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 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Mike Flynn.

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.

Bringing Out Friday Megalinks is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

In the world of sports talk radio we are led to believe the narrative is dictated by the events of the sporting world and not by the hosts themselves. ”We only talk about what the callers want to talk about, Gerry.”  

But in reality, it is the hosts of the program, who fully control the narrative and the callers that follow.

In 2007, the Patriots marched through an undefeated regular season and two playoff games. Yet, all the media would talk about was Spygate. The run to perfection was pretty much an afterthought. It’s been awhile since one story has so dominated this local landscape. Fast forward to the present day, and we have the 2011 Boston Red Sox and the greatest collapse of all time.  Dan Shaughnessy claims that even Spygate wasn’t this big.

This is the team the Boston media refuses to stop talking about.  I say the Boston media, because the national media for the most part is moving on. I somewhat expected  the Red Sox story to take a back seat this week after Tom Brady’s thrilling game winning drive against the Dallas Cowboys.  But apparently fried chicken is a much sexier topic.

Now, let’s get this out-of-the-way: I am not naïve, the season was a historic, epic disaster.  The drama that has succeeded it is worthy of prolonged discussion.  I get that. Despite that, this story is being WAY overplayed. The New York Yankees, who somehow became the 2011 MLB underdogs despite 97 wins and a 200 million dollar payroll, followed the Red Sox right to the golf course or perhaps in some cases to Popeye’s.  And let’s not forget “The Most Storied Franchise In Sports©” lost a deciding Game five at HOME, to Doug Fister and the Detroit Tigers.

The Philadelphia Phillies won 102 games this year.  They were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series.  They were the team with the greatest starting pitching staff since the 1971 Baltimore Orioles; and they were bounced in the first round.  You could argue that their defeat was more impactful than the Red Sox collapse.  If the Red Sox had squeaked into the playoffs only to get bounced, would this story still have legs? Or is it just all about the deep fryer?

“Let’s not forget, we’re the real story.”  – Aaron Altman played by Albert Brooks from the movie Broadcast News.

That is a great line from a superb movie, and it couldn’t be more appropriate to describe John Henry’s appearance on 98.5 Friday and the subsequent aftermath on BOTH local radio stations.  I am waiting for the one-hour documentary on CSNNE, as if Woodward and Bernstein Felger and Mazz had just broken the Watergate story.

There is no doubt that John Henry’s “impromptu” appearance on the Sports Hub’s Felger and Mazz Show was big news.    It was great radio, it gave us some (a little?) new insight, it created talking points, buzz etc. I don’t blame Felger and Mazz for trying to squeeze some juice out of the story.  But, do you need every drop?

The interview has been played and replayed and dissected, and played again, and then later played on Felger’s CSNNE Sports Sunday show, and discussed on the radio all weekend.  At what point do we reach the tipping point? Sadly, that will not be until the hosts of these programs decide to move on. If they keep talking about it, people will keep calling in; it’s kind of a chicken and egg thing.

Monday on the Sports Hub, one of Tony’s opening comments was “This has nothing to do with us.”  No Tony, I think you’re wrong.  I think it has everything to do with you. Don’t misconstrue my point, I think that interview is still worthy of discussion today and throughout the next few months.  But, I don’t think it should be discussed ENTIRELY for the next few months. Can we mix things up even a little bit?

As far as the interview itself, I thought both sides had their moments. Felger was funny when discussing Josh Beckett’s obvious physical changes.  On the other hand, he sounded sophomoric when discussing David Ortiz running to first base. 

Henry was right on point when discussing his focus on the team.  Basically, Felger and Mazz had already talked this story so much to death prior to Henry’s appearance that they had reached the point where they were almost accusing John Henry of becoming “detached” from the team. Somehow, John Henry’s wife Linda Pizzuti had become Cleopatra or Yoko Ono and the entire Roman Empire was about to fall.  Incidentally, for the brief time I listened to WEEI on Monday they spent “Patriots Monday” on the same tired topic.  John Henry would be wise to sit down with Bill Belichick and Bob Kraft and learn a little about plugging leaks.  The Less is More Strategy, might infuriate the Ron Borges’ of the world, but it serves the Patriots pretty well.

