Thursday's Press Release Package

Here are some press releases you should read.

This is from ESPN touting the English Premier League games it will show in the UK. The start times are all UK time so subtract five hours for ET.

LIVE ESPN COVERAGE OF BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE BROADCAST SCHEDULE UNTIL NOVEMBER – SEASON 2009/10

Debut season of coverage opens with Everton v Arsenal on August 15^th

More than half of matches feature last season’s top four finishers

New Premier League broadcaster, ESPN, today revealed their first handpicked selection of 46 live matches for the 2009/10 season, to be broadcast on the soon-to-launch new flagship ESPN SD and HD channels.

Announcing the selection of live matches, Lynne Frank, Managing Director, ESPN for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "We're clearly delighted to be able to broadcast 46 Barclays Premier League matches this season on ESPN. We will kick off our coverage with a clash between Everton and Arsenal, live on the new ESPN channel at 5.15pm on Saturday 15 August. ESPN’s coverage of the matches announced today will bring excitement, surprises and drama to football fans. We are pleased to be a part of the beautiful game, and look forward to delivering fans of all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs top quality coverage as the story of the season unfolds."

Opening the season’s coverage on day one of the Barclays Premier League on Saturday 15^th August, ESPN will showcase the clash between Everton and Arsenal, last season’s 4^th and 5^th place finishers, at Goodison Park. Convincingly beaten 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in 2008, Everton will be looking to go one better than the 1-1 draw they held Arsenal to at home in January 2009.

Other highlights from the coming season’s possible title contenders include Liverpool v Aston Villa on August 24^th, Spurs v Man United on September 12^th and Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers on October 24^th. Overall, as part of ESPN’s debut schedule of coverage, 12 of the 17 matches chosen for live broadcast so far feature a top four finishing club from the 2008/09 season and include 17 of the 20 Premier League clubs.

The full list of 17 live Barclays Premier League matches, selected until November on ESPN are:

August
Saturday 15th	Everton v Arsenal	5:15pm
Sunday 23rd	West Ham v Tottenham	1:30pm
Monday 24th	Liverpool v Aston Villa	8:00pm
Saturday 29th	Chelsea v Burnley	12:45pm

September
Saturday 12th	Tottenham v Manchester United	5:15pm
Saturday 19th	West Ham v Liverpool	5:15pm
Saturday 26th	Fulham v Arsenal	5:15pm
Monday 28th	Manchester City v West Ham	8:00pm

October
Saturday 3rd	Manchester United v Sunderland	5:15pm
Monday 5th	Aston Villa v Manchester City	8:00pm
Monday 19th	Fulham v Hull City	8:00pm
Saturday 24th	Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers	5:15pm
Saturday 31st	Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers	5:15pm

November
Saturday 7th	Wolves v Arsenal	5:15pm
Monday 9th	Liverpool v Birmingham City	8:00pm
Saturday 21st	Manchester United v Everton	5:15pm
Saturday 28th	Aston Villa v Tottenham	5:15pm

ESPN plans to make its Barclays Premier League coverage widely available across multiple pay-TV platforms. As a first step to this distribution strategy, ESPN reached an agreement for its coverage to be retailed by Sky to residential and commercial customers. ESPN will appear in the Sky Guide at channel number 417 in SD and channel 443 in HD.

Next, TNT concludes its NASCAR season in Chicago on Sunday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago Concludes TNT’s 2009 NASCAR Coverage

Pre-race coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET; green flag drops at 8 p.m. ET

The checkered flag waves on TNT’s exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Saturday, July 11^th with NASCAR Sprint Series Racing from Chicago live from Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The network will air the race beginning at 8 p.m. ET with play-by-play announcer Ralph Sheheen calling the race alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth. In addition, analyst Larry McReynolds will make frequent contributions from the in-field as he breaks down crew strategy and analyzes car adjustments.

The network will rev up its pre-race coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR on TNT Live! with Marc Fein (host), Petty and McReynolds. TNT will have two top drivers join its infield rig, with No. 24 Jeff Gordon and No. 99 Carl Edwards each stopping by for an interview.

TNT’s acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will feature racing legend Fred Lorenzen who was named one of NASCAR 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. Lorenzen won 26 times in his career, highlighted by his 1965 Daytona 500 victory. Lorenzen will also be remembered for driving a car for one race that was coined the ‘Yellow Banana’ due to its front end sloped downward with a lowered roofline and kicked up tail.

Sheheen will take viewers on a private tour of Jack Roush’s personal garage where Roush will put on display his private collection of rare cars.

The show will be followed by Countdown to Green at 7:30 p.m. ET with Fein (host), Dallenbach (analyst) and Petty (analyst) with reports from TNT pit reporters Adam Alexander, Lindsay Czarniak, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum.

During Countdown to Green, Dallenbach will once again break down race strategy during Wally’s World, as he is superimposed into live race footage from last season’s race at Chicagoland Speedway. He will virtually walk along the road course to discuss its nuances, with the ability to stop the race footage.

Also in the show, No. 2 Kurt Busch will give Snider a tour around the Windy City, Busch’s home away from home during the season. Dallenbach will take a look back to last season’s halfway point and compare it to this season, while McReynolds will look forward and weigh in on what drivers need to do to stay alive in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings.

Countdown to Green leads into coverage of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago at 8 p.m. ET with Sheheen, Dallenbach and Petty calling the action with frequent interaction with McReynolds (analyst) who will man the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car.

Throughout this year’s NASCAR on TNT Summer Series, the network will join forces with NASCAR.COM, the official site of NASCAR, to provide TNT RaceBuddy a multiplatform experience for race fans which features live feeds from the racetrack including pit road and in-car cameras, as well as live chats and polls.

REMAINING 2009 NASCAR ON TNT SCHEDULE:

(All times ET)

SATURDAY, JULY 11

6:30 – 7:30 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live!

7:30 – 8:00 p.m. Countdown to Green

8:00 – 11:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago (from Chicago Speedway)

Over to Golf Channel which gets ready for the Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland next week.

Nobilo Takes on Turnberry

ORLANDO, Fla., July 9, 2009 – GOLF CHANNEL analyst Frank Nobilo will return to Turnberry next week as lead analyst for the network’s Live From the Open Championship news coverage (TV Times below). Nobilo found success at Turnberry as a player, competing in his first major championship as a professional there in 1986, and in 1994, recording an 11^th place finish. He offers insight on the host course and the field heading into next week’s Open Championship:

What are some of your memories from the 1994 Open Championship at Turnberry and your T-11 finish?

I had played there in 1986 (my first Open) so it was nice to go back to a venue and have a decent idea of what was required to do well. Conditions were better than in ‘86, and the golf course didn't appear as intimidating. I opened up with rounds of 69-67 to be well placed, just three back from Watson but went backwards with a round of 72 on Saturday when everybody shot mid to high 60's. A closing 68 redeemed my week a little but not enough to back door a top 10.

How different will the course setup be next week compared to ’86 and ’94?

I don’t think the setup will be much different from ‘86 or ‘94 but the course will play radically different. The average tee shot goes about 20 yards further than ‘94 and there is less dispersion. So, unless they have cold, wet, windy weather – which is unlikely given the recent heat wave – the course will certainly not present the same test as it did in the past.

The weather was much colder and the wind blew most of the week in ’86. Barring Norman’s 63, the scores were relatively high all week. In ‘94 the conditions were relatively benign and the ball tended to roll out more. I don't remember the rough being as difficult, consequently the scores were much better. This year, with such a dry summer and the massive technological advances coming in the late ‘90's, it certainly will have lost some teeth.

What are the keys to success in playing at Turnberry next week?

Turnberry is one of the most exposed Open venues. There are lots of holes with no protection on the tee shots and fairways that slope away from the dogleg. The biggest problem for the players will be dealing with stiff cross breezes on holes that often bend or slope in an opposite direction.

What do you think will be the key holes next week in determining the Open Champion?

The first 6 holes are key especially if the wind blows. You never play two consecutive holes in a similar direction until you play 5 and 6. Consequently it is very easy to get over par in a hurry and have your back against the wall. 9 is never easy especially with a left-to-right wind. The fairway slopes to the right while the hole bends to the left. You also have to somehow close your round off on those last 4 holes. A 3-4-4-4 finish will go a long way each day.

Who are the front runners and who might be dark horses next week?

No surprise, even though Tiger has never set foot on Turnberry prior to this Open, he is the odds-on favorite. I think his challengers will be a little younger than previous years. Sean O'Hair, who has recovered from his forearm issue that made him withdraw from the Memorial Tournament, is ready to break through. Anthony Kim, who did well last year in his first Open in bad conditions, is now healthy. The best European hopes look to be Paul Casey, who hopefully has settled into the fact that he belongs amongst the best players in the game today, and Stenson, in case you have forgotten how well he played at The Players and snuck in the back door at Bethpage. I still have to add Garcia to this bunch. His ability to move the ball around in windy conditions makes him hard to overlook. I know you have to make the putts, but it wouldn't be a surprise to many if he were to break through. A lot of eyes on Harrington going for three in a row, but more realistically he is trying to recover some form to get his game back on track. For an oldie but a goody, remember Goosen. He has quietly gotten his game back.

Is Tiger Woods back to his pre-surgery form, and how do you think Turnberry suits his game?

According to Woods he has struggled with the knee for several years, so to compare his form of the first six months of the year to his previous two or three seasons is difficult. There are some areas of his game that are better than pre-surgery. The pace of his swing is far smoother and the transition from backswing to downswing generally much quieter. I still don’t think he is 100% as his gait is still not normal and it looks like he still has tightness in his hip, probably from favoring the leg. But if anything, he looks more determined now than ever. It is hard to say he has been inconsistent as he has not finished out of the top-10 in a stroke play event since his return, but he has not played any two tournaments with the same type of golf. Now that is scary.

Live From the Open Championship TV Times

Tuesday – Wednesday 2 – 4 p.m. ET (News Conferences)

Wednesday 6 – 8 p.m. ET (Live)

Thursday – Saturday 2:30 – 4 p.m. ET (Live)

Sunday 1:30 – 4 p.m. ET (Live)

Thursday – Sunday 7 – 9 p.m. ET (Live)

I celebrate the first ever Tennis Channel press release sent to the Fang's Bites inbox. This one talks about what TTC will air this weekend.

TENNIS CHANNEL TO CARRY COMPLETE, LIVE COVERAGE OF 2009 U.S. DAVIS CUP QUARTERFINAL THIS WEEKEND

Tennis Channel also Covers International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductions in Addition to On-Court Action as Stars James Blake, Mardy Fish, and Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan Chase Cup

LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2009 – Tennis Channel will provide exclusive coverage of the U.S. Davis Cup quarterfinal match up in Porec, Croatia, this weekend, with live and same-day, “Instant Encore” replays Friday through Sunday. The network will also telecast the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Newport, R.I., as tennis greats Monica Seles, Andres Gimeno, Donald L. Dell and Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson are honored this Saturday, July 11, at 7 p.m. ET.

Quarterfinal competition between the United States and Croatia will consist of two singles matches on Friday, July 10, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the doubles match Saturday, July 11, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Tennis Channel’s coverage concludes with the remaining singles play Sunday, July 12, at 10 a.m. ET. Each of the five matches is worth one point, with the team that wins at least three points advancing to the yearlong tournament’s semifinal against the winner of Argentina and the Czech Republic, Sept. 18-20.

