Ok, I didn’t expect to get to the second part of the megalinks so late. I had a lot of work to do plus I got sidetracked. Anyway, let’s finish up the megalinks and get them up.
We left off at the East and Mid-Atlantic region. Let’s head to the Midwest, move South, head West, then finish off as usual in Canada. Lots of things going on. Let’s get cracking.
Midwest
George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says NBA TV analysts are not happy to see trash talking against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Charles Barkley’s forthright style on TNT irks some NBA players.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about the Big Ten Network getting into Spring Football on Saturday. The Tribune also has the audio of Hall of Fame Cincinnati Reds announcer Marty Brennaman ripping Cubs fans during the broadcast Friday. Dave Van Dyk of the Tribune gets Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s reaction which really wasn’t much of a reaction.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Judd Zulgad wishes announcers would stop harping on the referee and focus on the game.
Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin says get ready for an NBA postseason onslaught.
South
Doug Nye of The State informs his readers that college baseball outside of the SEC is not as popular as other college sports.
Barry Jackson writing in the Miami Herald has ABC/ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy wondering what’s wrong with the Heat.
Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says TV viewers should be prepared for a lot of documentaries and movies in the next few months. Subscribers to ESPN the Magazine get ready to be yelled at. Shannon J. Owens of the Sentinel reports Steven A. Smith will be joining the ranks at the magazine.
David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says the Rockets turned things around and made their radio broadcasters happy.
Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says ESPN NBA analysts Van Gundy and Mark Jackson are split on the Dallas Mavericks’ fate in the playoffs.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has the opinions of various NBA TV analysts on the move of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. Mel says the verdict is split on the Hornets-Mavericks series. And Mel has what to watch this weekend.
West
From the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Real Salt Lake, the MLS team, has signed an agreement with a local TV station to broadcast a package of regular season games. Scott D. Pierce says ESPN will look back at the 2002 Olympics Figure Skating judging scandal.
Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with CBS’ Dick Enberg who has written a play about his college basketball broadcast partner and friend, the late Al McGuire. Jay Posner writes that the NBA is praying for a Celtics-Lakers final. In his media notebook, Posner says there’s no apparent end in sight in the NFL Network-Time Warner Cable dispute. Jay also has the ratings for San Diego from last weekend.
John Maffei of the North County Times says ESPN is jumping feet first into the movie business.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes it’s a good thing Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak decided not to trade Kobe Bryant in the offseason and it has led to higher ratings for the NBA and could lead to bigger things in the playoffs.
Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times returns to the TV and Radio column for one day and says that TNT’s Charles Barkley is warning the Lakers not to look past the Denver Nuggets.
Tom Hoffarth’s media column in the Los Angeles Daily News also talks about the NBA wanting a Celtics-Lakers final for the ratings and media interest. Hoffarth has more stuff in his media notebook in his Farther Off the Wall blog. Tom also has an entry in which ESPN wants you to write a eulogy in case it ever bit the dust. I wouldn’t mind if ESPN bit the dust. Maybe this is ESPN trying to tell us something.
John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Houston Astros’ Miguel Tejada tried to take the high road during an ambush interview with ESPN’s E:60 news magazine. Ryan says Sharks’ TV announcer Randy Hahn had a good call of the Joe Thornton’s winning goal in Game 4 of its series with the Calgary Flames.
Canada
The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich writes that Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong looks like he’ll be remaining on the team’s broadcasts even though the team is changing its TV home next season.
Sam Toman and Andrew Chin of the Toronto Globe and Mail write that three local hoops fans have gained an interational following with their podcast.
Media Publications
Larry Barrett of Multichannel News says Yankees games are scoring for the YES Network.
John Consoli of Mediaweek writes that ratings for NBA regular season games on ESPN rose 14% from the year before.
Wayne Friedman of the Mediapost Publications wonders what impact NBC Sports veteran producer Michael Weisman will have on Comcast’s sports networks.
Brooks
Boliek of the Hollywood Reporter says it’s round 2 for the NFL Network and Comcast.
Blogs
CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders how much will the buried David Ortiz Red Sox jersey will fetch at auction.
Joe Favorito has the latest Public Relations Move of the Day in his sports marketing and PR blog.
The Big Lead talks about Will Purdue’s silly comments on blogs and Mike Greenberg defending them during the Mike & Mike in the Morning show on ESPN Radio.
Awful Announcing has the audio of TNT’s Charles Barkley criticizing ESPN’s E:60 ambush interview of Miguel Tejada on the Dan Patrick Show.
Other
From the “Rut ro!” Department, Selena Roberts and David Epstein of Sports Illustrated have found the man whom Jose Canseco calls “Max” in his new book and he does not corroborate any of Canseco’s claims.
There you have it. I’ll be back with Saturday links on Saturday.
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