Fang's Bites

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, linkage has been really scarce over the last month and a half and I apologize for that. My schedules have been quite busy and it’s been tough to sit down for the time it takes to gather the links. I hope that changes over the next month or so.

I have some National links for you right now. I’ll follow up with more stuff later.

Here are the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

National

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the people at the Poynter Institute who are the ESPN Ombudsman.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle has the Miami Dolphins not so enthusiastic about being on Hard Knocks this season.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Sean McDonough who will undergo brain surgery later this year.

Ira Boudwell of Bloomberg Businessweek says ESPN is getting out of the high school sports business saying it’s not broad enough.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says this week’s blowout between David Stern and Jim Rome proves that the NBA Commissioner needs to go.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily says Fox Sports San Diego is launching an ad campaign against Time Warner Cable which has still not picked up the regional sports network.

Good Morning America’s and former ESPN SportsCenter host Robin Roberts says she will beat the rare blood disorder that will require a bone marrow transplant.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NBA Finals are pacing ABC to good ratings this week.

At Broadcasting & Cable, Tim Baysinger writes that this week’s Dream Team documentary gave NBA TV its best viewership ever.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says GolTV scored with this week’s soccer international friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life reports that NBC will debut two new sitcoms right smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at the geriatric broadcasting team calling the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that even after the winning the Stanley Cup this week, the Los Angeles Kings still aren’t getting respect from the local media.

Former Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio returns to his former stomping grounds to do a massive takedown of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

Also from Deadspin, John Koblin writes that there doesn’t seem to be a clamoring for Erin Andrews beyond ESPN.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBA TV and NBA Entertainment are appealing to the hardcore basketball fan for their Finals coverage.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Sports Illustrated could be laying off part of its staff.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people who hated Chris Berman on the U.S. Open yesterday.

Sports Media Watch notes that this year’s Stanley Cup Final did not resonate with viewers.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Brooklyn Nets gear is selling very well.

MediaRantz tells us that Sean Salisbury will be getting a new internet radio gig.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Time for more linkage here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that May was a very good month for sports radio station WEEI as it finished ahead of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

At SB Nation, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about golfer David Duval taking a turn in the broadcast tower at the U.S. Open.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette discusses Johnny Miller holding court for NBC at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Petersen who will be introducing many Long Islanders to the College World Series today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Yankees for pricing out fans from the “Beautiful People” seats at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that SNY will unveil the all-time Mets team at a gala event on Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the US Women’s National Soccer Team will be on TV and the web this weekend.

Ken says local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to the new Pac-12 Networks this summer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Group has announced the 2012 Summer at Saratoga schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union talks with Jim Rome who marks his 16th year in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete says one of harness racing’s famous races changes networks this year.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a local cable TV sports reporter who is filling a double role this summer.

Keith has more on her in his blog.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that a decision on the Washington Nationals TV rights has been delayed.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald has some NBA Finals Game 2 postgame reaction as well as Jon Barry saying he’s not a Miami Heat Hater.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox Sports Houston was well-prepared and staffed for Wednesday’s perfect game thrown against the Astros by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that ESPN on ABC was all over the non-foul call against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Oklahoman rounds up what sports reporters are saying on Twitter about the NBA Finals.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says an all-star high school football game will be shown locally this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN is dropping its high school sports operation.

Bob criticizes Jim Rome for his questioning of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were silent when comedian Jeff Garlin brought up trading Alfonso Soriano.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes the rare occurrence of the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals going head-to-head on TV this Father’s Day.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that viewers of Fox Sports Midwest may need a scorecard to tell who’s in the Cardinals TV booth over the next few days.

Dan notes that next week will mark a decade since the passing of Jack Buck and Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says this fall’s Boise State-Southern Mississippi game will get the Fox treatment.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utahans are nervous about getting the Pac-12 Networkcomparing it to their experience with the ill-fated the mtn.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox Sports San Diego has set its sights squarely on Time Warner Cable.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s NBA Countdown show seems to work fine without a host.

Jim talks with NBC’s Johnny Miller about the U.S. Open.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times says Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew a good overnight number for ABC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Kings voices about the Stanley Cup victory.

Tom has some more in his blog.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin blames both Jim Rome and David Stern for their ugly exchange this week.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the NBA and NHL Commissioners are taking it on their chins this week.

And that’s going to do it.

Let’s Get To Some Linkage

Before the day is through, let’s do some linkage for you.

Steve Berkowitz from USA Today looks at the Pac-12′s TV contract which is the richest in college sports (for now).

Speaking of USA Today, Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report says the newspaper is restructuring its sports department and about a dozen staffers have been laid off. That includes Friend of Fang’s Bites Mike McCarthy and Game On! blogger Tom Weir. Very sad to see this. I met Mike a few years ago when we covered an event at ESPN. Good reporter and writer. I hope to be linking to him again soon.

Ed also writes about ESPN holding onto the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute watches ESPN’s interviewing guru critique the questioning style of some of its reporters.

Marisa Guthrie at the Hollywood Reporter looks at NBCUniversal’s plans to offer some 5,500 hours of coverage on the Olympics.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says Golf Channel will have live coverage of U.S. Open qualifying on June 4.

Tim Baysinger at B&C recaps last night’s Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily’s Sports Business Awards.

Rich Thomaselli from Advertising Age says the NHL’s social media and traditional ad campaigns have helped bring casual fans to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After being disrespected by its own local media last week, the Los Angeles Kings made this infographic giving a brief history on its logo, names of players and number of times the team has been in the postseason. This season, the Kings have stepped its social media campaign and website to provide fans with a very humorous, but also informative experience. Keep it up, Kings. You guys rock!

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times, writing in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, notes the difficultly for women to find a proper role in sports television.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton’s past is preventing collectors from lining up at his doorstep.

Congratulations to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media who has become SB Nation’s NHL Media writer. Steve is a hard worker who has created a very good niche for himself. And his first column for SB Nation is about the ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final clincher.

Steve also writes about the controversy over NHL on NBC charlatan Pierre McGuire’s withholding of information over an incident between the benches during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says MSG Network will air two specials on the upcoming Belmont Stakes in which I’ll Have Another will go for horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says in addition, MSG Plus will air some horse races this summer.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN has expanded its 3-D coverage of Wimbledon.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Al Jazeera will be launching two soccer channels this summer.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at ESPN on ABC’s plans for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former ESPN’er Dave Feldman is leaving the local market to go home to his native Northern California.

Dan says former DC NFL Team running back and sports radio host John Riggins will be hosting an outdoors show next year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a deadline is fast approaching in which the Nationals will find out how much MASN will be paying them for TV rights.

Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says the Rays are paying tribute to Fox Sports MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal by wearing bow ties.

Tom Jones of the Times says MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams ripped Tropicana Field.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle looks at the proposed uses for the abandoned Astrodome.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports is on the Reds’ bandwagon.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig is holding firm to his retirement date.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says the Big Ten Network has helped to expand the league and in part, raise Northwestern’s profile.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune says even though the Utah Jazz bought the sports radio station where he works, he’ll remain an independent voice.

Chris Jenkins from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego’s Mark Sweeney is a natural fit as Padres analyst.

Tim Sullivan of the Union-Tribune says he enjoys listening to the Padres on the radio.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth can’t believe he’s seeing a farmers dating service ad on NBC Sports Network.

Laura Stone of the Toronto Star writes that a new feature by CBC for the NHL Stanley Cup Final has some hardcore female sports fans hopping mad.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin looks at the Twitter police for college sports programs.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased ratings for the series-clinching game of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final on NBC Sports Network.

Joe Favorito examines the right way and the wrong way to attract Twitter followers.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth marvels at the LA media for getting the Kings logo and players wrong during local newscasts.

And I’ll end the linkage there for now. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Dropping A Few Tuesday Links

Let’s provide a few links here. Don’t think I can do a full set, but I’ll try.

In Sports Business Journal, John Ourand says MLB and Sirius XM have come to terms on streaming audio of live baseball games and will eventually be able to provide both home and away feeds starting next month.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age reports NBC is seeking close to $1 million per 30-second spot for its first-ever Thanksgiving Night NFL game.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today notes that the NFL has signed Tide as its official laundry detergent.

Marlen Garcia at USA Today’s Campus Rivalry blog writes that ESPN is interested in hiring former Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg as an analyst.

Bryan Armen Graham of Sports Illustrated talks with rapper Nas about ESPN using one of his songs for the NFL Draft and Jeremy Lin.

Ed Sherman says the latest ESPN promo featuring a man named Michael Jordan has gone viral.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News reports that Microsoft is bringing both ESPN and CBS Interactive as advertisers to its Xbox 360 platform.

Tim Baysinger of Multichannel says Fox Sports Media Group will air fights from Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Most of them will be on Fox Deportes.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk says the NFL has reminded teams not to leak their draft picks before Commish Roger Goodell makes the official announcement on ESPN and NFL Network.

Mike Florio of PFT says you won’t see Warren Sapp on NFL Network during the draft.

Florio looks at some potential ESPN-on-ESPN crime between reporter John Barr and analyst Bill Polian.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that the NBA’s TV partners are on pace for another ratings record.

John Plunkett of the London (UK) Guardian looks at a new landmark radio deal with the English Premier League that an upstart British company could sublicense to the States.

MediaRantz says the NFL Network completely ignored the Mickey Loomis-New Orleans Saints eavesdropping story that was first reported by ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says notorious cheating website AshleyMadison.com will reportedly pay a woman $1 million for schtupping Tim Tebow.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the dying art of the newspaper sports cartoon.

Gary Myers of the New York Daily News says the Saints are vehemently denying ESPN’s reports that GM Mickey Loomis eavesdropped on gameday radio transmissions.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has ESPN’s Big Ten Football primetime schedule.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes a local record rating for Sunday’s Game 6 of the Bruins-Capitals OT game.

The Dallas Morning News reports on a domestic dispute that turned ugly between NFL Network’s Deion Sanders and his estranged wife. Deion tweeted what happened as the drama unfolded.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman writes that Sunday’s Thunder-Lakers game on ABC set a local ratings record.

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that it appears that Time Warner Cable may not pick up Fox Sports San Diego at all shutting out Padres fans this season.

Steve Donohue of Fierce Cable reports on one TV industry giant telling a Senate committee that ESPN and other cable TV companies should not be allowed to sell their programming directly to viewers.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing notes that Captain Blowhard is bitterly whining once again about not getting a Grantland writer credentialed.

Ryan Yoder of AA says ESPN is swinging the axe over a critique questioning its relationship with the Poynter Review Project.

Matt Yoder of AA notes that Jose Canseco has apparently deleted his Twitter account. Good riddance, Steroids Boy.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox saw a drop in its overnight ratings for the Kansas Sprint Cup race on Sunday.

SMW says the NBA’s TV partners do well when they carry the Miami Heat.

Beau Denison of Sports Page Magazine asks of boxing fans if they should be angry at HBO and Top Rank promoters for the way they handle the Sweet Science.

San Diego Padres fan blog Gaslamp Ball says if Time Warner Cable won’t pick up Fox Sports San Diego, then why should Friar fans keep the cable provider?

And we’re going to leave it there for today.

Some Tuesday Links

Been crazy with the schedules again, but I’m giving you some linkage today because you’re owed some. Let’s get busy.

Sports Business Daily notes the dueling NFL regular season schedule release shows on ESPN and NFL Network today.

Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal says Comcast wants to replicate the success of its “Xfinity Live!” Philadelphia “mall of sports bars” in other cities.

Jason Fry of the ESPN Poynter Review Project a.k.a., the ESPN Ombudsman reviews the network’s ad-approval process.

Ed Sherman, formerly of the Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business has launched his new sports media website and I’m quite impressed. A couple of links to his site which started this week.

First, Ed talks with the polarizing Skippy Bayless of ESPN.

With tonight’s NFL regular season schedule being unveiled, Ed wonders which network will get Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos debut?

Laura Donovan at the Jane Dough is not a fan of a sexist WFAN ad featuring Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.

MediaRantz predicts which NFL team will get the most primetime games in 2012.

Congratulations to Patriot-News reporter Sara Ganim who at the age of 24 becomes one of the youngest to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. She wins for her coverage of the Jerry Sandusky-Penn State scandal and she continues to report on the story.

Ivey DeJesus at the Patriot-News has the story on Ganim’s well deserved award for her reporting.

And here are pictures in the Patriot-News newsroom the moment Sara was informed that she won the Pulitzer.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Coconut Water is here to stay or will it become a huge bust?

George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter looks at the BBC and Eurosport putting a portion of their coverage of the London Olympics on the UK’s pay satellite service, BSkyB.

Marc Graser at Variety says Wrestlemania set a pay per view record for the WWE.

Lindsay Rubino at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the NBC Owned Stations group will sell national advertising for four Comcast SportsNet affiliates.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBC Sports Group is winning with the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kristie Chong-Adler in ESPN’s Front Row blog looks at ESPN.com folding its Page 2 section into a new ESPN the Magazine-fronted portion of the website.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has the video of a new Michael Jordan-themed ESPN promo.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing breaks down one of the funniest and uncomfortable moments in sports television as YES’ Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello seemed to mix it up during last Saturday’s Celtics-Nets game.

