Boston Sports Media Watch

Time once again to provide the Friday megalinks. Lots of links to get to.

Don’t forget to check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and primetime viewing.

To the links.

National

One story that’s developing this afternoon. Pro Football Talk goes after ESPN Boston’s Patriots blog for plagiarizing word for word one of its articles written by Michael David Smith.

A few stories from USA Today. Michael Hiestand speculates on a combined Comcast/NBC Sports juggernaut.

Hiestand says a NASCAR spokesman took ESPN/ABC to task for its production of last week’s race.

Michael McCarthy writes that if the NCAA opts out of its current contract with CBS, then ESPN would be happy to jump in the bidding for the NCAA Tournament.

The Nielsen rating Wire blog notes that as the World Series’ ratings increased, so did interest in MVP Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the last men standing at the World Series of Poker.

Jon Weisman of Variety says the Yankees World Series win turned out to be a huge ratings victory for Fox.

David Tanklefsky from Broadcasting & Cable says Disney and ESPN will re-brand the Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Florida early in 2010.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says this year’s World Series was the most viewed since 2004 when the Red Sox swept St. Louis.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the Series’ high ratings weren’t just due to the Yankees, but there were other factors that contributed as well.

The Sports Media Watch says the Yankees helped to bring a big audience to the World Series.

SMW says the World Series was a big hit in New York and Philadelphia.

SMW has the ratings for the entire 2009 MLB Postseason.

Good article by SMW on the ratings comparison between MLB and the NBA.

And the SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Jim McCable of Golfweek writes that Dottie Pepper is cutting down on her TV schedule.

Joe Favorito says when it comes right down to it, live sports is king.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that 98.5 The Sports Hub is making a dent in its war with long-time incumbent WEEI.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald reports that Fox 25 has not renewed the contract of Bulworth, Butch Stearns.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes about a Central Massachusetts native leaving WEEI’s sales department for a position with the Miami Dolphins.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says a new Knicks coach’s show on MSG Network might be turning a new leaf for the organization.

Richard writes the Yankees are a big TV draw across the country.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels MLB Network analysts and hosts made several errors after the Yankees clinched the World Series.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick will miss Bill Walton on NBA broadcasts.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union talks with NBC’s Tiki Barber.

Ken Schott of the Schnectady Gazette writes that NHL Network is picking up a Union College hockey game.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box about ESPN’s Len Bias documentary, the Baltimore Sun not sending a reporter to the World Series and why Anita Marks is the subject of jealousy among her co-workers.

Mark Maske in the Washington Post writes that a down economy is a boon for the NFL’s TV ratings.

Tim Lemke from the Washington Times has the marketing winners and losers from the World Series.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner looks at former DC NFL team star John Riggins blasting owner Dan Snyder on Inside the NFL.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wonders if ESPN has too much power in college sports.

Mike Bianchi from the Orlando Sentinel feels ESPN Radio’s Mike Golic owes an apology to Florida’s Brandon Spikes.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News compares how the World Series did against the Mavericks and Stars.

Barry says Dallas finished near the bottom of the major markets rated for the World Series.

Barry says there’s a clear winner in a three way sports radio ratings race in Dallas.

Barry writes that being the Cowboys flagship station is not helping one sports radio station.

Barry notes that NBC’s Football Night in America analysts aren’t high on the Cowboys.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle also writes about local sports radio and the World Series’ ratings.

In his blog, David adds a few items to his Friday column.

To the Daily Oklahoman where Mel Bracht talks to an unhappy Ron Franklin of ESPN who feels he’s being forced out of the network. I agree. Ron is nothing but class and I feel he’s one of the great college football and basketball announcers of all-time. But ESPN apparently doesn’t feel that way.

In his media notes, Mel writes that the Thunder set a ratings record for Fox Sports Oklahoma this week.

Mel also looks at the best college football games of the week.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Yankees are truly a marquee team as the ratings have shown.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the Bulls have upgraded their website.

Ed also has his weekly sports business and media winners and losers.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin looks at Fox NFL Sunday heading to Afghanistan this Sunday.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about one local sports radio station’s personnel move.