Felger and Mazz, sometimes seem to dwell in their own little sports bubble.  Here’s a newsflash for Mike and Tony – sports owners usually don’t own just one business.  Yes, some do, but most have businesses in all sorts of industries and walks of life.  Some own TWO sports teams, can you believe that?  Mark Cuban owns his own production company.  How did the Dallas Mavericks ever win the NBA title?  He must be quite the multitasker.

For me, the Red Sox 2011 Soap Opera is starting to feel like a movie you’ve seen just one time too many. It reminds me of when TNT started showing “The Shawshank Redemption” everyday.

Don’t we all get the gist?  The Sox collapsed, the pitching stunk, and some pitchers drank beer and ate fried chicken while their teammates struggled to the finish line.  The manager lost control of the clubhouse and was either fired or quit.   That same manager was later smeared to the press by someone in the front office or on the team.  The Red Sox “Boy Wonder GM” is heading for greener pastures and taking his huge ego with him.  The Red Sox ownership is going to spend the next six months trying to restore their name. Whenever a Red Sox player does speak, like Jon Lester did yesterday, that interview is going to bring all of this up again, and their words will be examined as closely as the Zapruder film.     

I think I have it all, but if not, just tune into 98.5 and listen to the hosts pat themselves on the back and discuss it again and again and again and again……

The Story That Would Not Die is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The interview was contentious at times, with the hosts asking very pointed questions of the Red Sox owner, and not always allowing him to finish an answer before moving to the next point. In the end, Henry stayed on the show for 90 minutes, and took every salvo launched at him.

The item that most will grab onto from this interview is Henry assertion that he did not support the move to sign Carl Crawford, a statement that has to have the outfielder feeling warm, fuzzy and wanted by his team.

This interview further cements Michael Felger’s spot atop the sports media landscape in Boston, and having Henry come to their studio instead of going to the flagship station of the Red Sox (WEEI) is a major coup as well.

John Henry Speaks Out On Felger and Mazz is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The exact date that this will start is not known yet, as a studio is being completely rebuilt/refurbished for this show. Felger said in the announcement that they wouldn’t just be throwing black drapes over the windows – an obvious shot at the WEEI/NESN arrangement – but that they would be “doing it right.”

This further cements the 98.5/CSNNE relationship, and Felger also said this has been in the works for some time, as during the early days of the station, they actually broadcast for a time from the CSNNE building while their studio was readied.

More and more, sides are being drawn, WEEI and NESN, 98.5 and CSNNE. It’s interesting to watch things develop and wonder where they might come to a head.

One thing I appreciated about this announcement was that they said they would have an announcement at 3:00 and they actually announced it at 3:00. Not 3:20, but actually at 3:00. Imagine that.

Felger And Massarotti To Be Simulcast on CSNNE Starting This Fall is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The Weekend Viewing Picks give you everything to you need for your viewing pleasure.

Let’s do this.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that primetime is the right time for college football.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Daily reports that ESPN has sold out its ad inventory for its new NASCAR non-stop initiative which will allow fans to see continuous race action while commercials run.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NFL Network used some creative methods in Boston to promote its Bill Belichick documentary.

If you watched the Belichick documentary, then you probably know about the best scene which was the coach yelling at the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Mason who was trash talking. Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video.

Brandon Costa from Sports Video Group notes that Sports Illustrated has released a new Football Rivals mobile app.

Sports Media Watch says ABC is doing well with college football in its first two weeks of the season.

SMW notes that last Saturday’s Notre Dame-Michigan game on ESPN in primetime did better than the previous week’s Fighting Irish game on NBC.

SMW says last week’s NASCAR race in Richmond garnered a four year ratings high for ABC.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider Sports Page says sports bars got hit the hardest by DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket technical difficulties last week.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media has NHL Network’s preseason schedule that begins next week.

Joe Favorito says sports brands are now jumping into the corn field maze craze.

