Fang's Bites

The Infamous Bissinger Segment on Costas Now

Thanks to Awful Announcing for posting these at his site. Here are the videos from last night’s Costas Now segment on blogs.

Here’s the taped introduction:

And the segment itself:

UPDATE: Awful Announcing has the rest of the 18 minute segment:

Bissinger really comes off badly here. Costas isn’t much help either.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
Toronto at Red Sox – Rogers Sportsnet/NESN, 7 p.m.
Detroit at New York Yankees – FSN Detroit/YES, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Cleveland – FSN Northwest/STO, 7 p.m.
LA Dodgers at Florida – FSN Prime Ticket/FSN Florida, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Philadelphia – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs – ESPN/FSN Wisconsin/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Oakland at Anaheim – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/FSN West, 10 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 5/Washington at Cleveland – TNT, 6 p.m.
Game 5/Atlanta at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England/TNT, 8:30 p.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 4/Montreal at Philadelphia – CBC/Versus, 7 p.m.
Game 4/San Jose at Dallas – TSN/Versus (joins in progress), 9 p.m.

Entertainment
‘Til Death – Fox, 8 p.m.
Back to You – Fox, 8:30 p.m.
Criminal Minds – CBS, 9 p.m.
Carrier – PBS, 9 p.m.
Top Chef – Bravo, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Some Wednesday Links

I’m back from running errands so it’s time for some links on this Wednesday.

First, I’m seeing increased traffic the last two days. It’s all for my post last year on Hot Chicks, formerly in Sports Broadcasting, who should be back in Sports Broadcasting. It’s mainly for this picture of Jillian Reynolds.

If anyone knows why people are searching for this picture, please let me know.

On to the links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the vacant New York Knicks coaching and GM positions could throw a monkey wrench in the NBA TV analyst world.

Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy spares his usual venom and pays tribute to WBZ-TV sports anchor Bob Lobel who signed off for the last time on Tuesday night.

Adam Leetch of the Portsmouth (NH) Times Herald profiles local resident Dave O’Brien who has his dream job as secondary radio voice of the Red Sox.

Doug Doughty of the Roanoke (VA) Times says the Voice of the Virginia Cavaliers has resigned.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Voice of the Chiefs is not leaving the booth and nor is he moving to TV.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Basketball blog says TNT is still seeing double digit ratings increases for the NBA Playoffs.

Langston Wertz, Jr. of the Charlotte Observer likes Inside the NBA on TNT (scroll down).

From CNN Money, Time Warner is selling off its cable unit which includes CNN, TNT, TBS and HBO.

Greg Augman of the St. Petersburg Times writes that says organizers from the city, ESPN, the Big East and Conference USA are making a presentation to the NCAA for yet another college football bowl game.

The Chattanoogan of Tennessee tells us that FSN’s Amazing Sports Stories will feature a 17 year old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931.

Chris Dufrense of the Los Angeles Times writes that Fox Sports is not standing in the way of the BCS changing format.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN Deportes Radio is coming into town.

Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Blackhawks apparently will move to WGN-AM next season.

That’s going to be it for now.

Costas Now Aftermath

Well, as I open my e-mail inbox this morning, I find plenty of reaction to last night’s Costas Now on HBO, especially the segment on blogs. Now, I have yet to see this, I have recorded Costas Now on DVD and will watch it tonight, but there’s plenty of anger directed towards Costas for his apparent character assassination of blogs and especially towards author Buzz Bissinger who took the opportunity of his 15 minutes to go after Deadspin’s Will Leitch for everything from comments on his blog to the spread of Malaria in the Congo.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, David Scott from the Boston Sports Media Watch, says the entire blog segment during the Costas Now Town Hall discussion could not have gone worse.

Over at Deadspin, Will Leitch is diplomatic over his tag-team grilling by Bissinger and Costas.

Michael David Smith over at the AOL Fanhouse blog calls last night’s show a verbal assault on Leitch.

Awful Announcing gives its take on the whole thing.

The Big Lead felt Will Leitch was being thrown into a hornet’s nest.

SportsbyBrooks feels Will did his best to take the high road during the segment.

Newsday’s Neil Best was fascinated by Bissinger’s behavior. Neil was also fascinated by another segment on Costas Now in which Michael Strahan and Chris Russo talked for the first time in 9 years.

I have to step out of my office for a bit, I’ll have the Wednesday links coming up. I have not seen so much anger directed towards one person on the blogosphere, ever. Leave it to Buzz Bissinger to make us maligned bloggers into sympathetic characters.

Tuesday Night Links

As I watch the third night of Carrier on PBS, I’ll give you a few more links.

First, a couple of things from the Sports Media Watch. Paul Sen says the final ratings for the NFL Draft showed that they were down only 3% from last year. And we have the final weekend ratings for most of the events on TV.

From a press release, Comcast SportsNet New England says ratings for the Celtics-Hawks series are up 70% from the regular season.

Comcast SportsNet is averaging a 5.8 rating through the first four Celtics-Hawks telecasts, up 70 percent over the regular season. Comcast SportsNet’s Game 4 telecast achieved a 6.8 and reached an estimated 312,000 households throughout New England.

That is good news for Comcast.

I have to admit that I switched over to HBO to watch a bit of Costas Now and became engrossed in the panel discussion on Sports on TV. Thanks to DirecTV, I have the West Coast feed of HBO so I’ll record the program off that channel and watch it on Wednesday to see what I missed. Back to the links.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post writes in the NYP TV Sports blog that TNT’s Charles Barkley thinks co-analyst Kenny Smith should not take the New York Knicks GM job.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that TNT’s ratings for the NBA is giving the channel a big boost, but not enough to offset USA Network’s stranglehold on first place in the cable primetime ratings.

John Manasso of the Atlanta Business Chronicle says the Hawks’ presence in the NBA Playoffs is helping to increase the ratings on TNT and FSN South.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says FSN Houston will provide a feed of Astros games in Spanish.

Tony Paige writes in Multichannel News that the Budweiser Sports Report on BET should have lasted over twenty years.

