Let’s do our weekly Friday megalinks for today.
We begin as always with Michael Hiestand of USA Today. He writes about ESPN’s hiring of Bob Knight, MMA coming to CBS and the son of one of the famous Hanson Brothers (Slap Shot) not realizing his dad’s fame until he was 13.
Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated also talks about Bob Knight’s hiring by ESPN.
We’ll do our links from East to West.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with NESN’s Don Orsillo about coming off another championship season for the Red Sox.
David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch discusses the potential for more buyouts of Boston Globe sports staffers.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the ESPN hiring of Bob Knight.
From the New York Daily News, Bill Madden writes that doctors have found a spot on YES analyst Bobby Mercer’s brain that could signify a recurrence of a cancerous tumor that was found in December 2006. Bob Raissman says baseball needs Bobby. I send Bobby my best and hope that he can fully recover again.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says while last Saturday’s Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was boring, Wladimir Klitschko was actually being smart. Justin Terranova talks with MSG Network’s Dave Maloney and FSNY’s Billy Jaffe about next week’s home-and-home series between the Rangers and Islanders. Terranova says a biopsy is scheduled for Monday for YES’ Bobby Mercer. And Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Peter Gammons.
Neil Best of Newsday talks with Will Ferrell about his new movie, Semi-Pro which opens today. In his blog, Neil says the movie “Slap Shot” helped to make “Semi-Pro” possible. Also, Neil says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at steroid “enablers” in baseball.
The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager says Sean Salisbury feels free after he left ESPN earlier this week. And in his Medium Well blog, Frager has a couple of items that didn’t make his column.
South
Ron Morris of The State wants ESPN’s Dick Vitale to stop lobbying for South Carolina to hire Bob Knight. Doug Nye has his weekly TV notes. And Nye says Braves fans will have to get used to watching the games on different outlets this season.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says South Florida will have two more sports radio stations starting Monday.
Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews who will be busy in March.
The Oklahoman really doesn’t belong in the South region, but I’ll put it here for now. Mel Bracht has a bunch of stories today. First, he writes about Sean Salisbury’s departure from ESPN. Next, Mel has a story on Bob Knight doing work for ESPN in March. In his notebook, Mel talks about ESPN extending its deal with the Big 12 conference. Finally, Mel has his weekend viewing picks.
Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks with ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy about the Dallas Mavericks.
Midwest
George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the entire nation will get a glance of the new look Cleveland Cavaliers this Sunday on ABC.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about Bob Knight on ESPN. Kevin Pang of the Tribune has a story on Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper who has another talent besides talking.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says basketball bracketology has become a full-time profession.
Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that FSN North announcers will call the Minnesota-Alaska Anchorage games this weekend off a monitor. And Judd has the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market from last weekend.
Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says ESPN traded one ex-Viking for another this week.
Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that there’s speculation that former Royal Joe Randa did not the secondary analyst job on FSN because he’s too candid.
West
In the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Scott D. Pierce says Utah coach Jim Boylen is entertaining to watch on the sidelines.
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner says the radio and TV voices of the Padres are gearing up for the baseball season. And Jay has the ratings for San Diego from last week.
John Maffei of the North County Times says there will be plenty of college and high school basketball on TV and radio this weekend.
From the Ventura County Star, J
im Carlisle says TV feels an obligation to tell compelling stories during Black History Month.
The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says basketball will be the viewing mainstays for this weekend.
John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks about how FBI agents might have decided to go after Roger Clemens.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the last of his Best and Worst lists and his one focuses on play-by-play announcers, plus he profiles Rory Markas who calls USC basketball and Angels baseball games. And in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his weekly extensive media notes.
Canada
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says a Blue Jays game amounts to a three hour informercial for the team.
William Houston from the Toronto Globe and Mail says Canadian Football League officials feel like they’re being treated as second class citizens in its new TV contract as the Grey Cup will be aired on TSN on cable instead over the air CTV while the NFL is on CTV.
I’ll have an update later today.
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