The 50th Daytona 500 

FOX brings us a number of new technological advances to their broadcast, two being outlined in the exceprts from their press releases below:

On Sunday, February 17 (2:00 PM ET), FOX Sports proudly presents the 50th running of the Daytona 500 with an electrifying 80 minute prerace show to celebrate the races history and most memorable moments from the past 49 races. Hosted by Chris Myers along with analysts Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip the show is a special tribute to living racing legends who have won the Daytona 500 including Bobby Allison, Richard Petty and FOX’s very own Waltrip. In addition to previewing Sunday’s race, FOX welcomes motorsports broadcasting legend Ken Squier as a special contributor to the broadcast, adding historical perspective. It was Squier who called the first live televised Daytona 500 back in 1979 and who coined the phrase “The Great American Race.” Also in the prerace, NASCAR on FOX analyst Larry McReynolds takes a look back at the late Dale Earnhardt’s first and only Daytona 500 win in 1998 where he served as crew chief.

GOPHER CAM PROVIDES “HOLE” NEW PERSPECTIVE – Imagine that your ultimate wish is to stand trackside at the world’s most famous superspeedway, inches away as the best drivers anywhere whiz by at a breathless 185 miles per hour during the nation’s most prestigious auto race.  That’s the view Gopher Cam provides at the 50th Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17 (2:00 PM ET) and beyond.

Gopher Cam is a small, stationary high-definition point-of-view camera buried underneath the asphalt track surface, inches below the yellow line at Daytona International Speedway.  There are four Gopher Cams in-place for the 50th Daytona 500, one in each of the track’s four turns.  This is the first instance where a camera has been installed below the surface of a superspeedway, and this is the first time that a sub-track surface camera is HD caliber.  The cameras have also been paired with high quality condenser microphones, another first, for an unbelievably realistic audio/video experience.

“Television’s never-ending goal is to bring the viewer as close to the action as possible,” said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill.  “We’ve had great past success with Catcher-Cam and Diamond-Cam in our MLB coverage and Grass Cam and Wall-Cam in NASCAR on FOX broadcasts.  However, Gopher Cam, and forgive us for having some fun with the name, is different. These are HD cameras developed specifically for this use.  The pictures are phenomenal, and the audio that the mikes provide is mean and loud.  It’s a tremendous complement to our Emmy-caliber NASCAR broadcasts.” 

The camera hardware and electronics have been installed six inches below the asphalt, and is housed in a cylindrical stainless steel fixture.  The lens is less than a half-inch in diameter, and camera is angled slightly to see oncoming traffic.  The assembly is covered by a protective dome that is four-inches in diameter and rises less than one-quarter inch above the track surface.  Cars rolling over them will have no idea of their presence. The cameras are connected to FOX’s mobile production units outside DIS via copper wiring that was trenched in below the track and grass and run to where it meets up with the network’s advanced fiber optic wiring system. 

Live Online Q&A System To be Launched

This virtual Q&A is unlike others that may have preceded it.  On FOXSports.com, NASCAR on FOX analysts Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds, three of the sport’s most knowledgeable experts, can answer viewer’s questions in real time.  Each individual has been recorded providing simple, concise explanations to hundreds of potential questions that might arise during a NASCAR on FOX race.

“Every sport, including NASCAR, is loaded with unique terminology that many core viewers understand, but sometimes has others scratching their heads,” said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill.  “Our virtual Q&A is designed to enhance the viewing experience by helping the curious fan better understand what they’re seeing while they’re seeing it.”

FOX’s virtual Q&A is an adaptation of patented technology called Synthetic Interviews developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Penn., by Scott Stevens, Ph.D. and Michael Christel, Ph.D., computer researchers in CMU’s School of Computer Science and Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). 

“By enabling fans to interact with their favorite on-air personalities online, FOX Sports and FOXSports.com are delivering the type of engaging, multi-platform experience that users have come to expect from sports event coverage,” said Brian Grey, SVP and GM of FOX Sports Interactive.  “It’s these types of multi-platform programming experiences that deliver a new level of engagement for sports fans and also resonate with brand advertisers.”

Synthetic Interviews is a technology that allows users to ask questions and receive video answers as if they were engaged in a face-to-face conversation with a live person.  Specifically regarding this effort, one of the three NASCAR on FOX experts appears to answer the question or explain the term as though speaking directly to the viewer.  When the project is launched on

Sunday, over 300 terms frequently used during race coverage, such as wedge, marbles or camber can be explained by the FOX Sports Answer Man.  While not every possible question can be anticipated, items featured can be refreshed and updated based on demand.  

NBA All Star Weekend on TNT

TNT’s coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend festivities tips off Friday, February 15 at 9 p.m. ET with the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley will be courtside to call the action with Craig Sager reporting from the sidelines. Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai will follow with Johnson, Smith and Barkley.

The excitement continues on Saturday, February 16, when Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai tips off an exciting night at 5 p.m. ET. TNT guest analyst Magic Johnson and NBA Insider David Aldridge will join Ernie Johnson, Smith and Barkley live from the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. At 7 p.m. ET, TNT will present NBA’s Greatest Slam Dunk Contest: Airborne. Through first-person interviews of players and TNT announcers, ‘Airborne’ reflects on memorable NBA dunk contests and the host cities that served as backdrops to the dunks that made history. Beginning at 8 p.m. ET, TNT will televise exclusive live coverage of NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, which includes the Haier Shooting Stars competition, the Playstation Skills Challenge, the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, and the Sprite Slam Dunk. The evening will be capped off by the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2008 presented on TNT by Old Spice Pro Strength at 11 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT.

TNT’s All-Star coverage takes center stage on Sunday, February 17 at 8 p.m. ET with the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. Play-by-play announcer Marv Albert and analysts Doug Collins and Reggie Miller will be courtside with Craig Sager reporting from the sidelines.

Daytona 500, NBA All Star Game Headline Weekend is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

WBZ-TV is your Boston destination for the game, as they kick things off tonight with a Patriots season preview at 7:00pm. On Sunday, they have Patriots GameDay at 11:30am, followed by CBS’ NFL Today at Noon and the Patriots/Jets game at 1:00. Following the game, Patriots 5th Quarter will air on sister station TV-38.

The Patriots/Jets matchup is the national game for CBS, with number one crew Jim Nantz and Phil Simms calling the action.

FOX has the NFL Doubleheader Sunday with Eagles/Packers at 1:00 and Bears/Chargers at 4:15. FOX NFL Sunday at noon welcomes new full-time host Curt Menefee. Menefee joins the cast of co-host Terry Bradshaw and analysts Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson. Also new this year, former Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer is paired with fellow National Championship and Super Bowl-winning coach Johnson in a segment called “Grumpy Old Coaches.” Bradshaw moderates/referees this segment. NFL Insider, Jay Glazer joins FOX NFL SUNDAY in the studio this season, reporting the latest news and notes from around the league. Weather forecaster Jillian Reynolds (not Barberie) returns and comedic prognosticator Frank Caliendo contributes his weekly “Frank’s Picks” segment.

ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown will have a feature on Eric Mangini – What will the second-year Jets coach do for an encore after turning a 4-12 squad into a playoff team that helped launch the “Man-genius” label, a cameo on “The Sopranos” and a spirited rivalry with the New England Patriots and his mentor, Bill Belichick. Reporter Wendi Nix gets an inside look at Mangini’s life on and off-the-field, highlighted by his “take your family to work day” at the Jets headquarters.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football game is Giants/Cowboys at 8:15pm.

For the rest of the country, here are your NFL Coverage Maps for CBS, Fox Game One and Fox Game Two.

(Also back for another year is the College Football TV Schedule.)

Patriots Daily will have you covered on the college games tomorrow, plus the Sunday morning links, game blog and Game Day Rear View. You can check out the NY coverage on the New York Sports Pages, as well as JetsLinks.com.

The Red Sox are in Baltimore this weekend, continuing their series with the Orioles. Keep up with the action on RedSoxLinks.com.

———————————————————-
WEEI’s Glenn Ordway promised an “announcement” at 5:00pm today, (which really means closer to 5:30) but David Scott says that it likely won’t be a new deal for Dennis & Callahan.

Mike Zhe reports on UNH backup quarterback Hank Hendricks being charged with murder.

Pink Hat Hell has the review of Sox Appeal Episode 6.