Leading the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 induction ceremony, which will be held during the final weekend of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, is nine-time Grand Slam singles champion and former World No. 1 Monica Seles. Also joining in on the induction festivities is 1972 French Open champion, Andres Gimeno, who has been elected in the Master Player category. Finally, Donald L. Dell, of sports marketing and professional sports management company Professional Services Inc. (ProServ), joins the late Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson, founder and director of the American Tennis Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who helped pave the way for African-Americans in tennis, in the Contributor category.

Following this weekend’s coverage, Tennis Channel’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, will offer the induction ceremony on demand and in its entirety for free.

U.S. Davis Cup overage from Zatika Sports Hall (all times ET):

Friday, July 10:

10 a.m. – Live Singles #1

1 p.m. – Live Singles #2

{8 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Singles #1}

{11 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Singles #2}

Saturday, July 11:

9:30 a.m. – Live Doubles

{12:30 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Doubles}

{8 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Doubles}

{11 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Doubles}

Sunday, July 12:

10 a.m. – Live Singles #1

1 p.m. – Live Singles #2

{8 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Singles #1}

{11 p.m. – “Instant Encore” Singles #2}

Croatia hopes to uphold its unbeaten record of 2-0 against the U.S. team, defeating the Americans 4-1 during the 2003 Davis Cup first round in Zagreb, Croatia and again in the 2005 first round, winning 3-2 in Carson, Calif. The United States enters this weekend’s match after beating Switzerland 4-1 in Birmingham, Ala., and is bidding to reach the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In 2007 the U.S. team won its 32^nd Davis Cup title with a 4-1 win against Russia, whom it had not defeated since 1995.

Three-time Davis Cup team member and Davis Cup captain since 2000, Patrick McEnroe returns as the 2009 U.S. Davis Cup coach to America’s team. Mardy Fish, World No. 23, will replace Andy Roddick on the team, due to the latter’s right hip flexor, injured during his five-set loss in the singles final at Wimbledon Sunday. James Blake is ranked No. 17 and comes into this weekend’s match after an impressive run to the men’s doubles semifinals at Wimbledon with fellow Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish before losing to defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. On the doubles front, twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan continue to be the world’s most dominant pair, currently ranked No. 1, and winners of the 2009 Australian Open championships.

The Croatians enter this weekend’s match after defeating Chile 5-0 in Porec, Croatia, in the first round to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time. After winning 3-2 in the 2005 final against Slovak Republic in Bratislava, Croatia became the 12^th nation to win the Davis Cup and the first unseeded nation to ever win. The team is captained by Goran Prpic and features four of Croatia’s best-known tennis stars including Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko.

Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Olympus US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by eight of the top 10 MSOs and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.

National Geographic Channel marks the return of "Locked Up Abroad" with a new episode next Wednesday.

LOCKED UP ABROAD: IRAQ

Wednesday, July 15 at 10PM ET/PT

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad/4388/Overview

September 7, 2004: US forces are about to attack Tall 'Afar in northwest Iraq. Journalists Scott Taylor and Zeynep Tugrul rush to the remote city to report from the front line. But they are kidnapped by insurgents who think they’re American spies. From then on their lives hang in the balance as the American military pounds the city and the journalists face execution and torture and witness scenes few Westerners have ever survived.

REENACTMENT: Scott and Zeynep (actors) meeting suicide bombers in the desert. (photo credit © Raw Television)

Video “Hostage in Iraq” – A trip to Iraq becomes a journalist's worst nightmare.

Video “Al-Qaeda Hostages” – Two people have been taken hostage by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and have been told this is their last night to live.

Video “Locked Up Abroad: Iraq – Behind-the-Scenes” – Go behind-the-scenes with Locked Up Abroad: Iraq for interviews with the show’s director, producer, and others.

Thanks to the fine people at Nat Geo for allowing me to embed these videos. I have more stuff coming up.

Some Thursday Night Links

I have a lot of work to do on the blog tonight and was delayed thanks to mom insisting I take her to the mall so she could find something for a memorial the entire family is attending on Friday. Suffice to say the plans I had for this evening have been pushed back to about 4 a.m. with all of the shit I have to do. I understand, mom doesn't like dad driving at night and she's not confident with her driving skills at this time so I have to drive to her place to pick her up and take her to the places she wants to go. I grit my teeth, but I do it. Gotta do it. She's the only mom I have.

Anyway, let's do some late night links then I have a slew of press releases for tonight, then some housekeeping for tomorrow since the megalinks will most likely be late again with all of the stuff I have to do at work and for the memorial.

Starting with Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press who has a scathing statement from the International Olympic Committee regarding the U.S. Olympic Network.

Seattle Times Olympics beat writer Ron Judd wonders if the USON announcement might undermine the U.S. bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times says the U.S. Olympic Committee's actions only stand to hurt Chicago's chances to host the Games.

Meg James of the Times says USON is already causing headaches just mere days after the formal announcement.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch, he tells us that long time Voice of your New England Patriots, Gil Santos, will be inducted into the WBZ Hall of Fame. Gil was the morning drive sports anchor at News Radio 1030 WBZ for 38 years. It's a well-deserved honor. Gil remains with the Patriots and is the longest tenured announcer in the NFL.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal says a Baltimore sports talk show has been told to fix things. Keith Thibeault of SMJ talks about ESPN's Ball Track technology that will be unveiled at the Home Run Derby.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record feels Ball Track could be like Fox Sports' glowing puck if not used correctly. Ken writes that Army football has a new home in the Hudson Valley.

Laura Nachman recaps the memorial for Philly sports anchor Gary Papa.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Darren Pang joins Fox Sports Midwest as an analyst for the Blues, moving current analyst Bernie Federko to ice-level.

Norm Sanders of the Belleville (IL) News-Democrat also writes about Panger coming from Phoenix to join the Blues.

Back to the L.A. Times, Mark Medina writes that Candace Parker lands her own SportsCenter promo later this month.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the local ESPN Radio affiliate is making some lineup changes as of Friday.

Fabio Pereira of the Hollywood Reporter says mixed martial arts is growing thanks to UFC and its Ultimate Fighter series on Spike.

The Big Lead gets ESPN's official statement on Erin Andrews taking a ball to the chin during Wednesday's Dodgers-Mets game.

Dan Levy of On the DL wonders in the Sporting News if ESPN hates the San Diego Padres.

Dave Kohl from the Major League Programs blog looks at classic offerings on CBS Sports as well as the decline of ESPN Classic.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball makes an announcement of a new content partnership.

That's going to end our links for now. Stories that will be part of the Friday megalinks are already out so I'll stop with the links and work on a bunch of press release posts.

You Like Watching Tennis! You Really Do!

One more press release post before I hit the road. There are a lot of them today, but two can stand alone. NBC says Sunday's epic Wimbledon Gentlemen's Final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick was the most watched men's final in a decade. Really!

WIMBLEDON GENTLEMEN’S FINAL ON NBC SPORTS MOST VIEWED IN 10 YEARS

Rating and Viewership For Federer’s Record 15th Grand Slam Title Surpasses Last Year’s Epic Final Against Nadal

NEW YORK – July 9, 2009 - NBC Sports' "Breakfast at Wimbledon" coverage of the five-set classic between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick (9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET) was the most-viewed Gentlemen's Final in 10 years. The average of 5.71 million viewers for Federer's record-setting 15th Grand Slam title was the highest since the Pete Sampras- Andre Agassi final in 1999 (5.85 million). Last year's final attracted an average of 5.17 million viewers.

The 3.8 national rating and 10 share was the best for the Gentlemen's Final since Sampras' seventh and final Wimbledon title in 2000 (Sampras-Patrick Rafter, 4.4/14) and surpassed last year's classic between Federer and Rafael Nadal (9 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. ET) by nine percent (3.5/10).

Sunday's rating peaked at a 6.0/16 from 1:15-1:30 p.m. ET. 

Top metered markets for Sunday's coverage of the Gentlemen's Final:

1. West Palm Beach, 8.1/18
2. New York, 6.0/17
3. Richmond, 5.9/13
T4. Washington DC, 5.6/16
T4. Indianapolis, 5.6/14
T6. Milwaukee, 5.5/14
T6. Jacksonville, 5.5/12
T8. Cincinnati, 5.4/12
T8. Ft. Myers, 5.4/13
T8. Oklahoma City, 5.4/14

When people get compelling tennis they'll watch. I don't want to hear that tennis is boring or not interesting. Judging from the complaints I received last week about the tape delays, I think there's a large audience for the sport.

ESPN Announces 2009-10 College Football Announcing Teams - Lions Fans Prepare to Boycott

ESPN has announced its multiple announcing teams for college football this season. There are a lot of them. This includes the studio teams from College Gameday to ESPNU. There have been a few shakeups among the teams. For instance, Brad Nessler no longer works with Bob Griese and Paul Maguire, however, Pam Ward returns. You'll be quite surprised at the assignments. Get ready to see which team you'll like and which team you'll most likely hate at the end of the season.

College Football Commentators Include Millen Joining, Nessler on ESPN Saturday Nights, Palmer in ABC Studio

Also New: Huard on ESPNU SEC Primetime; Two New Teams: Pasch, Griese and Spielman, Patrick, James and Cox; Andrews Adds ESPN Saturday Prime Time

Returning: Musburger, Herbstreit and Salters on ABC Saturday Night Football; Fowler, James, Palmer and Andrews on ESPN Thursday Primetime

ESPN’s 2009 college football game and studio announcer assignments will include the addition of Matt Millen and new roles for several commentators for coverage across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Regional Television syndication – including the new weekly SEC over-the-air package -- ESPN Classic, ESPN Radio and ESPN Mobile TV. Highlights of changes:

• Matt Millen, who will also provide analysis on ESPN’s NFL studio coverage, will work Saturday telecasts on ABC with Sean McDonough, who called select Friday and Saturday games last year, and reporter Holly Rowe who moves from ESPN’s Saturday prime time games.

• Brad Nessler, who called top games on ABC last year, will work ESPN Saturday prime time telecasts (primarily at 7:45 p.m. ET) with analyst Todd Blackledge and reporter Erin Andrews, who adds the Saturday game to her ESPN Thursday night series role.

• Jesse Palmer will add Saturday studio analysis on ABC to his Thursday night ESPN game telecast. In the new position, Palmer will provide pre-game, halftime and post-game analysis for every telecast on ABC and on the half-hour College Football Countdown at 3 p.m.

• Analyst Brock Huard and commentator Eric Collins will work the new exclusive ESPNU Saturday night SEC game (generally at 7 p.m.), part of the recent landmark 15-year agreement with the conference.

• Craig James, who will continue as an analyst on ESPN’s Thursday night series, Mike Patrick, the voice of many top events on ESPN for 27 years, and reporter Heather Cox will form a new team for Saturday telecasts on ABC.

• Analysts Bob Griese and Chris Spielman will join Dave Pasch on the Saturday noon telecast on ESPN. Last year, Spielman called select Friday and Saturday games while Bob Griese worked Saturday games on ABC.

• Andre Ware will provide analysis on the new ESPN Regional Television Saturday SEC over-the-air syndication package -- also the result of ESPN’s agreement with the conference -- with commentator Dave Neal, a long-time voice of the SEC, and reporter Cara Capuano. Coverage will begin at noon with Rob Stone and Matt Stinchcomb in the studio.

• Veteran radio play-by-play commentator Bill Rosinski will join ESPN Radio to call the weekly game broadcast with returning analyst Dennis Franchione and reporter Joe Schad.

