Tuesday Links

Back after a long holiday weekend, I already gave you my review of the Tennis Channel’s first days televising the French Open. I will say that I do like the idea of having the matches online as well as I can see them at work, but there’s a strict cutoff time of noon ET thanks to the Tennis Channel’s agreement with ESPN. Even if the matches are ongoing, they’re to be offline when the Alleged Worldwide Leader signs on and that is a disservice to tennis fans across the US.

I did see part of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final on Memorial Day. Good touches by ESPN to cover all the bases on Duke University in the wake of the scandal that caused the school’s administration to cancel the entire season last year. And also, the interview of former coach Mike Pressler shown at halftime, breaking his silence on the case that forced him to resign. Pressler, by the way, has found a new job in my native Rhode Island at Bryant University where he’s doing quite well. Announcers Dave Ryan and Quint Kessenich did a very good job in handling the Duke story and also the Blue Devils comeback in the second half which fell short as John Hopkins won its 9th title. I’m sure when the ratings come out, the Lacrosse final will probably do better than Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus.

Speaking of which, Versus did an admirable job in airing Game 1 last night. However, with a minimal audience in Southern California, I’m not sure even sports bars were carrying the Anaheim Ducks comeback to win 3-2 over the Ottawa Senators. How long can NHL Commish Gary Bettman live with this?

To the links, Neil Best of Newsday has some news & notes including the demand (not) to cover Barry Bonds and his quest to break Hank Aaron’s home run record. In addition, Best says WFAN and CBS Radio still don’t have an idea on whom to replace Don Imus. Best writes that Boomer Esiason is a leading candidate, but so far, it’s anyone’s guess as who will fill that spot. I say get Imus’ wife, Deidre.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a good enterprise story on how the MLB Network came to fruition thanks to some creative negotiating by MLB.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says Ray Knight did an excellent job filling in for Don Sutton on the MASN telecasts of Washington Nationals baseball this past weekend.

In his blog, Williams says ESPN’s story on Michael Vick being a “heavyweight” in dog fighting could lead to trouble for the Falcon QB.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports on a sticky situation between the Ottawa Senators and a Toronto radio station.

The Vancouver Canucks will remain on Rogers Sportsnet for the foreseeable future.

Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News catches up with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman who tries to spin the low TV ratings for his sport. Keep trying, Gary. The public is not stupid.

Stephanie Myles of the Montreal Gazette wishes that she could have access to the Tennis Channel’s coverage of the French Open. Canada’s outlet for the event is TSN which is using an Australian feed of the Open.

More links as they’re warranted.