ESPN has announced the field for this year’s Old Spice Classic, a Thanksgiving weekend tournament for college basketball.

Not too many links tonight, but enough for you to peruse. Back tomorrow.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
Toronto at Red Sox (weather permitting) – Rogers Sportsnet/NESN, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Cleveland – FSN Northwest/STO, 7 p.m.
Detroit at New York Yankees – FSN Detroit Plus/YES, 7 p.m.
LA Dodgers at Florida – FSN Prime Ticket/FSN Florida, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at New York Mets – SNY, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Philadelphia – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington – SportSouth/MASN, 7 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota – FSN North, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs – FSN Wisconsin/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Houston at Arizona – FSN Houston/FSN Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Oakland at Anaheim – FSN West, 10 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco – FSN Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.

NBA
Game 5/Philadelphia at Detroit – NBA TV, 7 p.m.
Gane 5/Dallas at New Orleans – TNT, 7 p.m.
Game 5/Phoenix at San Antonio – TNT, 9:30 p.m.
Game 5/Utah at Houston – NBA TV, 9:30 p.m.

NHL
Game 3/Pittsburgh at New York Rangers – CBC/Versus, 7 p.m.
Game 3/San Jose at Dallas – TSN, 7:30 pm.
Game 3/Detroit at Colorado – TSN/Versus, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
NCIS – CBS, 8 p.m.
Shark – CBS, 9 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen – Fox, 9 p.m.
Deadliest Catch – Discovery, 9 p.m.
The Streak – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Carrier – PBS, 9 p.m.
Costas Now – HBO, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.

The Tuesday Links Just For You

After the Sports Emmy Awards post, I had to go to a meeting so the Tuesday links are delayed, but I’m ready to give them to you now.

Starting with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, he talks about athletes and coaches who move in-between the broadcast booth to the bench and back.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News suggests that the media boo the New York Mets fans. Ok.

Newsday’s Neil Best mostly focuses on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton morning show which is getting better ratings than its previous morning incarnation.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about how MLB teams especially the Mets handle rainouts.

The Providence Journal’s Bill Reynolds profiles ESPN’s Chris Berman who speaks at his alma mater, Brown University this week.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes about the announcer of the Allentown IronPigs who has seen more than his share of losing.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic took too long to report on an injury to Gilbert Arenas last Thursday night.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune looks at the latest Arbitron ratings for the two sports radio stations in the Windy City.

George M. Thomas from the Akron Beacon Journal says ESPN puts the NFL Draft in proper context.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Packers draft pick Jordy Nelson knew he was getting picked ahead of time.

The Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent reports that KFRV-TV will air three Packers exhibition games and produce them in conjuction with CBS Sports.

The Detroit Free Press talks about tonight’s Game 4 of the Detroit-Colorado series possibly being the last Red Wings game of the season for announcers Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond on FSN Detroit

Maury Brown of the Biz of Basketball site has comments made by TNT’s analysts during their NBA playoff coverage on Sunday.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Royals are hoping a Dallas sports talk show host won’t show up for this week’s series against the Texas Rangers.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s William Houston says TSN had to schedule Canada’s games in the World Hockey Championships in the afternoon so as not to conflict with the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. And in his blog, Houston asks if CBC’s Don Cherry is qualified to judge a reporter who asked a question to San Jose’s Ron Wilson.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune talks to the voices of the Raiders and 49ers and both Greg Papa and Joe Starkey have differing opinions on how their teams fared in the NFL Draft.

The Inside Track girls from the Boston Herald report that Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez filmed a “This is SportsCenter” ad for ESPN yesterday.

The Boston Daily blog from Boston Magazine wonders why Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy was left off the magazine’s list of Most Powerful in the Hub.

Mark Tupper of the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier of Mattoon and Charleston, IL writes about Will Leitch taking on Bob Costas tonight on HBO.

That will do it for now. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming right up.

29th Sports Emmy Award Winners

Last night, the 29th Sports Emmy Awards were held in New York and the big winner was HBO with 8.

James Brown won Best Studio Host for CBS, NBC had a clean sweep of Play-by-Play, Studio Analyst and Game Analyst.

SUMMARY OF WINNERS BY NETWORK

HBO (8)

Lords of Flatbush ……………………………………………………………… 2

Mayweather / Hatton 24/7 ……………………………………………………. 2

Cris Collinsworth ………………………………………………………………… 1

De La Hoya / Mayweather 24/7 …………………………………………….. 1

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs …. 1

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel …………………………………………. 1

FOX (5)

NASCAR on FOX …………………………………………………………………… 2

BCS on FOX Tostitos Fiesta Bowl ………………………………………….. 1

MLB on FOX …………………………………………………………………………… 1

MLB on FOX: Pre Game Show ……………………………………………… 1

ESPN (4)

Ali’s 65 ………………………………………………………………………………… 1

College Gameday ……………………………………………………………….. 1

ESPN NASCAR …………………………………………………………………… 1

Sunday NFL Countdown …………………………………………………….. 1

CBS (3)

James Brown ……………………………………………………………………… 1

Super Bowl XLI …………………………………………………………………….. 1

US Open Tennis Championships ………………………………………. 1

ESPN.com (3)

Death Race 2007 ………………………………………………………………. 1

Fantasy Football Now ………………………………………………………… 1

Ray of Hope ……………………………………………………………………….. 1

NBC (3)

Cris Collinsworth ………………………………………………………………. 1

John Madden ………………………………………………………………………. 1

Al Michaels …………………………………………………………………………. 1

TNT (3)

Inside the NBA ……………………………………………………………………. 1

NBA All-Star Saturday Night ………………………………………………… 1

NBA on TNT ………………………………………………………………………… 1

NFL Network (2)

America’s Game: The Super Bowl Champions ………………….. 1

NFL films Presents: Finding Your Butkus ………………………….. 1

ABC (1)

ESPN NASCAR …………………………………………………………………… 1

ESPN2 (1)

ESPN NASCAR …………………………………………………………………… 1

FSN (1)

Sport Science …………………………………………………………………….. 1

Golf Channel (1)

PGA Tour and LPGA Coverage ………………………………………….. 1

NASCAR Images (1)

Quest for the Cup ………………………………………………………………. 1

TBS (1)

MLB Post Season ……………………………………………………………… 1

I can imagine that ESPN will have a press release out later today saying combining all of its various platforms, it won the most Emmy Awards with 9, but that’s semantics. Here are the winners of the major awards. The complete list can be seen at emmyonline.org.

