The Mid-Week Linkage

Let’s do some linkage today. Plenty of stuff to go over.

First, Sports Business Daily’s Tripp Mickle and John Ourand have details of the all-new U.S. Olympic Network which begins operation in 2010 and gets a big boost launching on Comcast.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says the new channel will provide Olympic Sports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Noted Olympics reporter, Ron Judd of the Seattle Times, says USON as it will be called, will be available on multiple platforms.

Wayne Friedman of Mediapost says USON will show live events and past Olympics through documentaries and movies.

But Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that the International Olympic Committee is already blasting the new channel.

Also from the Times, Ken Belson writes that Women’s Professional Soccer operates without a major TV contract and with a reduced budget than its previous incarnation.

Back to the Sports Business Daily which lists the Top 10 most viewed sporting events in the 2nd quarter of 2009.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that ESPN is unveiling new graphics for the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday.

Christian Red of the New York Daily News talks with Laura Posada, wife of Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, about her debut on a new reality series about baseball wives on E!

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner previews a Darren Rovell-hosted special on CNBC about NASCAR and its future.

Paula Cee in the DC Examiner says local news/talk radio station WJFK could flip to all-sports any day now.

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean talks with several NFL writers and TV analysts about the latest developments in the Steve McNair case.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio has taken care of an upcoming Reds-University of Cincinnati football conflict.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business is already tired of the Tribune sale/non-sale of the Cubs.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about the All-Star Game continuing its incentive for the World Series and Tiger Woods outrating the Brewers-Cubs on Sunday.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says ex-Colorado Rockies skipper Clint Hurdle plans to have more appearances on the MLB Network this summer.

Kelly Burgess of the Los Angeles Times tells us that ESPN will air Tony Hawk’s segment of the tearjerking series, “My Wish” on SportsCenter throughout Thursday.

The BBC reports that ESPN has been granted the rights by the English Premier League to show its package of games into Ireland. That package was held by Setanta Sports.

The Sports Media Watch has a look at the weekend ratings.

Evan Weiner of Examiner.com says the ACC is pulling its baseball tournament from Myrtle Beach, SC scheduled for 2011, 2012 and 2013 over the state’s flying of the Confederate flag at its capital.

I’ll end it there for now.