In addition to the new assignments, commentator pairings will return on two popular series. Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters will work ABC’s Saturday Night Football series, broadcast television’s only weekly primetime game (8 p.m.). Chris Fowler, Palmer, James and Andrews will call the ESPN College Football Primetime Thursday telecast (generally at 7:30 p.m.).

In addition to the Thursday game, Fowler will host College GameDay (Saturdays at 10 a.m.) for his 20th season. Lee Corso, who has contributed to the show since its debut in 1987, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard will also return to provide analysis.

Host Rece Davis and analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May will return to work ESPN’s Saturday pre-game, halftime, post-game and College Football Final (Saturdays at midnight) studio coverage, as well as call select ESPN and ESPN2 weekday games.

Returning announcer pairings to television’s deepest field of commentators include: Mark Jones and Bob Davie; Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham; Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore; Clay Matvick and David Diaz-Infante; and Charlie Neal and Jay Walker.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN360.com Game Pairings

Note: Additional commentators will be utilized throughout the season.

Saturday Night Football (on ABC) - Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Lisa Salters

ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday) - Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Erin Andrews

ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday) - Mark Jones & Bob Davie

ESPNU SEC Saturday primetime - Eric Collins & Brock Huard

ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday) - Chris Fowler, Craig James, Jesse Palmer & Erin Andrews

ABC Saturday Afternoon - Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Holly Rowe

ABC Saturday Afternoon - Mike Patrick, Craig James & Heather Cox

ABC or ESPN Saturday Afternoon - Ron Franklin & Ed Cunningham

ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoons) - Dave Pasch, Bob Griese and Chris Spielman

ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon) - Pam Ward & Ray Bentley

ESPNU Saturday noon - Clay Matvick & David Diaz-Infante

ESPNU Saturday afternoon - Todd Harris & Charles Arbuckle

ESPNU late Saturday - Carter Blackburn & TBD

ESPN and ESPN2 Fridays and select ABC Saturdays - Joe Tessitore & Rod GIlmore

ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 Saturdays and select Fridays - Terry Gannon & David Norrie

ESPN and ESPN2 midweek games - Rece Davis, Mark May, Lou Holtz & Rob Stone

ESPNU Thursday - Charlie Neal & Jay Walker

ESPN Radio games - Bill Rosinski, Dennis Franchione & Joe Schad

SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) - Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano

BIG EAST Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) - Mike Gleason, John Congemi & Quint Kessinich

ESPN Regional Television MAC Syndication - Michael Reghi & Doug Chapman

Additional commentators include Bob Wischusen, Rob Stone, Dave Lamont and Clay Matvick providing play-by-play and analysts Shaun King, JC Pearson and Jon Berger.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Regional Television Studio Assignments

College GameDay (Saturdays at 10 a.m. on ESPN) - Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard

Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Countdown (Saturdays on ABC) - John Saunders & Jesse Palmer

ABC Saturday reports - Matt Winer

Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Final (Saturdays on ESPN) - Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May

Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPN2) - Wendi Nix, Todd McShay & Robert Smith

Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPNU) - Rob Stone & Matt Stinchcomb (afternoons)

Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPNU) - Lowell Galindo, Jay Walker, Tom Luginbill & David Pollack (prime time)

College GameDay on ESPN Radio (Saturdays at noon) - Ryen Russillo, Trevor Matich & TBD

ESPNEWS Overdrive - Dari Nowkah, Kordell Stewart & Shaun King

Inside the Polls (ESPNU) - Lowell Galindo, Tom Luginbill & Tommy Tuberville

SEC syndication studio - Rob Stone & Matt Stinchcomb

SEC Weekly (ESPNU) - Cara Capuano, Matt Stinchcomb, David Pollack or Charles Arbuckle

Big 12 This Week (ESPNU) - Melissa Knowles & Jon Berger

The 2009 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN360.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Regional Television will total more than 400 regular-and post-season games, highlighted by the beginning of a new 15-year agreement with the SEC providing content across multiple platforms. The schedule will include weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday and select Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays.

My reaction to this? Nice to see Sean McDonough get out of the Friday night slot. I'm sad to see the Nessler, Griese and Maguire team dissolved. I thought they were a good team. And I'm not sure I like Matt Millen getting a major assignment here.

Also, Carter Blackburn comes over to ESPNU from CBS College Sports where he was languishing and misused. And nice to see the name Cara Capuano back with ESPN. I liked her on ESPNews.

We Sports Bloggers Should be Ashamed of Ourselves

For some reason, entertainment site TMZ broke this story and not one of the millions of sports blogs.

In fact, Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina found it and put it up on Twitter just before 2 p.m. today. How nobody in the sports blogosphere found it nor managed to get a picture is beyond me.

What am I talking about? Apparently ESPN's Erin Andrews was hit on the chin by a line drive during last night's Dodgers-Mets game. Of the thousands of fans who were there, how did this escape the attention of fanboys who most certainly were in attendance at Citi Field?

Apparently Erin is ok. Yes, you can all start up the balls-to-the-chin jokes. I know they're coming.

I'm still baffled how TMZ broke this before any of the sports blogs did. Crazy.

A Thursday Link Thing

Let's do some links for the day.

We start with some stories about yesterday's announcement about the U.S. Olympic Network.

Meg James of the Los Angeles Times looks at the new U.S. Olympic Network that is scheduled to launch next year.

USA Today's Michael Hiestand writes that the U.S. Olympic Committee felt it had to keep pace with other league-owned channels.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has the USOC feeling that the new channel's time has come.

Former LA Times writer, Alan Abrahamson, writing for Universal Sports says there are a lot of questions surrounding USON.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says USON could be a potential rival for Universal Sports.

Matthew Futterman from the Wall Street Journal says NBC Sports has to be looking over its shoulder at USON.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes that NBC Sports isn't commenting about USON.

Steve Donahue of the Contentinople blog has USON partner Comcast saying the new channel will not hurt NBC directly.

Philip Hersh and Kathy Bergen of the Chicago Tribune write that the International Olympic Committee's disapproval of USON might hurt the US' bid to have the 2016 Summer Games in Chicago.

Eddie Pells of the Associated Press says the USOC is surprised at the IOC's complaints about USON.

Brian Gomez from the Colorado Springs Gazette that the USOC is not concerned about the IOC's disapproval.

Now to other stories

CNBC's Darren Rovell previews what you'll see on his latest special, "Inside Track: Refueling The Business of NASCAR". It airs tonight on CNBC at 9.

Darren wonders if the tape of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James will ever be released.

Darren says Kazakhstan is getting a boost from a company that is sponsoring Lance Armstrong's team in the Tour de France.

Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Daily says Versus.com saw a huge traffic boost thanks to its streaming of the Tour de France.

Kristina Petersen of the Wall Street Journal reports that the Mountain West Conference has signed the Bowl Championship Series agreement with ESPN.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake City Tribune feels the MWC should not have signed off.

Glen Dickston of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN will unveil "Ball Track" for the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday.

Sports Illustrated picks up an AP story about the 20th anniversary of the Celebrity Golf Championship on NBC.

Mark Newman of MLB.com writes that the debut of the in-market streaming of the Yankees was a big success.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says a local sports talk show will be taking the day off tomorrow and replaced with national programming.

Patrick Cloohan of the McKeesport (PA) Daily News reports that Stan Savran, a fixture on FSN Pittsburgh for 18 years, will be leaving the channel on Monday.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog has the preliminary lineup when news/talk radio station WJFK flips to sports later this month.

In the Chicago Tribune, radio personality Steve Dahl remembers his role behind the infamous Disco Demolition Night at the old Comiskey Park some 30 years ago.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times says ESPN Deportes Radio is looking for a Windy City outlet (scroll down).

Ed Sherman in Crain's Chicago Business feels sorry for Cleveland.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN is ranking the Brewers as fourth best odds to land Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says ESPN is bored this summer.

Friend of Fang's Bites Tom Hoffarth talks about ESPN picking up English Premier League rights in the Irish Republic.

EPL Talk has surmised which English Premier Games will be seen on US television starting in August.

The Sports Media Watch says the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR race on the 4th of July did not do TNT any favors. And the SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

The Big Lead has a review of last night's E! True Hollywood Stories on Baseball Wives.

Joe Favorito says sports and entertainment entities must use the right mix in targeting the youngest audience.

The Sports Media Journal's latest podcast has Southeastern New England media mogul Keith Thibeault talking with a TV sports anchor from one of the smallest markets in the country.

I think that's going to do it for now. Back later.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Cycling
Tour de France, Stage 6 - Versus, 8:30 a.m.

Golf
PGA Tour/John Deere Classic, 1st round - Golf Channel, 3 p.m.
U.S. Women's Open, 1st round - ESPN, 2 p.m.

MLB

American League
Toronto at Tampa Bay - Rogers Preview/Fox Sports Florida, noon
New York Yankees at Minnesota - YES/Fox Sports North, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Chicago White Sox - STO/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2 p.m.
Kansas City at Red Sox - Fox Sports Kansas City/NESN, 7 p.m.
Texas at Seattle - Fox Sports Southwest/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.

National League
St. Louis at Milwaukee - Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 2 p.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia - Fox Sports Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets - MLB Network/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/SNY, 7 p.m.
Washingon at Houston (completion of suspended game from 5/5) - MASN/Fox Sports Houston, 7 p.m.
Washington at Houston (regularly scheduled game) - MASN/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Atlanta at Colorado - SportSouth/FSN Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
Florida at Arizona - Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
San Diego at San Francisco - Cox 4/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd - MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight - ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final - MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Attack of the Show (1,000th Episode) - G4, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 11 (series premiere) - CBS, 8 p.m.
Inside Track: Refueling The Business of NASCAR (hosted by Darren Rovell) - CNBC, 9 p.m.
Pitchmen/Pitchman: A Tribute to Billy Mays - Discovery, 9 p.m.
World's Toughest Fixes: Solar Power Plant - National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Naked Science: Tsunami From Outer Space - National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - Showtime, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman - CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Body Language - Showtime, midnight

Two More All-Star Game-Centric Press Releases Plus Comments

We continue to clear the Fang's Bites inbox of press releases and there are two more regarding the All-Star next Tuesday.

Let's go to the latest on the All-Star Game Final Vote.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL: INGE GRABS SLIM LEAD, SANDOVAL HANGS ON 2009 ALL-STAR GAME FINAL VOTE NEARS DRAMATIC FINISH

NEW YORK, July 8, 2009 – Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers has replaced Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers atop the American League ballot heading into the final 24 hours of the 2009 All-Star Game Final Vote on MLB.com and the individual Club sites. Over the last few hours, Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants has again re-taken the lead in the National League over Shane Victorino, but only after the Philadelphia Phillies outfielder jumped in front last night.

Sandoval and Victorino are separated by just two percentage points and the voting is so close that this race for the final roster spot on the 2009 National League All-Star Team has already seen at least five different lead changes. Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks continues to surge in third place as he is followed in the standings by Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals.

Inge surpassed Kinsler last night and continues to hold a slim lead of only nine percent entering these final 24 hours of balloting for the American League All-Star Team’s final roster spot. Chone Figgins of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays and Adam Lind of the Toronto Blue Jays have accumulated more than two million votes each.

With one day left to determine the winners, balloting remains ahead of last year’s record pace as 34.3 million votes have been cast. After a final early morning update tomorrow, the winners will be announced shortly after the conclusion of the balloting at 4 p.m. (EDT).