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL:

* BCS on FOX: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – FOX

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES:

* NASCAR on FOX – FOX

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND:

* Quest for the Cup – VOOM/NASCAR Images

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL:

* De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7 – HBO

OUTSTANDING SPORTS DOCUMENTARY:

* Ghosts of Flatbush – HBO

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES / ANTHOLOGY:

* America’s Game: The Super Bowl Champions – NFL Networks/NFL Films

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY:

* College Gameday – ESPN

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – DAILY:

* Inside the NBA – TNT

OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM:

* Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO
Headgames: The NFL Concussion Crisis

OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE:

* Sunday NFL Countdown- ESPN
Fear – produced by Bluefoot Entertainment

OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE:

* NFL Films Presents: Finding Your Butkus – NFL Network/NFL Films

OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE:

* Super Bowl XLI – CBS
Tease

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO HOST:

* James Brown – CBS

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – PLAY-BY-PLAY:

* Al Michaels – NBC

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – STUDIO ANALYST:

* Cris Collinsworth – HBO NBC

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – SPORTS EVENT ANALYST:

* John Madden – NBC

THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD:

* Mayweather/Hatton 24/7 – HBO

THE GEORGE WENSEL TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:

Once again, I omitted some awards and the full list can be seen over at emmyonline.org. Also, the Emmy Awards press release lists the crews that worked so hard on the abovereferenced events so you can read the names at the Emmy Awards website if you so choose.

Some More Links to Chew On

I keep finding stories to link to.

First, from USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, the ratings from selected weekend events including the NFL Draft on ESPN which were down significantly from last year.

Awful Announcing reviews NFL Draft coverage for both ESPN and the NFL Network. AA didn’t like ESPN’s coverage including one Chris Berman. On the other hand, it liked the NFL Network’s coverage.

The Sports Media Watch notes that the ratings for this year’s NFL Draft were the lowest in five years.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes that Fox Sports beat out CBS and ESPN for Brian Billick’s services for the upcoming season.

Some more ammunition for the NFL Network. John Consoli of Mediaweek reports that despite losing homes due to disputes with Comcast and the Dish Network, the ratings for the NFL Network are up for the first quarter of this year, especially for its NFL Total Access program at 7 p.m. ET.

Here’s NBC Sports’ press release about the US Open going into primetime this year.

Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette says the CBC is crawling back to the Canadiens so it can put the Habs on Hockey Night in Canada.

Christelle de Jager of Variety writes that the International Broadcast Center for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will be based in Johannesberg.

That does it for now.

Monday Night Links

So it’s time to give you some links this evening.

I guess for its 10th Anniversary, the Sports Business Journal is opening up its website. I think that’s a very good idea. So I’ll be giving you a series of links from there tonight. First, the magazine gives its stories of the decade. Here are SBJ’s Newsmakers of the decade including George Bodenheimer, ESPN Dictator; Dick Ebersol, Emperor of NBC Sports; and David Hill, the Big Cheese of Fox Sports. The Media section includes top newsmakers including Sean McManus, head honcho of both CBS News and Sports; Ed Goren, President of Fox Sports; top stories which discuss the launching and subsequent success of the regional FSN’s; the NHL moving to Versus; and Sports Talk Radio. The Advertisting/Marketing Section has the decade’s top newsmakers and stories as well. If you want to read the entire edition, it’s online at this link. It’s all fascinating stuff and I’m happy to see SBJ put it online for free.

Newsday’s Neil Best talked with former boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini about Mixed Martial Arts and the small bit part he had in a movie that played at the Tribeca/ESPN Film Festival.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at how former Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia is cashing in on his famous tirade that took place 25 years ago on Tuesday.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says HBO was a big winner at the Sports Emmys tonight.

Tony Paige writing for Multichannel News has no use for ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr.

Tom Shea of the Tehachapi (CA) News writes that a local man has been tapped to bring ESPN Radio into the market.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune likes the USGA’s US Open going into primetime in June.

I’m already seeing the Tuesday media columns coming out so I’m going to stop now and I’ll be back tomorrow with a list of Sports Emmy Award winners plus other stuff. Keep it here.

Some Additional Monday Links

I’ll give you some more links on this Monday afternoon.

From the Sports Media Watch, Tennis Week is reporting that ESPN has picked up the rights to the final leg of tennis’ Grand Slam, the US Open starting in 2009. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that if true, ESPN would have the rights to all four legs of the Grand Slam.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated says TV viewers were the big winners of this year’s NFL Draft.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal writes in his media notes that despite original criticism, ESPN’s Monday Night Football schedule actually makes sense for the network. Also from Sports Business Journal, Terry Lefton and John Ourand write that the NFL is planning to offer a Friday-before-the Super Bowl Awards Show broadcast to the network televising the Big Game each year. Ourand also talks with outgoing CBS Sports Executive Producer and incoming MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti. And Bill King of the SBJ writes about ten years of following Sports Business. How about lowering the cost of a year’s subscription as part of a ten year anniversary celebration?

The Monroe (LA) News Star picks up a story from Glenn Guilbeau who feels the NFL and ESPN should move the Draft up to March.

Liz Mullen of the Baltimore Business Journal writes about Fox Sports hiring former Ravens coach Brian Billick as a game analyst.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott also writes about Brian Billick moving to Fox as well as finding Billick’s appearances on Match Game PM. Ken also writes in his blog that the Albany River Rats have worked out their conflict with the Yankees for tomorrow night.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost Publications writes in his blog that the NFL Network may need to call an audible to get carriage from the major cable providers.

The Sports Media Watch says some uncompetitive first round series are actually hurting the NBA in the ratings.

John Consoli of Mediaweek writes that TV ratings for MLB are off to a slow start this season.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that a local TV sports anchor will be leaving his station in the fall as his contract was not picked up.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times, in his Two Cents blog, reviews what he saw on TV over the weekend.

A couple of satellite radio-related items for you. The Orbitcast blog writes that Danica Patrick will appear on a show hosted by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on XM Satellite Radio later this week. And the Sirius Backstage blog reports that Scott Ferrall has signed a multi year with Sirius Satellite Radio continuing his sports talk show on Howard 101.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says some new faces have helped to bring CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada into the 21st Century.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
New York Yankees at Cleveland – ESPN/YES/STO, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at New York Mets – FSN Pittsburgh/SNY, 7 p.m.
Cincinnati at St. Louis – FSN Ohio/FSN Midwest, 8 p.m.
Houston at Arizona – FSN Houston/FSN Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Oakland at Anaheim – FSN West, 10 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco – FSN Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 10 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 5/Toronto at Orlando – NBA TV, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4/Boston at Atlanta – Comcast SportsNet New England/TNT, 8 p.m.
Game 4/LA Lakers at Denver – TNT, 10:30 p.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 3/Montreal at Philadelphia – CBC/Versus, 7 p.m.

Entertainment
Bones – Fox, 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother – CBS, 8:30 p.m.
Two and a Half Men – CBS, 9 p.m.
Jon & Kate Plus 8 – TLC, 9 p.m.
House – Fox, 9 p.m.
Carrier – PBS, 9 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Some Monday Links

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

Let’s give you some links.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s it for now.

The Week Ahead

This is something I’m going to try to do every Sunday, previewing what’s ahead in the Week in Sport.

One of the bigger events on the sporting calendar is the Kentucky Derby and it’s always a sign of spring. NBC Sports will have its coverage starting at 4 p.m. this Saturday, May 3 with a silly red carpet show hosted by Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush. Bob Costas will be the host, Tom Hammond, Gary Stevens, Kenny Rice, Bob Neumeier, Mike Battgalia and Donna Barton Brothers will all be at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY for the opening leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

In baseball, ESPN will have the Yankees at Cleveland on Monday Night Baseball at 7:05 p.m.

The Red Sox try to avenge an Opening Week sweep by the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays as they’ll meet again at Fenway Park in Boston starting on Tuesday.

In another midweek series, the Yankees will travel to Detroit on Tuesday to take on the Tigers who are still trying to right their ship after a poor start to the season.

And one of the best rivalries in baseball, the Cubs and Cardinals square off in St. Louis starting on Friday. Fox will have coverage of the middle game on Saturday starting at 3:55 p.m. ESPN will have the Sunday night game at 8:05 p.m.

The NBA and NHL playoffs continue this week. The NBA schedule can be seen here. Both ESPN and TNT will have NBA coverage throughout the week. Check out the NHL playoff schedule here. Versus, CBC and TSN will have the coverage during the weeknights, NBC joins in on the weekend.

The men’s and women’s tennis tours are abroad as they prep for the French Open. The ATP Tour will be in Rome for the Masters tournament there. And the women are in Berlin.

The PGA Tour will be in Charlotte, NC this week for the Wachovia Championships. Golf Channel and CBS Sports have the coverage starting this Thursday.

The NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will stop in Richmond for the Dan Lowry 400. I guess that race was named for a fan. Fox will cover the race Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Those are some of the events you can look forward to this week.

Some Blog Links

One thing I realized today, I’m getting close to the one year anniversary of this blog. I don’t remember the actual date of the beginning of Fang’s Bites in 2005 because I did not have a regular blogging schedule, plus the style was not the same as today, so I recognize the re-launch of May 2, 2007 as the actual start date.

During this week, I’ll give you some of my favorite sites that I visit plus I may bring back some of my favorite stories over the last year.

Right now, I’ll give you some blog links today, not the mainstream media blogs like Neil Best’s Watchdog, but other blogs like Joe Favorito’s Sports Marketing and Public Relations site and others. Let’s get started.

Speaking of Joe, he has a good look at how some of the Second Tier sports like Indy Racing and lacrosse got some ink across the country this past week.

A very good place to go for NHL media news is Kukla’s Korner Eye on the Media site. Not only does it keep up to date every day, it can sometimes break news such as was the case when it corrected the Wall Street Journal’s story in it which erroneously reported NBC would broadcast Games 4-7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in its new contract with the NHL.

The Big Lead has the video of ESPN’s Orestes Destrade being enamored with the mom of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Jayson Werth. The Slanch Report has a close up picture of Jayson’s mom.

Awful Announcing noticed that ESPN missed a lot of the 1st Round picks at the NFL Draft because it was away at commercial.

The 38 Cliches blog noticed that Red Sox announcer Dave O’Brien does impressions.

My good friend, John Crowe has the entire FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women list.

Barstool Sports looks back at some of the biggest New York Jets Draft Blunders over the years. That was for you, Johnny Crowe.

Sports by Brooks notes that former ESPN/ABC sideline reporter Jim Gray is hanging around NBA arenas looking for a job.

The Biz of Baseball blog notes that Hall of Fame Dodgers announcer Vin Scully was honored this weekend by Pepperdine University.

The Kissing Suzy Kolber blog tells us that three sisters were selected for this season’s Philadelphia Eagles cheerleading squad. I think I need to post the pic. Here are the Bell sisters, newest members of the Iggles cheerleaders.

Hot. Very hot.

Busted Coverage is celebrating Erin Andrews’ 30th Birthday in grand style.

That does it for now. I think I have one more post coming up today. Keep it here.

The Sunday Links

On this Sunday, I’ll give you some more links because linkage never takes the weekend off.

First, I’d like to thank Will Leitch of Deadspin for linking over to Fang’s Bites this weekend. Will was doing his week in review and linked to my post listing the rundown for Costas Now this Tuesday. It’s much appreciated. For those of you coming over from Deadspin, welcome and I hope you like what you see.