Scott Dochterman of the Iowa City Gazette says no matter what one says about the World Series’ ratings, the NFL is still king.

West

Scott D. Pierce in the Deseret (UT) News says high definition is coming to the mtn., but not fast enough for some fans.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says a long-time sports reporter in the market is being let go by the local NBC station.

John Maffei in the North County Times also writes about the local sports reporter.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes that Bill Walton will be missed.

Jim says Matt Millen is slowly rehabilitating his reputation after his failed GM tenure with the Lions.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times warns of being caught on the internet or writing something on a social media site.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News discovers that former Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca has been handicapping the horses on TVG.

In his blog, Tom has some more with Lo Duca.

Tom also has his usual extensive media notes.

Canada

In the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin writes that a Vancouver sports radio station is ready to launch a spinoff.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says a former broadcast executive is finding a second life in front of the camera.

In the Truth & Rumours blog, William Houston says Phil Kessel’s debut for the Maple Leafs brought record ratings for Rogers Sportsnet Ontario.

And William looks at a sports talk show host’s firing from The Score.

That will conclude the megalinks. Enjoy your weekend.

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The latest radio ratings are out, and 98.5 continues to surprise with their solid gains in the sports radio market.

WEEI is doing just fine, though, actually moving up a bit from 5.2 in September to 5.3 in October. The station is fourth overall on the chart while WBZ-FM, 985TheSportsHub went from a 2.5 in September to a 3.6 in October, good for 14th in the market.

WEEI vs. The Sports Hub - Jessica Heslam in the Herald breaks down the two stations, show vs. show.

Round 2 : SportsHub proves that it has arrived - Boston Radio Watch says that no matter how you look at it, WEEI is still the top dog in this fight, and is not going away.

‘Hub’ is climbing the charts - Chad Finn notes that the Sports Hub’s gains did not come at the expense of WEEI, though they’re showing that there is room in Boston for two strong sports radio stations.

Fox 25 dumps top sportscaster - Heslam reports that FOX25 has chosen not to renew the contract of top sports anchor Butch Stearns. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that Stearns is interviewing with Comcast SportsNet, among other places.

Worcester native to join Dolphins - Bill Doyle has Worcester native Jim Rushton set to take over as the Dolphins’ senior vice president of corporate partnerships and integrated media. He’s leaving his job as vice president of sports sales and marketing at Entercom Communications, responsible for all revenues associated with the WEEI radio network.

Sports coverage? Think local. - That Bruce Allen guy in the Metro tells you why national sports coverage is worthless.

Jabs Reserved For Web Foe - Jeff Jacobs looks at a web group calling themselves the Paper Champions Society, who have been mounting a campaign against boxer Chad Dawson.

Elsewhere in the sports sections, here are some of the top stories from this morning:

For the Sox, Hermida a Lottery Ticket Worth Playing - Alex Speier has a look at outfielder Jeremy Hermida, who the Red Sox acquired from the Florida Marlins yesterday.

Six tricky questions for Epstein this winter - Bill Burt looks at Red Sox issues that GM Theo Epstein must address this winter.

At a loss - Bud Barth tells us that if the Bruins “were scoring goals right now, the Bruins would be the terror of the NHL, because the rest of their game has been that good for the last couple of weeks.”

Lack of scoring strikes recently has been striking - Bob Ryan thinks that the Bruins still have time to get things straightened out.

Don’t underestimate the Dolphins - Tedy Bruschi and Mike Reiss warn that there is a whole lot more to the Dolphins than just the Wildcat.

Worry Wart – Game Eight vs. Dolphins - Chris Warner has some more concerns about the Dolphins.

Rookie Myron Pryor preps to pick up ‘D’ line - Ian Rapoport looks at sixth round pick Myron Pryor making a place for himself on the Patriots defensive line.

Brian Hoyer making an impression with Patriots - Andy Vogt has another rookie, QB Brian Hoyer also learning the NFL ropes.

Shelden Williams answers Celtics’ role call - Former Celtic Ryan Gomes tells Mark Murphy why Williams has been successful with the Celtics.

Celtics couldn’t ask much more from their bench - Mike Fine calls this the “deepest and most talented bench the Celtics have had in the past three seasons.”