Bill Simmons has his two-part NFL Preview, and in the first part, he ranks teams 32-12 and in the second part teams 11-1 and has his week one picks.

Pat Kirwan has 10 things to watch for this weekend.

Don Banks has week one matchups, storylines and predictions.

Aaron Schatz for Slate, tells us how to watch Pro Football.

JT the Brick has the Patriots as his preseason favorites.

The Media Circus examines Sean Salisbury’s unhealthy obsession with predicting the NFL MVP.

Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated has a story you simply must read about University of Miami football coach Randy Shannon.

Jessica Camerato has 10 things you won’t see from the Celtics this season.

Sam Smith says that Kevin Garnett will make it work in Boston, partially by deferring to Paul Pierce and Ray Allen when the game is on the line.

Chad Finn goes nine innings for FoxSports.

———————————————————–
New England
Susan Bickelhaupt has Dan Dierdorf talking about the Patriots being the favorites. Bill Doyle has Red Sox play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo changing his philosophy on-the-fly during the Clay Buchholz game about talking about a no-hitter in progress. David Scott offers up a WEEI fantasy draft. John Molori says that Jim Nantz has carved a classy niche for himself in the broadcaster pantheon.

New York
Phil Mushnick says that Keith Hernandez’s “arrogance, condescending manner, impatience, sarcasm, naughtiness, knowledge, and brutal candor would make him both cherished and scorned.” Justin Terranova has John Madden saying that Eli Manning has what it takes to win. He also has five questions with Phil Simms about this Sunday’s Jets/Patriots game. Neil Best has Kenny Albert’s long tenure at FOX finally paying off. Bob Raissman says that NBC is counting on Tiki Barber to “swing the axe” and stir things up. Richard Sandomir has a look at the new stadium for the Jets and Giants.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand has rookie analyst Barber taking some heat from fellow analysts for telling “secrets” about his former team. Chris Zelkovich has the NFL trying to put a bad offseason behind it. Laura Nachman has a game plan for Eagles TV and Radio this season. Leonard Shapiro offers up some analysis of the NFL analysts. Jim Williams talks to John Madden and the NBC crew about opening night.

South
Dave Darling lets it be known that he dislikes Thursday night football. Immensely. He asserts that the NFL season should start on Sunday. David Barron has Austin dropping the Texans game this weekend in favor of Vince Young and the Titans. Barry Jackson has the Miami Dolphins radio crew getting ready for their regular season debut as a three man booth. He also looks at FOX’s Grumpy Old Coaches pregame segment.

Midwest
Judd Zulgad has the Clippers swooping in to grab the Timberwolves Radio play-by-play man. Teddy Greenstein says that having Ron Jaworski on board will be key to Tony Kornheiser’s second season on Monday Night Football. Bob Wolfley has Emmitt Smith talking about Brett Favre approaching Dan Marino’s passing records. Jeffrey Flanagan has the Missouri Tigers falling victim to the SEC’s television contracts. Dan Caesar says that KSDK whiffed by not carrying the Deutsche Bank Championship last weekend.

West Coast
Jay Posner has Troy Aikman saying that he won’t give his former offensive coordinator Norv Turner a free ride in his analysis of the Chargers/Bears game on Sunday. John Maffei has more on the Aikman/Tuner dynamic on Sunday. Larry Stewart looks at Tiki Barber stirring up controversy by ripping his former team. Stewart’s notebook has the networks pulling out all the stops for the NFL. Tom Hoffarth has “the stuff you need to know about the 2007 NFL TV season but were afraid to hear the answer.” He has more media notes in his blog.

Weekend Watch – NFL Opening Weekend 2007 is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

It’s our last weekend before the NFL regular season kicks in, and one last chance to spend some quality time with your family on a Sunday afternoon.

The Red Sox look to get back on the winning side of things starting tonight at Fenway in the first of a three game series with the Orioles. Keep up with the news this weekend on RedSoxLinks.com.

The Patriots have started their preparation for next Sunday’s season opener against the division rival Jets down in New York. Saturday will mark cutdown day as the team needs to trim down to the regular season limit of 53 players (though they have an extra spot until Asante Samuel is actually ready to play). Keep up with the news on Patriots Daily. Tomorrow we’ll have a college football breakdown, with an eye towards players that might be in the Patriots future. Sunday will also bring another edition of the Sunday Links.

Will Gerry Callahan and John Dennis magically reappear on the WEEI airwaves Tuesday morning? It wouldn’t be the biggest upset of the year if they did.

——————————————————–
The Red Sox may make more headlines and have their own Nation, but the Patriots are showing that they are no slouches at PR and media production either, as they announced today this season’s offerings on the Patriots Football Network, which spans TV, Radio, Print and the Internet. The new season will include a complete re-design of Patriots.com, set to debut on September 4th. Here’s a breakdown of all the PFN programming for this season:

PATRIOTS on TV

Patriots All Access (Premiering LIVE Friday, Sept. 7 from 8:00-9:00 p.m. on WCVB in Boston)
Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. and Sundays at 10:00 a.m. on WCVB in Boston; Sundays at 1:30 a.m. on WPRI in Providence; Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. on WFXQ in Springfield and anytime on Comcast On Demand

Patriots All Access, winner of the 2007 New England Emmy Award for best Sports Series, airs weekly throughout the season. Patriots All Access features weekly sit-downs with Coach Bill Belichick including the popular “Belestrator” segment where the coach breaks down upcoming opponents.

Patriots Today (NEW – Premiering Sept. 4 on Patriots.com)
Daily at Patriots.com and on Comcast On Demand
Patriots Today, the team’s newest media offering, gives fans a daily, in-depth look at the club that is unmatched by any other outlet. The show is hosted by Kristina Akra and features daily reports from Brian Lowe and twice-weekly analysis from PFW’s Paul Perillo. Hall of Fame Offensive Lineman John Hannah will also offer his expertise throughout the season. This daily half-hour webcast is dedicated exclusively to the Patriots and provides daily features, reports and commentary that will satisfy every fan’s daily Patriots fix.

Patriots This Week (NEW – Premiering Sept. 15 at 10:30 p.m. on WSBK)
Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. on WSBK Channel 38
Patriots This Week, airing on Channel 38 every Saturday night, provides a thorough recap of each week’s developments to get fans up-to-date and excited for the next day’s game. Hosted by Kristina Akra, the show delivers fans everything they need to know, with the week’s best stories, quotes and analysis.

Totally Patriots (Premiering Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. on WCVB in Boston)
Sundays at 11:00 a.m. on WCVB in Boston; Sundays at 12:30 p.m. on WNAC in Providence; Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. on WFXQ in Springfield and anytime on Comcast On Demand

Totally Patriots, a weekly youth-oriented football show is back for its third season on WCVB, Channel 5 in Boston. Hosted by Kerry Connolly, Totally Patriots allows the next generation of Patriots fans unprecedented access to their favorites players, enabling them to ask questions in a relaxed, informal setting. The program also includes football tips from Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett and a current Patriots player, and the opportunity to win college scholarships by writing weekly essays on the Patriots.

Patriots Football Weekly (TV)
Tuesday nights at 11 p.m. during the season on NECN
Every week during the season on New England Cable News, the writers from Patriots Football Weekly gather to discuss everything Patriots. They’ll review Sunday’s game and look forward to New England’s next opponent. It’s a great half hour of Patriots talk on TV. Every Tuesday night at 11 p.m. hosted by NECN’s Chris Collins. Replayed at 11:30 p.m.

Patriots 5th Quarter
Immediately following each game on WBZ-TV/TV38
WBZ-TV and TV38 team up to broadcast Patriots 5th Quarter immediately following each Patriots game. WBZ-TV Sports Director Bob Lobel and WBZ-TV Sports Reporter Steve Burton join former Patriots players Scott Zolak and Steve DeOssie to provide instant reaction and analysis in studio and at the stadium. Patriots 5th Quarter also features exclusive live coverage of the Patriots post-game press conferences with Coach Belichick and Tom Brady.

PATRIOTS on RADIO

Patriots Monday
Mondays during the season on WEEI Sports Radio 850 AM (Boston); 103.7 FM (Providence); 1440 AM (Worcester); 105.5 FM (Springfield).

WEEI Sports Radio broadcasts Patriots Monday each week, offering fans the chance to hear from Coach Belichick, Tom Brady and the players of the game.