Let’s get to the links now.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival that has been running this weekend.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels the New York media is giving Mark Jackson a free pass on whether or not he wants to be Knicks coach.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has a story on Hall of Fame Dodger announcer Vin Scully crediting a secretary for getting him his first big break.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times writes that for the first time, college presidents are actually talking about a football playoff for the BCS and Fox Sports is hoping it will come true.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his blog that Buffalo Bills fans will get some extra NFL Draft coverage today thanks to Time Warner Cable.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says the NFL TV Draftniks were praising the Green Bay Packers’ pick of WR Jordy Nelson yesterday.

Charles Elmore of the Palm Beach Post says a faster paced Draft did not increase the drama for ESPN.

The Sportz Assassin over at the AOL Fanhouse blog says Chris Berman actually referenced one of his infamous YouTube videos during ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage.

Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News wonders what outfit Keyshawn Johnson was wearing on the ESPN NFL Draft set yesterday.

Dan Nilson of the Flint (MI) Journal talks with the NFL Network’s Steve Mariucci who says he’s enjoying his TV work.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Chiefs Radio Network has hired a new sideline reporter.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable has been blogging from the NFL Draft and he talked briefly with NFL Network Vice President Charles Coplin about programming and pickups.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News blogs that there were plenty of good viewing choices for sports fans on Saturday including the NFL Draft. Multichannel also reports that Major League Soccer is teaming up with a Spanish network aimed at kids as part of an initiative to promote healthy lifestyles.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America writing for SI.com says ESPN2′s JP Dellacamera and John Harkes make a solid announcing pair for MLS games.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes in his blog that the Albany River Rats did not air on local radio yesterday due to a conflict with the Yankees that could not be worked out on time.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that Buffalo and western New York pull the highest ratings for Versus in the NHL Playoffs.

Ray McNulty of the Sebastian (FL) Sun says NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s decision to put games on Versus was a colossial mistake.

Steven Hart of the Staten Island (NY) Advance is not happy with what he calls ESPN favoritism.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with ESPN’s Kenny Mayne who’s on a national book tour promoting his tome, “An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport“.

Brian Fazio of the Valdosta (GA) Daily Times says the Golf Channel will be in town later this week to televise a PGA Nationwide Tour stop.

And that will do it for now. Check back later. There might be an update or two today.

Who Will Be This Year’s Brady Quinn

At the NFL Draft, there seems to be one player who drops in value. Last year, it was Brady Quinn. You remember these scenes.

First, from the NFL Network:

And the reaction from Mel Kiper, Jr. and Chris Mortensen from ESPN:

It first appeared that Matt Ryan of Boston College could have been that player, but it appears he’ll be selected by Atlanta with the third pick and Darren McFadden will go to Oakland at number 4. Things are coming together for this year’s Draft or so it seems. There always seems to be one surprise at the Draft.

Our Saturday Links

Time to give you some links on this NFL Draft Weekend. Already some news being made as Adam Schecter of the NFL Network reports that the Atlanta Falcons will look to take Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan with the overall third pick. We’ll see if this pans out. If you have your laptop and you have access to Wi-Fi today, you can head over to NFL.com which will webcast the NFL Network’s coverage of the Draft.

Let’s give you some links today.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News wonders what channel viewers will choose for the NFL Draft, ESPN or the NFL Network.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News looks into Bob Costas’ live HBO show on Tuesday which will delve into the sports media.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar says a quicker NFL Draft will lead to a better telecast.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks to Albany River Rats play-by-play man Owen Newkirk who called the longest game in American Hockey League history this week.

Neil Best of Newsday does some namedropping from the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. And Neil wonders how “We Are Marshall” won the vote for favorite football movie at the festival.

The Sports Media Watch has its usual weekend ratings predictions. And SMW has the ratings from the last five NFL Drafts on ESPN. Finally, the blog points out an error on ESPN.com.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks with Fox Sports Radio’s draft guru, Chris Landry about what the Redskins and Ravens might do this weekend.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks into who might be the biggest loser financially in this year’s NFL Draft.

The next few links are from Multichannel News:

Todd Spangler writes that NFL Network has picked up carriage on a satellite service. Mike Reynolds reports on the NFL Network’s upfront presentation on Thursday.

Multichannel says SNY will provide extensive coverage of the NFL Draft from the New York Jets’ perspective.

Scott Greczkowski of Multichannel News says he enjoyed DirecTV’s interactive features for a New York Yankees game.

Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes about John Marzano’s funeral services which took place on Friday. Tom Singer of MLB.com says Marzano was remembered for his friendship and his humor. And you can see Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s coverage of the funeral here.

Multichannel reports that the WWE will release Wrestlemania 24 on Blue-Ray DVD.

Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog that ratings for the NBA and NHL Playoffs are strong early in the postseason.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal writes that USA Network will drop coverage of the US Tennis Open after this year leaving it for ESPN or other networks. And Richard Vach of the Tennis-X site wonders if this means ESPN will scoop up the tournament giving it a Grand Slam of coverage.

Maria Trombly and Karen Chu of the Hollywood Reporter write an enterprise story on companies hoping to get some business from serving the big media conglomerates coming to Communist China to cover the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Victoria Ho of CNET Networks writes that NBC’s digital media unit plans to showcase Microsoft’s Silverlight technology to webcast more than 2,200 hours of coverage of the Olympics from Communist China.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail enjoys listening to sports tirades.

Larry Bohannan of the Desert (CA) Sun writes that FSN will air a new celebrity team golf tournament in June.

Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes about two sportscasting hotties who have made an impact in the Emerald City.

I found more links than normal on a Saturday, but that’s a good thing. I may be back later with an update.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, April 26

Golf
Champions Tour/Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, 2nd Round – CBS, 1 p.m.
LPGA Tour/Stanford International Pro-Am, 3rd Round – ESPN2, 4 p.m.
PGA Tour/EDS Byron Nelson Championship, 3rd Round – CBS, 3 p.m.