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If part of your life is defined by the Boston sports experience as is mine, then any year involving both a Lakers and Yankees championship can’t be completely good. Sure, if the other guy wins, that means our guy doesn’t, but it’s also very much about who that other guy is. It took a summer for me to deal with the Lakers’ title, and I’ll get over the Yankees’ too, but in the meantime I need some Yankee hating to get me through.

Surviving Grady absolutely hits this thing right on the head in assessing the indignation of a Yankees championship. Boston Dirt Dogs says the Steinbrenners got what they paid for, as does Toeing The Rubber, who is thankful not to be in any physical pain over this one. The Bottom Line has this title strictly a monetary transaction. And The House That Dewey Built marvels at the Celtics and Patriots, who have had long-term success while contending with a salary cap.

Red Sox Monster says the Sox front office now has some catching up to do, but The Mighty Quinn Media Machine is prouder than ever of the two championships Theo & The Trio have brought us this millenium. A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Country thanks the 2004 Sox for helping him to cope with a Yankees title.

Celtics

The C’s have their first six of a planned six dozen wins after back-to-back victories in Philly on Tuesday and Minnesota last night. Boston Celtics has Rasheed Wallace reaffirming his 72-win prediction, which is looking like a self-fulfilling prophesy. Celtics Hub appeals to our sense of self-worth to end the 72-win talk but, hey, we’re 1/12th of the way there. CelticsBlog ascribes the team’s success to the return of Ubuntu.

Red’s Army says the C’s had no business winning last night in Minnesota. Loy’s Place is incredulous that KG couldn’t contain no-name Oleksiy Pecherov. Tossing Batting Practice is alarmed at the rate in which C’s are jacking treys.

We’re already six games into the season, so it must be time to talk about next year as ESPN’s Boston Celtics Blog looks at 2010’s free agents. Mike Gorman has Rondo both rich and smart with his recent contract signing, but thinks his new deal will be a real deal for the C’s when a successor CBA takes effect.

After six games, Lex Nihil Novi is already hanging the Beast from the rafters, so can Springfield be far behind? Green Street finds a Ph.D. who proves KG is the NBA’s best and whose numbers make intuitive sense.

Bruins

It’s been quite the up-and-down season to date. Caveman Strong was frustrated when the B’s win-one, lose-one pattern was preserved with a loss at MSG on Sunday, while Wicked Bruins Fan was distressed to see the pattern broken in Detroit with a loss on Tuesday night. Chronicles From The Garden says the B’s picked the wrong night to end their win-one, lose-one rut.

The Canadiens come to town tonight and New England Hockey Journal says the Habs roster has a New England flavor to it. Something’s Bruin prescribes some crowd noise – and maybe a few goals – to help the B’s get by the Habs. Good news from Bruins Blog, which points out the B’s have only been shut out three consecutive times once in their illustrious history.

Kathryn Tappen has found the silver lining in the B’s goal drought. In his latest Pucks With Haggs incarnation, Joe Haggerty says the reality is that the B’s no longer have the “It” vibe. Naoko Funayama thinks it could take a hard shake to wake these scoring lines from their deep sleep. I’m Just Sayin’ wants to know GM Peter Chiarelli’s plans after trading all his goal-scoring to Toronto.

Bruins 2010 Draft Watch fears the Maple Leafs won’t stay tied for last very long now that Phil Kessel has made his long-awaited debut. And here’s Haggs back again on Big Bad Blog, having Kessel generating more offense in his first game than four lines of B’s can muster. If Exposure Bucks were negotiable, Haggs should be able to buy himself a couple of islands by now.

Patriots

With the bye behind us, it is the Patriots’ time now says Jeff Howe, as the Pats are 70-17 after Halloween since 2001. The Pats didn’t quite reach the first-half expectations of Steve DeOssie, who is concerned the two losses could prove costly. Pats Chowder finds ten things to be worried over, not the least of which is Tom Brady’s knee. Nevertheless, Mike Reiss has Brady feeling the best he has in ten years. Blaug considers some D-line options in the aftermath of Jarvis Green’s knee surgery.