However, Ian tells the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says while the videos have gone viral, it was all in fun between he and the Czar of the Telestrator.

Matt at AA still doesn’t buy the explanation that it was a bit.

Bob’s Blitz notes that WFAN’s ratings took a tumble for the second straight Arbitron ratings period, but ESPN Radio New York failed to take up the slack.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that NBC saw higher ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to airing one more game than last year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Jim Kaat about the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog introduces readers to new MASN Nationals reporter Kristina Akra.

Tony Grossi at ESPN Cleveland and WKNR Radio explains why the Browns flagship TV station had to move the team’s first preseason game to another station (scroll down).

Bonnie Miller Rubin of the Chicago Tribune looks back at being her newspaper’s first “gal” sports reporter in 1973 and how far women sportswriters have advanced since then.

Sports Media Watch notes that Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins will be back on NBC this summer to analyze Olympic basketball, a role he filled in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

To Steve Lepore at Puck The Media who notes that the NHL on NBC Sports Network continues to rack up the ratings.

And Dave Kohl of the Broadcast Booth explores the Sacramento market.

I’ll be out for bit, but be back after 7 p.m. ET for the NFL TV schedules. We’ll analyze them together.

Attempting A Friday Megalink Post

This week has been hellish for me and I apologize for not being able to post as much as I would like. I’ve been away from my computer for most of the day and by the time I get home, I’m tired and don’t want to update the blog.

Well, with me already done my errands for today, I’ll give you some linkage that has been seriously lacking this week.

Of course, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which you can peruse.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jim Rome is hoping to make a splash as he prepares to launch his new daily show on CBS Sports Network.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On! blog says perpetually angry ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb is throwing his hat into the Kansas State coaching ring.

The Associated Press was on hand to witness Root Sports Northwest’s production of the Seattle Mariners-Oakland A’s regular season openers in Japan without actually traveling to the Far East.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim has more thoughts on the numerous conflicts of interest in tennis broadcasting.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has Fox Sports’ statement on its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable over Fox Sports San Diego.

John profiles legendary sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer.

Around the Rings has the press release regarding the European Broadcasting Union obtaining the rights to the World Cups in 2018 and 2022.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute says college basketball analyst Bob Knight should not be allowed to live by his own rules when he’s on TV.

Scott Soshnick and Steven Church of Bloomberg Businessweek says the Los Angeles Dodgers sale was sparked by media rights.

Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter says former Sony Pictures head Peter Gruber who’s part of the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group could bring a new attitude towards marketing the team.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable has Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott calling rights fees for college football are undervalued.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NESN National is being launched in Indianapolis.

Tim Nudd at Adweek says Chrysler is unveiling four new follow ups to its “Halftime in America” Super Bowl spots during various events this weekend including the NCAA Final Four and Mad Men.

Adweek’s Mike Shields writes ESPN.com is partaking in Facebook’s Open Graph, but with some restrictions.

Jason Del Ray at Advertising Age notes that CBS/Turner brought in its highest sales revenue ever for March Madness Live.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says March Madness has been enhanced by social media and the digital experience.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing cast the upcoming Anchorman sequel using ESPN’ers. This is good.

Ben Koo at AA is not a huge fan of the overhead shots employed by CBS/Turner for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Los Angeles Times feels there’s one person who could spoil the new ownership for the Dodgers.

Ahmed Yussuf at EPL Talk gives a first-hand account of following the English Premier League from Australia.

Sports Media Watch says last weekend’s rain-shortened NASCAR on Fox event did not do well in the ratings.

Joe Favorito asks if ‘The Hunger Games” could give archery a boost in time for this summer’s Olympics.

Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead reports that Joe Posnanski is leaving Sports Illustrated.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says the potential Fox cable sports network may not knock down ESPN, but could give it a run for its money.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about two rival Hollywood agencies representing Tim Tebow simultaneously.

Bob’s Blitz says WFAN’s Craig Carton browbeat former Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney to the point where he hung up.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS returns to New Orleans where it began its Final Four journey 30 years ago.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling is facing hypocrisy calls after he criticized his former Red Sox team this week.

Chad adds some thoughts on Schilling and on NESN’s Jenny Dell that didn’t make his column.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes in SB Nation that a Tiger Woods in contention is good for The Masters^® and its TV partners.

Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times reviews this year’s edition of the MLB At-Bat app.

Richard Sandomir from the Times examines the Dodgers sale.

Anthony Riemer of Newsday looks at Jeremy Lin’s lunch with the sacked ESPN.com editor who unwittingly made a racial slur last month.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson should not be advocating violence. I don’t think he did, Phil, but continue to hate everything, ok?

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for former Tennessee and current Sirius XM analyst Bruce Pearl on the Final Four.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has the ESPN MAC football schedule.

Pete has CBS excited about this year’s Final Four.

Jane Kwiatkowski of the Buffalo News says this is a tough time for the local TV sportscast.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at a local PBS documentary on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is ready for Phillies baseball.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” gave another of many Capitals references.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Mitch “Wildi Thing” Williams.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes that the Houston Open should be helped by a lot of interesting storylines.

David says Jim Rome is getting ready for his CBS Sports Network closeup.

David writes that Texans running back Arian Foster is taking his show to the team’s radio flagship station.

In The Oklahoman, Mel Bracht has ESPN’s MLB analysts predicting the upcoming season.

Mel says there will be plenty of baseball available in the Oklahoma City market.

Mel reports a local radio station has flipped to being a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate.

Mel writes that a local radio sports director has been laid off thanks to Clear Channel.

Midwest

Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says New Orleans has provided CBS with plenty of Final Four excitement.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station plans to ride the Kentucky train for as long as possible.

John says a couple of long-time local radio veterans got the ax due to Clear Channel cost cutting.

John writes that a radio documentary on late Cincinnati Reds voice Waite Hoyt airs this weekend.

The Indianapolis Star says Butler coach Brad Stevens will be a guest analyst for CBS on the Final Four.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes the Brewers have extended their radio rights deal with their long-time flagship station.

Bob says a local sportscaster is back to work after a long illness.

Bob tells us that Marquette coach Buzz Williams will also be a guest analyst on CBS this weekend.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that CBS loves New Orleans at Final Four time.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 20 Cardinals games won’t be seen by AT&T U-Verse subscribers this season.

Dan writes that the defending champions Cardinals will be in the national spotlight quite a few times this season.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Fox Sports San Diego is not optimistic of getting a deal with two cable providers in time for Padres opening day.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has ESPN’s MLB analysts praising Magic Johnson’s presence with the Dodgers.

Jim was surprised that Kentucky-Louisville wasn’t the nightcap for the Final Four.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Lakers fans are enjoying having guest analysts on radio broadcasts this season.

Tom talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Tom has more on Rome in his blog.

Canada

The usually uninformed Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC Sports appears to be rudderless as it heads into a new NHL negotiation.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the viewership numbers for Canadian sports television from last week.

And that will conclude the megalinks.

Some Rare Saturday Links

It’s been a long time since I was able to provide Saturday linkage. Many times, it’s due to the fact I try to sleep in or my weekend was planned for me behind my back and I have to play chauffeur. Anyway, I’m able to provide some links and since I did not do the megalinks on Friday, I’ll give you this as a replacement, although the number of stories won’t equal Friday’s usual amount.

We begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who mentions that NFL Network came close to firing Warren Sapp after he tweeted that former New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey “snitched” about the team’s bounties to the NFL officials.

Can you believe Bob Costas turned 60 this week??!! Well, he did. MLB Network’s senior editorial director Elliot Kalb who has worked with Bob at NBC writes this tribute.

From the Poynter Institute, ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry looks at why ESPN expunged a Mark Cuban gay joke from a Bill Simmons Grantland podcast.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says smartphones and tablets helped to drive a large percentage of traffic for March Madness Live online.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes that the NCAA Tournament saw a ratings decline from the year before for the first night of the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says a veteran cable TV programming exec has been promoted within the ranks of NBC Sports.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred mourns the passing of former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher.

Eric Goldschein from SportsGrid has video of the Kazakhstan national anthem being played for a medalist of a shooting competition in Kuwait. Problem was that it was the version written for the movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” and not the real Kazakhstan national anthem. That’s funny.

Sports Video Group offers a review of the March Madness Live iPad app.

Busted Coverage says a Spokane, WA local sports anchor unwittingly decided to crack on Lesley Visser’s face.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the harsh punishments handed down by the NFL to the New Orleans Saints over Bountygate were likely tied to concussion lawsuits.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe speaks with CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament East Regional crew of Uncle Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery and Lesley Visser.

Chad has a few more things with Verne and Bill that didn’t make the column.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at MLB Network producing and staffing a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the local CBS affiliate has been taping its late newscast for nights it follows NCAA Tournament action.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that the WFAN Mets Radio Network is not big at all.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest in Baltimore-DC sports media in Press Box.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with Texas A&M’s athletic director about entering the SEC and why the Longhorn Network led to the school’s departure from the Big 12.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Texans radio voice Marc Vandermeer is leaving his radio talk show to focus squarely on the NFL team.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about Fox and MLB Network collaborating on a pregame show.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Turner Sports reporter Craig Sager who loves his job and picking out loud clothes for every game.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about San Diego’s sports radio shuffles.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News has a story on the Brothers Waltrip who are laughing it up at Fox.

Tom has more with Darrell and Michael Waltrip in his blog.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN is seeing a ratings surge for its studio shows thanks to a busy NFL offseason.

SMW says viewership is up for the NCAA Women’s Tournament on ESPN2.

Steve Lepore has a suggestion for ESPN on how to make the NCAA Hockey Tournament more TV friendly.

Joe Favorito looks at how NFL news broke this week.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that Around the Horn host Tony Reali apparently had an on-the-job injury this week.

I’m going to end the Saturday links there.

Doing Some Friday Megalinks

With a rainy day in Southern New England, it’s time to provide you with some media links. Lots of them on a Friday.

You can check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the sports and entertainment programming suggestions.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NBC’s Al Michaels about calling his 8th Super Bowl and 2nd for NBC.

Mike Ozanian from Forbes says NFL TV rightsholders will be able to reap financial benefits while non-rightsholders end up holding the bag.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com says you can follow along the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter results in real time thanks to a new Facebook app.

Michael O’Connell from the Hollywood Reporter has a sneak peek at some of the Super Bowls ads.

Kelly McBride of the ESPN Poynter Review Project looks at why ESPN made so much of Tim Tebow.

Alex Klein at Romanesko looks into why the Yale Daily News sat on a story for several months and how it took the New York Times to report on former quarterback Patrick Witt’s alleged sexual assault on campus. You may remember that Witt was a candidate to become a Rhodes Scholar but then skipped his interview. Now we know why.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News says ESPN will let viewers see additional highlights and material from the Winter X Games via the Shazam mobile app.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that NBC Sports Network goes into the NHL All-Star Weekend with increased ratings for the games.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily also has a story on the increased NHL ratings for NBC Sports Network.

Gabriel Beltrone from Adweek says Coke will have a Super Bowl microsite where its famous polar bears will react to the game and ads in real time.

David Gianatasio of Adweek writes one local Super Bowl spot will urge you to pee during its commercial.

E.J. Schultz at Advertising Age has Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl plans.

Matt Hardigree at Jalopnik says he’s solved the mystery behind the advertiser behind the Ferris Bueller-themed Super Bowl spot.

Adam Jacobi, the college football writer at CBSSports.com, who put the link to Onward State’s erroneous tweet about Joe Paterno’s death last Saturday has been fired. Jacobi says he understands the decision and has apologized to the Paterno family for his mistake.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says NBC will take a lighter approach for Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

Harry A. Jessell at TV NewsCheck notes that while the national TV ratings for the NFL are good, go inside the local numbers and they’re even better.

ESPN PR man Bill Hofheimer gives you an inside look at the network’s Super Bowl studios in Indianapolis.

Sports Media Watch says college basketball ratings are up on both ESPN and ESPN2.

SMW has some news and notes on some various people in the sports media.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes into some of the on-screen typos on TV this week.

Jeff Pearlman gets vindication from Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

Steven Crist from the Daily Racing Form feels returning the Breeders Cup to NBC can only help horse racing.

All Access says a Hartford, CT FM station has flipped to all-sports.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says NESN has selected the replacement for Heidi Watney on its Red Sox broadcasts.

Chad says of all of the local TV outlets, Comcast SportsNet New England will have the largest contingent covering the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

Johnny Diaz from the Globe says Boston DirecTV subscribers will see the Super Bowl after all.

Bill Doyle from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with NBC’s Rodney Harrison about Super Bowl XLII and how some present New England Patriots still remaining from the game want revenge.

Stuart Elliot at the New York Times says some Super Bowl advertisers are returning buyers.

Richard Sandomir of the Times has Joe Namath’s reaction to the HBO/NFL Films documentary on his career that premieres tomorrow.

Richard adds that Namath is right now estranged from his former team, the New York Jets.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says the Namath documentary for the most part is good.

Justin Terranova of the Post speaks with NBC NHL charlatan Pierre McGuire.

Mike Silva at Sports Media Watchdog wonders why Kim Jones left YES.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says a local sports talk show will broadcast live from the Super Bowl next week.