Patriots Friday
Fridays during the season on 890 ESPN Boston
890 ESPN Boston has the exclusive rights to broadcast Patriots Friday from Gillette Stadium each week during the season. Kevin Winter delivers Patriots updates throughout the day, and ESPN Boston’s Mike Felger hosts The Mike Felger Show from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. from Gillette Stadium, where he is joined by prominent Patriots players each week.

Patriots Pregame and Postgame
Before and after each game on the WBCN Rock Radio Network
WBCN is the Patriots’ flagship station, broadcasting every Patriots game across its FM radio network. Three hours prior to kickoff, during halftime and after the game, host Gary Tanguay is joined by co-hosts Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh among other guests, serving up all the pregame and postgame news and notes, including live sound from the postgame press conferences.

PATRIOTS IN PRINT

Patriots Football Weekly
Subscriptions Available by calling 800-494-PATS
Patriots Football Weekly is the official newspaper of the New England Patriots and the nation’s only full-color football newspaper. PFW is published weekly throughout the season and monthly during the offseason, providing readers with exclusive Patriots coverage. Each issue of Patriots Football Weekly is loaded with the latest news, game previews and reviews, feature stories, contests and full-color posters.

—————————————————–
Pink Hat Hell reviews Sox Appeal Episode 5.

Tony Massarotti notes that it has been 40 years since Carl Yastrzemski became the last triple crown winner in baseball.

Mike Celizic says that the Red Sox will be fine as long as their pitching holds up.

Greg Cosell says that Tom Brady is the most mobile quarterback in the NFL.

Rich Cimini has a Patriots season preview on NFL.com.

Bucky Brooks predicts the best and worst of the upcoming NFL season.

Bill Simmons has his top 50 fantasy football picks.

Tom Curran Tom Curran recently ranked Eli Manning and the 25th best QB in football. He heard from a few Giants fans afterwards.

Steve Greenberg says that Paul Pierce needs to get into the best shape of his life so that he doesn’t wear down late in games this season.

Chris O’Leary of Slam has Paul Pierce among those players who participated in the making of EA Sports NBA Live 08 – a pretty entertaining article, especially reading the talk among the various players.

Frank Isola says that the Kevin Garnett trade will have an impact that will be felt throughout the NBA.

Richard Deitsch talks to Boomer Esiason about his new job taking over for Don Imus on WFAN, which starts next Tuesday.

Matt Casey looks at some of the greatest names in the world of sports.

——————————————————–
New England
David Scott wraps up his experience at the ESPN Media Workshop yesterday. Susan Bickelhaupt checks in with Tommy Roy of NBC sports, who has been nominated for more Emmys than anyone in the history of sports television. Bill Doyle has a look at Worcester Sharks announcer Eric Lindquist, who has a Showcase Showdown victory on The Price is Right under his belt. John Molori had Cris Carter talking about former teammate and new Patriot Randy Moss.

New York
Phil Mushnick knocks ESPN/ABC for using 50 Cent to open the network’s Saturday night college football games. Richard Sandomir has John McEnroe mellowing from “superbratty to cuddly.” Neil Best wonders if college football will ever be relevant in New York City.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand looks at ESPN/ABC launching into college football with 25 games this weeks, profiles 89 year old Jimmy Wall, who has been a stage manager at CBS for 40 years, and has Faith Hill professing her love for football as she replaces Pink in the intro to NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Leonard Shapiro has Mike Tirico jumping at the chance to cover Virginia Tech’s home opener, the first game since the April 16th tragedy that killed 32 people. Chris Zelkovich notes that Canadians will even watch hockey in the sweltering August heat. Laura Nachman has Comcast and the NFL Network still battling over placement of the network on the Sports Tier.

South
Barry Jackson has former UM coach Larry Coker getting ready to cover his former team this weekend as an analyst for ESPNU. Dave Darling gives us 10 reasons why the BCS works. David Barron has high school football going up against the Texans last night on Houston television. Barry Horn lists out his top 10 NFL announcers.

Midwest
Dan Caesar reports that FOX NFL Sunday will again have a new look for this season. Judd Zulgad notes that KMSP could take a huge hit if the Vikings’ season opener is blacked out, as no other game will be available as a replacement to the station. Teddy Greenstein looks at three new books on college football, and has a few other media items. Bob Wolfley notes that the Big Ten Network is currently only available by satellite TV as Time Warner, Comcast and Charter have not yet made a deal to bring the network on.

West Coast
Jay Posner looks at a possible new competitor for XX Sports Radio. Larry Stewart has a look at the return of college football. Tom Hoffarth has NBC on the Jimmy Clausen watch. John Maffei notes that the new San Diego State radio crew is a bit of a mismatch. Jim Carlisle has a piece on Dr. Jerry Punch and what the Dr. part has to do with his role on television. Carlisle’s notebook has former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter now doing 90 second commentaries on KLAC. Carlise also has a new blog: Jim Carlisle’s Sports Notes.

Weekend Watch – Labor Day Weekend 2007 is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The Red Sox play a doubleheader with the White Sox Friday on NESN, (though the weather isn’t looking good) while Saturday’s 3:30pm game is on FOX, with Matt Vasgersian & Joe Girardi calling the game. Sunday’s game is back on NESN. Keep up with all the Red Sox coverage on RedSoxLinks.com.

The Patriots are on CBS Friday night, where Greg Gumbel teams with Dan Dierdorf in calling the action from the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. This game will be shown in HDTV at 1080i lines of picture resolution along with 5.1 digital audio.

On Patriots Daily, we’ll have a wrapup of the game, and the coverage from the weekend, including the extensive Sunday Links posting.

——————————————
It was another eventful week in the Boston sports media, with the Boston Globe bringing on board former Denver Post NBA writer Marc Spears to headline what would seem to be a new emphasis on Celtics coverage at the Globe.

Local guy and former Boston Herald columnist Howard Bryant had his first column for ESPN.com this week, writing about the how the NFL Players Association has failed both Michael Vick and itself.

A pair of curious comments stood out this week in reading over sports coverage. Both statements appeared to be overreaction on the part of the writers. The first one was regarding the Patriots kicker when the Providence Journal Patriots notebook stated that “many Patriots fans started to lose confidence in Stephen Gostkowski” after the second year kicked missed some kicks in practice last week, and then missed a 33 yard kick and sent a kickoff out of bounds in the second preseason game.

Were “many” Patriots fans really losing confidence in a guy who made some huge kicks towards the end of last season (including the game winner in the San Diego playoff game and outkicking Adam Vinatieri in the AFC championship game- both road games, by the way)? It seems a little far-fetched that fans would be jumping off the Gostkowski bandwagon so quickly.

The other comment was from Worcester Telegram & Gazette baseball writer Bill Ballou, who led off Thursday Red Sox game story thusly:

This certainly isn't what the Red Sox expected when they shelled out $100 million, give or take a nickel, to obtain the services of Daisuke Matsuzaka.

They didn't expect him to be 13-10, just three games over .500 on a team that is 25 games over. And they didn't expect him to be 1-3 against the Devil Rays, the worst team in the AL East, especially when the rest of the Boston pitching staff is 8-1 against Tampa Bay.

Seth Mnookin tackled this ridiculous statement already in a post on his blog, which shows that if anything, Matsuzaka has actually exceeded expectations thus far in his first season in Boston.

——————————————
Many of those not in the Boston market this weekend will see the Mets and Dodgers on FOX, in a broadcast that will feature a special coming together of two prominent voices in the history of the New York Mets when Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner rejoins long-time broadcast partner Tim McCarver. In the third inning of Saturday’s game, Kiner will enter the Shea Stadium television booth named in his honor and broadcast with McCarver for the first time since 1998. Kiner, who has been a part of the Mets broadcast team since their inception in 1962, spent 16 seasons (1983-1998) working alongside McCarver, a span that covered the Mets incredible World Series run in 1986 and division title in 1988. During Ralph’s visit to the booth, McCarver will resume his old duties and call an inning of play-by-play alongside Kiner, just like the old days. “We spent sixteen great years together,” said McCarver. “I’m looking very forward to seeing my good friend.”

——————————————–
Starting next Wednesday, at 7 p.m. ET, ESPN will feature 25 consecutive hours of college football-themed programming leading up to the #2 LSU at Mississippi State telecast Thursday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. also on ESPN.