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

Parade talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe writes about some ex-Patriots players who have made the transition to TV.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald talks about 98.5 The Sports Hub winning the prestigious Marconi for Best Sports Station in the country over a former winner, WEEI.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette praises the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir looks at a rare film that followed the late Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto and other ex-Pinstripers to Austria for an exhibition game in 1994.

Daniel E. Slotnick of the Times writes that former New York Jet and broadcaster Sam DeLuca has passed away.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with statistician Steve Hirdt about his career and getting to work a “home” game for this week’s edition of Monday Night Football.

Neil says SNY is fortunate to have the Jets as a partner to help viewers forget about the Mets.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is angry at everyone.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for YES analyst Ken Singleton.

Jerry Barmash in Fishbowl NY writes that MSG Network brings back its signature hockey studio show for another season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that local sports anchor Andrew Catalon gets a call-up to the NFL on CBS in October.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record talks with MLB Network’s Brian Kenny about why he left ESPN after almost a decade and a half.

Ken has more with Brian Kenny in his column.

Ken is tired of NHL Network rerunning last season’s playoffs.

South

Serena Moyle of the Tallahassee (FL) Democrat profiles ESPN’s Erin Andrews as she’s in town for the Oklahoma-Florida State game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says you watched the NFL in droves last week.

David says ESPN is treating Longhorn Network differently than its other entities.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman writes that Longhorn Network will pick up one Oklahoma State basketball game.

Mel has some news and notes.

Gina Mizell of the Oklahoman says ESPN is keeping a close eye on Oklahoma State and Texas A&M for a potential College GameDay visit.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio expands its pregame show tomorrow to air highlights of Johnny Bench Night.

John says a local radio station has fired a long-time sports reporter and other parts of its staff.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with a long-time Division II college football radio voice.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says some local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to this Saturday’s Wisconsin game.

Bob explains why the Wisconsin game isn’t on TV.

Bob says the Brewers’ Prince Fielder will be seen in a profile on TBS Sunday.

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

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says all of the Blues games will be televised for the first time ever.

West

Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that ESPN’s deal with BYU has now become a recruiting tool for the school.

Matt Solinsky of the Desert (CA) Sun says the NFL Network documentary on Patriots coach Bill Belichick is definitely “must see TV”.

John Maffei from the North County Times tries to discover what the holdup is for the San Diego Padres’ TV and radio rights.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for California’s high school championships.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times talks with the Fox NFL Sunday crew.

T.J. Simers of the Times writes that Vin Scully can cause trouble at home.

Also from the Times, Eric Sondheimer has details of the Time Warner deal with the California Interscholastic Federation.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Jay “The Rat” Mariotti is determined to get the last word on his tumultuous year.

Tom has some media moves that didn’t make his column.

Tom says MLB Network will air a special on statistics.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says an 8 year delay will help Steve Moore in his lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi and the NHL stemming from an incident in Vancouver.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada has finally made some moves to fill some personnel holes.

And that’s going to conclude the links for this Friday.

Friday Megalinks Just For You is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

After 10 years as the front man of the punk band Miller’s Tale,  Shertenlieb started his radio career at Atlanta alternative station 99x, where he first met Fred Toucher. After a few years there, he was offered a job with the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show, a nationally syndicated program. In 2006, he teamed up with Toucher for the Toucher and Rich show on WBCN in Boston. In 2009, the duo made the transition to sports talk radio when 98.5 The Sports Hub came on the air.

Rich is best known for his comedy bits on the program, which include bits such as “Ask A Pink Hat”, “The Drunken Red Sox Recap” and “Naughty Massarotti.” He has had bits featured on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, The CBS Nightly News and Dateline. He made national headlines for asking Delonte West at Celtics media day to set the record straight about LeBron James’ mom.

Rich is also the President and co-founder of The Miracle League of Massachusetts, a baseball league for children with special needs.

2011 Approval Ratings – Rich Shertenlieb is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

Drafted in the fourth round of the 1991 draft by the New England Patriots, Scott Zolak remained with the team as the backup quarterback through the 1998 season. He then spent one year with the Miami Dolphins. He began his media career in 2000, joining Bob Lobel on WBZ’s Patriots Gameday.