Pete talks with the host of that talk show who also wears other hats in the Albany market.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NYC residents will be able to hear the local and national radio calls of the Super Bowl next Sunday.

The Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News notes the firing of a CBSSports.com writer for falsely reporting Joe Paterno’s death.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes at Press Row has media notes from the Baltimore-DC area.

South

The Tallahassee (FL) Democrat writes that a local sports talk show host who left his former station this week will be back on the air at another station later this year.

Billy Cox of the Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will be the subject of a profile produced by ….. ESPN!

Josh Bowe of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox Sports Southwest will stream Lone Star Conference football games and a highlight show over the internet.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with a retiring local sports anchor who looks back at the 2011 Texans rather fondly.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reviews the HBO/NFL Films documentary on Joe Namath.

Mel says ESPNU will be all over National Signing Day.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with former Bengal Artrell Hawkins who is now co-hosting Fox Sports Radio’s national morning show.

Jeff Moss of the Detroit Sports Rag looks into the new program director and on-air host of a local sports radio station.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Wisconsin sports teams did well in the national TV ratings last year.

Dan McGrath of the Chicago News Cooperative notes the 20 year anniversary of sports talk radio in the Windy City.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says new Minnesota Twins radio voice Cory Provus has big shoes to fill.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Bob Costas about returning to host his familiar town hall format next week.

West

Thomas Harding of MLB.com says Root Sports Rocky Mountain’s Alana Rizzo is leaving the network’s Colorado Rockies broadcast team and heading for MLB Network.

John Maffei at the North County Times says HBO’s documentary on Joe Namath is on par with previous efforts.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star also reviews the documentary.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Kings radio analyst Daryl Evans and also lists his best/worst LA broadcast analysts.

Tom has more on Evans in his blog.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says it’s time to play the NHL All-Star Game outdoors.

And that will do it.

Bringing Out Friday Megalinks

The last few Fridays, I haven’t been able to provide you with the megalinks. I have to do some today otherwise you’ll stop visiting me.

We begin as always with the Weekend Viewing Picks and there are quite a few for this snowy weekend in Southern New England.

Now to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw about Tim Tebow and the upcoming NFC Championship.

Jason Fry, part of the ESPN Poynter Review Project hears sideline reporter Holly Rowe’s side of the story regarding about her now-infamous incident where she shoved a Sugar Bowl staffer away to get an interview with Michigan coach Brady Hoke.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter looks at HBO’s new unscripted series on boxing trainer Freddie Roach.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans has a review of the Freddie Roach series in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has written a letter to the FCC asking the agency to get involved in the Sunbeam-DirecTV dispute which could affect how viewers in Boston see the Super Bowl.

John says Comcast is seeking a reversal of a Federal decision that ruled in favor of Tennis Channel in their dispute.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says DirecTV has signed a rights deal to distribute Big Sky football and basketball games.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says History Channel has purchased a longer ad to promote its series, “Swamp People” during Super Bowl XLVI.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age tells us who’s buying what in Super Bowl XLVI.

AdAge looks at the 12 ads that changed Super Bowl marketing forever. Three guesses on number one and the first two don’t count.

Brian says marketers are going longer with their Super Bowl ads this year in an attempt to stand out.

Finally, Brian writes that even though we’re not thinking about next year’s Super Bowl XLVII, CBS already is and has been working on getting an early start on ad sales for that Big Game.

Inside Radio says all of Cumulus’ Bay Area radio stations will simulcast Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

From across the pond, Amy Lawrence of The Guardian in the UK says Fox airing an English Premier League game live over the air is a big deal.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo looks into NBC Sports Network’s first foray into boxing.

Dan Levy at the Bleacher Report wonders which network can muster enough former NFL talent to drum up a flag football game.

Mac Nwulu of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog has an inside look at the preparation of Sunday NFL Countdown.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing chronicles this week’s Twitter feud between Sports Illusrated’s Richard Deitsch and CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Speaking of feuds, The Big Lead looks at an internal ESPN squabble between college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and insider Andy Katz.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN is making a major scheduling change for the WNBA this year.

SMW has a look at some local NBA and NHL ratings.

Tennis Channel laments not being picked up by Cablevision.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group takes a look at CBS’ and Fox’s preparation for the NFL Conference Championship Games.

Sports TV Jobs has an interesting graphic of sample camera positions at various stadia and arenas.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe talks with a former Baltimore Raven who now works in Boston as a weekend sports talk show host.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette interviews legendary Patriots radio voice Gil Santos.

Newsday’s Neil Best says local TV is gearing up for the NFC Championship.

Neil talks with former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber who makes his return to TV this weekend.

George Vescey at the New York Times looks forward to seeing Sunday’s English Premier League game live on Fox.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is not a fan of the NFL replay review process.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for CBS Sports’ and WFAN’s Boomer Esiason.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has some NFL TV analysts break down the four quarterbacks still playing for a shot in the Super Bowl.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox’s Troy Aikman talking about the NFC Championship.

Ken has more from Troy in his blog.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes in Press Box that last week’s Texans-Ravens game set a local ratings record.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun attempts to get answers from CBS on having Subway endorser Ndamukong Suh on last week’s NFL Today postgame show.

And David has former Ravens QB and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer opining on Ed Reed’s comments on current QB Joe Flacco.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals are hoping to get more money from MASN as the sides negotiate a new contract.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with the radio voice of the Wizards about his busy schedule.

South

Keith Jarrett at the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times says the Big South may have to move its Conference Championship Game venue which could effect ESPN’s scheduling.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says SEC partners CBS and ESPN want better scheduling for next football season.

Jerry Tipton of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader writes that the SEC’s basketball coaches aren’t happy over the scheduling-for-TV moves this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans’ flagship radio station hopes to build on the team’s momentum when their new contract kicks in next season.

David has some news and notes that didn’t make his column.

Nancy Sarnoff of the Chronicle says NBC Sports Group is looking for a new facility to house the Comcast SportsNet Houston regional sports network which launches later this year.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Texas Rangers will have multiple appearances on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says HBO continues its string of acclaimed sports documentaries.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says don’t expect NFL Conference Championship Sunday to change its format for the foreseeable future.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune feels Fox Sports North just cheerleads for Minnesota teams and won’t criticize them.

Paul Christian from the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin looks at Fox Sports North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota schedule.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has CBS Sports President Sean McManus wanting to keep the status quo for NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times looks at MLB Network’s first-ever game show which premieres next week.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says CBS was hoping to get Tim Tebow for its NFL Today pregame show on Sunday, but he declined.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth profiles Fox Sports West host Patrick O’Neal and has his list of best and worst local sports anchors.

Tom has a bit more on O’Neal.

Canada

Bob Weeks in the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC has gotten out of the curling business, a sport it has televised since 1962.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail says the Raptors may be suffering on the court, but not on TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the International Olympic Committee throwing out CTV/CBC’s joint bid to air the 2014/2016 Games.

And that is it. Glad to be able to provide the Megalinkage for you.

A Friday Evening Megalink Thing

Let’s give you some linkage on this Friday. Been a busy day. You deserve some links

The Weekend Viewing Picks provide your sports and entertainment TV watching. And now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether networks should hire ex-coaches knowing full well they could make news and leave for another job.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute takes the Alleged Worldwide Leader to task for its failure to press the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story and holding a tape for eight years.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser writes that ESPN has hired Bloomberg News sports business reporter Michele Steele.

Over to Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk who has Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid angry at NFL Network for its portrayal of wide receiver DeSean Jackson after last night’s game with Seattle.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News discusses the viewership increase for Thursday Night Football.

Mike writes about the quintet of games that will open the NBA season on Christmas Day.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has an advance clip of a CNN Sunday interview with ESPN Vice President of News Vince Doria speaking about the handling of the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story.

Dan has a very strong promo for the return of the NBA.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that on the Dan Patrick Show, TNT’s Charles Barkley had some fighting words for notorious sports self-promoter Skip Bayless.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that mobile truck operators are happy to have the NBA back in action.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says while the NBA Lockout has been settled, there’s still a battle that will continue for several years.

Sports Media Watch looks at the NFL ratings for Week 12 for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing looks at the machinations behind a longer Thursday Night Football schedule.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At the Boston Globe, Chad Finn looks at how Twitter broke the Bobby Valentine-to-Boston story and he handicaps the race to replace Heidi Watney as NESN Red Sox reporter.

Howard Beck at the New York Times notes that current NBA players are returning slowly but surely to NBA TV which has been stuck showing games from the 1980′s and early 1990′s.

The New York Post’s Claire Atkinson reports that the NFL is looking for big bucks from NBC to renew the rights to Sunday Night Football.

The Post’s Phil Mushnick wants the networks to stop showing touchdown celebrations.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler.

Newsday’s Neil Best bids adieu to WFAN’s Tracy Burgess who left the Boomer and Carton show today.

Neil looks at ESPN being a stepping stone for coaches who are looking for their next job.

Neil has a quickie review of the ESPN Films documentary on former quarterback Todd Marinovich.

And Neil notes that local football players aren’t making news on social networks, but the old fashioned way… on radio.

Bob’s Blitz has pictures of Tracy Burgess’ last day at WFAN.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Fox is trying to get the word out that it’s back in the college football business.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Chris Herren, the subject of ESPN Films’ Unguarded documentary, will be in town to talk about his battle with addiction.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest Baltimore/Washington DC sports media news in this week’s Press Box.

In the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg tells us what happened to local sports radio host John Riggins who’s been missing as of late.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ Gus Johnson and Charles Davis about calling back-to-back conference championship games on successive nights.

South

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle talks with NFL on Fox sideline analyst Tony Siragusa who will be part of the crew calling the Atlanta-Texans game on Sunday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge who will call the annual Bedlam game.

Mel says Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster are pulling double duty this weekend.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Time Warner Cable will be busy with local high school football this weekend.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that the Detroit Lions have received more national media attention whether it’s deserved or not.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley has Fox’s Charles Davis talking about Wisconsin running Montee Ball’s Heisman Trophy chances.

Bob says NASCAR races will be airing on a different Milwaukee radio station next year.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman has his weekly winners and losers.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says it’s going to be a busy weekend for Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster on Fox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says St. Louis University may be a rising college basketball program, but it hasn’t translated to more national exposure.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says local Cox subscribers will be able to see Time Warner Cable’s coverage of the state high school football championships this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the Pac-12 Championship won’t be the showcase that Fox had in mind.

Jim says the SEC Championship will have BCS National Championship Game implications like it always does.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Fox is doing its best to sell a less than stellar Pac-12 Championship Game matchup.

Tom has what didn’t make his column in his blog.

Tom says the new Los Angeles Dodgers radio flagship will hire former manager Kevin Kennedy as a postgame host.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail gleefully points out that Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada is drawing lower ratings than in the past.

And that’s going to do it for our linkage tonight.

Churning Out The Tuesday Links

Early evening again. Let’s do some linkage here.

The Poynter Institute’s Jason Fry writes an article as the ESPN Ombudsman on how whiskey maker Jameson’s got stuck sponsoring the ESPN Films “Unguarded” documentary on addict Chris Herren.

Michael Bradley writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks at a new e-book from Dallas Mavericks owner and social media maven Mark Cuban.

Tony Barnhart, a.k.a. “Mr. College Football”, writes a tribute to the late voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Larry Munson at CBSSports.com.

Peter Schrager at Esquire talks with Baltimore sportscaster Gerry Sandusky, who’s often confused with the accused Penn State child molester.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes that the NBA lockout really didn’t effect the cable networks’ in the third quarter of this year.

Lacey Rose from the Reporter talks with Captain Blowhard about his Grantland site and a few other things that people really don’t care about.

One more from the Reporter, Gary Baum says Hollywood is taking sides for this weekend’s USC-UCLA game. Whatever.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age tells us how the ads for Super Bowl XLVI on NBC are shaping up.

Dan Hirschhorn of Ad Age says the networks are now hoping to poach NBA advertisers in the wake of the lockout.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable notes the plan of succession for ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer is now in place and will take in effect on New Year’s Day.

John Eggerton at B&C says NBC Sports Network gets into boxing next year.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that NASCAR’s season finale got a big rating for ESPN.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes about NBC Sports and the NHL teaming up for a new event hoping that it will be as successful as the Winter Classic.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes a new poll which shows that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s reputation has been ruined most likely for good.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the NFL is not as dependent on New York for ratings as the other sports leagues.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the NFL Week 12 TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air local high school football championships this weekend.

Ken says MSG Network airs some college hockey on Saturday.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about NBA TV’s new show that premieres tonight.

Jim says the Big East could become a coast-to-coast conference.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about the ESPN chain of succession.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says as expected, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State drew big local ratings over the weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says try not to get too excited over Fox’s Galloping Gobbler Award.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business talks with an NBA agent who’s making due during the lockout.

Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU’s TV contract is the main holdup for the school’s entry to the Big East.

Helene Elliot from the Los Angeles Times looks at the potential aftermath of the Dodgers ownership sale.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN’s NASCAR ratings went up this year.

Christopher Byrne of Eye on Sports Media has some thoughts on the passing of Georgia football announcer Larry Munson.

That’s going to be it.

