer Chuck Wepner, affectionately known as “The Bayonne Bleeder” and one who knocked down Muhammed Ali.

Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post says the Nationals deserve a better TV deal.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Navy’s associate athletic director about allowing Showtime to film a year-long documentary on its rivalry with Army.

Mike Mooneyham from the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier looks at E:60′s profile of WWE wrestler Scott Hall.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times notes that Florida State and Tampa Bay Bucs radio voice Gene Deckerhoff is pulling off a unique double dip this weekend.

David Knox of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham who is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Doug Demmons of the News says ESPN is pleased with its NASCAR Non-Stop Coverage.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN’s Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge got the job done during last night’s Texas Tech-Oklahoma game.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says CBS has relented and the market will get today’s Oakland-KC game and Carson Palmer’s Raiders debut.

John notes that Joe Morgan’s syndicated radio show has changed from a nightly program to weekends-only.

Kathleen Lavey from the Lansing (MI) State Journal writes about the crowd that showed up for ESPN’s College GameDay on the Michigan State campus yesterday.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with ESPN College GameDay’s Lee Corso about how elaborate his headgear picks have become.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with MLB Network host and Gateway City native Greg Amsinger.

Dan says Joe Buck’s voice rose to the occasion in last night’s World Series Game 3.

The Los Angeles Times’ Lisa Dillman says some soccer fans fear the Fox cross promotion for the World Cup.

Sports Media Watch says the SEC on CBS fell to near season-low ratings.

SMW says college football on ABC is way up this season.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Versus is having an up-and-down start to the NHL season.

Joe Favorito says Dan Wheldon’s death should not halt IRL’s initiatives to be more transparent with the public.

And we’ll end it there for today. The Sunday NFL pregame quotage will be posted throughout the day.

Bringing Out The Sunday Links

Let’s provide the links on this Sunday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Awful Announcing introduces the Dick Stockton Chronicles.

And that will do it for today.

Bringing Out The Saturday Links

Let’s do some Saturday linkage for you today. Since Wednesday, I’ve been trying to trying catch up here.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily/Sports Business Journal notes that the NFL and Time Warner Cable have ended carriage talks on NFL Network without an agreement.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says Time Warner Cable failed to get the job done.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch looks at the new Turner Sports documentary on the 1991 and 1992 national champion Duke teams.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center takes ESPN to task for waiting too long to make a decision on the Hank Williams, Jr. mess.

John Eggerton from Multichannel News says the FCC has agreed to allow MSG Network until November to provide HD feeds of its programming to Verizon and AT&T U-Verse.

The big story of Friday was the impromptu interview of Red Sox principal owner John Henry by 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. Apparently, Henry walked into the radio station angry over some things said by hosts Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti in the wake of the now-infamous Boston Globe article on the collapse of the Red Sox. Bruce Allen of Sports Media Watch recaps the interview.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe also listened and has an extensive recap.

Hall of Fame announcer Jack Buck, former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol, NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. and NFL Films President Steve Sabol headline this year’s class for the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has an open letter to NBA Players Association head Billy Hunter on the so-far futile negotiations between the league and the rank and file.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir notes that HBO Sports has a new president replacing Ross Greenburg who stepped down earlier this year.

Richard writes about former Oakland Raiders coach and NFL analyst John Madden mourning the death of his friend, Al Davis.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that HBO will have a documentary on a New Jersey high school basketball team in search of perfection.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner suggests the Big East go after schools in big TV markets to ensure the league’s survival.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the National League Championship Series is a big hit in the local markets, but not nationally.

Bob says the start time for Game 6 of the NLCS is still up in the air.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Turner Sports’ Matt Winer has had a homecoming this week in the Gateway City.

Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times says the Anaheim Angels are close to renewing a rights deal with Fox Sports West.

John Maffei of the North County Times is not a fan of Chris Berman calling play-by-play. Who is?

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

That will do it.

A Few Late Night Links

Due to the fact that I had to go in and out of the office five times for various errands and meetings during the day, I was not able to provide linkage. And due to the fact that there are some good stories lingering, I don’t want to leave you without some links. So I’ll do a quick set of links now and hopefully will be able to do a full set on Wednesday.

Let’s start with Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated who talks with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit who sets the record straight about why he moved away from his beloved Columbus to Tennessee.

Matthew Belloni of the Hollywood Reporter says a federal judge has shot down Comcast’s request to block a DirecTV ad campaign on offering “free” NFL games.

Jon Lafayette at Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News says ESPN helped to steer parent company Disney to higher earnings in the 3rd quarter of its fiscal year.

From Mike Reynolds from Multichannel, ESPN saw its highest viewership for an MLB contest dating back to 2007 thanks to Yankees-Red Sox on Sunday.

Mike writes that NFL Network saw its best Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony audience ever since it began airing the event in 2003.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine writes that media buyers are skeptical that the 2011-12 NBA season will begin on time if it’s played at all.