The de facto second half starts off this Sunday against the Dolphins, and Extra Points has Vince Wilfork liking that the Dolphins want to hit him in the mouth, even as Tom E. Curran has Joey Porter hating the Patriots, ostensibly for kicking his ass. It Is What It Is brings us Bill Belicheck’s assessment of Bill Parcells’ influence on the Dolphins.

Lastly, I go out of my way to avoid these things during football games, but NE Patriots Draft brings us Visa’s new Patriots commercial that’s worth a view.

NCAAF

Never mind not traveling well, as Eagle in Atlanta says BC fans don’t even show up to home games. BC Heights tells us why the marching band hasn’t been traveling well this season. BC Draft is shopping for the best bowl destinations, and Yankee Stadium is on their list. Hmmmm, could be just the thing to erase those images of leaping pinstripes for the rest of the wintah! College Sports Blog has former RB Josh Haden making some travel plans of his own, but he’s still not sure where. BC Interruption nominates BC freshman LB Luke Kuechly as ACC Defensive Player of the Year after his play last week against Central Michigan.

The UConn Blog annoints last Saturday’s loss to Rutgers as the school’s worst ever, coming on a day of tributes to slain CB Jasper Howard. Sox & Dawgs thinks a prime time date with No. 4 Cincinnati this Saturday is already a tough rebound, but Kevin Youkilis might also be in the house. UConn Sports puts Coach Randy Edsall on the conservative charts somewhere between Rush Limbaugh and George Bush.

UMass Football Blog is trying to fend off negative attacks after the Maine Black Bears sunk their playoff hopes for a second consecutive year. And The Harvard Crimson hopes the Crimson got those special teams miscues out of their system last week against the Big Green.

Just think: only 101 more days until pitchers and catchers report! I’m not ready to go there yet. Let’s take it a week at a time. See you next Thursday.

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I hate to do this, I really do, but I think Joey Porter needs to be defended a little bit here…

This morning’s articles, and in sports flashes and reports over the air since yesterday afternoon have, with a couple of exceptions, painted Joey Porter’s conference call with Boston reporters yesterday as just another Patriots hate session from the Dolphins linebacker.

Yes, Porter makes no secret of the fact that he hates the Patriots, and thinks that “Spygate” cost him two Super Bowl championships. However, during yesterday’s conference call, it was clear that Porter was being deliberately led down a path that would lead to him again revealing his hatred of the Patriots. He even mentioned it several times in the call, (which is available to read and listen to on Patriots.com- I encourage you to listen to the call…it’s pretty revealing at times.)

Let’s look at a few of the questions and answers from the call, along with my thoughts (in italics):

Q: Joey, do you have any reaction to the Sports Illustrated poll that has you the second dirtiest player in the NFL? (Nice opening question – let’s just get him in a bad mood to start off, maybe he’ll explode)

JP: No.

Q: Do you think it’s because some people don’t like you and put you on the list?

JP: Oh yeah, I have a lot of people that don’t like me. That’s fair to say. I don’t like a lot of people. It works both ways.

It’s nothing that’s going to change my everyday me being in that poll — one, two, five, wherever they put me. Obviously,

I’m on somebody’s mind though, so that’s cool.

Q: Why don’t people like you, Joey?   (Did she really just ask that? Yup.)

JP: What’s your name? (Joey needs to know the name of the person who asked such a pathetic question.)

Q: Karen

JP: I don’t know, Karen. (I actually love this. Gets her name, like he’s going to address her personally. I see Karen Guregian with her pen poised in mid-air, ready to write down the explosion that is to come. “I don’t know, Karen.” is all he says. Perfect.)

Q: Last year with Matt Cassel, when he was here, you said you’d treat him like a backup. Obviously, Vollmer is a backup as well. So how are you going to treat him? (The object of this question seems clear – Porter went off on Cassel last year before the first game between the teams, maybe we can get him to do it again with another backup player.)