Bringing Out Some Sunday Links

I’m linking in the middle of doing some badly needed DIY projects here at the Fang’s Bites abode so I might be a bit scarce today. I’ll do what I can on this lazy Sunday, the middle of the Labor Day Weekend.

The ESPN Ombudsman, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute responds to Bruce Feldman’s allegations about his (alleged) suspension.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Cablevision and Verizon FiOS dropped Tennis Channel this morning as part of yet another installment of their long-running dispute.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza pulling a Heidi Watney and gagging on air after taking a swig of pickle juice. Or it hearkens to when Tracy Wolfson tried Cammy Cam Juice.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has some suggestions for the NBA Players Association.

Page Six of the New York Post says Andy Roddick dislikes John McEnroe so much that he refused to do an ESPN interview until he left the set.

Joseph Barracato of the Post ridicules CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s Versus show even before it takes air.

Steve Politi of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger says the Bayonne Bleeder, Chuck Wepner, will get his story of his 1976 fight with Muhammed Ali told by Hollywood and ESPN in separate projects.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams talks with the multifaceted Trevor Matich of ESPN and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

In Texas Monthly, Jason Cohen takes a look at the trials and tribulations of the Longhorn Network.

Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network will pick up five Texas-San Antonio games this season.

EPL Talk says the interesting battle in soccer will be Fox vs. NBC.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW says the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup did not do well.

Joe Favorito takes a look at MetLife buying the naming rights for New Meadowlands Stadium.

And that will do it for the Sunday links.

The Recovering After Irene Links

Yesterday at 8:30 a.m., I lost power at my house and as of this post, I still don’t have it. The northern part of my town has power, but I live in the southern part and there’s nothing. That’s not good. And RI did not get hit that hard by Irene so I don’t know how we could lose power for so long. Anyway, it appears that my office never lost electricity as the clocks appear to be on time so I’m blogging from work. Hopefully, I won’t be without power for that long.

Here are your links.

Michael Smith of the Sports Business Journal writes that UPS and MillerCoors are looking to become very aggressive sponsors of college sports.

Eric Fisher of SBJ says a new site has launched to cover digital fan marketing.

Terry Lefton of SBJ speaks with a sports marketer who believes stadium naming rights work.

Mimi Turner of the Hollywood Reporter says the BBC will air every hour of every single event at the 2012 London Olympics. That’s quite ambitious.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says with Hurricane Irene out of the way, New York can focus on the U.S. Open for the next two weeks.

Mike says Tennis Channel will reach 50 million homes for the Open.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride from the Poynter Institute says there’s nothing wrong with ESPN airing the Little League World Series to which I ask her, are you crazy?

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says reporting on suicides and speculating why they happen as in the case of former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and broadcaster Mike Flanagan demonstrate the need for due diligence by news organizations.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says a short two days after Vin Scully announced his return to the Dodgers, so did Spanish voice Jaime Jarrin.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that Houston Texan RB Arian Foster is not a fan of ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowhack. Really, who is?

Zombie Journalism has a problem with ESPN’s social networking policy that bans its reporters from breaking news on Twitter.

TMZ reports that wrestler Ric Flair is contemplating a lawsuit against Captain Blowhard-led Grantland.com for a long article on him that was published last week.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir speaks with Fox Sports’ Joe Buck about his ailing voice.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick decides that he’s a man of the people, which probably couldn’t be further from the truth.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with CBS college football host Tim Brando about his radio show being aired on CBS Sports Network.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend in sports television including a poor local broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers preseason games.

Sean Pendergast in the Houston Press says the Longhorn Network doesn’t have enough content to be successful.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN’s Chris Spielman picks Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar writes that Missouri’s new football analyst has a football background, but also one in intelligence. As in CIA. Yup.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post is amazed at the media controversy swirling around Broncos third-string quarterback Tim Tebow.

Andrew Malcolm from the Los Angeles Times says ESPN has warned golf analyst Paul Azinger over his tweet criticizing President Obama.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News speaks with Olympic swimmer Janet Evans who turned 40 on Sunday. Wow.

Tom writes about Dodgers Spanish broadcaster Jaime Jarrin’s return for next year.

Tom also has your sports calendar for this week.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says the lockout doesn’t seem to be effecting the NBA.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail advises us not to look for Rogers Sportsnet to wrest the CFL rights away from TSN in the next bidding.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the Maple Leafs are close to hiring a new announcer.

Sox & Dawgs has a look at the UConn Radio Network for the 2011-12 season.

Mike Shields at DigiDay notes that ESPN’s College GameDay will really sink its teeth into social networking this season.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing is critical of the ESPN Ombudsman for letting ESPN off the hook for airing the Little League World Series.

Joe Favorito feels the World Fire and Police Games taking place in New York are brand and activation opportunities for potential sponsors.

And lastly, here’s a video I made last night driving down the main road of my town showing how dark it was. Definitely no fun without power.

That’s all. Back later.

Dragging Out The Monday Linkage

Lots of stuff coming out today. Rebranding news galore as we found out that Versus will undergo a name change on January 2, 2012. Then there’s Sporting News Radio changing its name to Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today. And Westwood One Radio has merged with Dial-Global today. Crazy day. Let’s do some linkage and hope nothing else breaks.

First, Mike McCarthy of USA Today broke the news last night of the Versus rebrand.

We have the reason for the rebrand to NBC Sports Network directly from NBC.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has a story on the Versus rebrand.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the goal of the Versus rebrand is to gain more access for NBC Sports Network and to raise subscriber fees.

Georg Szalai at the Hollywood Reporter says NBC Sports hopes to provide marketers and affiliates with a better value for the channel.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the new name for Versus will launch on January 2.

Stuart Levine from Variety says NBC Sports hopes the new name will give the channel better footing in competing against ESPN.

All Access looks at Sporting News Radio becoming Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron explores the rebranding of Sporting News Radio.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer say local SNR affiliates were informed of the new name today.

To other stories now.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute wonders if ESPN got too entrenched in its NFL lockout coverage.

Eric Morath of the Wall Street Journal says Fox Sports is protesting an MLB-backed plan to sell media rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Overseas, Current’s Keith Olbermann writes in the London (UK) Guardian how News Corp. President Rupert Murdoch hired and fired him from Fox Sports Net.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says Texas A&M is appealing to the NCAA to use a 17 year old rule to block Texas and the Longhorn Network from airing high school football games.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says a Seattle sports radio host gave former Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard a real parting shot as he heads to Boston in a trade to the Red Sox.

Also at SportsGrid, Timothy Burke has a mashup of horrible Tim McCarver analysis from Saturday.

To Cam Martin of SportsNewser who writes is ESPN is renaming its RISE brand to reflect its true focus.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine notes the return of fans to NFL team websites which bodes well for the regular season.

Richard Lawler from Engadget HD notes that AT&T U-verse suddenly booted ESPN 3D off its lineup last night without any warning.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL fantasy business seems to have recovered from the lockout.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is calling out some sports reporters for being lapdogs.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has his reaction to NBC changing Versus’ name.

Pete also has the MLB Network schedule of games for early August.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike Emrick will be honored by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner says football may be back, and so will the stadium hostage game.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog says former ESPN’er Brett Haber is leaving his local DC gig to spend more time with his family.

Here’s the announcement of Haber’s departure from his local station.

Mark Washburn of the Charlotte (NC) Observer says two local radio stations are swapping their national ESPN and Fox Sports Radio affiliations.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the weekend in sports TV.

In his blog, David Barron of the Houston Chronicle briefly touches upon the Sporting News Radio rebrand and discusses the passing of a legendary Texas play-by-play man.

The Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun has a story from Jesse Cordova that ESPN will air a high school football game in neighboring Missouri.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders says despite having a losing record last season, the Broncos will be covered aplenty on TV.

In the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce says Utah fans are already screaming about the lack of TV exposure in this year’s Pac-12 football schedule.

Brian T. Smith of the Tribune talks with new Fox Sports college football announcer Craig Bolerjack who comes over from CBS.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s sports calendar.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News looks at how TV rights and market size come into play for any future Pac-12 expansion.

Jonathan Okanes in the Mercury News says there’s a new FM sports radio station in the Bay Area.

Rachel Bachman of The Oregonian talks with ESPN’s Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews about the 25th anniversary of College GameDay.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says sports seems to be getting the reality TV treatment throughout visual mediums.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN seems to be a retraining ground for coaches.

To The Big Lead and Jason Lisk where he looks at the rather interesting tweets by NFL insiders Peter King and Adam Schefter.

Sports Media Watch learns that Turner Sports’ Marc Fein is leaving to pursue other opportunities.

That’s going to do it. Lots of links today.

Some Thursday Linkage

Being out of the office certainly kills any momentum for blogging and I’ve been out for most of the morning and trying to catch up ever since. Let’s get some linkage in as tonight will be busy for me as I do the Friday morning features the night before.

The big story for today, Hall of Fame hockey voice Mike “Doc” Emrick announcing he’s leaving the New Jersey Devils and focusing on calling national NHL games for NBC/Versus. We have several links.

First, Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy gives his thoughts on Doc’s departure from the Devils.

Joe Yerdon of Pro Hockey Talk writes that Doc will work full-time for NBC/Versus in hopes of cutting down his travel schedule.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Doc is a true friend of hockey.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union notes that NBC/Versus now has two full-time play-by-play announcers for the NHL.

On to other links. Stuart Levine of Variety speaks with ESPN Executive Vice President of Content John Skipper who says the Alleged Worldwide Leader is in a buying mode for events.

To Ben Kercheval of College Football Talk who says ESPN’s Longhorn Network may have committed an NCAA violation.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred says sports newsrooms are usually the last to break down racial and gender barriers.

Marcus Vanderberg says the NBA 2K12 video game has gone massively retro for its covers.

Dave Levy of SportsGrid says an academic study of bloggers vs. sports journalism was published with plenty of hidden agendas.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has scored another endorsement deal.

From ESPN Front Row, Taylor Henriques looks at the very first intern hired at ESPN who’s now working in the network’s public relations department.

Also at Front Row, Bill Hofheimer goes behind-the-scenes at the shoot for this season’s Monday Night Football open once again featuring Hank Williams, Jr.

At Deadspin, Tommy Craggs got his hands on the ESPN Editorial and Advertising Guidelines. Quite interesting.

To Tech Crunch and Leena Rao who tells us that there’s a new mobile app that allows anyone to become a sports reporter.

Over to the Boston Globe and character assassin Dan Shaughnessy who thinks after five years, Twitter is just a fad (scroll down to the paragraph starting with “Pardon me if I sound like Larry King ….”). Shaughnessy or as all of New England calls him, “CHB” is a hack. Thanks to Tony Manfred of the Business Insider Sports Page for the link.

To Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who writes that the Open Championship’s ratings fell for the third year in a row.

Richard goes over the ESPN Ombudsman’s critique of how ESPN handled the Bruce Feldman affair.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NHL fans will have to wait until next month to find out the national TV schedules.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that ESPN’s Michael Wilbon has fired back at Wizards star JaVale McGee in round 2 of their Twitter fashion feud.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the planned high school football broadcasts on Longhorn Network are off for now pending talks with the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference.

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram suggests that Texas A&M launch its own sports channel instead of whine about the Longhorn Network.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says there’s no need to cancel the NFL Hall of Fame Game just yet.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News is angry at San Diego Padres fans who want Dick Enberg out from calling their games because he’s not a homer.

Jeff Blair of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Dave Van Horne may be known as the voice of the Florida Marlins, but he was Voice of the Montreal Expos long before that. Dave is going to be inducted into the Broadcasters Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that TSN has won the rights to air the Jets games this coming season. Thanks to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media for the link.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that TSN will air coverage of the Rugby World Cup later this year.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

Awful Announcing continues its Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament and today’s matchup is Colin Cowherd vs. Skip Bayless. Oh that’s a tough one.

I’ll end it there.

Cranking Out Some Mid-Week Linkage

Time for some Wednesday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his reaction to the ESPN Ombudsman column on the Bruce Feldman suspension or non-suspension depending on whom you choose to believe.

Sports Business Daily looks at the media reaction to the death of Myra Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Mrs. Kraft had cancer and died this morning at the age of 68.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at why the NBA an entire regular season TV schedule in the wake of its lockout.

Gavin J. Blair of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the Women’s World Cup Final got huge ratings in Japan even with the game starting at 3:45 a.m. in Tokyo.

At Broadcasting & Cable, R. Thomas Umstead writes that HBO has set a premiere date for its new documentary on Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

R. Thomas Umstead has an article in Multichannel News talking about the NBA going all in with full TV schedules for ESPN and TNT despite an ongoing lockout.

In Radio Ink, Chadd Scott speaks with Atlanta sports radio duo Chuck and Chernoff about moving to a new timeslot.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks at the drop in viewership for the ESPY’s.

Over to Timothy Burke at SportsGrid who notes that while ESPN is now embracing Twitter, it still doesn’t understand the service.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says MLB isn’t happy over the use of the Giants logo in an alternative weekly newspaper ad.

Cam Martin of SportsNewer notes that CBS’ Lesley Visser will be marrying for the second time this weekend. Her previous marriage to Dick Stockton ended in divorce last year following 28 years together.

To Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing who tries to determine when ESPN lost its journalistic integrity.