Mobile voting is available exclusively on Sprint capable mobile phones and fans can send the word "Vote" to 1122 to receive the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot. Standard text rates apply. In Canada, fans should text the word "Vote" to 88555.

We have highlights of a conference call Fox Sports conducted with its announcing crew and MLB Walking Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig.

SELIG, GOREN, BUCK & McCARVER PREVIEW MIDSUMMER CLASSIC – MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, FOX Sports President Ed Goren along with MLB on FOX's Emmy Award-winning broadcast team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver participated in a press call to preview coverage of Major League Baseball's 80^th All-Star Game from Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 14 (8:00 PM ET.)

Selected highlights are transcribed below.

Ed Goren on the production logistics in having President Obama at Busch Stadium to throw out the first pitch: “We went through this during the post-9/11 World Series at Yankee Stadium with President Bush. His presence affects the set up a bit, makes it similar to a Super Bowl in terms of security. The Secret Service will lock down the facility before the game and there may be some limitations of camera movement and certainly involves a lot more communication, but its not a big deal. It will be seamless to the viewer and trust me, it’s well worth it.”

Joe Buck on whether he likes the format of playing for home-field advantage format: “Tim and I are on record saying this has made the best All-Star Game of the four major sports even better. Before the format change, you would see the starters for one maybe two at bats and then they would be on their way to the airport. Now its completely different. We sit in with the managers and talk about how they’re going to manage and win the ball game, not just to get everyone in. Now personally, I love to see them go a step further. We were awfully close to a frightening situation last year at Yankee Stadium. Great ballgame but as it turned out we were maybe one out away from having JD Drew pitch in the ballgame. I’m glad they ended up adding another pitcher and a 33rd person on each roster but I’d love to see the starters start the game and see, for example, Tim Lincecum pitch five innings and see a real baseball game.”

Tim McCarver on his time in St. Louis and its baseball tradition: “I played in St. Louis from 1959-1969 and again in 1973 and 1974 and was fortunate to be on teams that were very successful so you would get no argument from me in saying St. Louis was and still is the best baseball town in America. My experience there was nothing but terrific. With Joe living in St. Louis and me going back, from a personal standpoint, this game is very special for both of us.”

Bud Selig on whether he thinks the format of playing for home-field advantage works: “A lot of people think that the 2002 tie really drove the change in format. We had been talking about this for at least a year before. I remember as kid watching Ted Williams break his elbow in the first inning of the 1950 All-Star Game in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. He played the whole game. But later the All-Star Game had lost its desire. Since the format change, the games have been played with remarkable intensity. It isn’t like we had a brilliant recipe for how we decided how to award home-field advantage before. One year the AL got it, the next the NL got it. Do I think playing for home-field advantage is good? You bet I do. Frankly, the events over the last six years have really made me feel stronger about this.”

And to ESPN's plans for the Home Run Derby on Monday as well as the other festivities of All-Star Weekend.

ESPN to Debut “Ball Track” During Home Run Derby

80^th MLB All-Star Game Live on ESPN Radio

ESPN’s extensive Major League Baseball All-Star coverage from Busch Stadium – home of the St. Louis Cardinals – will be highlighted by the 2009 Home Run Derby Monday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local time) exclusively on ESPN HD.

The Derby will also be available live via ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN International. Scheduled participants include St Louis’ Albert Pujols, who leads the Majors with 31 home runs, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez and Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard (2006 winner). A.L. participants will be determined.

This year’s event will include the debut of “Ball Track” technology, which uses Doppler radar to track the ball off the bat and provide the following information:

• Real-time distance the ball is traveling (from the point of impact to the final resting point);
• The path of the ball, or arch, as it travels through the air;
• Projection by using the path of the ball (in mid-flight, using a changing color pattern) whether the hit will be a home run.

Information will be presented using an on-screen graphic and will be stored for reference throughout the telecast. ESPN has displayed home run distances in the past, but this is the first time the information will be presented in real time.

Chris Berman will host the event, joined on the field by analysts Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips and reporter Erin Andrews. ESPN will utilize 20 cameras to capture the excitement of the Derby, including the use of “Ultra Mo,” a replay device recapping action at 1,000 frames per second. This is ESPN’s 12^th consecutive year of live Derby coverage and 17^th straight year overall. The Derby is traditionally one of ESPN’s highest-rated summer programs.

A special edition of Baseball Tonight, with host Karl Ravech, analysts John Kruk, Eduardo Perez and Chris Singleton, and reporters Peter Gammons and Tim Kurkjian, will be televised at 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio’s Dan Shulman and Dave Campbell will describe the Derby, with on-field reports from Peter Pascarelli. For the third consecutive year, ESPN360.com will provide a live simulcast of the event. For the first time, ESPN Mobile TV will also provide a live simulcast.

Ernesto Jerez will call the Derby for ESPN Deportes with analyst Candy Maldonado and on-field reporters Guillermo Celis and Carolina Guillén. ESPN Deportes’ Beisbol Esta Noche, with host Fernando Alvarez and analyst Eduardo Perez – plus reports by Guillén and Carlos Baerga from St. Louis – will preview the event at 7:30 p.m.

ESPN has been airing a marketing campaign – “Who will own the night?” – leading up to the Home Run Derby.

2009 Legends and Celebrity Softball Game

Immediately following the Home Run Derby on Monday, July 13, ESPN and ESPN HD will present the 2009 Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Gary Thorne will call the game with analyst Rick Sutcliffe and reporter Erin Andrews. In addition to Monday’s ESPN telecast (July 13), fans will have an opportunity to see the game live via ESPN360.com on Sunday, July 12, at 4 p.m.

Legends will include Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith and Bruce Sutter, both former Cardinals, Dave Winfield (ESPN analyst), Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage and Ernie Banks; Cardinals legends Lee Smith, Vince Coleman and Whitey Herzog; plus Tommy John and Fred Lynn. Celebrities scheduled to participate include Ashanti (Grammy Award-winning artist), Carl Edwards (NASCAR driver), Jenna Fischer (The Office), Ginuwine (R&B artist), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Shawn Johnson (Olympic champion), Nelly (Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter), Billy Bob Thornton (actor) and more.

ESPN Radio Mike & Mike in the Morning co-hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic will also participate. Mike & Mike will originate from St. Louis’ downtown Keener Plaza (Mon.-Tues., 6-10 a.m.), which was the site of the Cardinals’ and Rams’ championship victory parties and has a view of the Gateway Arch.

All-Star Futures Game

The networks’ All-Star coverage will begin with the 2009 All-Star Futures Game Sunday, July 13, at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN2, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV. Gary Thorne will call the game with analysts Rick Sutcliffe and Peter Gammons and reporter Erin Andrews. ESPN Deportes will also televise the Futures Game live, with Ernesto Jerez (play-by-play), analyst Candy Maldonado and reporter Guillermo Celis.

80^th MLB All-Star Game on ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio

ESPN Radio (7:45 p.m.) and ESPN Deportes Radio (8 p.m.) will broadcast the 80^th All-Star Game, Tuesday, July 14. ESPN Radio’s Dan Shulman will call the game with analyst Dave Campbell, with Marc Kestecher serving as on-site host. Peter Pascarelli and John Rooney, the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, will serve as on-field reporters. Shulman and Campbell have worked the All-Star Game and Derby together for eighth consecutive seasons. ESPN Radio will broadcast All-Star Specials Monday, June 13, and Tuesday, June 14, from 4- 8 p.m. with co-hosts Orestes Destrade and Jon Seibel.

Eduardo Ortega will call the game for ESPN Deportes Radio with Hall of Famer Juan Marichal and analyst Renato Bermudez. Jose Francisco Rivera will serve as on-field reporter.

ESPN International

ESPN International will offer live coverage of the All-Star Game and Futures Game on its networks serving Latin America (South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean), Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. Coverage of the Derby on Monday at 8 p.m. will also be available in these regions, plus Australia. ESPN AMERICA, the only European network dedicated to North American sports, will broadcast the All-Star Game, Futures Game and Home Run Derby to 43 countries throughout Europe.

SportsCenter & Baseball Tonight All-Star Coverage

The 6 p.m. SportsCenter on Monday and Tuesday will present live batting practice reports and previews from the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, respectively, while the late-night SportsCenters will provide live post-Derby and post-game analysis and interviews. Chris Berman will anchor the post All-Star game SportsCenter, with Karl Ravech anchoring all other SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight coverage. Analysts will include Peter Gammons, John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian, Eduardo Perez, Steve Phillips and Chris Singleton. Baseball Tonight will provide highlights, news and information related to the Derby Monday, July 13, at midnight (9 p.m. PT) and the All-Star Game Tuesday, July 14, at 1 a.m. (10 p.m. PT).

ESPNEWS

ESPNEWS will provide live coverage of Monday’s All-Star Game press conference (11 a.m.) and Home Run Derby press conference (1:15 p.m.), along with the post-Derby press conference. On Tuesday, ESPNEWS will cover the pre- and post-game press conferences.

ESPN.com, ESPNDeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine and ESPNTheMag.com will also provide All-Star coverage.

ESPN.com

ESPN.com’s MLB All-Star Game index page will include:

• New content daily July 9-14 featuring retrospective pieces on the All-Star Gamenews and analysis, and scouting reports; through the years,
• Reports by Jerry Crasnick, Jason Grey, Eric Karabell, Keith Law, Rob Neyer, Peter Pascarelli and Jayson Stark;
• Real-time coverage via a live All-Star blog and Twitter feed with contributions from ESPN writers and editors on site;
• Play-by-play home run tracker during the Derby;
• Live GameCast during the All-Star Game;
• SportsNation polls;
• Baseball Today podcast with hosts Karabell and Pascarelli;
• Coverage of the Derby and All-Star Game on a special Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page featuring Baseball Tonight Minute video;
• “Off Base” video pieces from Jim Caple in St. Louis;
• “SweetSpot” blog by Neyer, who will be blogging during the Derby and All-Star Game;
• Photo galleries and more.

ESPN Mobile Web

All-Star coverage across the ESPN Mobile Web and MVP application will allow users to follow the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game live directly on their mobile device via GameCast and a blog. An All-Star Hot Corner feature will provide interactive chats and polls.

ESPN Alerts will provide subscribers with in-progress and final result updates from the Futures Game, Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.

That will conclude our work for Wednesday.

A Slew of Wednesday Press Releases

A whole bunch of releases are in the Fang's Bites inbox. Let's get started.

The NFL Network has its programming set through next week.

NFL NETWORK PROGRAMMING NOTES (7/8-7/14)

LIONS QB MATTHEW STAFFORD IN-STUDIO

ON NFL TOTAL ACCESS TUESDAY

“Best in the Biz” Series Continues on

NFL Total Access with Top 5 Wide Receivers,

Offensive Linemen, Quarterbacks

Debut of NFL’s Top 10 Gunslingers

Friday at 8:00 PM ET

NFL’S TOP 10 GUNSLINGERS – Friday at 8:00 PM ET

Sammy Baugh, Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Brett Favre and others are debated Friday at 8:00 PM ET as NFL’s Top 10 Gunslingers profiles quarterbacks the shotgun and play-action pass were made for.

NFL’s Top 10 provides a look at some of the most intriguing subjects in the NFL, creating and debating a top ten list for each category. Each 60-minute episode counts down from No. 10 to the top ranking in each category.

