Tuesday Stuff

I was out at a jobsite earlier today, but I’m back now. Let’s get to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the ratings of some of the weekend events.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby is one of the reasons why the NHL’s ratings are up significantly this season.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News says Hank Steinbrenner has a tendency to blow a lot of hot air, then backtrack.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley has said he has paid off his gambling debt to a Las Vegas casino.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Mets manager Willie Randolph is not a fan of SNY. And Neil picks up on an item from last night’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC that the construction worker who allegedly buried a David Ortiz jersey in the new Yankee Stadium has buried something else in the concrete foundation. And Neil has the video of the Olbermann report. Then Neil talked with Keith about a creepy incident at Braves Field in Boston back in 1914. Neil says Jay-Z will represent the New Jersey Nets at the NBA Draft Lottery tonight.

Evan Weiner of the New York Sun says the NFL Network’s survival is the top priority among the league’s owners.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Philadelphia Flyers TV voice Jim Jackson has been busy even though he could not call the just recently finished series with the Penguins.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says FSN’s hiring of former Pirates pitcher Kent Tekulve for the postgame show is a big hit.

From the Washington Post, Leonard Shapiro asks the question “why” over the entire Spygate issue.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some ratings news from the city.

Jeffrey Flanagan from the Kansas City Star has a couple of media notes.

Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Journal writes that the Big 12 Conference has five football games scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend with four of them on ABC or FSN.

The Arizona Republic says the NHL’s ratings appear to be turning a corner.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune suggests that MLB spread out its interleague series instead of doing every series in one weekend.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the NBA’s ratings on ABC, ESPN and TNT are going through the roof.

David Wilkerson of Marketwatch.com says ESPN is getting ready for ad growth.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website writes that ESPN’s ratings in HDTV households are going through the roof.

ESPN’s coverage of the French Open begins Sunday.

Sorry for the delay in getting these up. My talkative employee who never shuts up has prevented me from publishing today’s links for an hour. My apologies. Updates later.