MLB
New York Yankees at Cleveland – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
Anaheim at Detroit – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
Arizona at San Diego – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
Red Sox at Tampa Bay – NESN, 7 p.m.
Baltimore at Chicago White Sox – MASN2/WGN, 7 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Washington – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/MASN, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Texas – FSN North/FSN Southwest, 8 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle – FSN Northwest, 9 p.m.
Cincinnati at San Francisco – FSN Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 9 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Rocky Mountain, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series/Aaron’s 312 – ABC, 3 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 4/Orlando at Toronto – TNT, 3 p.m.
Game 3/LA Lakers at Denver – TNT, 5:30 p.m.
Game 3/Boston at Atlanta – Comcast SportsNet New England/ESPN, 8 p.m.
Game 4/Houston at Utah – ESPN, 10:30 p.m.

NFL
SportsCenter Special: On the Clock – ESPN, 11 a.m.
NFL Total Access – NFL Network, 11 a.m.
2008 NFL Draft, Day 1 – ESPN/NFL Network, 3 p.m./ESPN2, 8 p.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 2/Colorado at Detroit – NBC/TSN, 3 p.m.
Game 2/Philadelphia at Montreal – CBC/Versus, 7 p.m.

Track & Field
Penn Relays – ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Entertainment
Cops – Fox, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted – Fox, 9 p.m.
Robin Hood – BBC America, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery – CBS, 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Live with Christopher Walken – NBC, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Sunday, April 27

Golf
Champions Tour/Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, Final Round – CBS, 1 p.m.
LPGA Tour/Stanford International Pro-Am, Final Round – ESPN2, 3 p.m.
PGA Tour/EDS Byron Nelson Championship, Final Round – CBS, 3 p.m.

MLB
New York Yankees at Cleveland – TBS/YES, 1 p.m.
Atlanta at New York Mets – WPIX/SportSouth, 1 p.m.
Red Sox at Tampa Bay – NESN/FSN Florida, 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Washington – WGN/MASN, 1:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Texas – FSN North, 2 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Prime Ticket, 4 p.m.
Arizona at San Diego – FSN Arizona/Cox 4, 4 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle – FSN Northwest, 4 p.m.
Cincinnati at San Francisco – FSN Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 4 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Detroit – ESPN, 8 p.m.

Motorsports
Formula 1/Spanish Grand Prix – SPEED, 7:30 a.m.
Indy Racing League/Indy 300 at Kansas City – ESPN2, 5 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series/Aaron’s 499 – Fox, 1:30 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 4/Cleveland at Washington – ABC, 1 p.m.
Game 4/San Antonio at Phoenix – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Game 4/Detroit at Philadelphia – TNT, 7 p.m.
Game 4/New Orleans at Dallas – TNT, 9:30 p.m.

NFL
2008 NFL Draft, Day 2 – ESPN/NFL Network, 10 a.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 2/New York Rangers at Pittsburgh – NBC/CBC, 2 p.m.
Game 2/Dallas at San Jose – Versus/TSN, 7 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 9 (series finale, thank goodness!) – CBS, 8 p.m.
Carrier – PBS, 9 p.m.
The Tudors – Showtime, 9 p.m.
Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union – Showtime, 10 p.m.

John Marzano Funeral Clips Plus A Final Tribute

Thanks once again to Laura Nachman, she provides the final moments of today’s Daily News Live from Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia in which Michael Barkann narrates clips of people attending John Marzano’s funeral and then a final tribute from CSN.

Following Daily News Live, there are various commercials and the beginning of SportsNite.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
Red Sox at Tampa – NESN/FSN Florida, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at Cleveland – YES/STO, 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Detroit – FSN West/FSN Detroit, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at New York Mets – Peachtree TV/SNY, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Washington – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/MASN, 7:30 p.m.
Baltimore at Chicago White Sox – MASN2/Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Texas – FSN North/FSN Southwest, 8 p.m.
Houston at St. Louis – FSN Houston/FSN Midwest, 8 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.
Arizona at San Diego – FSN Arizona/Cox 4, 10 p.m.
Cincinnati at San Francisco – FSN Ohio, 10 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Rocky Mountain/FSN Prime Ticket, 10:30 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 3/Detroit at Philadelphia – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Game 3/New Orleans at Dallas – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Game 3/San Antonio at Phoenix – ESPN, 10:30 p.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 1/New York Rangers at Pittsburgh – Versus/CBC, 7 p.m.
Game 1/Dallas at San Jose – Versus/TSN, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Ghost Whisperer – CBS, 8 p.m.
The Sarah Jane Adventures – SciFi, 8 & 8:30 p.m.
Doctor Who – SciFi, 9 p.m.
Dateline – NBC, 9 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 10 p.m.
Battlestar Galactica – SciFi, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

A Megalink Friday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now let’s get to your links.

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

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

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

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

Canada

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

Blogs

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

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

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

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

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

Late Thursday Links

I wasn’t planning on giving more links today, but there are enough stories for me to give you an update.

Two things from Darren Rovell’s Sports Business blog at CNBC.com. First, Darren looks into who bought the David Ortiz Red Sox jersey that had been buried in the new Yankee Stadium foundation. Next, Darren is amused by EA Sports’ decision to put recently retired Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre on the cover of Madden ’09.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times writes in his Two Cents blog that having Favre on the cover ensures that the Madden Injury Jinx won’t continue this year.

Linda Moss of Multichanel News writes that Nielsen will measure the ratings for ESPN Deportes starting next week.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that during tonight’s Coach’s Corner segment on CBC, Don Cherry denounced the violence in Montreal on Monday following the Canadiens’ win over the Boston Bruins.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ratings for Versus in the first round of the NHL playoffs are up 33% from last season.