The schedule will include six special editions of College Football Live, while ESPN’s regularly scheduled programming – such as SportsCenter, NFL Live, PTI, Rome is Burning, Around the Horn and Outside the Lines – will provide extensive college football content. Davis will host every college football show and segments in non-college football programs during the 25 hours of coverage.

They’re promoting it as a 25 hour pregame show leading up to the first televised college football game of the season.
___________________________
Jessica Camerato lists out five reasons that Reggie Miller should’ve come to Boston.

Pink Hat Hell reviews the fourth episode of Sox Appeal.

Kevin Hench says that we shouldn’t expect J.D. Drew to all of a sudden turn on the power switch.

Tom Pedulla in USA Today has the Patriots hoping for big returns from Wes Welker.

Steve Henson has an interesting look at Jim Bouton’s first Vintage Base Ball Federation World Series which took place last weekend in Westfield, Ma.

Tony Massarotti looks at the 16 MLB teams that are still in playoff contention.

——————————————–
Nationals Sports Media Columns

New England
Susan Bickelhaupt has Doug Flutie insisting that he’ll be able to remain objective when analyzing a Boston College game for ESPN. She also enjoyed Dan Patrick’s co-host stint on WEEI Thursday. Bill Doyle talks to Evan Brunell, founder of the sports blog network Most Valuable Network. David Scott checks in with new Boston Globe Celtics writer Marc Spears, who seems thrilled to be here in Boston with everything that is going on in the world of Boston sports. Andrew Neff has Time Warner cable apologizing to viewers for going to a commercial just as the Angels were in the process of executing a walk-off win against the Yankees on Monday night.

New York
Phil Mushnick says that Tiki Barber may not have been correct in his comments about Eli Manning and Giants Sunday night, but he wasn’t far off, and his is now being paid to give him opinion, for better or for worse. Richard Sandomir has Bill Cowher settling into his new role as analyst on CBS’ The NFL Today. He also has Nike featuring 18 women in an ad that will debut tomorrow. Bob Raissman says that the Michael Vick story is going to linger throughout the NFL season.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand has Keith Olbermann getting back into sports with his debut on NBC’s NFL coverage this Sunday. Laura Nachman has former NBA assistant coach and “Post Game Live” analyst Bob Salmi being hired as an analyst for Sixers games on Comcast SportsNet. Leonard Shapiro remembers the late Phil Rizzuto. Chris Zelkovich says that like it or not, mixed martial arts fighting is here to stay. Jim Williams notes that with the Redskins and Ravens playing their annual preseason game, viewers get to see dueling game broadcasts. He also notes that Michael Vick has become more than a sports story.

South
Barry Jackson has the sports radio wars in Miami heating up. He also says that Sid Rosenberg needs to stop telling guests how fabulous they are. Dave Darling notes that Roger Federer’s dominance flies under the public radar. David Barron has Jim Rome saying that the Michael Vick story tops all the hot button issues, from O.J. Simpson to Ray Lewis to Kobe Bryant and beyond. Barry Horn has Daryl Johnston noting letting his NFL job for FOX silence him from supporting retired NFL players’ gripes with the league and its players association over disability payouts.

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein has Comcast and the Big Ten Network battling over the channel’s placement on the cable system, and with the season getting close, no deal is on the horizon. Judd Zulgad also reports on the Comcast/Big Ten Network battle. Dan Caesar has Tim McKernan staying on the St. Louis airwaves rather than taking an offer from SportsNet New York. Bob Wolfley says that Tiki Barber’s candor was just what NBC hired him for. Jeffrey Flanagan has FOX planning changes to the Royals broadcasts for next season.

West Coast
Jay Posner notes that despite having the Padres leading in the NL Wildcard chase, this has still been a summer of discontent for San Diego fans. Tom Hoffarth says that the media has been on target in the Michael Vick case. He also has a collection of wiseacre media comments in his blog. Larry Stewart looks at the upcoming coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis championships. John Maffei has ESPN pushing hype to new levels with their upcoming “25 Hours of College Football” event. Jim Carlisle looks at a number of changes coming in NFL telecasts this season.

Hot Summer Nights is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

*The Patriots preseason kicks off tonight down in Tampa at 7:30 on Channel 5 (WCVB). Patriots Daily will have a Game Day Rear View feature following the action, and is the place to check in over the weekend for Sunday football links.

*The PGA Championship takes place this weekend, as golf wraps up the final major of the season. TNT coverage from 11:00am to 2:00pm Saturday and Sunday, while CBS follows with 2:00pm to 7:00pm coverage each of those days.

*The Red Sox are in Baltimore to face the Orioles this weekend, hoping to keep their AL East lead comfortable over the New York Yankees. Keep up with the action on RedSoxLinks.com.

*British Soccer superstar David Beckham is in New England this weekend as the first place (9-4-6) New England Revolution take on the Los Angeles Galaxy this Sunday, August 12 at 7:00PM. The game can only be seen on TV38. This is also the only match-up this season between the two teams.

————————————————————-
David Scott checks in with another Dennis and Callahan negotiations update. He says Dennis’ vacation this week was planned, but that Entercom could possibly not put him back on the air until the contract situation with he and Gerry Callahan is straightened out.

Bill Simmons takes a break from the book writing to bang out a mailbag.

Chad Finn has nine innings worth of Red Sox thoughts.

Clark Booth loves The Bronx is Burning.

Eric Wilbur is glad football is back, but doesn’t care for the league’s restrictive media policies.

Bill Wallace remembers Bucky Kilroy.

Tom Curran reports from Steelers training camp.

Tim Sullivan in the San Diego Union Tribune has an interesting feature on Richard Birch, whose father Paul had his career ruined by the Jack Molinas point shaving scandal in the 1950’s.

Dr. Z. has an NFL mailbag.

Mike Freeman doesn’t appear to be a fan of Bob Costas.

Eric Edholm is enjoying Hard Knocks on HBO.

————————————————————–
New England
David Scott looks at WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan mystery, and also 890 ESPN being on the market. Susan Bickelhaupt talks to Red Sox announcer Dave O’Brien, who made the calls of Barry Bonds’ record tying and breaking home runs in the last week for ESPN. Jeff Howe talks to CBS football analyst Randy Cross about the Patriots, and also the passing of his former coach, Bill Walsh.

New York
Neil Best examines the various calls of the announcers who were there for Barry Bonds’ 756th home run. Richard Sandomir compares the ratings and viewership for the game in which Hank Aaron broke the home run record in 1974, to the game in which Bonds broke the record this week. Aaron’s game drew 15 times as many viewers and Sandomir says there is more to it than simply the difference in TV eras. Phil Mushnick says that it is fine to feel repulsed over Bonds breaking the record, no matter what the networks tell you. Justin Terranova has 5 questions with Nick Faldo. Bob Raissman says that Carl Banks displayed a brain and a conscience in declining to attach ARod’s name to the steroid discussion on WFAN this week.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand says ESPN is planning plenty of storylines for Monday Night Football each week, and suggests several of his own…such as showing Joe Theismann in the stands. Howard Kurtz notes that following the Barry Bonds home run chase has been a “joyless process for many of the journalists” assigned to the story. Chris Zelkovich has the new executive producer for Hockey Night in Canada promising to keep the show on top. Laura Nachman has NBC10’s Jade McCarthy leading all Philadelphia sportscasters with four Mid-Atlantic Emmy nominations.

South
Dave Darling credits his DVR with allowing him to view the Bonds record breaking blast on his own schedule. He also looks at FSN Florida trying to get Bright House Network to put the channel on their expanded-basic cable lineup. Barry Jackson has Ron Jaworski getting ready to take on his Monday Night Football duties, and also talks to Dave O’Brien about his call of the Barry Bonds record breaking home run. David Barron has Ken Double working his last game for the Houston Aeros.

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein observes that the recent Hawk Harrelson/Steve Stone pairing on White Sox broadcasts was a hit, and wonders if things might be in the works to make it a permanent change. Bob Wolfley says that the ratings numbers for the Bonds home run are not impressive. Dan Caesar says that the chase has been good for ESPN’s ratings. Judd Zulgad looks over the latest Twins ratings numbers as well as other figures from the ratings book. Jeffrey Flanagan has Brian McRae likely moving with the Royals broadcasts to Entercom next season, even if he is an investor in their competitor.

West Coast
Larry Stewart tells about the time that Nick Faldo dropped Jim Nantz’s name to get into the NCAA Final Four…before they really knew each other. Tom Hoffarth notes that after two years of basically stalking Barry Bonds for ESPN, Pedro Gomez almost missed the record breaking home run. Jay Posner has John Madden talking about the Chargers atop a collection of media notes. Jim Williams says that the Bonds chase was a ratings monster for FSN Bay Area. John Maffei has San Diego State football “unofficially” putting together their broadcast team.

Blogs
Awful Announcing has a season preview of the FOX NFL Broadcast crew. The Starting Five has baseball writers trying to abort Barry Bonds from their systems now that the chase is over. Sports Media Journal checks out the scene inside the press box at a Pawtucket Red Sox game. Sports Media Watch has more on the Bonds coverage. TheBigLead has Bob Costas and Bill Rhoden going a few rounds over Bonds. Fire Joe Morgan tears into a Ian O’Connor column about Bonds. the Journal of Sports Media examines jockocracy ethics. Sports Law Blog has a look at how teams and leagues are limiting media access to boost online profits.

Weekend Watch – PGA Championship Edition is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

Jon Lester gets the start tonight in front of his home crowd. Keep up with the coverage this weekend on RedSoxLinks.com.

There is plenty of other baseball action going on as well, as three big milestones are still waiting to be reached. Barry Bonds continues his home run chase in San Diego (where the Padres announcer hopes not to have his call “repeated for generations” (See media columns, West Coast section, below). Alex Rodriguez is still seeking career home run number 500, while (Billerica’s own) Tom Glavine will again be seeking his 300th win. Glavine’s start can be seen on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball starting at 8:00.

ESPN2 has added the Giants/Padres games to their schedule Friday and Saturday night, both at 10:00pm. Red Sox radio announcer Dave O’Brien will be calling both games.

NFL Hall of Fame induction is this weekend as the six members of the Class of 2007 – Gene Hickerson, Michael Irvin, Bruce Matthews, Charlie Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Roger Wehrli are enshrined in the Hall. ESPN will present live coverage induction ceremonies Saturday, August 4 at 6 p.m. ET from Canton, Ohio. Trey Wingo will host the three-hour telecast – in primetime for the first time – with analysts Tom Jackson and rookie Emmitt Smith.

The weekend also gets us our first glimpse of live NFL action, as the Hall of Fame game between the Saints and Steelers is Sunday night at 8:00 on NFL Network.

—————————————————
Susan Bickelhaupt’s media column in the Globe today included a quick update on the status of WEEI morning host Gerry Callahan, who has now been out over three months with an undisclosed throat ailment that required surgery. Callahan says he hopes to be back “in a couple weeks” – but since the original premise was that Callahan was just taking “a couple weeks” off to rest his voice, does this mean we can expect to hear him in November sometime? We all wish Callahan well with his recovery, but the secrecy around the whole thing has been Belichickian. I hope Gerry makes it back, but never again complains about the Patriots coach not giving out injury updates.

—————————————————-
Rob Bradford promises to get back to regular updates on The Bradford Files, and also is going to try to add audio links into the page to add another dimension to the site, so that you can listen to his comments and thoughts on team as well.

Suuuurrre, Rob, I think you’re just trying to get out of a little typing…

—————————————————-
We’ve got a week of Patriots Daily under our belts. Today we’re looking at Stanley Morgan being elected to the Patriots Hall of Fame and looking at some numbers from our first week. Check back both days this weekend, as we’ll have links and commentary.

Bob Ryan wishes that we would Please sober up when it comes to the Celtics.

Kevin Henkin pens An Open Letter to the Wet Blankets (like Ryan) on the BSMW Full Court Press.

John Klima says that Eric Gagne should be examined in the same light as Barry Bonds as regards steroids.

Gelf Magazine talks to Grant Farred, who wrote a paper in 2000 praising ESPN for raising the sports IQ. He doesn’t feel the same way now.

Paul McNamara looks at StubHub becoming “the official scalper of Major League Baseball.”

—————————————————-
New England
Susan Bickelhaupt has FSN New England excited at the prospect of being able to feature Kevin Garnett for the entire season. She’s also got some advice for Jerry Remy on the NESN telecasts and has an update on Gerry Callahan’s recovery and return to WEEI “in a couple weeks.” Mark Murphy looks at the Celtics suddenly becoming a must-see attraction for the national networks. Bill Doyle checks in with FOX25’s Butch Stearns, who can’t hide from Boston fans while on WEEI. David Scott has a look at the Theo Epstein Line of The Week regarding NPR vs WEEI, the Pats stealing revenue stream ideas from the Redskins and news of the pending FSNNE re-branding.

New York
Richard Sandomir says that while the YES Network is indeed for sale, the 37% ownership stake of the Steinbrenner family is not, and will remain under the control of the Yankees. Bob Raissman says to forget about James Dolan and Cablevision getting involved in the sale, but looks at the possibilities for Comcast. Phil Mushnick wonders if ESPN is finally figuring out just how bad Joe Morgan is as America’s lead baseball analyst. Neil Best checks in with the new ESPN Monday Night Football crew, and observes whether the chemistry between Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski will be better than it was between Kornheiser and Joe Theismann.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand has a look at the NBA national broadcast schedule, which will make TV stars of Kevin Garnett, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Leonard Shapiro has an extensive talk with Joe Theismann, who still cannot understand why he was fired from the Monday Night Football analyst role. Jim Williams looks at Washington D.C.’s Legg Mason event becoming a key stop on the tennis tour for ESPN2. Chris Zelkovich has quasi-sports talk radio station AM 640 taking a run at the bigger FAN 590. Richard Deitsch talks to Dan Patrick about his decision to leave ESPN.

South
Barry Jackson looks at the NFL Network getting moved to a sports and entertainment tier by Comcast, which will charge an extra $5 per month. He also looks at some troubling media musings on the Michael Vick dog-fighting case. David Barron has longtime pre and post game host finally taking his act to the field as the Texans’ new sideline reporter for KILT. Barry Horn has more on the maturation of the NFL Network.

Midwest
Judd Zulgad has a look at how the Twins announcers had to tread a very difficult line on Wednesday night between calling the game and keeping up with the tragedy of the Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge collapse. Teddy Greenstein has Joe Buck bullish on the Cubs chances and hopes to be calling Cubs postseason games in the fall. Dan Caesar catches up with a number of sports radio moves in the St. Louis market. Jeffrey Flanagan has channel 41’s Jack Harry hoping that his 2005 prediction that Priest Holmes would never again play for the Chiefs is proven wrong, but he still stands by it.

West Coast
Larry Stewart chats with Sal Masekela, host f ESPN’s Summer and Winter X Games. Stewart’s notebook has the Lakers front and center in the national NBA TV broadcasts for next season. Tom Hoffarth looks at the Summer of Beckham dragging on, and also talks with Paul Page, an X Games announcer who doesn’t quite fit the demographic of the audience, but is still well liked. Jim Williams has FSN Bay area joining the Comcast family. John Maffei has Padres announcer Ted Leitner hoping that Barry Bonds doesn’t break the home run record with him behind the mic. He says: “I don’t even want to be a part of it. I don’t want my call repeated for generations.” Jim Carlisle looks at ESPN trying to bounce around and keep up with the milestones, between the Bonds chase, Tom Glavine seeking win number 300, and David Beckham playing in the U.S. Carlisle’s notebook has a peek at the NBA schedule.

Red Sox Head West, NFL Enshrines Six is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

By the way, the plan for the weekend over there is to have links in the morning along with a look at the action from training camp.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox are in Tampa this weekend, keep up with the action on RedSoxLinks.com.

The Baseball Hall of Fame inductions, AFL title game, and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard highlight the national sports event this weekend…those and the Barry Bonds home run chase.

National Media Columns

Boston/New York
David Scott – Boston-bred Bryant Bounces to ESPN
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell – ESPN’s coverage will air it out
Richard Sandomir – Unfettered Rose Inquiry a Contrast to N.B.A.’s Case
Neil Best – Ex-Isle GM Milbury will join NBC’s hockey team
Bob Raissman – Mets voices off base & on babble
Phil Mushnick – Good News From Bad Ref? You Bet!

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand – ESPN steps up coverage for Bonds’ home run chase
Chris Zelkovich – Very little Canadian about Open coverage
Laura Nachman – Former Eagle tackles second career
Leonard Shapiro – Wouldn’t It Be Nice…
Jim Williams – Baltimore media descends on Cooperstown
Jim Williams – What do Beckham and Geraldo have in common?

South
Barry Jackson – Dolphins radio gig excites Mandich
Barry Horn – Double take
David Barron – Franklin fine following scary auto accident

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein – Comcast, Big Ten continue cold war
Judd Zulgad – Getting Twins on KSTP not easy for some
Bob Wolfley – A chance for sweet-talk

West Coast
Jim Carlisle – ESPN won’t just be shooting the breeze
John Maffei – The Hall truth on watching Gwynn
Jay Posner – Proctor has been there for both Gwynn, Ripken
Tom Hoffarth – Media notes, the stuff that’s not good enough
Larry Stewart – Patrick finds a new course for career
Larry Stewart – Announcers can make history too

Blogosphere
Sports Media Watch – Weekend ratings predictions.
Sports Media Journal – You Too Can Be On ESPN. But Why?

National Media Columns is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

The Open Championship headlines this weekend’s sports viewing. TNT has the early morning coverage both days this weekend, with ABC taking over two hours later.

The weekend also sees the US debut of David Beckham, when he dons the uniform of the Los Angeles Galaxy in an exhibition against the against English Chelsea FC, which won the English Premier League in two of the last three seasons. The match will be aired on ESPN Saturday night at 8:30. However an ankle injury suffered by Beckham could limit his playing time to about 15 minutes or so.

It’s a battle of the Sox at Fenway this weekend. FOX has Saturday’s game between the Red Sox and White Sox, Thom Brennaman and Joe Girardi will have the call of that game. Keep up with the Red Sox coverage this weekend on RedSoxLinks.com.

It’s possible that this weekend could also see Barry Bonds tying or breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record. The Giants are appropriately enough in Milwaukee this weekend, both Bud Selig’s hometown and the city where Aaron played 14 of his 23 season. Most still feel that the Giants will manipulate things so that the record is broken in San Francisco, but FOX will still show Bonds’ at-bats live on Saturday in a split screen. Ken Rosenthal is also in Milwaukee for the weekend. If Bonds is on the verge of breaking the record on the other days of this weekend, ESPN will cut to the at-bats.

———————————————————-
890 ESPN is rolling out a new Sunday program, the Baseline Report which will air from 10:00-11:00am. Former major leaguer Mike Pagliarulo co-hosts with Adam White, and they promise “a very candid, hard-hitting evaluation of players and front office personnel from a player’s standpoint.”

———————————————————–
A pair of TNT announcers had very different opinions on the Thursday telecast about the accusations by Gary Player that professional golfers are using performance-enhancing drugs. Here’s what Bobby Clampett said:

Gary (Player's) got so much integrity, he speaks from the heart. As a player, it saddens me that these kinds of reports would be coming out. This is a game of integrity that we have enjoyed being free of any of these kinds of allegations in the history of the game. It looks like we might have to move into drug testing of players, that saddens me.

And here is Peter Alliss’ take on the comments:

I have no idea (what prompted Gary Player’s statement) unless he needed the publicity. I don’t know why he waited until he was 70-odd years of age to come out with it and then not tell us who it is. Just taking a stick and stirring a muddy pond for no reason, it’s very stupid.

—————————————————————
Murray Weiss has the HUGE story of an NBA referee being investigated for allegedly betting on basketball games over the last two season, including games in which he worked. You can bet this will take some attention off of Michael Vick and his problems. (Jackie MacMullan says the official is 13 year veteran Tim Donaghy)

Joe Haggerty has Peter Gammons’ comments on Craig Hansen from his appearance on 890 ESPN this week, where Gammons says that Scott Boras’ coaching staff has completely changed Hansen’s delivery from what it was a St John’s and blames this for his struggles in the minors.

Jessica Camerato has a Celtics summer league recap.

The Media Circus confirms for us that Steve Phillips is unequivocally an idiot.

Three more Patriots positional previews today, Mike Reiss has the linebackers, Albert Breer the receivers and Erik Scalavino the cornerbacks.

Pat Kirwan notes that the Patriots have loaded up on experience this offseason, which he says fits in very well with the Bill Belichick/Scott Pioli method of doing business.

Don Pierson thinks that only the Patriots can beat the Patriots.

Dave Hollander talks to Frank Deford about his new book The Entitled. The interview starts off with a few thoughts on the state of sports media today.

Chad Finn has his Nine Innings national column for FoxSports, complete with a baseball card of Tim McCarver as a member of the Red Sox.

Dan Lamothe is disappointed with the Inside Track.

Paul Gardner says that the David Beckham hype is very much like the hype when Pelé joined the New York Cosmos.

—————————————————————
Weekend Highlights

Friday
7:00pm, NESN – White Sox @ Red Sox

Saturday
7:00am, TNT – British Open
8:00am, Versus – Tour De France
9:00am, ABC – British Open
3:30pm, FOX – White Sox @ Red Sox
8:30pm, ESPN – Chelsea FC @ Los Angeles (Beckham debut)
8:30pm, ESPN2 – Busch Series: Gateway 250

Sunday
6:00am, TNT – British Open
8:00am, ABC – British Open
8:00am, Versus – Tour De France
2:00pm, NESN – White Sox @ Red Sox
4:00pm, TV38 – Dynamo @ Revolution
8:00pm, ESPN – Cardinals @ Braves

————————————————————–
New England
David Scott is back, with a look at all that has been going on this summer in the world of Boston sports media, from Jason Wolfe’s embarrassments, to NESN making a mistake by dumping Dale Arnold, the Globe’s attempts at create Boston’s version of PTI, and Bill Simmons declaring himself still in the race for President of Red Sox Nation after all. Susan Bickelhaupt has a look at ABC’s coverage of The (British) Open this weekend. Bill Doyle has more on ESPN/ABC putting its own stamp on their coverage of The Open Championship.

New York
Phil Mushnick has Joe Morgan’s untrue story on Sunday Night Baseball last week as just the latest example of how ESPN is killing sports for viewers. Neil Best says that ESPN’s Who’s Nowis definitely not must-see TV. He also offers tips for watching SportsCenter. Bob Raissman says that the Michael Vick story will be a costly one for the NFL and its TV partners. Richard Sandomir looks at the coincidence that Barry Bonds could be going for the all time home run record this weekend, in Milwaukee, where Hank Aaron spent much of his career with the Braves and Brewers.

Mid Atlantic
Michael Hiestand says that NBC and FOX are both destinations that make sense for Dan Patrick in the future. Laura Nachman has Sports Radio 950-AM looking to increase local programming. With the Michael Vick case everywhere, Jim Williams asks if the media has learned anything from the Duke lacrosse case. Chris Zelkovich notes that amateur sports, even to the level of the Pan Am Games, are getting virtually no airtime. Williams also talks to Sirius Radio’s Giorgio Chinaglia about David Beckham’s potential impact on US Soccer.

South
Dave Darling has a whole cornucopia of information about ESPN, including a look at the network finally getting around to devoting a daily highlight show to college football. Barry Jackson has the Dolphins media coverage getting an upgrade with revamped shows. He also reports that former Dolphins Rob Konrad and Keith Byars are not being retained by 790 The Ticket. David Barron has Chronicle columnist Richard Justice joining Houston’s newest sports talk station, KILE (1560 AM) this summer. Barry Horn has the All Star ratings hitting new lows.

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein has NFL photographers from several prominent newspapers considering boycotting NFL games this fall because of a league edict that would require them to wear red vests with prominent product logos. Bob Wolfley has SportsCenter anchor John Anderson – a Green Bay native talking about his family history related to the Packers. Judd Zulgad examines a report that ran Wednesday night on KSTP-TV’s news which “painted a rather unflattering picture — literally — of various Gophers football players who have Internet pages on MySpace and Facebook.”

West Coast
Larry Stewart covers a number of items in his column this week, starting off with this weekend’s coverage of The British Open. Tom Hoffarth wonders if David Beckham will be able to carry ESPN’s soccer coverage, even with a bad ankle. His media blog delves even deeper into Beckham. John Maffei says that Beckham’s US debut is the “equivalent of Babe Ruth coming back from the dead to play right field for the New York Yankees.” Jim Carlisle says that The Open being played at Carnoustie brings back memories of Jean Van de Velde’s 1999 meltdown. Jay Posner has channel 4 covering more than just the Padres these days, and a number of other media notes.

Weekend Watch – The Open Edition is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

Also, Eric McHugh reports this morning that the Patriots and Asante Samuel could be closer to getting a long term deal done before Monday’s deadline.

————————-
With the All Star break behind us, summer is in full swing, and the standings become ever more important. The Blue Jays are in town this weekend, hoping to cut into the Red Sox massive AL East lead. Julian Tavarez goes on Friday night, Daisuke Matsuzaka on Saturday and Josh Beckett on Sunday for the Red Sox.

Even though it is the middle of summer, there is still a variety of sports on the airwaves. There are two Celtics summer league games on FSN, Saturday features the AFL conference finals on ESPN, there is the John Deere classic on CBS both days this weekend and Sunday night features the ESPY Awards at 9:00.

Keep up with all the Red Sox coverage this weekend over at RedSoxLinks.com. Check in with the Celtics in Las Vegas at CelticsLinks.com.

—————————————————————-
Peter Gammons and Curt Schilling have quite a little feud going. On his weekly 890 ESPN Boston appearance this week, Gammons uncharacteristically struck back at a player, stating that if Schilling thinks that his unwillingness to work out in the offseason has nothing to do with the Red Sox hesitation to give him a new contract, he’s in fantasyland. He also said that Schilling thinks he knows more than the doctors when it comes to medical conditions, and pointed out that his ERA has been 4.43 since the end of the 2004 season, so he has not been the top-of-the-rotation guy that he wants to be paid as.

—————————————————————-
Mike Holbrook says that the Patriots and Jets are head and shoulders above the Dolphins and Bills in the AFC East.

Chad Finn thinks that Manny Ramirez should drop the hustle and just go back to Manny being Manny.

Matt Casey has the All-Star team, movie edition.

The Media Circus has all that was wrong with the All Star Game coverage.

Sean McAdam says that pitching makes the NL West competitive.

ESPN has an AFC Team-by-Team training camp guide.

Clark Judge has 12 NFL preseason games worth checking out.

Adrian Wojnarowski says that Michael Jordan’s executive legacy is on the line in Charlotte.

BostonSportz says that ESPN’s Who’s Now Doesn’t Like Boston.

—————————————————————-
A pair of new books from the gang at Maple Street Press crossed my desk this week, the first is the Maple Street Press Guide to New England Ballparks: From Maine to Fenway to the Cape . . . and Everything in Between. It is exactly what it says it is. 250 pages of the history, ambiance and surroundings of the baseball stadiums of New England.

The second is The Ultimate Red Sox Companion: A Complete Statistical and Reference Guide, which is 400 pages of every Red Sox stat and fact you could possibly need. Stats for every player who has ever put on a Red Sox uniform is in here, as well as in-depth examinations of every year the Sox appeared in the playoffs, and all the team’s transactions and draft picks.

Also, you might have noticed an addition to the left hand sidebar of this site, a bit down on the page. It is a list of Boston sports books, and allows you to rank them. I encourage everyone to contribute to the voting, and you can even add in books that aren’t there which you think should be included in the list.

———————————————————————
Weekend Highlights

Friday

7:00pm, NESN – Blue Jays @ Red Sox
7:30pm, TBS – Pirates @ Braves
8:00pm, FSN – Las Vegas Summer League: Celtics vs. Bucks

Saturday

1:00pm, ESPN – AFL Conference Final – Columbus at Georgia
3:00pm, CBS – John Deere Classic
3:00pm, ABC – Busch Series: USG Durock 300
3:30pm, FOX – Cardinals @ Phillies
4:00pm, FSN – Las Vegas Summer League – Celtics vs. Knicks
4:00pm, ESPN – AFL Conference Final – Chicago at San Jose
7:00pm, NESN – Red Sox @ Blue Jays
7:30pm, ESPN – IRL: Firestone IndyCar 200

Sunday
1:00pm, TBS – Pirates @ Braves
2:00pm, NESN – Blue Jays @ Red Sox
3:00pm, CBS – John Deere Classic
4:00pm, TNT – Nextel Cup: USG Sheetrock 400
6:00pm, ESPN – Cardinals @ Phillies
9:00pm, ESPN – ESPY Awards

———————————————————-
Here are links to five sites that are doing the whole “Media Watch” theme:

Sports Media Watch – an often updated look at the latest ratings and news in the sports media world.

Sports Media Journal – “a site where you’ll find out more about the people and organizations that manage and report sports.”

The Starting Five They state: “We are scrupulous in our reporting of sports-related topics and subject matter; we source actual people; we reference actual publications. We relate the truth as it finds us, not as we want it to be.”

Awful Announcing: “Putting announcers on notice since 2006.”

Call of the Game – “The industry resource for sports broadcasting news, jobs and discussion, since 2001.”

—————————————————————
New England and New York
Susan Bickelhaupt has Dan Patrick addressing his departure from ESPN and talking about his new show with the Content Factory. Bill Doyle has a pair of hockey voices in Dale Arnold (Boston Bruins) and Jamie Smock (Worcester Sharks) getting silenced this week. Bruce Allen (that’s me) wonders why we don’t seem to hate Barry Bonds as much as we’re told that we should. With Ralph Kiner night scheduled at Shea Stadium for Saturday night, Phil Mushnick and Richard Sandomir remember the legendary Mets announcer for more than just his work in the booth, they look at his career as a Pirates (mostly) slugger and GM of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. Bob Raissman asserts that Bud Selig is not torn about being in attendance for Barry Bonds’ record breaking home run, he’s simply doing what he always does – make himself the story. Neil Best talks to Keith Hernandez about winning the inaugural Mustache Madness contest.

Mid-Atlantic
Michael Hiestand has CBS offering viewers a look inside the production truck for this weekend’s John Deere Classic. Leonard Shapiro says that HBO’s Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush brings back some strong memories, 50 years after the Dodger left Brooklyn. Bob Smizik has FSN Pittsburgh doing away with Pittsburgh Sports Tonight and carrying wrapup shows only after Pirates or Penguins games. Laura Nachman has former Eagles linebacker Garry “G” Cobb tackling a number of multimedia projects. Michael McCarthy has the networks taking bold steps to bring viewers where they haven’t been before. Chris Zelkovich has sports talk radio doing surprisingly well on TV with Rogers Sportsnet. Jim Williams talks to Tour De France analyst Phil Liggett and Gol TV Analyst Ray Hudson.

South
Barry Jackson has some Miami sports media talent shifting around the airwaves. Dave Darling polls some local sports personalities about the top event they’ve witnessed. David Barron has Lance Zierlein trying to find a way back onto the air. Barry Horn says that Barry Bonds will be sports’ biggest newsmaker during the summer of ‘07.

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein talks to the woman who some refer to as “he Barbara Walters of NASCAR” – Wendy Venturini. With the Brewers enjoying their best season in years, Bob Wolfley reports on radio station WSSP-AM adding a new show on the team. Judd Zulgad says that the firing of a Clear Channel executive could disrupt renegotiation talks with popular KFAN afternoon-drive host Dan Barreiro. Dan Caesar looks at the launch of a new magazine covering St. Louis sports. Jeffrey Flanagan says that the Nashville Predators won’t be moving to Kansas City without a fight.

West Coast
Larry Stewart points out that “Sometimes lost among all the laughs, the tears, the glory for the honorees and the self-promotion for ESPN is the good that the ESPYs do.” Tom Hoffarth has a couple of announcers, including Vin Scully, talking about how they would call the Barry Bonds record breaking home run. Stewart’s notebook has Dan Patrick joining a new broadcasting venture, while Hoffarth’s blog has photos from the red carpet of the ESPY’s. John Maffei says that ESPN, with all their gimmicks, is going to miss the straight-shooting Patrick. Jim Carlisle reports on ESPN being punished at the All Star game.

——————————————————-
On Friday, July 13th WGAM (900-AM in Nashua, 1250-AM in Manchester, online at wgamradio.com) listeners will have the opportunity to bid on an autographed pitching rubber signed by Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

All proceeds from this auction will go towards the C2 Mission.

The C2 Mission is a Foundation created to benefit children and families affected by Cerebral Palsy and Cystic Fibrosis. The C2 Mission is run and operated by Jon and Lauren Goode.

Their “Pick me Up” programs have become a huge part of C2 Mission.

Past pick me ups have included a special birthday party for a little boy who turned five. What was special about his birthday party was it was the first birthday party he ever received because his family could never afford one because of medical expenses. It was a birthday party for the ages with a hall for his entire family, caricatures, balloon animals and of course a Blues Clues Birthday cake.

Other pick-me-up’s have been sending two families to Disney World, paying bills, providing therapeutic horse riding lessons, concerts, camps and much more. The money raised through the C2 Mission has a direct impact on families right here in the area affected by CF and CP.

You can find out more about this great cause at http://www.C2Mission.org.

They will start the bidding beginning at 3PM on Friday, July 13th. You can call 603-886-9276 to bid.

Weekend Watch – ESPY’s Edition is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch

Julian Tavarez, Kason Gabbard and Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch the three games for the Red Sox and will be opposed by Andrew Miller, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson.

You can keep up with the action this weekend with the help of RedSoxLinks.com and the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

———————————————–
Those looking to get a look at Celtics second round draft picks Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis will be able to see the youngsters as well as several other holdovers from last season’s roster, including Gerald Green, Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe and Allan Ray on FSN’s broadcasts of the Celtics summer league games from Las Vegas starting tonight at 10:00.

Tonight’s game might be a little tough to watch, as it is against Greg Oden and the Portland Trailblazers…Mike Gorman will be reporting from Las Vegas each night on Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight. Keep up with the coverage on CelticsLinks.com.

——————————————
Weekend Viewing Highlights:

Friday
7:00pm, NESN – Red Sox @ Tigers
10:00pm, FSN – Celtics/Blazers – Las Vegas Summer League

Saturday
9:00am, NBC – Wimbledon Women’s Final
3:30pm, FOX – Angels @ Yankees
7:00pm, NESN – Red Sox @ Tigers
7:30pm, TV-38 – CD Chivas USA at Revolution
8:00pm, TNT – Nextel Cup: Pepsi 400

Sunday
9:00am, NBC – Wimbledon’s Men’s Final
1:00pm, NESN – Red Sox @ Tigers
8:00pm, ESPN – Braves @ Padres

———————————————–
Boston will be featured on July 12th as part of ESPNEWS six week summer series City by City.

“City by City will take fans down memory lane to relive some of the biggest moments in each city’s sports history,” said Barry Sacks, senior coordinating producer, ESPN Studio Production. “Whether it is the Red Sox reversing the curse, Texas’ thrilling comeback in the Rose Bowl over USC or Peyton Manning and the Colts winning the Super Bowl, ESPNEWS understands the passionate rooting interests fans have for their local pro and college teams. City by City will capture the experience of what it means to be a sports fan in one of these cities.”

Highlights of the ESPNEWS City by City series:

• Daily feature segments highlighting great sports moments each city’s history;
• Profiles of the city’s top athletes, pro and college teams;
• Interviews with sports personality, celebrities from the city;
• Roundup interviews with a leading sports journalist from each city to provide fans with context of each city’s sporting past, its present and future opportunities and challenges.

————————————————
David Scott reports on NESN’s announcement that Jack Edwards will be calling all the Bruins games this season, leaving Dale Arnold out of the role he’s described as his dream job.

Richard Deitsch and Sports Illustrated have a look at the best-ever athletes by each uniform number.

Gordon Edes checks in with an edition of the Ask Edes Red Sox mailbag.

Chad Finn has a midseason Red Sox report card.

Earlier in the week, Bill Burt wrote a strong column stating that Michael Wilbon was a “jerk” for comments he made about the racial climate in Boston. Last night, Burt apologized for calling Wilbon a jerk, saying that the comment was over the top.

How can Houston have FOUR sports radio stations, when Boston can’t come up with a real viable alternative to WEEI?

The Media Circus has some harsh words for former Globe writer Michael Smith’s fill-in performance on Jim Rome is Burning.

Pat Imig has a media critique of the Chris Benoit coverage on the cable news shows.

Dr. Z’s Mailbag this week continues the discussion on benefits for retired NFL players. Randy Moss’ name somehow comes into the mix.

Scott Miller has his Anti-All Stars, of which Julio Lugo is the starting shortstop.

Tony Massarotti hands out some NL midseason awards.

Mike Freeman is worried for Barry Bonds’ safety.

————————————————————————
Sports Media Columns From Around the Country

New England
Susan Bickelhaupt looks ahead to the All Star game, in which a lot of chatter will be focused on Barry Bonds and his assault on the all time home run record. She also has a bit from Red Sox fan Oliver Platt, who is playing George Steinbrenner in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning which debuts on Monday. Bill Doyle has the Ray Allen trade getting the approval of the Celtics TV crew.

New York
Phil Mushnick would apparently rather prep for a colonoscopy than be subjected to listening to John Sterling’s “It is high! . . . It is far! . . .” calls for yet another warning track fly ball. Sounds like the complaint that Boston fans had for Jerry Trupiano’s “Way Back…” calls of the last few years….Richard Sandomir looks at the contestants who spent their 4th of July shoving hotdogs and buns down their throats for the “greater glory of gross intemperance” in the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest. Neil Best is still on vacation, but still filling up his blog. Yesterday he had a couple of interesting notes about MLB putting some sanctions on ESPN for reporting the All-Star selections last Saturday afternoon when TBS had the rights to do so with a special show scheduled that night.

More East Coast
Michael Hiestand has a look at Bud Collins’ long run with NBC at Wimbledon, which will come to an end with this year’s tournament. Leonard Shapiro has more on Collins’ last Breakfast at Wimbledon. Laura Nachman has Philadelphia native (and high school tennis star) Chris McKendry in her element as the host of the Wimbledon evening highlights show on ESPN2.Jim Williams has Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams serving as a golf analyst for Comcast SportNet’s coverage of the AT&T National. Williams’ Watch This! blog has John McEnroe talking about Wimbledon. Bob Smizik reports on the gloves coming off and getting personal during a discussion of the Pirates fan walkout on KDKA’s “Sports Showdown” Sunday night. Chris Zelkovich says that we’ll be getting a lot more Barry Bonds this week…just what we need.

South
Dave Darling has a look at the pair of baseball films that debut this week, ESPN’s The Bronx is Burning (Monday) and HBO’s Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush (Wednesday). Barry Jackson reports on the battle between ESPN and FOX to be able to show Barry Bond’s 756 home run live. He also talks to Sid Rosenberg, who shifts to mornings beginning Monday on 790 The Ticket. Rick Harmon notes that Tampa will be featured on August 16th as part of ESPNews six-week “City by City” summer series. David Barron talks to a pair of Texans who were part of the original crew for the grand experiment that was WFAN, America’s first all-sports radio station.

Midwest
Teddy Greenstein reported earlier this week that ESPN could be losing Dan Patrick. He has a short update on the situation in the middle of today’s column, in which Mark Grace throws his support behind Mark Buehrle’s demand for a no-trade clause. Bob Wolfley has Joe Buck saying that the NL Central race will shake out between the Brewers and Cubs. Judd Zulgad notes that the Twins on-field struggles this season have not hurt their TV ratings. Dan Caesar has St. Louisan Dan Nassif hoping to cash in big once again at the World Series of Poker.

West Coast
Larry Stewart has a further look at the two-hour HBO documentary on the Brooklyn Dodgers and their eventual move to Los Angeles. Stewart’s notebook has TNT showing commercials during this Saturday’s Pepsi 500, but never cutting away from the action. Jay Posner has FOX invading San Diego for the first time this season to take a peek at the Padres. Tom Hoffarth has a look at the difficulties some in the media might have in addressing “The Bonds Situation.” Hoffarth’s blog contains a number of other media notes for the week. John Maffei has more on the Padres getting some national attention this weekend after basically being shunned all season thus far. Jim Carlisle isn’t a fan of the arrangement that has the winning league in the All Star game getting home field advantage in the World Series, but notes that the FOX broadcasters, not surprisingly, do support the arrangement.

Red Sox/Tigers Top Hot Summer Weekend is a post from: Boston Sports Media Watch