JP: You have the answers there already. You want me to say what you want me to say. Like you want me to answer that question. You answered that question about how I felt about [Matt] Cassel, you’re trying to get me to say the same thing about him so you can say, ‘Joey Porter’s talking about the backup.’ You go ahead and fill in the blank. I’m not falling for none of those little tricks. I get mad when I want to get mad. Right now, [with] you guys, none of you guys I’m mad at, so I’m not going to sit up here and give you nothing to talk about because I’m mad at neither one of you media guys in that room. So if that’s what this conversation is going to be about, about fishing, then you guys ought to come out here to Miami and we’ve got some good lakes we’ve got to fish here. You can come too, Karen.

(Porter calls them out on the question, knowing exactly what they’re trying to do to him, and he doesn’t seem to like it. He even tries to change things up by being funny. As we’ll see, it doesn’t work.)

Q: Joey, I heard the word ‘hate’ a lot in that locker room after you guys beat the Jets, and how you guys felt about them. And I remember you saying it’s always going to bring your best football out when you hate the other guy. You’ve played against the Patriots for quite some time whether it was with the Steelers or it was with Miami, what’s your feeling towards New England? (Duh. Did they have to be so obvious? Like they don’t know. )

JP: Same way they feel about me. So do you want me to say it first? (Again, Porter knows what they’re trying to get out of him.)

Q: I don’t know if they like you. (Playing dumb again.)

JP: You know they don’t like me. Everybody knows, let’s be honest, they don’t like me and that’s fair. I don’t like them and that’s fair. So it’s not like it’s a divorce happening, we were never really married anyway.

(It is what it is.)

Q: So you bring the same approach into this game as you would against the Jets last week?

JP: Yeah, it’s good to have a healthy rivalry. And, like I’ve said, to have a rivalry we have to win some, they can’t be one-sided. We split with them last year and the year before that they beat us twice. So this is my third year and [in this division] going up against them and we’re trying to change the way it used to be. My feelings toward New England goes back further. It goes back to my Pittsburgh days, so I felt a certain way after some things came out, way back when. I was in Pittsburgh for some AFC Championships that I’ve lost to them a couple of times that come to figure out a month later why we lost. So, yeah, I have a natural hate for them – period. And that’s just going to be with me forever. That’s not ever going to change.

(Now he decides to give in and give them what they want. Or he is just toying with them.)

Q: Can you identify what you’re referring to there, Joey? (Again, Duh. Why couldn’t one of them asked whether shoddy special teams might’ve had something to do with the Steelers losing that first AFC title game? THAT would’ve made for an interesting response.)

JP: Nope. You can fill in the blanks. Y’all are smart guys over there.  (C’mon you idiots. Let it drop.)

Q: But you felt it cost you rings, then? (Salt. Wound. Rub. Maybe he’ll say even more. Please please please.)

JP: Yeah, I mean we do this every year around this time I do this conference call. You know exactly what I’m talking about. And they know exactly what I’m talking about. And that’s not going to change from my thought process on that situation.

(Haven’t we talked about this enough? Just read what I said the last 20 times this topic came up.)

Finally, the last part of the conference call was real football questions. Asking about facing Tom Brady, about what the Patriots did to them in the second game last year, how they spread them, and if last week’s game might’ve been a turning point for the Dolphins. Porter gave much more expansive and intelligent answers to those legitimate questions. Did you read any of that stuff today? Probably not.

It seems pretty clear to me that the object of this press conference was to lead Porter in a certain direction, with the object being to get the most inflammatory, outrageous answers possible. The general first impression that comes out of the reporting on this call is that Porter was just spouting out his hatred of the Patriots unprovoked, which just isn’t true. It is being said that Porter “tried to behave” – but how could he really? The media had a object in mind from this call, and they were going to do all they could to tweak Porter into giving it to them.

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The Celtics got their most strenuous test of the young season last night, holding off the Minnesota Timberwolves last night 92-90 to stay perfect on the season at 6-0.

Frank Dell’Apa has the Celtics unable to find and offensive flow for most of the game, but able to get the hoops when needed and make stops defensively when it counted. Mark Murphy credits the Celtics’ experience for the win. Jessica Camerato has three things we can take away from this game. Chris Forsberg also has a few thoughts on the win.