Stuart Elliot of the New York Times writes that McDonald’s will be walking a fine line with its sponsorship of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union breaks news that the Versus brand will be retired by the end of the year.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that NBC begins airing its horse racing series, “Summer at Saratoga” this weekend.

At the Allentown (PA) Morning Call, Keith Groller agrees with HBO’s Bryant Gumbel commentary on the US Women’s Soccer team.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog where Dan Steinberg has video of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Chick Hernandez losing it on the air after co-anchor Julie Donaldson made a funny.

Dan says the Washington Wizards’ JaVale McGee is having a Twitter fashion feud with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon.

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel writes that the Magic’s Dwight Howard must feel slighted as the NBA’s TV networks fawn over Florida’s other team.

Don Kausler, Jr. of the Birmingham (AL) News says the University of Alabama is part of Fox Sports Net’s early SEC football schedule.

The University of Texas’ official sports site interviewed ESPN’s Stephanie Druley who’s in charge of getting the Longhorn Network off the ground.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Women’s World Cup Final on Sunday topped the local ratings on Sunday.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says it’s a good thing the Bulls’ schedule is backloaded with marquee games in case the NBA lockout is settled midway through the 2011-12 season.

From the Arizona Republic, Jim Gintonio writes that Phoenix Coyotes TV voice Dave Strader is leaving to take a full-time position with NBC/Versus. Thanks to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media for the link.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wasn’t sure exactly when Lesley Visser divorced ex-husband Dick Stockton. If you were with me in March, you’ll remember this story from Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post in which Lesley mentions her divorce.

The Los Angeles Times’ TJ Simers talks with Angels analyst Mark Gubicza about his daughter who’s 2 years removed from having brain surgery to end seizures.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says a local sports talk morning drive host understands why he’s losing his show as his station undergoes a format change.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that the format change means one reporter is leaving for TSN Radio.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some suggestions for CTV as it counts down to one year until the 2012 Olympics in London.

Andrew Bucholtz at The Good Point looks at ESPN’s struggle with ethics in the wake of the Bruce Feldman suspension or non-suspension. I have some quotes in the story.

To The Daly Planet where John Daly leaves clues on a potential new TV partner for NASCAR.

Wendy Parker at Extracurriculars says it’s time to take off the kid gloves when it comes to women’s sports.

Sox & Dawgs looks at a new movie focusing on former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee.

That is where we’ll end the linkage for today.

A Full Tuesday Linkfest! Finally!

For the last week, I haven’t been able to do a full set of links. Work has been crazy, but I hope to give one today. It’s either going to the other office or heading out with the boss to various work sites or head to meetings, but today should be calmer.

I’ve started a series on People You Should Follow on Twitter in response to Sports Illustrated’s list published last week. Part 1 was posted Monday night and Part 2 came out Tuesday night. Look for more installments throughout the week.

Let’s get started.

First, ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute writes about the ESPN/Bruce Feldman suspension/non-suspension and for some reason, doesn’t do full due diligence on the story.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing does an excellent point-by-point takedown of the Ombudsman’s acceptance of ESPN’s company line on the Feldman suspension.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has graphic evidence of ESPN Radio Hack Colon Cowherd being a complete idiot.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand notes that ESPN is about to fully embrace Twitter and social media.

In the Business of College Sports, Kristi Dosh has a fascinating post on which sports turn a profit for BCS schools and which ones don’t.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes about the Women’s World Cup Final resonating with viewers.

Mike says a marketing firm is looking to package two pre-World Cup Western Hemisphere qualifying tournaments to networks.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek looks at Ross Greenburg’s departure from HBO Sports.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life Magazine goes inside the Women’s World Cup’s stellar ratings.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry writes about the marriage between sports and Twitter.

Vinnie Iyer of AOL Sporting News has HBO being optimistic that a new edition of Hard Knocks will be filmed this summer. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Jonathan Wall of Yahoo’s Devil Ball blog critiques ESPN’s coverage of the Open Championship.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is suing sports apparel manufacturer Champion for dropping him from endorsements after his tweets about Osama bin Laden last month.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe delves into the Boston Celtics buying a large stake into Comcast SportsNet New England.

Roger Catlin at the Hartford Courant says ESPN came out as the real winner of the Women’s World Cup Final.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says ESPN produced a fair and compelling Women’s World Cup Final broadcast.

Richard Huff at the New York Daily News looks at ESPN premiering a Spanish language-edition of E:60.

Michael Blaustein of the New York Post writes that ESPN’s miniature cameras at the World Series of Poker are giving competitors an interesting advantage.

At Fishbowl New York, Jerry Barmash reports that Len Berman is dropping his sports reports on a local radio station and will be replaced by the same man who replaced him at WNBC-TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Open Championship final round ratings.

Evan Weiner at the New Jersey Newsroom wonders what the UK phone hacking scandal could mean for News Corp.’s sports partners here in the US.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that NFL Today host James Brown didn’t like how DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan handled QB Donovan McNabb.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the ratings for the Women’s World Cup Final.

Travis Sawchik of the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier says lucrative TV contracts have helped to make college football a big business.

Candace Carlisle of the Dallas Business Journal says Fox Sports Southwest has hired a veteran writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to beef up its online coverage.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle says Texas A&M Regents are concerned over Texas’ Longhorn Network and what it means for the future of the Big 12 Conference.

Ryan Sharp of the Daily Oklahoman writes that Big 12 Conference schools can’t be too happy over the Longhorn Network’s airing of Texas high school football games.

Steven Matthews of the Dayton Daily News says the Western & Southern Open will have plenty of new looks including extensive TV exposure this summer.

Tim Prahl of the Muskego (WI) Patch talks with former MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusnierek about returning home to Milwaukee to co-host a radio show.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes two games scheduled for the Chicago Bulls that may never get played.

Kyle Ringo of the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera says the University of Colorado is in a unique position where it can sell the TV rights to its games this season.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times goes over some of the changes in the proposed NFL collective bargaining agreement including a new TV package.

Steve Zeitchik of the Times looks at Ross Greenburg leaving HBO.

Elizabeth Salaam of the San Diego Reader says a recent Facebook poll wasn’t kind to Padres TV voice Dick Enberg.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some thoughts on various topics.

Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

And we have some more news and notes from SMW.

Joe Favorito looks at who will benefit when the NFL lockout finally comes to an end.

And there is your full set of links.

Some Wednesday Linkage

I’m somehow stuck in this bad work stretch where my blogging has suffered. I know I’ll be out of the office for most of the day tomorrow which sucks. But I’ll do what I can for you. Let’s get cracking on the linkage. Again, this will not be a complete set, but I’ll do what I can.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks with ESPN’s soccer voice Ian Darke.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute says prior planning and resources gave ESPN a leg up when the US Women’s Soccer team had its dramatic victory over Brazil on Sunday.

Abigail Pesta of Marie Claire interviews ESPN’s Erin Andrews on dealing with the aftermath of the infamous tape that was released by a stalker two years ago.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says ESPN created a fictitious candy bar to show the effectiveness of its Monday Night Football brand.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter notes that TSN has signed another sports property to a long-term agreement.

Philiana Ng of the Reporter notes that the MLB All-Star Game beat all comers in primetime last night.

Brooks Peck of Yahoo’s Dirty Tackle blog notes that Sports Illustrated decided not to put the US Women’s Soccer team on this week’s cover in case the team lost to France today.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk writes that Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison had second thoughts about appearing on ESPN today after he made controversial comments to Men’s Health magazine about NFL Commish Roger Goodell to El Niño.

At SportsGrid, Glenn Davis has the video of last night’s very strange interview of Justin Timberlake during the MLB All-Star Game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite the US Women’s Soccer team being a feel-good story right now, it probably won’t translate to endorsement deals down the road.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has the results of the first round of its Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament to find the worst announcer and a look at the voting for the second round.

The Fleer Sticker Project has some very interesting vidcaps of the 1971 MLB All-Star Game which was televised on NBC.

Ok, I’m being told to leave. I’ll do some more links tonight.

Doing Some Megalinks

Today, I was all over the place going in between two offices, heading to see a client and running through Northern Rhode Island for no good reason. But I’m trying to do some megalinkage after not being able to do them last week so let’s not delay any further. Check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for sports and primetime recommendations.

Now to the linkage.

National

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy says ESPN’s Michelle Beadle has quickly become one of the network’s most popular personalities.

With this being the one year anniversary of the abortion known as “The Decision”, ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute wonders if the network has learned anything after running the program.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that the new Time Warner Sports regional sports network has made two important hires.

Guest blogging for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Joe Gisondi tells aspiring writers that going for the offbeat can sometimes lead to some of the best stories.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that ESPN continues to use the MLB Home Run Derby as a guinea pig for new innovations.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that a year after “The Decision”, LeBron James still remains a pariah among sports fans.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says ESPN is still dealing with the fallout from “The Decision.”

The Business Insider’s Sports Page provides the best and worst of the first 30 days of Captain Blowhard’s Grantland site.

Sports Media Watch tells us that the ratings for the Women’s World Cup are up significantly from the previous event from four years ago.

SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito says Victor Martinez may not have been selected for the last American League All-Star Game roster spot, but it wasn’t due to his creative campaigning.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe compares and contrasts the Hub’s two regional sports networks, NESN and Comcast SportsNet New England.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at the fill-ins on local sports radio and he remembers the late Boston Herald columnist and celebrated boxing writer, George Kimball.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram talks with Fox Sports MLB analyst Eric Karros about the All-Star Game.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the new season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm broaches some painful baseball memories.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post lectures everyone who thinks the Roger Clemens perjury trial is a waste of time.

Justin Terranova of the Post writes about Bob Costas and Al Michaels calling tonight’s Mets-Giants game on MLB Network and SNY.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes about some changes at a Baltimore sports radio station.

I hope this next story goes viral. From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg writes former quarterback Joe Theismann telling a local radio station how he got hoof and mouth disease playing in the CFL. Why does that seem appropriate for Theismann?

Jim Williams talks about Al Michaels and Bob Costas teaming up for MLB Network.

South

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald has former Hurricane quarterback Gino Torretta calling out Ohio State fans for forcing ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit to move out of his native Columbus.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle discusses the Longhorn Network making some on-air hires.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Tulsa native Dari Nowkhah will be the main host on ESPNU for the upcoming college sports season.

Mel has his sports media news and notes.

Midwest

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal looks at “The Decision” one year later and where it leaves native LeBron James.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press has Joe Buck raving about the Detroit Tigers.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley has Fox’s Tim McCarver discussing the Brewers’ All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman has his winners and losers in sports business.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Fox’s Tim McCarver who will be at the mic for his record 20th All-Star Game on Tuesday.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times looks at the HBO Curt Flood documentary that airs the night after the All-Star Game.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes about Al Michaels accepting Bob Costas’ invitation to call a game on MLB Network.

In his notebook, Jim writes that the Home Run Derby is watched by the MLB All-Stars as well.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Fox’s Joe Buck.

Tom has Joe willing to step aside to have Vin Scully call the World Series one more time.

Tom has his news and notes.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the doctor with a connection to Tiger Woods and pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges raised the ire of ESPN Radio hack Colin Cowherd.

The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that IndyCar makes two stops this summer in the Great White North and TSN will take Versus’ coverage of both events.

And with that and it being early Saturday morning, I’ll end the megalinks here.

Digging Out Some Tuesday Linkage

Time for the links on this Tuesday. Lots of good stuff to get to.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal looks at MLB Commissioner Bud Selig rejecting the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Fox which now throws Frank McCourt’s ownership of the team into jeopardy.

In Sports Business Journal, Broadcasting & Cable Editor-in-Chief Ben Grossman has some suggestions for Major League Soccer on how to grow the sport in the U.S.

From the ESPN Ombudsman, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute says Bill Simmons’ Grantland site shows potential, but needs to do more.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his June Media Power List.

Richard also talks with the CEO of the polarizing Bleacher Report.

Had to catch up with those last three links from last week. I was so far behind after not doing linkage Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Curtis Eichelberger of Bloomberg writes that NFL quarterback Chad Pennington is taking a year off and will work for Fox Sports when the league comes back from lockout.

Lesley Goldberg of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Comedy Central has canceled two sports-themed shows after just one season.

Marisa Guthrie of the Reporter notes that the U.S. Open’s final round ratings improved from Saturday’s numbers, but were still far below last year’s.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable has NBC being very apologetic about cutting “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during Sunday’s coverage of the U.S. Open.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NBA’s digital platforms are all over this week’s NBA Draft.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says Rory McIlroy has yet to prove he’s a ratings draw.

Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports.com says the Big East turned down a big payday from ESPN to risk checking the free agent market.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com notes that you may not know that Turner Sports has a rather large online presence in golf.

Alex Weprin of SportsNewser recaps Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’ comments on NBC’s successful Olympics bid.

At SportsGrid, Dave Levy writes that Grantland failed to live up to the hype.

Dave says Bill Simmons could have left ESPN to create Grantland somewhere else.

And Dave has thoughts on Grantland here, here and here.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Dan Patrick Show has an unusual proposal on how to end the NFL lockout.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that flamboyant tennis fashionista Bethanie Mattek-Sands (who came to Fang’s Bites’ attention in 2007) has signed a new endorsement contract for an nontraditional tennis product.