THIS WEEK ON NFL TOTAL ACCESS: Chargers LB Shaun Phillips, Former Broncos WR Rod Smith, Saints players Marques Colston, Roman Harper and Usama Young & Lions QB Matthew Stafford in-studio

Wednesday, July 8

• ‘Best in the Biz’- Top 5 Wide Receivers
• Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Jamie Dukes and Steve Mariucci debate the pros and cons of an extended regular season schedule
• ’32 Teams in 32 Days’ – #10 Atlanta Falcons
• Around the League with Jason La Canfora

Thursday, July 9

• Chargers LB Shaun Phillips guest analyst
• ‘Best in the Biz’ – Top 5 Offensive Linemen
• ’32 Teams in 32 Days’ – #9 Atlanta Falcons
• Around the League with Jason La Canfora

Friday, July 10

• ‘Best in the Biz’ – Top 5 Quarterbacks
• ’32 Teams in 32 Days’ – #8 Minnesota Vikings
• Video diary of Seattle Seahawks WR Nate Burleson
• Around the League with Jason La Canfora

Monday, July 13

• Former Broncos WR Rod Smith guest analyst
• Saints WR Marques Colston, SS Roman Harper, CB Usama Young in-studio
• ’32 Teams in 32 Days’ – #7 Baltimore Ravens

Tuesday, July 14

• Lions QB Matthew Stafford in-studio
• ’32 Teams in 32 Days’ – #6 Tennessee Titans

NFL.COM CHAT SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 9

• 12:00 PM ET – NFL.com writer Bucky Brooks
• 4:30 PM ET – NFL Network Analyst Warren Sapp

Friday, July 10

• 2:00 PM ET – NFL.com writer Pat Kirwan

DAY-BY-DAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE (all times listed are ET):

Wednesday, July 8

10:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

11:00 PM – America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens (HD)

12 MIDNIGHT – America’s Game: 2006 Indianapolis Colts (HD)

1:00 AM – NFL Total Access (HD)

Thursday, July 9

1:00 PM – NFL Films Presents: History Making Backs

2:00 PM – Year in Review: 1997

2:30 PM – Year in Review: 1998

3:00 PM – America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens (HD)

4:00 PM – America’s Game: 2006 Indianapolis Colts (HD)

5:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Team Turnarounds

6:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Follies

7:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

8:00 PM – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 1

9:00 PM – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 2

10:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

11:00 PM – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 1

12:00 MIDNIGHT – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 2

1:00 AM – NFL Total Access (HD)

Friday, July 10

1:00 PM – NFL Films Presents: Feeling the Heat

2:00 PM – Year in Review: 1999

2:30 PM – Year in Review: 2000

3:00 PM – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 1

4:00 PM – NFL Film Session: 1998 QB Challenge – Part 2

5:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Players Not In The Hall Of Fame

6:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Backfield Tandems

7:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

8:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Gunslingers

9:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Comebacks

10:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

11:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Gunslingers

12 MIDNIGHT – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Comebacks

1:00 AM – NFL Total Access (HD)

Saturday, July 11

1:00 PM – Game of the Week: Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots (2001 AFC Divisional Playoff) (HD)

2:00 PM – Game of the Week: New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers (2002 NFC Wild Card) (HD)

3:00 PM – America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens (HD)

4:00 PM – America’s Game: 2006 Indianapolis Colts (HD)

5:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Comebacks

6:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Gunslingers

7:00 PM – NFL Total Access: Week in Review (HD)

8:00 PM – NFL Classic Games: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Giants (December 18, 2004) (HD)

10:00 PM – NFL Total Access: Week in Review (HD)

11:00 PM – NFL Classic Games: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Giants (December 18, 2004) (HD)

Sunday, July 12

9:00 AM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Weather Games

10:00 AM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Passing Combinations

11:00 AM – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Gunslingers

12:00 NOON – NFL’s Top 10: Top 10 Comebacks

1:00 PM – NFL Replay: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

2:30 PM – NFL Replay: New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

4:00 PM – NFL Replay: Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

5:30 PM – NFL Replay: Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

7:00 PM – NFL Replay: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

8:30 PM – NFL Replay: New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

10:00 PM – NFL Replay: Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

11:30 PM – NFL Replay: Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

1:00 AM – NFL Replay: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

2:30 AM – Starting 11: Week 17 (HD)

Monday, July 13

7:00 AM – NFL Replay: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

8:30 AM – NFL Replay: New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

10:00 AM – NFL Replay: Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

11:30 AM – NFL Replay: Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

1:00 PM – NFL Replay: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

2:30 PM –NFL Replay: New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

4:00 PM – NFL Replay: Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

5:30 PM – NFL Replay: Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints (Week 17, 2008) (HD)

7:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

8:00 PM – Super Bowl Classics: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowl XIII)

11:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

12 MIDNIGHT – Super Bowl Classics: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowl XIII)

Tuesday, July 14

11:00 AM – Super Bowl Classics: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowl XIII)

2:00 PM – Year in Review: 2001

2:30 PM – Year in Review: 2002

3:00 PM – Road to the Super Bowl: 2005 Seattle Seahawks

4:00 PM – Road to the Super Bowl: 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

5:00 PM – Year in Review: 2001

5:30 PM – NFL’s Greatest Games: Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots (2001 AFC Divisional Playoff) (HD)

7:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

8:00 PM – Game of the Week: New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (2004 AFC Divisional Playoff) (HD)

9:00 PM – Game of the Week: New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl XXXIX) (HD)

10:00 PM – NFL Total Access (HD)

11:00 PM – Game of the Week: New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (2004 AFC Divisional Playoff) (HD)

12 MIDNIGHT – Game of the Week: New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl XXXIX) (HD)

1:00 AM – NFL Total Access (HD)

Comcast SportsNet New England will carry the Rasheed Wallace press conference live on Thursday.

THE CELTICS NETWORK COMCAST SPORTSNET TO CARRY RASHEED WALLACE PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE AT 4 PM ON THURSDAY

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet will host live coverage of the Rasheed Wallace press conference on Thursday, July 9, starting at 4 p.m. Gary Tanguay will anchor coverage from CSN's Celtics studios and Greg Dickerson will be on-site for post press conference reaction.

Comcast SportsNet will also stream the entire press conference at CSNNE.com beginning at 4 p.m.

Following the press conference, Michael Felger and Tanguay will have full analysis and Dickerson will have an expected one-on-one with Wallace on Sports Tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Boston Globe’s Marc Spears will breakdown the signing on the Late Edition of Sports Tonight at 10 p.m.

To some golf-related releases now. TNT and PGA.com will team up to stream the Open Championship live from Turnberry next week.

TNT and PGA.com Tee Off Coverage of Golf’s Final Two Majors with Multiplatform Offerings for The Open Championship and PGA Championship

Extensive Live Television and Complementary Online Coverage of The Open Championship Available July 16 – 19

TNT and PGA.com will hit the links to provide extensive television and online coverage of golf’s final two majors for The Open Championship (July 16 – 19) and the PGA Championship (August 13 – 16). In addition to TNT’s exclusive coverage of the first and second rounds and early coverage of the third and final rounds of both tournaments, PGA.com, managed by Turner Sports, will also provide extensive online offerings and live video coverage to give fans an all-access pass to two of the most prestigious events in golf.

The 138^th Open Championship will take place on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry in Scotland. TNT’s 28 hours of television coverage will take place from Thursday, July 16 to Sunday, July 19. The Open Championship LIVE video player on PGA.com will broadcast live feeds directly from the tournament with three channels available for the first and second rounds including:

• Channel #1 will tee off at 4 a.m. ET with a World Feed followed by a TNT Simulcast until the rounds are complete.

• Channel #2 offers Close Up Coverage beginning at 4 a.m. ET to follow groups at holes #9, 10 and 11 in a produced feed.

• Channel #3 offers Inside the Ropes access featuring on-demand video of highlights from the day, footage from past Open Championships and instruction from PGA professionals.

• Online coverage of the third and final rounds will also be available with the TNT Simulcast and Inside the Ropes channels (see times below).

“The Open Championship is one of the most prestigious golf events in the world and Turner Sports is pleased to offer multiple ways for fans to follow their favorite golfers both on television and online,” said David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. “We will continue to work with our partners at The R&A and the PGA of America to provide the most innovative and comprehensive golf coverage possible.”

TNT’s telecast of The Open Championship will feature an expert panel of announcers including two-time Emmy® winning host Ernie Johnson who will be joined by 1991 British Open Champion winner and TNT analyst Ian Baker-Finch. Analyst/course reporter Bill Kratzert will also be a part of the coverage along with Jim Huber who will provide interviews and essays. TNT will once again partner with ABC to share coverage of the tournament, with ABC airing the duration of the third and final rounds.

The network earned an Emmy® Award for its coverage of the British Open in 2005, which included Jack Nicklaus’ farewell to major championship golf from the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

2009 British Open Championship on TNT Programming Schedule

Thurs., July 16, 6:30 a.m. ET/PT - Preview Show

Thurs., July 16, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET/PT - First Round Coverage

Fri., July 17, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET/PT - Second Round Coverage

Sat., July 18, 7 – 9 a.m. ET/4 – 6 a.m. PT - Third Round Coverage

Sun., July 19, 6 – 8 a.m. ET/3 – 5 a.m. PT - Final Round Coverage

Open Championship LIVE Schedule: Thurs., July 16 and Fri., July 17

Channel #1: 4 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET - World Feed & TNT Simulcast

Channel #2: 4 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET - Close Up Coverage: Holes 9, 10 & 11

Channel #3: On-Demand - Inside the Ropes

Sat., July 18

Channel #1: 5 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET - World Feed & TNT Simulcast

Channel #3: On-Demand - Inside the Ropes

Sun., July 19

Channel #1: 6 a.m. – 8 a.m. ET - World Feed & TNT Simulcast

Channel #3: On-Demand - Inside the Ropes

With many golfers flying across the Atlantic Ocean to get ready for the Open Championship, there's a depleted field for this week's PGA Tour event on CBS Sports.

KENNY PERRY DEFENDS TITLE AS CBS SPORTS TEES UP

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC ON JULY 11 &12

Kenny Perry is aiming for his third PGA TOUR victory this year after winning in his previous start at the Travelers Championship on CBS two weeks ago. Perry, currently No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, defends his title in what historically is a haven for first-time PGA TOUR winners. CBS Sports broadcasts third- and final-round coverage of the JOHN DEERE CLASSIC on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET; both days) live from TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

Last year, Perry, Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson battled back-and-forth in the final round and eventually ended in a playoff with Perry winning on the first extra hole. The JOHN DEERE CLASSIC once again hosts a strong field as Perry defends his title against 2009 U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, David Duval, Davis Love III, Aaron Baddeley, Rich Beem, Chad Campbell, Tom Lehman, Jesper Parnevik, Mark Calcavecchia, Brandt Snedeker, Scott McCarron, J.J. Henry, Steve Elkington, Adamonis, Williamson, along with past champions John Senden (2006), Mark Hensby (2004), J.P. Hayes (2002) and J.L. Lewis (1999), as well as.

CBS Sports’ announce team of Bill Macatee and Ian Baker-Finch in the 18^th tower, David Feherty on the 17^th hole, and Bobby Clampett on the course reporting, call the action.

NBC Sports will have the 3rd major for Women's Golf, the U.S. Women's Open from Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, PA.