Dell’Apa’s notebook has Al Jefferson getting the jump on his former teammates last night. Murphy’s notebook has Kevin Garnett passing on the sentiment of being back in Minnesota last night. Forsberg’s notebook looks at a homecoming of sorts for Sheldon Williams.

Patriots

Head over to Patriots Daily for the weekly Around The League column by Jeremy Gottlieb.

Albert R. Breer says that it looks like the Patriots finally have a healthy and comfortable Tom Brady under center. Not so fast, says Ian R. Rapoport ,who isn’t yet sure which Patriots offense we’re going to see for the rest of the year. Rich Garven has Brady feeling good, and having it reflected in his play as of late.

Ron Borges has Vince Wilfork looking forward to a physical fight with the Dolphins on Sunday. Brian MacPherson pulls out some stats to show that Stephen Neal has actually been the Patriots best offensive player this season. Garven has the forgotten rookie Ron Brace making progress in practice. Chris Price looks at how the Patriots recognize and honor their Scout Team Stars.

Karen Guregian has Joey Porter doing his thing, hating the Patriots and zinging them whenever possible. Christopher Price has a look at the recent history between Porter and the Dolphins.  Adam Kilgore has Porter seeking to stoke the fires of hatred yet again. Shalise Manza Young says that Porter actually tried to hold back yesterday, but couldn’t help himself. Chris Forsberg agrees that this was actually a somewhat kinder, gentler version of Porter.

Andy Vogt says that the AFC East no longer automatically belongs to the Patriots. Jeff Howe has Belichick remembering a “Wildcat” like series of plays used by the Steelers in the mid-90’s with Kordell Stewart.

Mark Farinella has the Dolphins created in the image of the Tuna. Rapoport has Belichick lauding the Bill Parcells system, on full display in Miami. Glen Farley has more from Belichick on Parcells and the Dolphins.

Jonathan Comey trots out his week 9 power rankings.

Kilgore’s notebook has Belichick extolling the methods of his former boss, Bill Parcells. Rapoport’s notebook has Stephen Gostkowski a potential weapon against the returns of Ted Ginn Jr. (column by Lesley Visser) Vogt’s ntoebook  has more on Porter. Young’s Patriots journal has the competition heating up in the coming weeks for the Patriots. Garven’s notebook also looks at Porter’s hatred for the Patriots. Farley’s notebook has more on Porter. Farinella’s notebook has more on – you guessed it – Porter.

Bruins

Mike Loftus has the struggling Bruins set to host the Montreal Canadiens, who have been up-and-down themselves. Fluto Shinzawa says that with Marc Savard out, David Krejci needs to step up his game, something he has been unable to do thus far this season. Stephen Harris says that the Bruins need some goalscorers to step forward. Matt Kalman says that this game with Montreal comes at a good time for the Bruins.

Misc

Oh yeah, in case you missed it, the Yankees won their 27th World Series last night. Congrats to them.

Amalie Benjamin has Series MVP Hideki Matsui leading the charge last night.

Nick Cafardo has the old-guard foursome of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte enjoying their fifth World Series championship together. (Posada only played in 8 games for the 1996 team though.) Peter Abraham and Steve Buckley have Pedro Martinez going out with a clang last night. Peter DeMarco has Yankees fans in Boston proud and vocal of their team.

Alex Speier ranks this Yankees team as the best World Series champ of this decade.

Abraham’s notebook has former ace Chien-Ming Wang facing an uncertain future. Buckley’s notebook has Matsui getting long awaited World Series title.

Bill Burt claims that the Red Sox can learn a lot from these Yankees. Michael Silverman says that Theo Epstein can’t wait to get next year started.

Bob Ryan likes the job that Frank Spaziani is doing in his first season as Boston College head football coach. Eric Avidon has a look at senior wide receiver Rich Gunnell.

Mark Blaudschun has running back Josh Haden deciding to transfer out of B.C. Steve Conroy says that Haden never felt right here. Avidon’s notebook has more on Haden.

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Fang’s Bites has learned from multiple sources and The Big Lead is reporting this as well, that former Boston Globe Red Sox beat writer Gordon Edes will join ESPN Boston after the World Series. For his part, Edes did not confirm or deny the story when contacted by The Big Lead. Edes is currently the national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports.

