Your Thursday Links

Let’s do the Thursday links as I have to leave early to avoid Patriots traffic ahead of their preseason game against the Saints tonight.

Onto the links.

Steve Elling of CBSSports.com reports about a confrontation between Golf Channel’s Jim Gray and Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin over a quote Gray reported earlier this week. 

Stephanie Wei of the excellent Wei Under Par golf blog is reporting on the PGA Championship for the Wall Street Journal and she examines the whole Gray/Pavin shouting match which occurred after a press conference on Wednesday.

Mike Buteau of Bloomberg says Tiger Woods falling play and golf’s falling ratings could lead to more PGA Tour stops going to cable in the next TV contract. 

Golf Digest takes a tour of Golf Channel host Kelly Tilghman’s hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Radio Ink Magazine reports that former CBS Sports personality/Access Hollywood/Entertainment Tonight/The Insider anchor Pat O’Brien is now joining Fox Sports Radio as a co-host of an afternoon drive show. I wonder if Betsy will be there (NSFW).

John Walters of Fanhouse says ESPN’s Pat Forde has transformed from Twitter hater to Twitter lover.

Chris Botta at Fanhouse spoke with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about NHL Network and other matters.

Georg Szalai in the Hollywood Reporter says Verizon will produce the first NFL game in 3-D TV in just a couple of weeks.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says Samsung is teaming with ESPN to produce an app for “smart TV’s”.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes about a new three year deal between ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel to air English Premier League games on ESPN2.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that when the new expanded SportsCenter begins on ESPNews at the end of this month, it will have fewer ads so more content can be aired.

Ryan Berenz at Channel Guide has the outlets airing this week’s PGA Championship. 

Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy UK says ESPN is launching an iPhone app which will provide video of all English Premier League goals scored within minutes after they occurred.

Robert Andrews in paidContent talks about ESPN’s English Premier League mobile and streaming rights in both the UK and the US.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog wonders if a “Hard Knocks”-type program would work for the NHL.

Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe writes about colleague Jackie MacMullen who’s being honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at Fox Sports Wisconsin going commercial-free for a Milwaukee Brewers game to raise money for charity.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union notes the passing of former Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Nellie King.

Pete says SNY’s Ron Darling will be honored by Little League Baseball.

Pete also has ESPN’s MLB schedule through Sunday, August 22.

Robert Dvorchak and Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remember the late Nellie King.

Ron Fritz in the Baltimore Sun has enjoyed listening to Fang’s Bites fave Michelle Beadle subbing on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning.

Jamison Hedley at the Sun notes that the Ravens have formed a TV network that has similar reach to what MASN gave the team.

Fred Bowen in the Washington Post feels women’s sports is getting the shaft on the networks.

Ryan Sharrow writes in the Washington Business Journal notes that Ravens have added DC affiliates to its radio network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Ravens have pieced together a new TV network after talks with MASN broke down earlier this month.

Jim says Fox picks up this Saturday’s Orioles-Rays game.

Ben Goessling of MASN says the Washington Nationals will be giving away DVD’s of Stephen Strasburg’s Major League debut during tonight’s game against the Marlins. 

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times says the NHL Network will air the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup clinching game from 2004 on Friday.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers set another ratings record on Fox Sports Southwest which will probably be broken very soon.

Also from the Morning News, Mike Heika reports that Fox is dropping out of the bidding for the Dallas Stars. 

Steve Watkins in the Cincinnati
Business Courier says the Reds drew great ratings on Tuesday for its brawl with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

John Kieswetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air three University of Kentucky exhibition games in Canada next week.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business notes that the bank wants to seize memorabilia from the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

Ed says Bulls fans who want to get their LeBron/Miami Heat fix can also go to Milwaukee to see them.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley notes that Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers gave playing tips on the Whistling Straits golf course to ESPN Radio. Whistling Straits is where the PGA Championships is being played this week.

Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel looks at Turner Sports’ 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Benjamin Wideman of the Sheboygan (WI) Journal goes behind the scenes with Turner Sports on its 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Dan Caesear of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Tuesday’s brawl between the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds led to record ratings for Fox Sports Midwest.

St. Louis’ KMOV-TV has formed a partnership with the ESPN Radio affiliate. 

The Los Angeles Times has a reporters roundup of opinions regarding the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin argument.

Dave Boling of The Olympian says Ken Norton, Jr. was plucked from NFL Network to be Seattle Seahawks linebackers coach.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star notes that MLS is not striking a chord with Canadian viewers.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN could take a ratings and advertising hit if the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats move from its English-speaking to French-dominant Quebec.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wants a Hard Knocks edition for the NHL.

Joe Favorito says baseball really needs to become more global.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann remembers his friend, former Pirates announcer and pitcher Nellie King.

The great Maury Brown at the Biz of Football notes that the Madden NFL 11 video game will be made available for the iPad and iPod Touch.

That’s going to end it for us today. Lots of good links.

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