NBC SPORTS BROADCASTS LIVE COVERAGE OF U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN

NBC's Pepper on the Open: "This is the best event in women’s golf; there’s nothing even close.”

NEW YORK – July 8, 2009 – NBC Sports will broadcast live coverage of the most prestigious event in women's golf, the U.S. Women's Open from Saucon Valley Country Club's Old Course in Bethlehem, Pa., Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. ET.

Dan Hicks will host NBC's coverage alongside Johnny Miller and Dottie Pepper, who competed in 19 U.S. Opens in her illustrious career. They are joined by tower reporter Gary Koch, and course reporters Roger Maltbie and former LPGA players Jane Crafter and Kay Cockerill.

"This is the best event in women's golf; there's nothing even close," said Pepper. "An Open will challenge you in every way – the length, slope, speed of greens. You'll hit shots that you've never hit before. You need to be mentally rested coming into it. You have to be patient, know you're not going to be perfect."

Inbee Park looks to defend her title, challenged by past champions Christie Kerr (2007), Birdie Kim (2005); Laura Davies (1987); Julie Inkster (1999, 2002); Meg Mallon (1991, 2004); Se Ri Pak (1998) and Karrie Webb (2000, 2001). Other top competitors include Lorena Ochoa, Kristy McPherson, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer.

Saucon Valley is hosting its sixth USGA Championship including U.S. Senior Opens in 1992 and 2000. The Old Course regularly ranks among the top 100 courses in Golf Magazine.

And NBC and Universal Sports team up to carry the U.S. National Swimming Championships featuring a star-studded field.

MICHAEL PHELPS AND DARA TORRES COMPETE THIS WEEKEND AT USA SWIMMING NATIONALS ON NBC SPORTS

NEW YORK- July 8, 2009- More than 20 U.S. Olympians, including Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol, are competing at the USA Swimming National Championships this week from the Natatorium in Indianapolis. NBC Sports will provide coverage Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Top swimmers in each event will be awarded spots on the 2009 U.S. World Championship Team that will compete at the FINA World Aquatics Championships broadcast on NBC Sports and Universal Sports at the end of this month from Rome, Italy.

Among the main storylines are 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, competing in the 100m and 200m freestyle and 100m and 200m butterfly; Dara Torres competing in the 50m freestyle event; two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol competing in the 100m backstroke; and Ryan Lochte competing in the 400m IM, an event in which Michael Phelps holds both the world and American records.

Ted Robinson, alongside three-time Olympic gold medalist swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines will provide commentary, with Alex Flanagan reporting poolside.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com will provide a live webcast each evening of the Swimming National Championships finals, from July 7-11, at 6 p.m. ET.  Two-time Gold Medalist Mel Stewart will be hosting a 30 minute preview show at 5:30 p.m. ET before each day of competition only online.  More information, as well as highlights, full-length videos, photos and breaking news is available at UniversalSports.com/swimming.

And that will finish this post. I have more press releases if you can believe that. Of course you can.

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.

All-Star Game Press Releases

With the All-Star Game less than a week away, MLB's network, cable and satellite radio partners are shoring up their plans to cover the Midsummer Classic.

Since the releases are coming in fast and furious, I might as well put them all in one post instead of separating them. First, Fox Sports says all five living U.S. Presidents will appear in a video before the start of the game, then President Barack Obama will throw out the first pitch.

ALL FIVE LIVING U.S. PRESIDENTS TO APPEAR IN SPECIAL VIDEO PRIOR TO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAME ON FOX

First Time All of the Living U.S. Presidents Will Participate in a Ceremony at a Sporting Event

U.S. Presidents to Salute 30 People Being Celebrated for Their Outstanding Community Service & Advocating for All Americans to Volunteer

United States President Barack Obama along with former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will appear in an unprecedented video address as part of a special ceremony prior to the 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game on FOX, Tuesday, July 14 at 8:00 PM ET. The video will mark the first time all of the living U.S. Presidents will participate in a ceremony at a sporting event. Following the video, President Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Presidential video address, which will run approximately seven minutes, will be part of a pregame celebration honoring the 30 “All-Stars Among Us,” men and women who are being recognized by Major League Baseball and PEOPLE magazine for their selfless acts of giving and service to their communities.

The 30 honorees, one representing each MLB Club, were selected by fans online at www.peopleallstars.com as part of a joint initiative between Major League Baseball and PEOPLE magazine, with nearly three quarters of a million votes cast.

“The importance of community service is personified by the 30 ‘All-Stars Among Us’ and reinforced by the willingness of the five living Presidents to come together in support of this important theme during the Midsummer Classic,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “In addition to celebrating baseball’s best on the field, Major League Baseball wants to shine a light on stars in the community whose work improves the lives of those who are less fortunate.”

In addition to talking about the importance of giving back to the community, each President will highlight the accomplishments of one of the “All-Stars Among Us,” who will be saluted on the field by the Major League Baseball All-Stars and the fans at Busch Stadium.

Next, MLB Network without having any of the big events of All-Star Weekend will provide plenty of wraparound programming leading up to the game and after the game. MLB Network is pulling all the stops sending just about all of its talent lineup to St. Louis.

MLB NETWORK ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FOR 2009 MLB ALL-STAR GAME

Schedule to include MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show and MLB Tonight: All-Star Batting Practice

MLB Network’s Bob Costas and former MLB All-Stars Barry Larkin, Al Leiter & Harold Reynolds Among Talent On-Site

Secaucus, N.J., July 8, 2009 – MLB Network today announced its exclusive programming leading up to the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 14. Beginning Monday, July 13, MLB Network will air MLB Tonight: All-Star Batting Practice at 5:00 p.m. ET, the first time the event will be televised nationally, in advance of the Home Run Derby. On Tuesday, July 14, MLB Network will televise the MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show at 4:00p.m. ET followed by MLB Tonight: All-Star Batting Practice at 5:00 p.m. ET and an abbreviated version of the MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show at 7:30 p.m. ET. A special All-Star edition of MLB Tonight, the signature program of MLB Network during the regular season, will air live from Busch Stadium immediately following the All-Star Game.

Throughout July 13 and 14, MLB Network’s Bob Costas, Greg Amsinger, 12-time MLB All-Star Barry Larkin, two-time MLB All-Star Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, two-time MLB All-Star Harold Reynolds and Matt Vasgersian will share on-air hosting duties while Trenni Kusnierek, Hazel Mae and Reynolds will report from the field each day.

“We’re looking forward to hitting the road to bring fans the latest All-Star news and updates,” said Tony Petitti, MLB Network’s president and CEO. "We will air over 70 hours of All-Star Game-related programming from July 6 through July 15, anchored by our on-site host position in St. Louis.”

Additional programming includes three special features from Costas, including a look back at the 1999 All-Star Game at Boston’s Fenway Park and a piece on the history of baseball in St. Louis set to air during MLB Tonight on July 13. Costas will also narrate a feature segment about the 1964 All-Star Game at New York’s Shea Stadium that will air during MLB Tonight airing on July 14. MLB Network will air a block of All-Time Games, featuring 14 All-Star Games from 1971 to 2008, each afternoon through Sunday, July 19.

MLB Network's All-Star Game coverage on Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14 appears below.

MLB Network 2009 All-Star Game Programming (all times Eastern):

July 13 – 5:00 p.m. MLB Tonight: All-Star Batting Practice

July 14 – 4:00 p.m. MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show

July 14 – 5:00 p.m. MLB Tonight: All-Star Batting Practice

July 14 – 7:30 p.m. MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show (abbreviated)

July 14 – Post All-Star Game: MLB Tonight

Finally, Sirius XM, mainly XM, in fact, only XM Satellite Radio, not the Sirius side, will have the exclusive play-by-play airing from ESPN Radio of the Home Run Derby as well as the All-Star Game next week.

SIRIUS XM RADIO ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE BROADCAST COVERAGE OF 2009 MLB ALL-STAR GAME

Play-by-play of the 80^th All-Star Game will air July 14 on XM channel 175

MLB Home Plate, Mad Dog Radio and SIRIUS XM Stars Too channels will broadcast live from St. Louis

NEW YORK – July 8, 2009 – SIRIUS XM Radio announced today that it will offer baseball fans comprehensive coverage of 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Week, including the 80^th All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 14 on XM channel 175.

XM will air the All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14 (8:00 pm ET), plus live coverage of the Home Run Derby (July 13 at 8:00 pm ET) and the exclusive radio broadcast of the All-Star Futures Game (July 12 at 2:00 pm ET), featuring the top minor league prospects from the U.S. and abroad. All three events will air live nationwide on XM channel 175.

Prior to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, MLB Home Plate, SIRIUS XM’s 24-hour baseball talk channel, will broadcast live (6:00 – 8:00 pm ET) from the field at Busch Stadium. SIRIUS XM’s Seth Everett and Jim Duquette will host the pre-game coverage both days, which will include one-on-one interviews with the All Stars, managers and coaches as well as live updates on everything happening on the diamond. The MLB Home Plate channel is available to both XM and SIRIUS subscribers on XM channel 175 and SIRIUS channel 210 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

Additionally, three channels from across the SIRIUS XM platform will broadcast live from MLB All-Star FanFest at the America’s Center in downtown St. Louis on the days leading up to the All-Star Game.

• From MLB Home Plate (XM channel 175 and SIRIUS channel 210 (“Best of XM”)):

• Saturday, July 11 (11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET) - Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother and fellow major league veteran Billy Ripken will host their weekly show, Ripken Baseball, live from the SIRIUS XM broadcast booth at All-Star FanFest.

• Saturday, July 11 (1:00 – 4:00 pm ET) – Former MLB general manager Jim Duquette will host Talking Baseball live from the SIRIUS XM broadcast booth at All-Star FanFest.

• Saturday, July 11 (4:00 – 7:00 pm ET) - Former major league pitcher and longtime broadcaster Jim Kaat and SIRIUS XM’s Scott Graham will host a special edition of Baseball This Morning Xtra live from All-Star FanFest.
  

• Sunday, July 12 (10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET), prior to the XM All-Star Futures Game, SIRIUS XM’s Seth Everett and Jim Duquette will host a special edition of their MLB Home Plate show, Power Alley, live from All-Star Fanfest.

From Mad Dog Radio, SIRIUS XM’s all-sports talk channel (SIRIUS channel 123 and XM channel 144):

• Monday, July 13 (2:00 – 7:00 pm ET) Gary Williams, Mad Dog Radio’s morning show host, will host a special All-Star preview show live at FanFest. Williams will be joined live on set by Jim Kaat and Jim Duquette.

From SIRIUS XM Stars Too, SIRIUS XM’s talk radio channel for guys (SIRIUS channel 108 and XM channel 139):

• Monday, July 13 (11:00 am – 2:00 pm ET) and Tuesday, July 14 (noon – 3:00 pm ET), SIRIUS XM personalities Steve Covino and Rich Davis will host their daily talk show live from FanFest. Maxim Radio with Covino and Rich airs weekdays on SIRIUS XM Stars Too.

XM listeners can hear every game from all 30 Major League teams live on XM channels 175 to 189. A schedule of upcoming MLB games on XM can be found at www.xmradio.com/mlb.

That's it for this post. ESPN will outline its plans for the Home Run Derby later in the week.

