Monday Linkage

I’ve been a bit busy at work today, trying to get some paperwork finished before the end of the month. Time to do some linkage now while I can.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael McCarthy who writes that ESPN got a stinker of race for its season debut of NASCAR.

The Daly Planet motorsports blog feels ESPN covered the race as best as it could under the circumstances.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for July.

From the Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Terry Lefton report that the Indy Racing League is getting a lesson in reality from potential TV partners. Michael Smith of SBJ tells us that the Ohio State University is considering bundling its media rights.

A couple of things from Newsday’s Neil Best. He first complains about ESPN’s graphics errors during Sunday Night Baseball. And Neil tells us that former New York Ranger Matthew Barnaby is being considered as the successor to Barry Melrose as ESPN’s NHL analyst.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if cross promotion in sports actually works.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Tom Jones criticizes CBS’ telecast of Elite XC and ESPN’s Outside the Lines for its story on the Penn State football program in his regular Monday review of the weekend in televised sport.

NBC Sports has the details of its planned streaming of Sunday Night Football. Here’s the story from NBCSports.com. And on the heels of the important announcement (sarcasm purely intended) that Hank Williams, Jr. returns to sing “All My Rowdy Friends” on Monday Night Football, NBC tells us that Faith Hill returns to sing “I’ve Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” for Sunday Night Football.

Mike Di Mauro of the Day of New London, CT writes about former DC sports anchor Wally Bruckner who has settled in Eastern Connecticut, running a popular bistro, and will be working for NBC Sports as part of its internet unit, producing reports and highlights during the Olympics.

Tom Dorsey of the Louisville Courier-Journal says Communist China will be watching NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell remembers the late Jocko Maxwell who died two weeks ago, saying Maxwell helped him immensely when Harwell was an up-and-coming sportscaster in Atlanta.

Sandy Penner of the Philadelphia Bulletin feels announcers make too much news these days.

I’ll have an update sometime tonight.