Sources have told Fang’s Bites that Edes has already signed with ESPN. More to follow.

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After an unscheduled day off from posting yesterday, here’s the top articles from today.

Pedro Martinez is no goat - Gerry Callahan, Dan Shaughnessy and Steve Buckley all wrote articles on Pedro Martinez’s start in tonight’s game six of the World Series. Callahan reminds us again that he’s a pretty damn columnist when he wants to be. You don’t need to read Shaughnessy’s. I particularly liked Callahan’s proposal for the headline for the New York Post tomorrow should Pedro shut down the Yanks.

Balance sheet is better - Adam Kilgore has a look at how the Patriots have balanced out their offense better in the last five games, and how it has translated to success for the team.

Rasheed Wallace shows way in return to Philly - Mark Murphy looks at Rasheed Wallace’s successful first return to his hometown of Philadelphia while wearing Celtic green.

Beckett recalls when he was Lee - Bill Burt talks to Josh Beckett about the postseason that Cliff Lee is having, and how Beckett can relate to it.

10 things to know about the Miami Dolphins - Mike Reiss looks at this week’s Patriots’ opponent.

Nothing doing for Bruins again - Fluto Shinzawa reports on the Bruins being shut out for the second straight game.

Knee surgery for Green - first reported by Tom E. Curran on CSNNE.com yesterday, this Patriots notebook in the Globe says that the Patriots defensive lineman could possibly be ready for the Colts game next Sunday.

Mike Wright gains bigger role with Jarvis Green out - Karen Guregian looks at how Mike Wright’s role and responsibilities will grow this week with Green out.

27 reasons to root against the Yankees - Jim Donaldson stretches as bit with some of these.

Also, be sure to head over to Patriots Daily to check out a midseason edition of Making The Grades, as well as a look at the 1994 Patriots in the 50th Anniversary Minute. (I have to confess, I had no idea that Bob Kratch was an All Pro selection that year.)

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I already did the complete morning links today, and thought I’d try something out by giving you what I think are the top five must-read articles posted this morning. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Patriots were big winners - Albert Breer’s look at how the Patriots established themselves as the favorite in the AFC East without playing a game yesterday.

2) Shelden Williams making most of his opportunity - Tim Weisberg’s look at how reserve forward Sheldon Williams is stepping up in the wake of Glen Davis’ injury.

3) Celtics win game but Rondo loses cool - Mike Fine’s look at the battle between Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul last night.

4) Key stretch includes 3 divisional games - Mike Reiss and Rodney Harrison look at the next five games on the Patriots schedule.

5) The Bruins Are Desperate For a Goal Scorer - Joe Haggerty tells us why the lack of a goal scorer is the biggest problem with the Bruins right now.

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Comcast SportsNet announced this morning the official hirings of Sean McAdam, Tom Curran, Art Martone, Sherrod Blakely and Joe Haggerty as they relaunch their website and partner on-air with NECN to provide broadcast and internet coverage of Boston sports.

CSN’s online presence at CSNNE.com will now feature the following lineup:

• Veteran MLB reporter Sean McAdam will cover the Red Sox for Comcast SportsNet after 24 years with the Boston Herald and Providence Journal. McAdam is a member of the Baseball Writers of America and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter.
• Veteran NFL reporter Tom Curran will cover the Patriots after serving with NBCSports.com, the Providence Journal and the MetroWest Daily News.
• Sherrod Blakely, respected NBA reporter and Detroit Pistons beat writer for several Michigan newspapers and MLive.com, will cover the Celtics.
• Joe Haggerty will cover the Bruins for Comcast SportsNet after covering the Bruins and Red Sox for WEEI.com, Boston Metro and the Woburn Daily Times.
• Art Martone, sports editor at the Providence Journal for the past nine years, will serve as CSNNE.com sports editor.
• Improper Bostonian sports editor and columnist Rich Levine will share humor and insight as a CSNNE.com columnist and editor.