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Olympic Committee To Launch its Own TV Network

In a move that is going to be watched over the next few years, the U.S. Olympic Committee today announced the formation of a new TV network. It will be called U.S. Olympic Network or USON for short. With NBC's Universal Sports, this now gives the consumer two full-time dedicated TV channels to Olympic Sports. As NBC shovels track & field, skiing, figure skating and gymnastics among other sports to Universal Sports, it will be interesting to see if the two networks compete for the same events and if the governing bodies of the Olympic sports decide to go with USON over Universal.

In addition, the U.S. Olympic Committee was smart in partnering with Comcast giving USON instant credibility. I do have the press release and it states as follows:

USOC and Comcast partner to launch the U.S. Olympic Network

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.; PHILADEPHIA, Penn.; and SUN VALLEY, Idaho - The U. S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and Comcast Corporation announced today that they have entered into an agreement to form the U.S. Olympic Network (USON), the first-ever cable television network devoted solely to the excitement, competition and values connected with the Olympic Movement.

Expected to launch in 2010, broadcasting year-round, and using multiple platforms, including television, video on demand and online, the USON will provide a window into the quests of American athletes to reach the pinnacle of their sports. Viewers will be able to watch live coverage of championship competitions and, after 2012, Olympic trial events in a wide range of sports, plus live, non-stop news reports, commentary, interviews from the locations of future Olympic and Paralympic Games, and classic Olympic footage through its exclusive U.S. access to thousands of hours of programming.

Additionally, the USON will provide video on demand content, enabling subscribers to watch their favorite Olympic athletes and their feats whenever they want. A broadband platform will also be established for Internet customers to experience the passion of the Olympic Games online with news, highlights, and event coverage. The transaction is subject to closing conditions.

"The U.S Olympic Network will be a dream come true for fans of the Olympic Games, delivering rich year-round content associated with the world's greatest sporting competitions," said Stephanie Streeter, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the USOC. "By bringing the stories, competitions and history of the Olympic Movement into American homes year-round, the USOC hopes to not only inspire a new generation of athletes but also to educate young people about the ideals and values of the Olympic movement. And, we believe strongly that the USON can also serve as a template that can be used in other parts of the world to expand access to the Olympic experience. Plus, the USON's unparalleled year-round exposure of the Olympic brand - already one of the world's most recognized and respected - will generate compelling opportunities for Olympic sponsors to expand their association with the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. At the same time, we believe it will enhance interest in and viewership of Olympic-related coverage on broadcast networks. We are excited to work with all of our partners, and everyone associated with the Olympic Movement, to establish the USON as the foremost full time channel for Olympic-related content."

Jeff Shell, President of Comcast Programming Group, said, "Comcast is pleased to partner with the United States Olympic Committee on the U.S. Olympic Network. Promoting the spirit of the Olympic Games in the homes of millions of Americans will support our athletes and bring more Olympic entertainment to our customers."

"We are excited to see this important development for the USOC," added Matt Van Houten, Chair, USOC Athletes' Advisory Council. "It will do great things for America's athletes by bringing them and the Olympic Movement into the public's awareness on a year-round basis, not just for a couple of weeks every two years."

USON is conceived as a network to support the public interest of furthering the Olympic Movement's international mission of promoting peace through the Games. The USOC intends to use a significant portion of its net proceeds from the network's operations to help fund the training of American athletes.

Allen & Company served as an advisor the USOC.

Programming

The USON will appeal to a broad demographic consistent with the country's strong interest in the Olympic Games. It intends to air programming that is appealing to a younger demographic interested in sports and pop culture, as well as the traditional Olympic fan base with a greater understanding and recollection of the historic significance of past Olympic Games.

USON will deliver compelling programming such as:

The USOC's major events, including those sponsored by National Governing Bodies of Olympic and Pan American sport organizations, and the exclusive rights to the U.S. Olympic Trials after 2012;

• Archive-based shows utilizing thousands of hours of existing Olympic content;
• Films, movies and documentaries;
• Original series;
• Instructional programming; and
• News and talk shows that feature the engaging personalities of Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls, and their quest to reach the pinnacles of their sports.

The USON, in addition to its cable and satellite presence, will integrate new media across all available platforms that will enable a strong personal connection between Team USA and Americans who will be inspired by their Olympic quest.

Expanded Opportunities for USOC Sponsors

Through a special Congressional charter, the USOC holds exclusive rights to use the words "Olympic" and "Olympiad," the Olympic rings and other Olympic imagery and phrases within the U.S. Given the positive and powerful nature of the Olympic brand, several of the world's leading companies have made significant investments to become Official USOC Sponsors and have the right to use Olympic marks.

USOC sponsors have made this investment despite the limited windows around the Olympic Games that are held for 17 days every two years. The USON will give USOC sponsors a new, 365-day-a-year opportunity to promote their association with the Olympic brand beyond this limited window. Several USOC sponsors have already expressed interest in becoming sponsors of the USON.

With USON providing the U.S. Olympic Trials after 2012, would it decide to keep all of the programming itself or perhaps partner with the U.S. TV Network of the 2014 and 2016 Olympics to share? It's all a different playing field for Olympic sports. I'm sure NBC would not have bought WCSN if it were not in the Olympics for the long haul. My question, would NBC partner with USON or perhaps buy an equity stake in the channel? A lot of question to be answered. This will be an interesting race between the two for Olympic sports programming.

BBC Sport's 2009 Closing Wimbledon Montage

Now that Wimbledon is over and we can move on to other sporting events, I can go back and look at some of the moments of the recently past fortnight. This year's tournament was quite fun to watch and yes, having found a way to watch the BBC for the entire two weeks was absolutely a joy without any of the silly tape delays. But let's not rehash that issue.

Before the tournament began, I gave you a series of montages the BBC put together over the years as they closed their coverage of Wimbledon.

Here is the montage for this year's tournament done to "When You're Smiling" sung by the late, great Dean Martin. BBC "Today at Wimbledon" host John Inverdale takes us out.

And here's an alternate version of the montage done to the Jackson 5.

Watching BBC's coverage during Wimbledon is really the only way to go. I wish DirecTV could somehow offer it, but I'm sure ESPN2, NBC and Tennis Channel would object. Anyway, this concludes the Wimbledon posts for this year.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Cycling
Tour de France, Stage 5 - Versus, 8:30 a.m.

MLB

American League
Baltimore at Seattle - MASN/FSN Northwest, 4:30 p.m.
Oakland at Red Sox - Comcast SportsNet California/NESN, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Detroit - Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay - TSN/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Chicago White Sox - STO/WCIU, 8 p.m.
New York Yankees at Minnesota - YES/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Texas at Anaheim Angels - Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
Atlanta at Chicago Cubs - SportSouth/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Houston - FSN Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Houston, 2 p.m.
Washington at Colorado - MASN2, 3 p.m.
Florida at San Francisco - Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 3:30 p.m.
San Diego at Arizona - Fox Sports Arizona, 3:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia - Fox Sports Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets - ESPN/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/SNY, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Milwaukee - Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd - MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight - ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight - MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Wipeout - ABC, 8 p.m.
America's Got Talent - NBC, 9 p.m.
UFC's Ulimate 100 Greatest Fights - Spike, 9 p.m.
Primetime: Crime - ABC, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman - CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Mayne Street - Sweet Smell of Success

In the latest webisode of Mayne Street, Video Cowboy shows Kenny how he picks winners at the Belmont Stakes. And we get a guest appearance from Jeannine Edwards.

Not great. Not terrible. Average. Punch line was seen running from the backstretch.

Your Tuesday Press Releases

We have a bunch of press releases to post tonight. It's not going to be a scrollfest, but enough to make this a good sized post.

Starting with NESN which will air a commercial-free special a week from this Saturday on Jim Rice's induction into the Hall of Fame.

NESN TO PREMIERE JIM RICE: THE JOURNEY TO COOPERSTOWN ON SATURDAY, JULY 18 AT 9 PM

Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) Special to air Commercial Free

BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will premiere Jim Rice: The Journey to Cooperstown on Saturday, July 18 at 9:00 PM. This Original NESN Entertainment special will recount Rice’s passage from a segregated small town high school team to the daunting left field role at Fenway Park during the tumultuous 1970’s in Boston. Former teammates including, Ellis Burks, Dwight Evans, Rich Gedman, Fred Lynn, Jerry Remy and Carl Yastrzemski share anecdotes and stories from his remarkable career.

Earlier this month, NESN cameras accompanied Jim to his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina where Rice introduces viewers to the people and places which shaped him as a ballplayer, and how they influenced his career with the Red Sox.

“Along with Red Sox fans everywhere, we are very excited that Jim is receiving the recognition he richly deserves as one of baseball’s all-time greats,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer. “Jim humbly allowed us to follow him back to his hometown in South Carolina to document where he grew up and to meet many of the people that helped make him into the extraordinary player and person that he is today.”

Jim Rice was one of the most feared sluggers in all of baseball in the late 70’s and 80’s while playing leftfield for the Boston Red Sox. He was an 8-time All-Star and was voted the American League MVP in 1978. Since retiring in 1989, Rice has served in several roles in the Red Sox organization including the team’s hitting coach from 1995 to 2000 and since 2003 he has served as a studio analyst on NESN. In January 2009, Rice was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 15^th and final year of eligibility.

Here's an update on the MLB All-Star Final Vote.

LEAD CHANGES HIGHLIGHT DAY TWO OF ALL-STAR GAME SPRINT FINAL VOTE

Sandoval and Kinsler re-gain top spots in tight races after briefly losing them overnight

NEW YORK, July 7, 2009 – Both races in this year’s All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote saw lead changes last night after day one frontrunners Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants and Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers fell behind Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies and Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers, respectively. At the 48-hour mark, Sandoval and Kinsler have each re-gained those leads with balloting ahead of last year’s record pace as 22.2 million votes have been cast exclusively on MLB.com and the individual Club sites.

While Sandoval and Victorino swapped the top spot on the ballot last night, Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers each have garnered nearly two million votes and are looming in this very close race for the final roster spot on the 2009 National League All-Star Team. They are followed by Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals.

Over in the American League, Inge eclipsed Kinsler for first place last night before the Rangers second baseman re-gained the lead earlier today. Overall, Kinsler, Inge and Chone Figgins of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim each have tallied more than two million votes while Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays and Adam Lind of the Toronto Blue Jays are in position to make a run.

The eighth annual All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot commenced exclusively on MLB.com and the individual Club sites at 2 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday and will continue until the voting concludes at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Mobile voting is available exclusively on Sprint capable mobile phones and fans can send the word "Vote" to 1122 to receive the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot. Standard text rates apply. In Canada, fans should text the word "Vote" to 88555.

Here is your schedule of tournaments that will be aired on the Golf Channel this week.

GOLF CHANNEL TOURNAMENT COVERAGE

July 6 – July 12, 2009

John Deere Classic

Dates: 7/9 – 7/12

Venue: TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday 3 – 6 p.m. (Live) / 8:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Replay)

Friday 3 – 6 p.m. (Live) / 8:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Replay)

GOLF CHANNEL On-Air Talent:

Rich Lerner (Play by Play)

Peter Oosterhuis (Analyst)

Bobby Clampett (Tower)

Mark Lye (Tower)

Matt Gogel (On Course)

Scott Walker (Interviews)

Broadcast Notes: Thursday – Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET, PGA TOUR Primetime will re-air the opening rounds of the John Deere Classic with special bonus coverage not seen during the live telecast…

3M Championship

Dates: 7/10 – 7/12

Venue: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minn.

