For those of you taking the day off for the holiday, hoping you are remembering the fine servicemen and servicewomen who served their country for us.
I’m watching ESPN’s First Take for the first time in earnest today. I like Dana Jacobsen. She’s a good interviewer and has the personality to be a good co-host. Jay Crawford? I didn’t like him in Cold Pizza and I don’t like him now. The 1st and 10 segment without Skip Bayless is good. I didn’t like Skip Bayless when he was doing that segment with Woody Paige. Bayless is just plain abrasive. That’s my take on First Take.
To the links now.
Michael McCarthy of USA Today says Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth don’t plan to get involved in the NFL Network/Time Warner dispute as both men get paychecks from both organizations. In an Op-Ed piece in the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, C. Bruce Deramus says taxpayers’ money could be better spent than on the NFL Network/cable dispute.
Phil Mushnick in the New York Post says Sunday’s NFL action was a nice respite from ESPN’s overkill.
John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News has some notes for those watching the Monday Night Football game between the 49ers and Seahawks (and if you watch the game, you deserve a medal). Claire Farnsworth of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wonders if Monday Night Football is still relevant. However, Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times says fans still like MNF coming to town.
Continuing with Monday Night Football, Paulsen over at the Sports Media Watch blog urges Joe Theismann to stop talking about MNF and Tony Kornheiser.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox was talking about the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson before yesterday’s Minnesota-Green Bay game, but ended up talking about the Packers’ Ryan Grant at the end.
Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News is another in the line of sports media writers who love HBO’s The Rivalry documentary on Ohio State-Michigan.
An editorial in the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says college sports fans have been blindsided by the Big Ten Network/Big Cable dispute.
We seem to have a surplus of Op-Ed pieces today. We have another one for you. Anita Hill (yes, that Anita Hill) has written a piece for the Boston Globe about the legacy of Title IX, the NCAA program to bring gender equity to college sports, and notes that women’s college basketball broadcasts are increasingly getting primetime TV slots on ESPN.
John Consoli of Mediaweek says TV ratings for the NBA on ESPN and TNT are up in the early going.
The Flip Side column at the Baltimore Sun has ESPN’s Erin Andrews talking about that infamous picture circulating on the internet that shows a fan seemingly fondling her. We’ve all seen it. I’m not putting it here nor am I linking to it. You can find it. And here’s Erin talking to SI.com from which the Sun took its quotes.
Tony Dobrowlski of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle writes that ESPN’s presence with College Gameday on Saturday added some excitement to the Amherst-Williams rivalry.
Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune says last night’s home debut of the Blackhawks on Comcast SportsNet will lead him to watching more games.
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star gets on CBC’s Don Cherry for advocating violence on Hockey Night in Canada.
A little bit light on the links this morning, but it’s a recognized holiday today. We’ll see what we have later in the day.
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