Jay Busbee of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog looks at Fox’s proposal to move some of its NASCAR races to cable in its next contract.

At the Daly Planet, John Daly has some thoughts on what this potential move means for the future of Speed.

Diane Mermigas of the Business Insider says innovation could help NBCUniversal pay for its $4.38 billion pricetag for the Olympics.

Olympic sports beat writer John Powers of the Boston Globe finally gets to write about NBC winning the rights to four Olympic Games.

Tom Rock of Newsday has some quotes of tonight’s HBO Real Sports profile of former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times looks at MLB rejecting the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Fox.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Rory McIlroy doesn’t move the TV ratings meter like Tiger Woods did.

Nate Mink writing for the Philadelphia Daily News recaps an ESPN taping of a program involving legendary coaches Joe Paterno of Penn State and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke.

Joseph Santoliquito of the Marple Newtown Patch has a profile of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia anchor Ron Burke.

Greg Augman of the St. Petersburg Times notes that Jon Gruden is taping a session of his ESPN “QB Camp” series with former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interview with Georgia Tech’s Athletic Director on a few subjects including the impact of the ESPN/SEC contract on the school.

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that Golf Channel is giving David Feherty a platform for his humor.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley has Keith Olbermann not impressed with the tome on ESPN.

Justin Albers at the Chicago Sun-Times chronicles ESPN’s Baseball Tonight’s visit to the Windy City on Sunday.

Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago says the local ESPN Radio affiliate is about to move to new streetside studios.

Chad Purcell of the Omaha World-Journal goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN’s crew at the College World Series.

Bill Shaikin and David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times have a story on MLB rejecting the Fox offer to Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt and putting the team into limbo.

The Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review has a profile of Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis who used to work in the area.

Kenyon Wallace of the Toronto Star responds to ESPN the Magazine ranking the Canadian city as the worst in all of pro sports.

Cathal Kelly of the Star says there are cities worse off than Toronto.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has its version of the NHL TV Awards.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing feels it’s time for Joe Buck to leave Fox Saturday Baseball. I called for this two years ago.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that Frank McCourt is threatening legal action to hold onto the Dodgers.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin has video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy being amused by a Red Sox fan wearing a chicken hat. I found out later that she’s the sister of writer Joe Meloni who covers the Hockey East conference for College Hockey News.

And that’s where I’ll leave it for now. Lots of links today.

Springing Out The Thursday Linkage

Let’s provide the links on this very Spring-like Thursday. The sun is out in Southern New England after the April showers of this week. Nice to see the skies bright instead of being gray and drab as like the last few days.

We begin with Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute writing in her role as ESPN Ombudsman. She says the new ESPN guidelines on endorsements are a good start, but still don’t go far enough.

Sofia M. Fernandez from the Hollywood Reporter says despite a $30 million loan from Fox and hopes of a 20 year contract with Fox Sports Net to solve money troubles, Major League Baseball still stepped in and took over control of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

TMZ reports that Fox is not interested in repurchasing the Dodgers.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite MLB taking over the Dodgers, we haven’t heard the last from owner Frank McCourt.

Darren wonders if Major League Baseball is having an attendance problem.

Darren finds in what sports Americans like to participate.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says World Fishing Network has struck a deal with the National Cable TV Cooperative.

David Kiefaber of Adweek looks at a new outdoor ad campaign featuring Mike Tyson. Yes, Mike Tyson.

Carolyn Braff of Sports Video Group says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia was kept on its toes last Saturday as it had to scramble through weather issues to cover four teams.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser has the latest addition to the ESPN.com/Captain Blowhard project.

At ESPN Front Row, Kevin Ota explains how ESPN wants to make the digital media experience more personal for users.

Michael S. Schmidt and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times take a look at MLB taking control of the Dodgers.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer explores Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s move to produce live sportscasts for NBC’s KNTV and if it could happen in Philly.

Frank Seravalli of the Inquirer says the NHL and NBC could very well choose the Flyers for the Winter Classic on January 2, 2012.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has the radio call of last night’s game winning goal in the 2nd overtime of Game 4 of Caps-Rangers.

The Naples (FL) Daily News says a minor league baseball team will have selected games on the local ESPN Radio affiliate.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman has quotes from ESPN’s Jon Gruden about the NFL Draft and yes, there are several “this guy” references.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that today’s Arizona-Reds game will be aired on MLB Network, but there’s one interesting caveat.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also has some thoughts from Gruden about a Wisconsin draft prospect.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business says tonight is going to be a big night for the local Comcast SportsNet affiliate.

The Reno (NV) Gazette Journal notes that ESPN2′s Friday Night Boxing series is coming to town.

In the Tucson (AZ) Citizen, Victor Rodriguez talks with NBC’s Andrea Kremer about covering the NFL in the locker room.

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times couldn’t be happier to see MLB step in and take control of the Dodgers away from Frank McCourt.

Bill Shakin of the Times writes that the Dodgers could be in legal limbo for the foreseeable future.

The Los Angeles Daily News has a timeline of the tumultuous McCourt ownership of the Dodgers.

Alan Brettman of The Oregonian says unlike ESPN, other TV networks are not publishing a list of endorsement deals by their announcers.

Ferd Lewis at the Honolulu Advertiser says ESPN’s networks will air three Hawaii football games this fall.

Ferd says Hawaiians don’t understand why they’re being blacked out of San Francisco Giants games.

Julie DiCaro from Aerys Sports says MLB continues to drop the ball when it comes to catering to female fans.

Terrence Henderson from the T Dog Media Blog looks at the NBC Sports Group deal with the NHL.

Sports Media Watch says MLB on Fox’s ratings are up for the first two weeks of the season.

SMW says NASCAR on Fox’s ratings for the last two races are a mixed bag.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says last night in the NHL was made for the new NBC/Versus deal, but we won’t see it until next year.

Steve also has five suggestions to make the Black Friday NHL game on NBC into a special event.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Jason Clinkscales of A Sports Scribe talks about starting up a new podcast and another Friend of Fang’s Bites will be his guest.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing lists the Top 13 Craziest calls by NESN’s Jack Edwards.

And we’re done for today with the links.

Finally Getting To The Linkage

Being surprised earlier today by a sudden trip to a jobsite threw me off today so I’m late getting to the linkage, but it’ll be here. Let’s go.

First, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute pens the first column as the ESPN Ombudsman. She and two other Poynter Institute faculty will write monthly columns, sometimes more, as the Ombudsman.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at Louisville coach Rick Pitino getting his second guest analyst gig in two weeks, this time for ESPN.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes about Tiger Woods’ new pricey iPhone app.

Eammon Brennan of ESPN.com says more people are watching the NCAA Tournament than ever.

Julie Jargon from the Wall Street Journal says ESPN Insider content will be available at Starbucks in-store digital wireless network throughout the country.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable says New York’s WWOR is set with a new 21 game Yankees schedule.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at the Sport Emmy Award nominations.

Kurt Badenhausen from Forbes writes about MLB’s most valuable franchises with the teams you’d expect at 1-2.

Also from Forbes, Michael Humphrey says the NFL could learn a thing or two from March Madness on Demand.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says CBS/Turner is bringing in guest analysts for all three of its platforms for the NCAA Tournament.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid talks about Buzz Bissinger going off on Jimmer Fredette.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that Sunday night was a big night for the NCAA Tournament on cable.

Tim Nudd from Adweek examines ESPN’s new MLB Opening Day promo.

Alex Colon from PC Magazine notes that ESPN Radio will now be available on Slacker Radio mobile apps.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a number of MLB ballparks will be serving Food Network-sponsored concessions.

Darren looks at the top MLB team jersey sales.

And Darren points out that a coach who gets hot during the NCAA Tournament can make it very difficult for a smaller school to keep him.

Dan Lewandowski of Speed.com looks at Versus’ broadcast team for IndyCar races this season.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen has some suggestions for sports writers who don’t quite know how to use Twitter correctly.

Kimberly Primicerio of the Meriden (CT) Record-Journal talks about ESPN’s commitment to expand its World Headquarters in the Constitution State.

Newsday’s Bobby Cassidy points out that the courageous Nick Charles who’s been fighting cancer, will call the first fight on HBO’s Boxing After Dark card on Saturday.

Newsday’s Neil Best has the WWOR-TV Yankees schedule for this season.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash talks with a WFAN part-timer who’s hosting an internet sports talk show.

Jerry talks with a WCBS-TV anchor who’s hosting an NCAA Tournament wrap-up show that’s been airing on CBS-owned stations.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia will appear on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Pete has MLB Network’s live game schedule for April.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times notes that ESPN’s Jon Gruden got his second Sports Emmy nomination in as many years.

Eric Deggans from the Times wonders if the NFL lockout could get into the way of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ chances to be in HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

Charles Hollis from the Birmingham (AL) News likes having Charles Barkley on the NCAA Tournament.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN2 HD viewers missed out on much of Sunday’s NCAA Women’s Tournament game involving the Sooners.

Mel says the NCAA Tournament is dominating the sports TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says fans will get to see a different side of the Reds on Sunday both in person and on TV.

John has more on the live Reds event.

John notes that two announcers with Cincinnati ties are up for Sports Emmys.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says a lineup change at the local ESPN Radio affiliate is only temporary.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN’s MLB analysts pin some high hopes on the Brewers.

Bob says CBS/Turner continues to bring in current college coaches to its March Madness coverage.

Eric Morken from the Alexandria (MN) Echo Press says Twins fans won’t be able to watch games on over the air TV anymore.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail examines the MLS ratings in Canada.

The Lost Letterman blog grades the TNT additions to the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament staff.

Sports Media Watch says the NHL on NBC really got beat up on Sunday.

SMW says thanks to the NCAA Tournament, truTV had its most watched week.

I’ll end it there for now. I hope to do some night linkage later.

Some Thursday Links

I left the conference early today so I’ll do a few quick links for you. Just glad I left before the traffic got bad. Here are some links.

Pete Barlas of Investor’s Business Daily has a look at Turner Sports taking over March Madness on Demand from CBS Sports which had been running the NCAA Tournament streaming site since 203.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with two Poynter Institute officials on their partnership with ESPN to be the network’s Ombudsman.

Richard also has his February Media Power List. One of these days, I’ll make it there. Just joking, Richard.

Also from SI, Joe Posnanski has a very poignant profile of former CNN Sports Tonight anchor and Showtime boxing voice Nick Charles who is facing death head on. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Nat Ives from Advertising Age says the NFL’s TV partners could still come out smelling like roses even if they had to pay the league their full rights fees in a lockout.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says ESPN has several ethical hurdles to climb in the wake of recent incidents.

Wishing a Happy Birthday to Southeastern New England Media Mogul Keith Thibault both personally and to his blog, Sports Media Journal which turns 4 today. Keith is still a young guy. Just graduated from college so wish him a hearty congratulations at his Twitter page.

And Keith continues his series of what’s right and wrong with sports media with a look at television sports newscasts.

The lovely Lacey Rose at Hollywood Reporter says CBS/Turner Sports have tapped the group, Kings of Leon, to be the official band of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN has hired from within for its coordinating producer of global soccer position.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine speaks with a TV researcher on finding who wins and who loses in case of an NFL lockout.

I’ll add some more linkage later. I’ll let you know when this is updated.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable writes that the official March Madness on Demand app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod will be available next week.

Anthony Crupi from Mediaweek says if there’s an NFL lockout, the networks could stand to lose billions of dollars in advertisting.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek notes that advertising for March Madness on Demand is almost sold out.

A Friday Night Megalink Thing

Let’s provide the Friday megalinks. Lots of things to get to.

We, of course, provide the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment weekend programming.

Now let’s get to the linkage from across the country.

National

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age reports that NBC is already seeking $3.5 million for a 30 second spot for Super Bowl XLVI.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today writes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be working the red carpet during the Oscars for ABC’s Good Morning America.

Mike and fellow USA Today sport media writer Michael Hiestand debate the pros and cons of airing the NFL Scouting Combine.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable writes that a tennis tournament has decided to use NeuLion’s platform to stream matches online in HD quality.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News discusses Versus’ good ratings for the NHL Heritage Classic.

Multichannel notes that Style Network will be turning a NASCAR wedding into a reality TV series.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has a video of Erin Andrews looking for that perfect dress for the Academy Awards red carpet.

Marcus Vanderberg from SportsNewser says Versus will air its next UFC MMA card in 3-D.

Sports Media Watch writes that MSG saw its highest ratings in 16 years for the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony’s debut.

SMW says NASCAR’s Nationwide Series got off to a slower start in the ratings from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on Versus continues to be red hot in the ratings

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says outsourcing has helped smaller teams stay in contention.

Awful Announcing notices the notorious “Schwab” making a cameo in the new Hooters ad featuring ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

SportsbyBrooks gives the legendary voice of Mississippi State football and basketball Jack Cristil a very nice tribute as he had to step down immediately due to health issues.

In Examiner.com, Evan Weiner looks at the NFL lockout and what it means to the league’s TV partners.

All Access says the embattled Charlie Sheen called into a Fox Sports Radio show to once again rant against CBS, Warner Brothers and Global Warming.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn reviews the week in Boston sports media news.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that WEEI buried the news of the naming of its new midday show late Friday.

