The Mid-Week Links

Here we are with our links for Wednesday.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has an extensive column which includes stuff about Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes going into broadcasting while being an active player, plus stuff on TNT hiring Mike Fratello to join Marv Albert and Reggie Miller on the NBA.

Neil Best of Newsday blogs that MLB President and CEO Bob DuPuy feels that postseason games are getting too long and links to a Washington Post story about it. You want to cut down the length of games? It’ll never happen, but cut down the time in-between innings from two minutes and twenty seconds to 90 seconds. That’s 50 seconds per half inning and almost two minutes per a full inning. That’s a big savings in time over a full game, but Fox and TBS want the ad revenue. My fear is that the time could increase to a full three minutes in the next contract. Just when you think it couldn’t happen, you get news that the time will increase. I hope MLB will consider this.

Now that the World Series is here, it means that only the flagship radio stations can air the games in the home cities. The network affiliates are not allowed to air the games because ESPN Radio has national exclusivity. But if you have XM Satellite Radio, you can hear the hometown calls of the Red Sox from WRKO and the Rockies from KOA. The Orbitcast blog on satellite radio has more. You can also hear the home broadcasts through MLB.com’s Gameday Audio service for a fee.

And Howard Herman of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle writes about ESPN Radio airing the World Series. Also from the Eagle, Amy Carr has a story about the Super Bowl having more of a cultural impact on the country than the World Series.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press writes that ESPN will have extensive coverage of the Series.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail previews Fox’s coverage of the World Series which will include 25 cameras and 100 microphones. Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star says Fox and MLB pushed back the start of the World Series to mid-week to maximize revenues. Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe talks with kids who get to stay up late for to watch the Series. Mark Newman of MLB.com talks to the Fox Sports crew about its preparation for the Series. And Newman writes about the online features that are available for fans.

Cary Snyder of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle writes that the Fox affiliate in Chyenne has had service interruptions and can’t guarantee it won’t go out during the World Series.

Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune says Blackhawks players are treating the news of Comcast SportsNet airing home games this season positively.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the World Series just isn’t special any more.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times recaps the HBO Real Sports interview with Joe Torre. And Sandomir has a story on the New York Rangers wanting to control its own website instead of having it belong to NHL.com.

Clint Boulton of eWeek writes that avid sports fans keep visiting ESPN.com.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail writes that the Big East conference is really happy over the new deal with ESPN.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that despite hitting an all-time ratings low for Monday Night Football last week, it still led the cable primetime ratings.

Michael Learmonth of Variety says NBC Sports’ Football Night in America will kickoff the network’s week long eco-friendly programming on November 4.

Some stories from the NFL Owners Meeting in Philadelphia. Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News has NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell unhappy with Comcast. And Matt Young from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times writes that the NFL has rejected Time Warner Cable’s proposal to put its games on Pay Per View, plus the league has committed to keeping games on the NFL Network through 2011. Michael David Smith of the New York Sun says the streamlining of the NFL Draft shows that the league is taking the opportunity to market the event even further.

That’s it for now. Check back for updates throughout the day.