Two things from the Sports Media Watch today. First, Paul Sen says the Washington Capitals’ first round playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers paid off in good ratings for Versus. Next, ratings for the NBA playoffs are scoring for ESPN and TNT.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says through nine NBA playoff games, TNT’s ratings are up from last season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the latest Time magazine cover looks a lot like the new NBA playoff ads. Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says Time outright stole the NBA ads for its split cover of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch talks about the passing of legendary Boston sports anchor Don Gillis who called play-by-play for every team in the city. Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Gillis was the first sports anchor on Boston TV. The Boston Globe has an obituary.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says CBS Sports Executive Producer Tony Petitti was formally introduced as President and CEO of the MLB Network on Thursday.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter says the NFL is still committed to the NFL Network despite limited distribution.

CBS Sports continues its coverage of the PGA Tour this weekend with the Byron Nelson Championship.

ESPN has the rundown for the latest edition of E:60 which will air next Tuesday.

NBC Sports will air the U.S. Olympic Women’s Marathon trials (run last weekend in Boston) on MSNBC this Sunday.

Be here sometime around midday Friday for the megalinks. Good night.

Rundown of the Next Costas Now on HBO

On April 29, Bob Costas will host a live show discussing the changing role of the sports media. This has the potential to be a very long, boring program, but there is also potential for fireworks.

Will Leitch of Deadspin will talk about the increased role of blogs in sports. Blog hater Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post will also be featured. And there will be other segments as well. Take a look:

HBO SPORTS’ COSTAS NOW

RETURNS WITH A SPECIAL LIVE EDITION, DEBUTING APRIL 29

Bob Costas returns with a special live edition of HBO Sports’ COSTAS NOW on TUESDAY, APRIL 29 (10:00-11:30 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), exclusively on HBO. Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein serve as executive producers of the show, which draws on the talents of HBO Sports’ Peabody- and Emmy^®-winning production department.

HBO On Demand availability: May 5-26

“On April 29 we’re going to take stock of the sports media landscape,” says Greenburg, who is HBO Sports president. “We look forward to a comprehensive and opinionated evening of discussion.”

COSTAS NOW spotlights fast-breaking, topical stories that continually emerge in today’s sports arena. Employing a town hall setting, April’s show will expand to 90 minutes for its exploration of contemporary sports media. Each segment will be devoted to a specific topic and after a video set-up piece will spotlight a different panel of high-profile sports personalities, broadcasters, journalists and executives, who will join Costas live on the set for in-depth discussion.

The five hot- button segments that will be explored during the program include:

Segment One: Sports Talk Radio. Video package interviews: Chicago radio host Mike North, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, WFAN radio hosts Mike & The Mad Dog. Live Panel: NY Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, best-selling author and radio host Mitch Albom and WFAN radio host Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo.

Segment Two: The Internet and Impact of Bloggers. Video package interviews: deadspin.com editor Will Leitch, TV writer and media critic Michael Schur and Washington Post columnist and PTI host Michael Wilbon. Live panel: Pulitzer Prize winning author Buzz Bissinger, Will Leitch and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards.

Segment Three: Sports Television. Video package interviews: NBC Sports broadcaster Al Michaels, former ABC and NBC executive and producer Don Ohlmeyer, syndicated columnist Norman Chad. Live panel: Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck, ESPN broadcaster Mike Tirico and Sports Illustrated’s Dan Patrick.

Segment Four: Athletes and the Media: A Complicated Marriage. Video package interviews: Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, Former NBA star and Turner Sports analyst Charles Barkley, Chicago columnist Sam Smith and NBC Sports broadcaster Al Michaels. Live panel: NBC’s Tiki Barber, Sports Illustrated columnist Selena Roberts and former tennis star and current tennis analyst John McEnroe.

Segment Five: A Discussion on Race. Video package interviews: Washington Post columnist and PTI host Michael Wilbon, former NFL star Kellen Winslow, Sr., espn.com editor-in-chief Rob King. Live Panel: former NFL star and current ESPN commentator Cris Carter and Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock.

Note: The “video package interviews” are pre-taped and will set up the live panel discussions from the midtown Manhattan location.

The program will be shown live in the East, tape delayed in the West. I’m not sure if I’ll live blog it, but I will be watching.

NHL Playoffs on Westwood One Radio

Westwood One Radio will begin its NHL Postseason coverage this weekend:

WESTWOOD ONE

PRESENTS THE

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

– Exclusive Play-By-Play Coverage –

New York, NY – April 24, 2008 – Westwood One (NYSE: WON), the exclusive home of NHL Radio^Ò, presents the National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Semifinals. Westwood One’s play-by-play coverage will continue each week throughout the post-season, concluding with live coverage of each game of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Westwood One and NHL Radio Present the 2008 Conference Semifinals:

Sunday, April 27—-New York Rangers @ Pittsburgh Penguins—Game 2—-1:45 PM ET

Thursday, May 1—-Detroit Red Wings @ Colorado Avalanche—-Game 4—-9:45 PM ET

Saturday, May 3—-Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens—Game 5—-6:45 PM ET

The Stanley Cup Playoffs complete Westwood One’s coverage of the 2007 – 2008 NHL season, which featured seven regular season Game of the Week broadcasts, as well broadcasts to radio stations nationwide. Westwood One’s NHL Radio^Ò line-up includes This Week In The NHL – a weekly recap of game highlights and commentary hosted by Sam Rosen.

Westwood One will have extensive coverage of the NHL Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
Florida at Atlanta – FSN Florida/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh – FSN Midwest/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay – Rogers Sportsnet/FSN Florida, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Washington – SNY/MASN, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox – YES/WGN, 8 p.m.
Cleveland at Kansas City – STO/FSN Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Baltimore at Seattle – MASN/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Arizona/FSN Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Cox 4, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 10 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 3/Orlando at Toronto – NBA TV, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3/Cleveland at Washington – TNT, 8 p.m.
Game 3/Houston at Utah – TNT, 10:30 p.m.

NHL Playoffs
Game 1/Philadephia at Montreal – CBC/Comcast SportsNet Philadephia, 7 p.m.
Game 1/Colorado at Detroit – Versus/TSN, 7:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Survivor – CBS, 8 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy – ABC, 9 p.m.
Lost – ABC, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Time for Your Thursday Links

Time to do the links on this Thursday.