In SB Nation Boston, Bruce has a look at the WEEI shakeups and a tumultuous week for the once-dominant sports radio station.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks about a local part-time radio reporter who has been reporting on the Red Sox for almost two decades.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times writes about MSG’s boffo ratings for Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks debut.

Richard discusses how a panel takes over as the ESPN Ombudsman.

Richard and Pat Borzi team up for a story on the NFL Players Association trying to prevent the NFL from collecting its TV rights fee during a potential lockout.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Steven A. “A is for Amiable” Smith who’s happy to be back with ESPN.

Bob Glauber of Newsday says both New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and HBO will not be back on Hard Knocks at least this year.

It’s official. Phil Mushnick from the New York Post really hates Madison Square Garden and Cablevision Chairman James Dolan.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for MLB Network’s Al Leiter.

As of today, I’m am no longer linking to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News over his extreme hate. He went after Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio the other night and that was it. He’s persona non grata as far as I’m concerned.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has ESPN releasing its Big East football schedule.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says the local Fox affiliate will have an extra high school sports highlight show this weekend.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Nicole Pride talks with an ESPN producer who felt a story on paralyzed Rutgers football Eric LeGrand really hit home.

Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates have announced their spring training TV and radio schedule.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt ripping the students of his alma mater once again.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says NASCAR is back in full swing on TV.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says there’s too much speculating in the sports media today.

Erin Barnett of WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA reports on College GameDay’s visit to the Virginia Tech campus.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald says like them or not, the Miami Heat are among the top of the heap in the local and national NBA TV ratings.

Carlos Frias of the Palm Beach Post talks with Pam Tebow, mother of Tim, about life after the controversial Super Bowl ad she and her son did last year.

Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaking about how he felt Super Bowl XLV went.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with syndicated radio host Paul Finebaum about now infamous confession from the Alabama fan who said he poisoned the Auburn tree. That confession occurred on Finebaum’s show.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman talks with the new TV voice of the Texas Rangers.

In his media notebook, Mel says the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be featured nationally this weekend.

Midwest

Kevin Bull of the Detroit Free Press has highlights of an ESPN.com chat conducted by former Michigan Fab Five standout Jalen Rose regarding the new ESPN documentary on the 1992-93 team.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that a local radio host is making sure that high school sports gets its due.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has former Brewers manager Ken Macha responding on MLB Network Radio to one of his former player’s comments.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that Iowa State’s football game against UConn has been scheduled for a Friday night on ESPN2.

From Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals spring training games will be pre-empting Rush Limbaugh on KMOX.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune has CBS’ Clark Kellogg looking forward to seeing San Diego State and BYU square off tomorrow.

John Maffei of the North County Times says it’s BYU and Jimmer Fredette as to why San Diego State is on national TV on Saturday.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Poynter Institute panel that will play the role of ESPN Ombudsman.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times also looks at the new ESPN Ombudsmen.

Ben Bolch of the Times says Fox Sports Net will honor the late UCLA coach John Wooden during Pac 10 basketball games this weekend.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that TSN continues its TV rights shopping spree, this time at the expense of one of its competitors.

And that is going to do it for the megalinks. Enjoy your sports weekend

ESPN Has A New Ombudsman; Not A Person, But An Entire Institute

This story was broken not by ESPN, not by a sports media writer, but the co-author of the upcoming book on ESPN, James Andrew Miller. In a tweet that took most everyone covering the sports media by surprise, Miller announced that the Poynter Institute will be the Ombudsman for the next 18 months.

It means that Poynter faculty and journalism students will be the ones overseeing ESPN’s journalism practices beginning in March through September of 2012. And this period will be quite interesting as it will include the bidding for Olympic TV rights, the London 2012 Olympics and many events in between.

For those of you who aren’t aware of the Poynter Institute, it was founded in 1975 and teaches journalism at its main campus at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, FL. It has a controlling interest in the St. Petersburg Times and Florida Trend magazine. Poynter is well known by journalism professionals and has been covering the media through Jim Romanesko’s blog for several years.

In fact, Romanesko has a brief blurb about the appointment in his blog.

The Poynter Institute takes over for Don Ohlmeyer who was the previous Ombudsman, however, health problems prevented him from writing regularly about ESPN.

We have the press release from ESPN announcing Poynter as the new Ombudsman.

The Poynter Review Project to Launch With ESPN

ESPN and The Poynter Institute today announced a new step in media transparency—The Poynter Review Project—in which a panel of Poynter faculty will review ESPN content across all platforms and publicly comment on ESPN’s efforts.  This will include monthly essays and additional timely responses as issues arise.  The group also will address fan concerns during its 18-month tenure.  The commentaries will be posted on ESPN.com, beginning with an introductory column in March.

“The Poynter Institute’s reputation in the field of journalism is unmatched and we welcome the panel’s scrutiny in this new format,” said John A. Walsh, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor. “Our goal is to improve our content through increased accountability, transparency and timeliness.  We believe The Review will take the traditional ombudsman role and advance it for the 21st century media world. ”

Poynter President Karen B. Dunlap, said, “This project with ESPN allows us to join with a major multi-media organization interested in the connection between values and quality news and information.  For more than 35 years, Poynter has taught the skills and values on which journalism excellence is based. As media evolve we have new opportunities to promote and learn from best practices—across all platforms.”

The Institute’s role expands the tradition of ESPN ombudsman, most recently held by television producer Don Ohlmeyer. His 18-month term was preceded Le Anne Schreiber, a former New York Times sports editor-turned author, and George Solomon, former sports editor of The Washington Post.

Among Poynter contributors are Kelly McBride, a writer, teacher and one of the country’s leading voices on media ethics. She has been on the faculty of The Poynter Institute for eight years. She leads Poynter’s Sense-Making Project, a Ford Foundation initiative which examines the transformation of journalism and the effects on democracy. Regina McCombs, Poynter’s faculty for multimedia and mobile, teaches digital skills in on-site and distance-learning programs. She was the senior producer for multimedia at StarTribune.com in Minneapolis-St. Paul prior to joining Poynter in 2008. Butch Ward is both managing director and a member of the Poynter faculty. A journalist for 27 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Baltimore News-American, Ward held jobs throughout the newsroom, including managing editor at both newspapers. For Poynter, he coordinates the Institute’s business departments and teaches leadership, management, editing, reporting and writing.

About The Poynter Institute
Founded in 1975 in St. Petersburg, Fla., The Poynter Institute one of the nation’s top schools for professional journalists and news media leaders, as well as future journalists and journalism teachers. Poynter offers training throughout the year in the areas of online and multimedia, leadership and management, reporting, writing and editing, TV and radio, ethics and diversity, journalism education and visual journalism. Poynter’s News University (www.newsu.org) offers journalism training to the public through more than 200 interactive modules and other forms of e-learning. It has more than 170,000 registered users in 225 countries. Poynter’s Web site, (www.poynter.org) is the dominant provider of journalism news, with a focus on business analysis and the opportunities and implications of technology.

So as mentioned, the first column from Poynter as the Ombudsman will be published in March. I will link you to the first column when it’s published.

Saturday’s Links

You’re linkage once again so let’s provide some now. I am putting together a Videos of Week for Sunday morning so look for that if you get up around 8 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer writes his last column in his role of overseer and apologizes for his lack of writing.

Nellie Andreeva of Deadline.com reports that CBS is picking up two sitcoms based on two ESPN personalities, one extremely annoying, the other not so much.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable writes that DirecTV wants to settle a dispute with Northwest Broadcasting that is keeping several local channels off the satellite provider and preventing subscribers from possibly seeing the Super Bowl.

Milton Kent from Fanhouse says ESPN’s Stuart Scott will undergo chemotherapy after having cancerous tissue removed. Our best to Stuart.

Milton says Fox’s Terry Bradshaw will be tickled pink if he gets to hand the Super Bowl Trophy to his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lucia Moses from Mediaweek says after a two year absence, Sports Illustrated is bringing back its Super Bowl party in Dallas.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog looks into the factors that are causing the NFL’s TV ratings to increase at an astounding rate.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine says Comcast has a long road ahead to pull NBC out of its current doldrums.

One quick aside. You may have noticed that as of yesterday, I recommended a non-sports NBC program in the Weekend Viewing Picks for the first time in about a year. Now that Jeff Zucker is gone from running the network into the ground, I have ended my primetime and late night boycott of NBC. I had only put NBC sports programs in the Viewing Picks since the Conan debacle last year. If I feel an NBC program is worthy of being recommended, I will place it in the Picks. Right now, absolutely none of NBC’s primetime lineup (The Cape? A Minute To Win It? Perfect Couples? What the hell are those?) appeals to me. We’ll see if the upcoming programs are of any quality. For now, baby steps for NBC. And no, please don’t sell me on “Friday Night Lights”. That has no appeal to me whatsoever.

Back to the links.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says there is plenty of buzz over the Super Bowl ads again this year.

E.J. Schultz of Advertising Age says Snickers is hoping comedienne Roseanne will do in this year’s Super Bowl what Betty White did for the candy bar in last year’s Super Bowl ad. I’ll be honest. Everyone loves Betty White. Roseanne doesn’t have that same appeal.

Ken Wheaton of Ad Age has one of the two silly Go Daddy.com Super Bowl ads.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost writes that the NHL is not only seeing higher TV ratings, but is also seeing more revenue from corporate sponsorships.

Tanya Irwin of MediaPost’s Marketing Daily notes that the NFL is teaming up with Visa to produce an exclusive Twitter feed for the Super Bowl.

One story that surfaced earlier this week and I wasn’t able to get to it. This comes from Allan Brettman of The Oregonian who points out the conflict of interest of ESPN’s Erin Andrews endorsing Reebok after reporting in the BCS about some problems about Nike shoes.

Katie Thomas of the New York Times now picks up the story and further explores the problems this brings.

Don’t forget last year when ESPN’s Jenn Brown was going to be the spokesperson for Icehouse beer and after Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch pointed out the conflict of interest, the deal was nixed.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that Fox’s Terry Bradshaw will be excited if he hands the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Green Bay Packers.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Midwest radio powerhouse KMOX is expanding its sports coverage.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Best and Worst of SoCal’s analysts.

Tom has his extensive media notes.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid provides the very funny postmatch comments by Li Na after the Australian Open women’s final.

Sports Media Watch notes that NASCAR will have later start times for its late season races.

Steve Lepore of Puck the Media has the ten most watched and least watched NHL games on Versus thus far this season.

We’ll end it there for now.

Some Saturday Links

Let’s do some linkage for you. I haven’t done any since Wednesday, I believe. Still working on bringing archives here, but I’m not as stressed as I was last night. Thanks to my friends over at Radio Insight for giving me some great ideas on how to bring the archives over. I’d say about 90% of my archives are here. I’ll be working to bring them all over and when all is said and done, the Blogger site will be taken down for good. Let me know what you think of this particular site and how it can be improved. My e-mail address remains at kzf1@fangsbites.com.

Now to the links.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated looks at the new CBS/Turner lineup for the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes about how the combined CBS/Turner team came together to decide on the announcing and sales teams for the NCAA Tournament.

Mike says he can’t wait to watch the NFL Conference Championship games tomorrow.

Last night, the big buzz on Twitter and Facebook was the sudden departure of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC. There’s speculation on where he might end next, whether it be at a sports network, radio, on Live with Kelly Ripa. Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says you can rest assured that he won’t be heading back to ESPN.

Tim Goodman of Hollywood Reporter has 10 tongue-in-cheek suggestions.

Bill Carter of the New York Times says Olbermann’s departure was in the works for weeks.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse wonders where Olbermann will go considering he has a reputation for burning bridges.

Now to the sports media.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer will write his last column after being mostly non-existent.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times notes that the line for sports media coverage is being redefined more and more by Deadspin.

Back to Milton Kent of Fanhouse, he says CBS’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms do not like being called biased towards one team or another.

Also from Fanhouse, David Whitley writes about how rival NFL bloggers came together as friends before one passed away earlier this week.

Speaking of Jim, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at how Nantz has become an advocate for Alzheimer’s Disease research.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says the local Jets radio affiliate won’t be able to carry the AFC Championship Game tomorrow.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with the new Executive Producer of the NHL Network US.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box how the Comcast/NBC merger will affect Comcast’s regional sports networks in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner writes that the NFL’s ratings have made people sit up and take notice.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes how Alzheimer’s Disease affected CBS’ Jim Nantz up close.

David also looks back at this week’s anniversary of one of the biggest games that made college basketball a viable TV sport.

David shares a reader’s e-mail of how he managed to listen to the game from all the way in Vietnam.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes how the New York Jets have helped to boost CBS’ NFL postseason ratings.

Mel talks about how TNT’s Charles Barkley will be part of the NCAA Tournament coverage this season.

Mel says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at the ten year anniversary of the Oklahoma State basketball air plane crash.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Reds are virtually ignored in the early Sunday Night Baseball schedule.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Joe Buck calling plenty of Green Bay’s game in the last month.

Bob says a local channel will air two specials on the Packers this weekend.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at the shuffling of the Cardinals Fox Sports Midwest team this season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News profiles local sports anchor Jaime Maggio and lists the best and worst in local sports anchors/reporters.