For the website, Comcast SportsNet has also hired digital media veteran Bill Via as senior director of digital media. Via has been designing and implementing strategic digital campaigns since 1994 and has comprehensive television experience. Via has developed digital media strategies for A&E International, WGBH Boston, Telemundo and KHNL-TV in Honolulu, HI.

NECN sports personalities Mike Giardi and Chris Collins will now also join the Comcast SportsNet news team, alongside Michael Felger and Gary Tanguay, and recent additions Kevin Walsh, Carolyn Manno, Jessica Moran and Jackie Peper.

CSN will debut a new 30-minute program to air three times a night; SportsNet Central. The new show will start on December 3rd, at 6:00pm and will air each night at 6:00 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.

In total Comcast SportsNet is creating more than 40 new local newsroom reporting and production positions and has constructed a new newsroom, added a new studio set and expanded its production facilities at the network’s Burlington, MA headquarters. Comcast SportsNet is consolidating the sports news operations of NECN into its Burlington facility and will serve as the exclusive source of sports news on NECN and NECN.com beginning on November 2. NECN will air encore presentations of SportsNet Central each day.

Related link:  NECN, SportsNet find way to share strengths (Globe)

Popularity: 9% [?]

According to former Boston Globe NBA writer Marc J. Spears, Rajon Rondo and the Celtics have agreed to a 5-year, $55 million extension.

The Celtics made it 4-for-4 on the season with their 97-87 win over Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets at the TD Garden last night.

Julian Benbow says that Paul Pierce was just too much for the Hornets last night. Mark Murphy says that the Celtics actually had to exude some fourth quarter sweat in this one. Bill Doyle has Rondo and Chris Paul battling all during – and after – last night’s game. Robert Lee has Paul Pierce with another strong game to lead the Celtics to the win. Jim Fenton has Rondo stirring things up last night. Jessica Camerato has Captain Clutch, Paul Pierce, again coming through for the Celtics.

Gary Washburn has a look at the testy night between Rondo and Paul. Steve Bulpett also examines the battle of words and game between the two under-25 point guard stars. Mike Fine has Rondo losing his cool last night. Bill Burt says that things are getting personal between the two young point guards. Jessica Camerato looks at what Rondo has learned while playing through contract negotiations.

Bill Burt says that the Celtics “Bring it” on defense every night. Lenny Megliola has the Celtics not entirely happy with their 4-0 start to the season. Bulpett has Glen Davis working on his left hand game while his right is in a cast. Tim Weisberg has Sheldon Williams making the most of his opportunity while Davis is out. Brian MacPherson has Kendrick Perkins making the most of his offensive opportunities.

Benbow’s notebook has Rondo not worried about his contract, or future. Murphy’s notebook has more on Rondo’s state of mind last night. Doyle’s notebook looks at a strong start to the season for Paul Pierce. Lee’s Celtics Journal has more on Rondo and his contract. Fenton’s notebook has Pierce off to a sizzling start this season.

Patriots

On Patriots Daily, Chris Warner serves up a Jets/Dolphins, Patriots bye week Gut Check.

Albert R. Breer says that the Patriots were the real winner in yesterday’s AFC battle between the Dolphins and Jets. Ian R. Rapoport has the Dolphins letting their play do the talking, while the Jets just talked. Mike Reiss has the Patriots getting a little separation in the AFC East.

Karen Guregian hands out some midseason awards for the Patriots. Breer has Jason Taylor talking about nearly signing with the Patriots in the offseason.

Bruins/Misc

Kevin Paul Dupont has the Bruins unable to get on the scoreboard in a 1-0 loss to the Rangers yesterday. Stephen Harris has the Bruins continuing their win-one, lose-one streak. Joe Haggerty has the Bruins in desperate need of a goal scorer. Harris has Bruins tweaking their fourth line yesterday. Matt Kalman has a look at the powerless power play for the Bruins.

Dupont’s notebook has Zdeno Chara sending a message to Sean Avery. Harris’ notebook has the Bruins power play coming up empty.

Mark Blaudschun has the BC football team in a good position. Eric Avidon has the Eagles set to go bowling again.

Frank Dell’Apa and Kyle McCarthy have the Revolution winning their opening playoff game against Chicago.

Popularity: 8% [?]