Newsday’s Neil Best has breaking news for us. Former ESPN MLB analyst Harold Reynolds has been hired as a part-time studio analyst at SNY. Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says H.R. will continue to be an analyst at MLB.com. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball blog also writes about the hiring of Reynolds by SNY.

Maury has the new “This is SportsCenter” ad featuring the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager writes about Scott Van Pelt getting an increased role at ESPN Radio.

Ryan White of The Oregonian says the NHL appears to be finding an audience.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC is happy to have the Montreal-Philadelphia series in its traditional Saturday night timeslot.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star profiles the head of CBC Sports, Scott Moore.

Paul McDougall of Information Week says traffic to NHL.com has increased during the playoffs.

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle says Game 7 of the Calgary-San Jose series scored in the ratings for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Don McKee of the Philadephia Inquirer writes that Game 7 of the Philadelphia Flyers-Washington Capitals series was the most watched program in the city on Monday night (scroll down).

While hockey TV ratings are up in various US cities, the first round NHL playoff series were down all over Canada for both CBC and TSN.

NBC Sports talks about the two NHL playoff games it will cover this weekend including Colorado-Detroit.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that three local TV stations will broadcast the funeral services of a local soldier who was killed in Iraq pre-empting all sports on Sunday afternoon.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes in his Open Mike blog that local TV sports anchors are jumping on the Magic playoff bandwagon.

Laura Nachman has a story about Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler giving back to his alma mater (scroll down).

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune writes that former Cubs manager Lee Elia is selling a contrite message, 25 years after his infamous tirade. And here’s the original Tribune story from April 30, 1983.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog about ESPN’s Kenny Mayne writing a new book.

The Awful Announcing blog has the video of Mike Fratello wondering if TBS’ Bill Engvall is funny.

The 38Cliches blog finds someone who doesn’t like Dale Arnold filling in on the Red Sox radio broadcasts.

That is all for now.

A Few More Wednesday Links

I’ll give you some more links on this Wednesday evening.

First, Neil Best of Newsday writes that MLB Network has made its first major hire taking Tony Petitti away from CBS Sports. Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union also has the story in his blog. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball blog is all over the story as well. Jon Lafayette of TV Week talks about Petitti’s departure from CBS Sports. Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Petitti will leave CBS Sports on June 1. And we get the story from John Ourand of the Sports Business Daily.

Over to Maury’s Biz of Basketball site which says TNT has added two players to be analysts for the NBA Playoffs.

ESPN.com picks up an AP story about Danica Patrick’s appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight.

John Consoli of Mediaweek goes over NBC’s one year renewal of its deal with the National Hockey League.

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Stars have released their local TV schedule for the series against the San Jose Sharks.

The Philadelphia Phanatic Magazine’s daily blog says ratings for the Flyers could not be any better going into the NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals.

David Steele of the Baltimore Sun says ESPN missed the bigger picture when trying to expose Miguel Tejada’s age discrepancy.

Bill Ordine of the Sun says one of the bigger dramas at the NFL Draft is seeing which player waits in the Green Room as their value drops which each passing pick.

David Sweet of MSNBC says the NFL Draft has become must see TV.

Michael Futch of the Fayetteville (NC) Observer writes that ESPN Radio has expanded its presence in the market at the expense of a Spanish-language station.

Bill Virgin of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles sports radio reporter Neil Scott who also hosts a show on recovery.

Rick Bentley of the Fresno Bee talks briefly about Heidi Watney moving East to join NESN (scroll down).

That’s all for tonight.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB
Anaheim at Red Sox – FSN West/NESN, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay – Rogers Sportsnet/FSN Florida, 7 p.m.
Florida at Atlanta – FSN Florida/FSN South, 7 p.m.
Houston at Cincinnati – FSN Houston/FSN Ohio, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh – FSN Midwest/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Washington – SNY/MASN, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox – ESPN/YES/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Cleveland at Kansas City – STO/FSN Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Milwaukee – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/FSN Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Colorado – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/FSN Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Oakland – FSN North, 10 p.m.
Baltimore at Seattle – MASN/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.
Arizona at LA Dodgers – FSN Arizona/FSN Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Cox 4, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 1 a.m.

NBA Playoffs
Game 2/Philadelphia at Detroit – NBA TV, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2/Atlanta at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England/TNT, 8 p.m.
Game 2/Denver at LA Lakers – TNT, 10:30 p.m.
Inside the NBA – TNT, 1 a.m.

Entertainment
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 8 p.m.
‘Til Death – Fox, 8 p.m.
Back to You – Fox, 8:30 p.m.
National Geographic’s Strange Days on Planet Earth – PBS, 9 p.m.
DEA – Spike, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman w/ Brett Favre – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Celtics Fans Can Interact with Comcast SportsNet During Game 2

From the fine people at Comcast SportsNet New England, we find that fans can chat during Game 2 of the Celtics-Hawks game tonight.

Here’s the press release:

CELTICS STUDIO HOSTS GARY TANGUAY AND DONNY MARSHALL TO CHAT

IN-GAME WITH FANS DURING CELTICS-HAWKS GAME 2 ON DRIVEFOR17.TV

BURLINGTON, MA – Celtics fans have the unique opportunity to chat in-game with Comcast SportsNet Celtics studio host Gary Tanguay and NBA analyst Donny Marshall during the second and third quarters of Celtics-Hawks Game 2 on Wednesday, April 23.

Celtics fans can participate by clicking the Game 2 Live Chat icon on www.Drivefor17.TV beginning with the 8 p.m. tip-off. During the second quarter, Tanguay will interact with Celtics fans from the CSN Celtics studios, and, following the half, Marshall will chat with fans.

In addition to the on-line chat, Comcast SportsNet will use some of the Celtics fans’ posts during Celtics Halftime Report and Celtics Post Game Live.

Participating in the live chat will be Celticsblog.com lead writer Jeff Clark and Improper Bostonian sports reporter Rich Levine, both of whom contribute to Comcast SportsNet’s WickedGoodSports.com.

This might be an experiment to determine if there will be chats in the future.