It’s Friday

I had to leave the office earlier today, but it’s time for one mega dose of links. After last week’s U.S. Open, this week is a bit tamer with Interleague baseball, the NASCAR race which will have a couple of firsts, the College World Series and golf in Hartford, CT.

Let’s start with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand who mentions Kyle Petty’s double in the Save Mart 350 on Sunday, driving and providing analysis for TNT. In addition, Wendy Venturini will be one of the announcers for DirecTV as part of its Hot Pass multi channel platform.

Over to the Boston Globe where Susan Bickelhaupt writes about Versus which is trying to expand from its original mission statement of being an outdoor sports network.

Newsday’s Neil Best catches up with former Met Tom Seaver. And Best has an update on the WFAN morning drive slot for next week.

Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News criticizes the Mets and MLB for making the All Star Game an overhyped affair. I wouldn’t go that far, but I think the campaigning by teams to get their players in the Mid-summer Classic is too much.

Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times says Versus and the Tour de France are having a hard time getting viewers in the wake of losing Lance Amstrong and a drug scandal.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick correctly criticizes ESPN for not mentioning Sammy Sosa’s misdeeds after he hit his 600th homer.

Jim Delaney, Commish of the Big Ten, is angry over comments made by Comcast which he says denigrates the Big Ten Network.

Laura Nachman of the Bucks County Courier Times talks about a new documentary on the great Palestra in Philadelphia.

Ray Frager in the Baltimore Sun has more of a news and notes column today.

The Orlando Sentinel’s website must have undergone a relaunch, because the place looks totally different today. Anyway, Dave Darling says there’s no buzz entering the chase for the home run record.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says the Big Ten and Comcast are digging in their heels over the battle for carriage. He also grades the White Sox and Cubs broadcast teams.

And in Minnesota, the Big Ten Network has only one cable company in its fold and it’s not in the Twin Cities. Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the battle is about money.

Over to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel where Bob Wolfey previews next week’s NBA Draft on ESPN.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle gives his thoughts on the sports radio Arbitron ratings in the last period. And he says the stations carve up a very small listening audience to begin with.

Out west, Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says NBC is looking at ways to show off the Torrey Pines course which will be the site of the U.S. Open next year.

In the North County Times, John Maffei says the Red Sox-Padres series slipped under the radar of the network schedulers this year. The series pits two of the better teams in MLB this weekend.

Ah, an article about Fang’s Bites favorite, Erin Andrews.
Larry Stewart of the LA Times has a profile on Erin (who says she grew up a Red Sox fan! Even more reason to like her!) who will be at the College World Series this weekend.

Up in Canada, some changes in the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast booth. Legendary broadcast team Bob Cole and Harry Neale will be given a reduced role in favor of Jim Hughson and Greg Millen. William Houston in the Globe and Mail reports.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star talks about former Blue Jay Jesse Barfield who will be on CBC’s premiere Blue Jay broadcast this weekend.

That’s it for now.