Tom also has his media notes.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN has made a hire for its sports radio network.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that Rogers Sportsnet has lured a noted hockey reporter away from TSN.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

SMW has more ratings news and notes.

SportsbyBrooks explores the deal that led to Sporting News buying the assets of Fanhouse from AOL.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has his final comparison of NHL Overtime and NHL on the Fly.

Joe Favorito says by bringing the World Series Trophy to New York, the San Francisco Giants are doing all they can to expand their brand beyond the Bay Area.

The Big Lead wonders who will be in charge of ESPN The Magazine when it finalizes its move from New York to the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s headquarters.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs is not a fan of the new Longhorn Network.

And I think that will do it. Sorry to get these up late.

The Thursday Linkfest

Let’s do your Thursday links. I’m a bit behind on things. But let’s get to the links while I can.

USA Today’s Christine Brennan analyzes why baseball was beaten in the TV ratings by a lackluster Monday Night Football game.

ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer is out from hibernation and he answers readers questions on ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue, gambling, NASCAR, ESPN’s relationship with athletes and the Favre/Sterger story, in that order.

Kirk Badenhausen from Forbes says perhaps ESPN’s exorbitant rights fees paid for the privilege to have timeouts called late on Monday Night Football to get commercials played.

Kashmir Hill of Forbes says Erin Andrews is being violated once again and I totally agree.

TMZ reports that despite Cease and Desist requests, a website is still posting images from the illegally shot video of Erin Andrews in her hotel room last year.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says Jenn Sterger has hired an attorney who says she will pursue “potential remedies” in the Brett Favre case. I’m thinking “remedies” means settlement.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse says Magic Johnson helped out ESPN when he sold his interest with the Los Angeles Lakers.

At the Hollywood Reporter, George Szalai opines that DirecTV and Verizon Fios might be picking up subscribers in the wake of the Cablevision/Fox controversy.

Mike Farrell of Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News writes that there’s no progress in the Cablevision/Fox dispute.

John Eggerton in B&C writes that other cable and satellite providers are pointing to Fox’s handling of the Cablevision situation in their arguments regarding access to Comcast/NBC.

While we know that Kirk Gibson is going to sell his uniform, batting helmet and bat from Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, but CNBC’s Darren Rovell wants to know what happened to the ball from the home run off Dennis Eckersley.

All Access says ESPN Radio New York early morning drive show lead-in to Mike & Mike gets an extra hour to host.

The Smoking Gun says ESPNU reporter Elizabeth Moreau was pranked in an early morning call to her hotel room. Thanks to Deadspin for the link.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks with the TBS cameraman who got a very close look at a bat during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that Gus Johnson won’t be returning to MSG Network to call New York Knicks games.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the CBS College Sports college basketball schedule.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes in Press Box says a DC sports radio show is not allowed to have a regular guest who’s currently running for political office.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has video of some DC sports media stars doing Karaoke.

The Florida Times-Union’s Jeff Elliot says he knows that ESPN did not request Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio to call late timeouts during the Monday Night Football game.

Karen Voyles of the Gainesville (FL) Sun says police are investigating the prank on ESPNU reporter Elizabeth Moreau. 

Melissa Renteria of the San Antonio Express-News talks with the director of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on former Dodgers pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela.

Ben Smith of the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette talks with ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.

Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders why Sunday’s NASCAR race outrated the NLCS in the local market.

Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star says ESPN’s College Gameday has adjusted its Friday cut-in schedule on the Mothership. 

Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times says a fan’s collection of audio tapes of the 1981 season featuring Valenzuela will be a big part of the 30 for 30 documentary on “Fernandomania”.

At TV Predictions, Phil Swann feels Fox is not broadcasting the National League Championship Series in real HD.

At SportsNetworker, Brendan Wilhide feels the NFL would clean up if began utilizing geolocation apps.

While ESPN and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher may have dropped the Monday Night Football late timeouts story, SportsbyBrooks continues to investigate through Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio.

Three things from Deadspin. First, AJ Daulerio was leaked a Bleacher Report memo telling its writers to behave.

David Matthews recaps Deanna Favre’s morning show appearances where she sidestepped questions about her husband’s alleged sexting to Jenn Sterger.

Daulerio also recaps his conversation with NFL Security over the Favre issue.

Matt Sebek of Joe Sports Fan notes that Colombia, MO is rolling out the big welcome mat for Erin Andrews this weekend.

I’ll end this for now. I might have more later.

A Thursday Linkfest

As I stayed up very late as news broke about the HBO 24/7 series on the NHL, I’m dragging, but I do it so you have fresh content when you wake up. And besides, the post has been getting quite a bit of mileage this morning with Puck Daddy, The Pensblog, and at NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk. Much appreciated for the linkage back to Fang’s Bites. Been a long night, but the reward is great.

Let’s get to the sports media links.

It’s been just over two months since we’ve last heard from him, but ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer weighs in with another Masters Degree thesis on the spiking of the Arash Markazi on LeBron James’ night out in Las Vegas, Jay Mariotti and 30 for 30. Not a particularly strong effort despite the heavy word count (over 4,000!).

Milton Kent of Fanhouse notes that an NBCSports.com writer beat a Ken Jennings-like champion on Jeopardy. Google “Ken Jennings” if you don’t remember who he is. I’m too tired to do it this morning.

Milton looks at a group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities banding together to form their own cable TV network to get their sports programming aired.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times says the 30 for 30 documentary on the Steinbrenner family tried to do too much.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says the Philadelphia Phillies are red hot on the field and on TV.

Mike says ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between New Orleans and San Francisco received cable TV’s 2nd largest audience of 2010. 

Staci D. Kramer at paidContent says ESPN is unveiling two new Apple apps that will be for Insider subscribers.

Nick Bromberg from Yahoo’s From The Marbles blog looks at the dwindling ratings for NASCAR.

Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe blasts last weekend’s NESN Daily for being an informerical for Red Sox owner John Henry.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir notes that the monument for the late George Steinbrenner at the new Yankee Stadium is gigantic compared to let’s say, Babe Ruth’s?

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says the Ravens and DC NFL team garnered big ratings in their respective local markets.

Tim Baier of Time Warner’s News 14 Carolina channel notes that a new Charlotte sports radio station is trying to stress the positive instead of taking negative phone calls.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Dolphins will cover the infield dirt at the Stadium Formerly Known as Joe Robbie for Sunday night’s home opener against the Jets.

Tom D’Angelo at the Palm Beach (FL) Post notes that ESPN will be all over Miami Heat training camp. 

From the St. Petersburg Times, Rick Stroud says this Sunday’s Steelers-Buccaneers game is in danger of being blacked out.

Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News says Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth were critical of the Cowboys on Inside the NFL.

Ryan Autillo of the Toledo (OH) Blade chronicles ESPN Radio hack Colon Cowherd’s visit to the University of Michigan campus. 

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with ESPN NFL analyst Merril Hoge about his new book.

John asks Hoge why he chose to live in the Cincinnati area after he retired from the NFL.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business talks with legendary Windy City sports personality Chet Coppock.

Ed says a new magazine cover featuring US Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin’s wife is definitely going to stir the loins for next week’s match in Wales.

In a related note, Lisa Pavin defends her posing for the cover with just a sheet and crucifix to Robert Lusetich of Fox Sports.

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the NBC Sports golf crew talking about the US pairings for the event.

Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel says HBO Sports’ Real Sports unveiled the man behind the Milwaukee Bucks’ mascot, Bango on Tuesday.

Tom Fox of the Idaho Press-Tribune says Boise will be the 95th location for the flying of a Washington State flag at a College Gameday site.

Usually I avoid Woody Paige of the Denver Post like the plague, but today, he has a brilliant column on how he almost committed suicide several years ago. The column comes in the wake of the unfortunate death of Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley who killed himself over the weekend. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Yvonne Zacharias of the Vancouver Sun talks with Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash about his directing an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Canadian inspiration Terry Fox.

The Big Lead notes that TV reporter Barbie is here. Oh great.

Joe Favorito says Hartford has a “Whale” of a chance to get the NHL to return.

Jared Smith of Awful Announcing noticed that Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski was secretly auditioning for the blog during Monday Night Football.

And we’re going to stop there for now. Back with any breaking news later.

Doing Some Thursday Link Action

Let’s give you some links on this Thursday.

ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer discusses the suspension of Tony Kornheiser and the coverage of the Tiger Woods story.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says Turner Sports has launched a new iPhone app. 

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek says the Chicago Bears had the biggest radio audience of all NFL teams.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gets reaction from “One Shining Moment” composer David Barrett about CBS using Jennifer Hudson to sing a new rendition of his song for the NCAA Tournament.

Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe isn’t too thrilled about the business practices at the new restaurant owned by NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the demolition of the old Yankee Stadium.

Richard Goldstein of the Times has an obituary of former LA Rams defensive lineman Merlin Olsen who became an actor and an NFL analyst for NBC and later CBS. Olsen died at the age of 69 of Mesothelioma. In 1979, Olsen was teamed with Dick Enberg forming one of the best NFL announcing teams in TV history lasting until 1989. Olsen also acted appearing in “Little House on the Prairie” and “Father Murphy”. Olsen was known as a gentle giant, but also formed one of the best defensive front lines in NFL history as part of the “Fearsome Foursome” with the Rams in the 1960′s.

Also from the Times, Stuart Elliot says computer chip manufacturer Intel is buying ads all over the place including during the NCAA Tournament on CBS.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with CBS’ Dick Enberg who has 50 years of NCAA Tournament memories.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes about a cooking segment that the Miami Heat is producing along with cable TV partner Sun Sports.

The Orlando Business Journal talks about ESPN signing an 8 year rights deal with the Citrus Bowl. 

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has Fox Sports Ohio’s alternate channels for today’s college basketball action.

Writing for the Muncie (IN) Star-Press, Dom Christi of Ball State University says CBS has reason to believe that it will have decent ratings for the NCAA Tournament. 

Jim O’Donnell in the Chicago Sun-Times talks with ESPN college basketball analyst Steve Lavin about the rumors of him going to DePaul.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gives praise to ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb (scroll down).

Bob Mayhall of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat says Fox Sports Midwest’s Dan McLaughlin may not be calling the Blues this season, but he’s busier than ever.

Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star writes that Big 12 fans are not enthralled with ESPN’s Brent Musburger and Bob Knight. 

Keith Thursby of the Los Angeles Times has an extensive obit of Merlin Olsen.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also remembers Olsen.

Here’s a very nice tribute to Olsen by NFL Films President Steve Sabol.

Pat Hickey in the Montreal Gazette feels the boost hockey received during the 2010 Olympics will be very shortlived.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Cameron Frye at the Beantown Athletic Supporters properly gets on Jerry Remy for one particular charge at his new restaurant.

I’ll finish it there.

Your Thursday Links

The stuff is hitting the fan work wise so I’m doing these links now while I can. I may not be able to do the megalinks on Friday. Keep your Twitter and RSS feeds updated.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy writes about the NFL trying to crack down on extended tailgating in hopes of curbing drunkenness.

Sean Leahy in USA Today’s The Huddle blog writes that San Diego and Detroit are approaching the 11th hour for avoiding blackouts on Sunday.

The Sporting News and sister publication, Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily, list the top 25 active college and NFL football announcers. I don’t agree with the list and I’ll have my take on it later.

Dan Levy of On The DL, adds his two cents to the list in The Sporting News.

Dave Kindred writing for Indiana University’s National Sports Journalism Center lists the 50 Do’s and Don’ts for aspiring sportswriters.

Writing in The Huffington Post, Daisy Whitney writes that the NFL plans to expand its digital and mobile video offerings.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Michelle Wie winning the Lorena Ochoa Invitational gave Golf Channel its second highest ratings for an LPGA event.

A sign of the apocalypse. Larry King’s 10 year old son, Chance, will host a show for Fox Sports Net next year. *hits head against keyboard*

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times talks about Sunday Night Football being the top rated primetime program of the season to date.

Peter Lauria of the New York Post says NFL Network is using an ad in the daily Politico to reach out to the politicians in its dispute with Time Warner Cable.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says Time Warner subscribers won’t see next week’s Giants-Broncos game as it will be carried on NFL Network.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is amused by the Official Humidor of the Super Bowl.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reviews the Sporting News/Sports Business Journal Top 25 Active College and NFL TV announcers. Again, I’ll have my own take on this later.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business mentions Comcast SportsNet will remember the 25th anniversary of the death of a top high school basketball player.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times says the Bears have rejected a request from NBC for Bob Costas to interview coach Lovie Smith, quarterback Jay Cutler and general manager Jerry Angelo. Strange. Thanks to Ed Sherman for the link.

Rick Telander of the Sun-Times advises Cutler not to make the media an enemy.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that the Packers are national TV darlings.

Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times spent Sunday at a local sports bar with several Boston transplants to watch the Pats-Colts game.

Dan Rafael from ESPN.com says HBO wants a Manny Pacquaio-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media advises you to add yourself to your own Twitter lists. Why not?

Joe Favorito says sometimes teams can be the worst in their league or division to expand their brands.

The Big Lead is disappointed in ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer’s reaction to the Steve Phillips affair.

Kristine Leahy has The Five on WEEI.com.

We’ll end it there for now.