He teamed up with Andy Gresh as co-host of a daily show on Providence sports radio station “The Score,” and the two remained together until the station pulled the plug on the sports format in 2008. The duo was reunited on 98.5 The SportsHub when the station dumped Tanguay and replaced him with Gresh in April of 2010. Zolak, Gresh and Tanguay all work together on the Patriots pre and post-game shows on 98.5.

Zolak has also been a part of the WBZ-TV Patriots broadcasts as well, and is a contributor to Patriots All Access, where he does the “Bellistrator” segment with head coach Bill Belichick and the “T.U.R.F.” segment with former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria. He also worked a a couple of UFL telecasts for NESN last season.

2011 Approval Ratings – Scott Zolak is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

MEN 25-54

6:00 to 10:00 AM

TOUCHER & RICH – 11.6 (1st)

DENNIS & CALLAHAN – 6.0 (3rd)

10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

GRESH & ZO – 9.4 (2nd)

MUTT & MERLONI – 4.1 (10th)

2:00 to 6:00 PM

FELGER & MAZZ – 9.5 (1st)

THE BIG SHOW – 5.4 (6th)

MEN 18-49

6:00 to 10:00 AM

TOUCHER & RICH – 14.8 (1st)

DENNIS & CALLAHAN – 5.1 (4th)

10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

GRESH & ZO – 11.9 (1st)

MUTT & MERLONI – 2.8 (11th)

2:00 to 6:00 PM

FELGER & MAZZ – 10.5 (1st)

THE BIG SHOW – 4.4 (7th)

MEN 18-34

6:00 to 10:00 AM

TOUCHER & RICH – 22.3 (1st)

DENNIS & CALLAHAN – 2.8 (11th)

10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

GRESH & ZO – 14.1 (1st)

MUTT & MERLONI – 1.2 (17th)

2:00 to 6:00 PM

FELGER & MAZZ – 12.1 (1st)

THE BIG SHOW – 1.7 (16th)

With the Bruins on their Stanley Cup run, I think we knew 98.5 was going to score a big win this time around, but these numbers are still stunning.

It doesn’t appear that we’ll be hearing anything like this on the 850 AM airwaves this week. We might hear how we’re not reading the numbers correctly, and how WEEI is #1 in the demographic they’re shooting for, or something along the lines of “Everyone knows the spring and summer ratings don’t matter, that’s why we all go on extended vacations.”

Spring Numbers Show Huge Wins For 98.5 Over WEEI is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

A former college football player at URI, Gresh has been a fixture on the Patriots radio network’s pre and postgame coverage for much of the last decade. Prior to taking over for Gary Tanguay on the 98.5 midday show, Gresh had worked at SIRIUS/XM radio where he hosted The Gresh Show. Before that he had hosted The Andy Gresh Show weekends on ESPN Radio.

Gresh and co-host Scott Zolak also hosted a show on the former Providence sports radio station The Score, WSKO. He makes many appearances on Comcast SportsNet year-round, but especially during the NFL season.

Gresh has also worked college football telecasts for NESN, including the annual Williams/Amherst rivalry matchup.

2011 Approval Ratings – Andy Gresh is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

A native of Pawtucket, Goucher is a 1993 graduate of Boston University, where he also began his broadcast career, calling two years of Terrier hockey and football for the BU radio station. He spent five years as voice of the Providence Bruins of the AHL, including the team’s 1999 Calder Cup Championship run. He became the Boston Bruins radio voice on WBZ radio in 2000, replacing Bob Neumeier. Goucher has been named New England’s top radio play-by-play announcer by the Associated Press three times (2003, 2006, & 2007) and won the AP “Best Sportscast” award in 2006. He’s done work for NHL Radio in the past, doing the “Game of the Week” for Westwood One.

His no-nonsense, understated style stands in sharp contrast to the TV stylings of Jack Edwards, and his chemistry with analyst Bob Beers is about as good as it gets. This spring he’s done frequent appearances on WBZ-FM to talk about the team, and did an interview with Chad Finn last month as well.

2011 Approval Ratings – Dave Goucher is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch