Friday Night Megalinks

Time for the megalinks now. Too many things happened at work for me to be able to get it done there so I’m doing them now.

The Weekend Viewing Picks are here.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at ESPN’s strange method of studying viewing habits.

Charles Siebert writes in the Wall Street Journal about the way golf on TV has changed over the years.

BusinessWeek’s Tom Lowry talks with MLB Network head honcho Tony Petitti about launching the channel.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News says despite Verizon claims to the contrary, DirecTV says new subscribers to Verizon DSL bundles will indeed pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel reports that the US-Mexico Gold Cup Final on Sunday did well for Fox Soccer Channel.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the Top 10 Most Interesting Trends in Sports.

Darren talks with Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall who feels that publishing the entire “anonymous” doping list would make baseball better off.

Darren says David Ortiz was one of the bigger commercial endorsers before his name was leaked from the doping list.

The Sports Media Watch noticed that ESPN has lifted its ban on New York Post reporters over the Erin Andrews story.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

SMW says the WNBA All-Star Game last weekend was a huge ratings bomb.

Chris Byrne of Eye on Sports Media says the SEC is going digital.

The Big Lead talks with columnist Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times.

In the Sporting News, Dan Levy of On the DL looks at Dan Patrick’s new DirecTV venture.

Also in the Sporting News, Spencer Hall writes that Versus is beating ESPN in one category.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog notes the return of Tony Bruno to Fox Sports Radio.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball writes that MLB.com is incorporating Twitter into its Gameday and MLB.TV applications.

The BBC reports on ESPN’s quick expansion of its live sports programming in the UK and Ireland.

Owen Gibson of the Guardian in the UK writes that ESPN will use some familiar faces in England to show English Premier League and Scottish Premier League soccer games.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant says ESPN will tap SportsCenter old timers Chris Berman, Bob Ley and John Saunders to celebrate the network’s 30th anniversary.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Cablevision has spun off Madison Square Garden into its own separate company.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Dan Patrick begins a loose simulcast of his radio show on DirecTV starting Monday.

Neil decided to catch a bit of Chris Russo on Friday.

Neil has ESPN’s statement on why it lifted the ban on New York Post reporters.

And Neil writes that only subscribers to digital basic were able to watch ESPNews and MLB Network duel it out on their MLB Trading Deadline coverage.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post actually has a decent point that reporters try too often to ingratiate themselves with the teams they cover, but he goes a bit far in trying to prove his thought.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds about the improved Yankees relief pitching.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with former NFL Today analyst Irv Cross who goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his broadcast work next week.

Pete writes that the Jets have lost a Capital Region radio network affiliate for now.

Pete feels it strange that the Professional Bowlers Association is embargoing the results of its tournaments until ESPN airs them on tape. Strange.

Pete felt the first hours of MLB Network’s coverage of the Trade Deadline were dull. But he felt the show picked up as more trades were made.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that Western New York is watching Terrell Owens’ VH-1 reality show.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that CBS Radio is crowing about the ratings for the Scott Garceau-Anita Marks combo.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner feels the major sports league will lose their court case against Delaware which wants to start legalized betting.

South

Ron Morris of the Charlotte Observer writes that ESPN/ABC has swooped in and split up next year’s North Carolina-South Carolina football matchup for two other games.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald is not a fan of the Dolphins or the U restricting media access to their practices.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviews HBO Sports’ latest documentary.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News wishes Fox Sports Southwest would cut the small talk in the crowd during Texas Rangers games. Fox Sports Southwest responds to Barry’s criticism.

Barry talks about some lineup changes at the local ESPN Radio station.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle lobbies for the creator of NFL Films to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman talks about Irv Cross breaking ground on CBS in the mid-1970’s.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press says Dan Patrick is ready to unveil the machinations behind his radio show on Monday.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says a new ESPN documentary will drudge up bad memories for Cubs fans by focusing on Steve Bartman.

Paul Christian from the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says all roads lead to Minnesota for the PGA Championship in two weeks.

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Gateway City’s newest sports radio station has already taken the ratings lead over its two established rivals. Dan lists the ratings from the latest survey.

Dan writes about Dan Patrick’s return to TV this Monday.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News writes that the Mountain West Conference and the mtn. are subject to criticism some justified, others not.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star looks at some of the movies in ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 project.

From the Los Angeles Times, Bill Dwyre reviews HBO’s documentary, “Assault in the Ring”.

Diane Pucin of the Times writes that Irv Cross is thankful to the teacher who inspired him.

Tom Hoffarth looks at this week’s E:60 feature on golfer and model Anna Rawson.

Tom writes about how ESPN is using this year’s X Games as a testing ground for new technologies. Tom has more on the X Games in his blog.

Tom has his usual extensive media news and notes.

Tom also reviews the week in blogging and very kind of him to link to my interview with Dave Sims.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times who profiled the city’s radio play-by-play voices this week got all of them together to talk about their jobs.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at the journalism ethics in reporting the Ben Roethlisberger civil lawsuit.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich talks about programming changes at all-sports TV network The Score.

And Chris writes that Rogers Sportsnet is making a change of its own.

That will end the megalinks.