Writing for Forbes, the SportsBizMiss, the always lovely Kristi Dosh says revenue sharing might be how the NBA solves its labor problems.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser says two MLB.com writers were robbed outside the Great American Ball Park after a Cincinnati Reds game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Mike Tyson’s autograph is a hotter commodity now than it was when he was in his boxing prime.

Jeré Longman of the New York Times says despite increased attendance and TV ratings for Women’s Professional Soccer since the Women’s World Cup, the league’s future is very much in doubt.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the Syracuse football schedule and the networks airing the games.

Ken McMillan in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Red Sox fans in the Catskill Mountains have a radio station to listen to their favorite team.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes NASCAR drama is truly reality TV.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is expanding its relationship with the Baltimore Ravens. This comes a year after the Ravens severed its relationship with MASN just before last season.

Dan discovers that two DC-area natives co-anchored ESPN’s SportsCenter last weekend.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner also writes about CSN Mid-Atlantic taking in more Ravens programming.

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

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says four Brewers originally not scheduled for air will be picked up for TV.

The Cleveland Frowns blog wonders why CBS Radio is bringing in an outsider to be part of its daily lineup for its new FM sports radio station.

Bob writes that a local TV station is teaming up with the local ESPN Radio affiliate to produce a weekly show.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Tiger Woods has lost another sponsor and Ed also wants Tiger’s former caddie to shut up.

David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times writes that a deal to build an NFL stadium at the Staples Center site received unanimous approval on Tuesday.

Times NFL writer Sam Farmer talks about what the deal approval means.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on what’s been happening in the Great White North.

CSMB notes that TSN is no longer airing the UEFA Champions League.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog wonders if anyone would buy Rogers’ attempt at a sports magazine in this day and age.

Sports Media Watch says Yankees-Red Sox had ratings drawing power during this past weekend.

And SMW notes that three of MLB’s TV partners saw ratings gains for Yanks-Red Sox.

Brian Packey at Awful Announcing refuses to call the hair on top of Bill Simmons’ lip that was seen on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, a porn mustache. Brian may not, but I will. That thing is hideous.

Dave Kohl at his renamed “Broadcast Booth” blog looks at sports radio ratings for various markets.

Ok, that’s going to do it. I found more links than I thought I would and it’s approach 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. I need sleep. Back later today.

Bringing Out Some Saturday Links

I started to do the Megalinks last night, but I fell asleep at my computer while doing them. I was out for most of the Friday so it prevented me from sitting down and pounding out the linkage yesterday. I’ll do it now to get you going for the 4th of July weekend. There’s a lot of sports happening so the Weekend Viewing Picks provides you with the programming that you may want to watch.

Let’s do the linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with multiple network tennis analyst John McEnroe on how to spice up tennis’ ratings.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that an extended NBA lockout will hurt TV partners ESPN and TNT.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk didn’t like Jon Gruden’s gushing over former Ohio State quarterback Tyrelle Pryor during ESPN’s QB Camp.

Brooks Peck of Yahoo’s Dirty Tackle blog notes that ESPN.com lifted some of his fictitious quotes over Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi.

At Baseball Digest, Jerry Milani profiles MSG Network’s and Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that a Southern California radio host’s firing from the Anaheim Angels was racially motivated.

Dave Levy from SportsGrid looks at the future of the Pac-12 Conference.

Adam Watson of Yahoo’s The PostGame talks with Renée Herlocker who will be the sideline reporter for the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group notes that TSN wants to bring CFL viewers even closer to the game.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group says distributing Wimbledon in 3-D to movie theaters shows the need for one standard for the format.

Beth Healy of the Boston Globe writes that the newspaper’s parent company, the New York Times has sold part of its 17% stake in the Red Sox for a sizable profit.

Taryn Luna of the Globe says watering holes in the vicinity of the TD Garden are worried about losing business in the wake of the NBA lockout.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that sports radio talk in New York actually turns 90 years old today.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has Lindsay Czarniak saying when she’ll be moving to ESPN and what her duties for the Alleged Worldwide Leader will be.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune notes that the Big Ten Network came to fruition thanks to an ESPN lowball bid back in 2004.

And Jessica Guyin and Dawn C. Chmielski of the Los Angeles Times look at Google’s potential bid to buy Hulu which has NFL Films videos.

Sports Media Watch has news and notes on some media personalities.

SMW notes that Nike has re-signed Michael Vick.

I’m going to end it there.

NESN’s Heidi Watney Can Perform Weddings

Last Saturday, George Couture married his sweetheart Alley Jablonski at Fenway Park. They were supposed to be married during the afternoon. The problem was the Red Sox moved their game against the Oakland A’s to an afternoon start to accommodate fans who wanted to see the Boston Bruins play the Vancouver Canucks that night. So instead of making George and Alley scramble to another site, the Red Sox allowed them to move their wedding until after the game.

Also coming to the rescue was NESN Red Sox in-game reporter Heidi Watney. Little did I know she can preside over weddings and could marry George and Alley as you can see from this video.

I’m amazed that not only can Heidi report and eat food at the same time, she’s also an ordained minister. Holy frijoles.

UPDATE: One note, George and Alley were officially married by a priest that morning so Heidi presided for show.