Airtimes (Eastern):

Friday 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Live)

Saturday 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Live)

Sunday 7 – 9:30 p.m. (Live)

GOLF CHANNEL On-Air Talent:

Brian Hammons (Play by Play)

Frank Nobilo (Analyst)

John Mahaffey (Tower)

David Marr (On Course)

Donna Caponi-Byrnes (On Course)

Ford Wayne Gretzky Charity Classic presented by Samsung

Dates: 7/9 – 7/12

Venue: The Georgian Club, Georgian Bay, Canada/ Raven Golf Club at Lora Bay, Georgian Bay, Canada

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday 1 – 3 p.m. (Live)

Friday 1 – 3 p.m. (Live)

Saturday 1 – 4 p.m. (Live)

Sunday 1 – 4 p.m. (Live)

GOLF CHANNEL On-Air Talent:

Jerry Foltz (Play by Play)

Curt Byrum (Analyst)

Jason Buha (On Course)

John Maginnes (On Course)

Adam Barr (Interviews)

The Barclays Scottish Open

Dates: 7/9 – 7/12

Venue: Loch Lomond, Glasgow, Scotland

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Live)

Friday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Live)

Saturday 9:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Prime Replay)

Sunday 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 (Live) / 9:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Prime Replay)

Tennis.com says it was the destination for fans during Wimbledon. I'll have to take the site's at its word.

TENNIS.COM DRAWS MORE THAN ONE MILLION

UNIQUE USERS FOR WIMBLEDON

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 7, 2009 – They may play on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon in “classic tennis whites,” but when fans want the news, they turn to the Internet. For the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament, TENNIS.com, the world’s leading tennis website, attracted more than one million unique visitors and over 11 million page views.

TENNIS.com’s increased traffic during the Wimbledon fortnight represented a 34% increase in page impressions and 25% increase in unique visitors from last year. The 2009 French Open, which is one day longer than Wimbledon, garnered a record 1.1 million unique visitors to TENNIS.com this year.

The same growth was evident during the classic final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. The match attracted 104,022 unique users and 994,250 page views. Last year’s showdown between Federer and Rafael Nadal recorded 83,234 unique users and 643,171 page views.

"The extraordinary growth of TENNIS.com is something we're very proud of, and a testament to the quality and quantity of our reporting,” said James Martin, Editor of TENNIS.com. “Amid our competitors, we're the first to post on breaking news and big match results. Tennis fans know that if they want to stay on top of the game, TENNIS.com is the best place to go."

Here are just a few examples of TENNIS.com delivering breaking news from Wimbledon first.

Friday, June 19: Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon

• TENNIS.com has the story as lead at 2:14 pm (as it happened)
• No other major sports website (ESPN.com, ESPN.com’s tennis page, SI.com, Yahoo! Sports’ tennis page, or FoxSports.com) has the story mentioned through 2:16 pm
• At 2:21 pm, ESPN.com reports the story on their main page and tennis page and offers a link
• Yahoo! Sports tennis still had no report at 2:22 pm

Wednesday, June 24: Maria Sharapova eliminated in second round of Wimbledon

• TENNIS.com has the story as lead at 10:23 am (as it happened)
• ESPN.com’s tennis page did not break this until after 10:35 am – by 10:41 am, it was posted

Thursday, June 25: Lleyton Hewitt beats No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro in the 2nd round

• TENNIS.com has the story as lead at 10:44 am (as it happened)
• Yahoo mentioned the result at 10:46 am, but only as a small lead
• ESPN.com’s tennis page did not break the story until 10:49 am

Saturday, June 27: Melanie Oudin beats No. 6 Jelena Jankovic in the third round of Wimbledon.

• TENNIS.com has the story as lead at 10:08 am (as it happened)
• Yahoo! Sports’ tennis page and ESPN.com’s tennis page do not have the result at 10:18 am and 10:19 am, respectively

"From our in-depth blogs and viewpoints to our instruction, gear, and fitness coverage, TENNIS.com is one-stop shopping for the tennis enthusiast. Our message board community has grown by leaps and bounds, a reflection of the passion of our fans. And you can follow us through Twitter and Facebook,” explained Martin. “All in all, we offer an unsurpassed tennis experience."

And National Geographic Channel has a fascinating special about living on the moon airing on the day before the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission landing.

NAKED SCIENCE: LIVING ON THE MOON

Sunday, July 19 at 9PM ET/PT

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/4253/Overview

The day before the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NGC presents Living on the Moon. Man has always dreamed of living on the moon, and now a team of NASA scientists is proving that dream could be achieved in our lifetime. We take viewers inside Constellation, the space program's plan to establish a human outpost on the moon by 2020. Take a closer look at the plans under way, from upgraded space suits to housing modules and moon vehicles, and examine the challenges ahead, such as finding water, making oxygen, growing food and protecting residents from deadly radiation. Then, using 3-D animation, we'll visualize how the remarkable outpost will take shape.

CGI: Astronaut with moon dust. (Credit: © National Geographic Channel)

Video “Moon Water” – Maybe the moon has water. Maybe the moon has lots of water. How on earth will we get to it?

Video “Moon Colony” – Humans are colonizers, and the moon is ripe for populating. But how? And who?

As usual, I look forward to seeing NatGeo's documentaries. They're always fun to watch.

Tuesday Afternoon Update

I have enough links to warrant an update today.

Starting with two links from the Sports Business Daily and thanks to the fine people there for opening these pages to the public.

Comcast-owned Golf Channel and Versus saw the biggest year-to-year viewership gains for a sports network as Austin Karp writes.

Erik Swanson talks to several media writers (all familiar names if you read Fang's Bites regularly) about NBC's tape delayed Wimbledon coverage.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that Versus is all over the Tour de France. Jim adds that Versus will have Ben Stiller on its Tour de France primetime show this evening.

Thom Weidlich of Bloomberg News reports the City of New York has settled a lawsuit with a Yankees fan. Thanks to Deadspin for the link.

CNBC's Darren Rovell says Gatorade is releasing limited edition Michael Jordan bottles to celebrate his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Big Ten Network has quietly started a channel on Hulu.

Bruce Allen at the Boston Sports Media Watch has a great post today on some of people who have graced The Hub as sports anchors. They are some great names who have gone national, Dick Stockton, Len Berman, Keith Olbermann, Roger Twibell, Jack Edwards, Jimmy Myers to name a few.

Ray Frager of Sports Media Journal writes that Nike is timely with its ads.

If you live near the Chicago area or have Comcast SportsNet Chicago on DirecTV, Ed Sherman of Crain's Chicago Business will be on at 5:30 p.m CT today to talk about the Cubs sale. Ed says the Cubs are still talking to interested parties as the sale to the Ricketts family is not final.

The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown says all living U.S. Presidents will appear in a video before next week's MLB All-Star Game with President Clinton throwing out the first pitch.

The Big Lead reviews ESPN2's SportsNation.

Chris Byrne of Eye on Sports Media has some post-Wimbledon thoughts.

Mimi Turner of the Hollywood Reporter says ESPN will launch its UK channel next month as well as one in HD.

Rick Kissell of Variety writes that golf and tennis led the ratings on Sunday.

Steve Clarke of Variety reports that the Wimbledon men's final grabbed 50% of all viewers in the UK.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that CBS College Sports and the mtn. will get a boost from Cox Communications in Arizona and Orange County, CA.

That's it from here. Press releases coming up later.

ESPN Gets Ready To Set Up Shop In The UK

ESPN announced today that it will launch a new channel in the UK that will air English Premier League games as well as its US programming. A new release spells out what the new channel will entail.

ESPN Announces Plan for New UK Channel

ESPN to Launch its First High Definition Channel in Europe
ESPN and BSkyB Confirm Distribution, Retail and Ad Sales Deals

ESPN plan to launch a new channel in the UK on 3rd August called ‘ESPN,’ which will televise 46 Barclays Premier League matches this coming season, it was announced today by Lynne Frank, Managing Director, ESPN for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Frank also announced the channel will be made available in both standard definition (SD) and high-definition (HD), making the UK based premium sports channel the company’s first HD channel in Europe.

The new channel will offer live Barclays Premier League football, international sports and a wide-range of premium U.S. sports previously provided on ESPN America, which will be integrated in the UK into the new channel.

As part of the new arrangement, Sky will retail ESPN to both its residential and commercial customers. Sky will make ESPN available on a premium subscription basis to all Sky homes. This means that all live Barclays Premier League matches will be available in HD to Sky homes. ESPN will appear in the Sky Guide at channel number 417 in SD and channel 443 in HD.

ESPN Classic (Sky Guide 442), which showcases the greatest moments in sport, will remain within the ‘News and Events’ pack. For Sky’s commercial customers, all ESPN channels will be included within Sky’s ‘Ultimate’ channel pack. ESPN HD will be available at no extra cost to those who subscribe to ESPN and have Sky’s HD Pack. Sky has confirmed that Sky Sports subscribers will be able to subscribe to ESPN for £9 per month while other Sky customers will be able to subscribe from £12 per month.

ESPN will contract Sky Sports’ in-house production team to produce its Premier League matches. The coverage will utilise dedicated ESPN graphics and analysis. ESPN plan to create original studio shows to support their Barclays Premier League matches and other sports coverage. Further details on ESPN’s production, including studio analysts and commentators, will be announced in due course.

In addition, Sky Media, Sky’s ad sales house, will sell advertising inventory for both ESPN and ESPN Classic.

Sky customers can find out more details about the new channel and register their interest by visiting www.sky.com/espn. To receive further information about ESPN, visit www.espn.co.uk.

Lynne Frank, Managing Director, ESPN for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “We hope football and sports fans will enjoy ESPN’s compelling mix of Barclays Premier League football, international sports and the best of the US sports in both SD and HD. We look forward to working with Sky to deliver great sports content to their subscribers and will continue our discussions with all other pay-TV providers so that we can bring ESPN to as many sports fans in the UK as possible.”

Mike Darcey, Sky’s Chief Operating Officer, adds: “Our agreement with ESPN to retail its portfolio of sports channels ensures that we have certainty of distribution of all live Premier League matches to Sky homes, and further adds to the high-quality sports content our customers can enjoy, both in standard- and high-definition. We are also delighted to provide support in the form of production, advertising sales and commercial retailing.”

With the bidding for the U.S. rights to the EPL coming later this year, expect ESPN to pick up part of that with its foot already in the door for the English Premier League.

Some Tuesday Linkage

Let's give you links for today.

Starting with USA Today's Michael Hiestand who looks at the ratings of Wimbledon, MLB and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Here's a story that bears watching. Beth Ann Baldry of Golfweek reports that a group of top LPGA players are calling for commissioner Carolyn Bivens to resign.

CNBC's Darren Rovell says Staples will see a lot of exposure during the Michael Jackson funeral today.

I wrote a story for the Fang's Bites at Boston Sports Media Watch page about Boston Globe Celtics beat writer Marc Spears leaving for Yahoo! Sports.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that NBC is setting up at the nearby Saucon Valley Country Club for this week's U.S. Women's Open.

A couple of stories from Tim Lemke of the Washington Times. He writes that Tiger Woods was a big draw to the AT&T National both in person and on TV. Tim also looks at the temporary stadium built for the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis.

Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post is amazed at the subject matter on commercials that run on sports television.

Dan Steinberg of the WaPo's DC Sports Bog talks about Wizards TV voice Steve Buckhantz's signature call.

Ed Sherman of Crain's Chicago Business tells us what the Cubs sale means for the team's fans.

George Castle of the Northwest Indiana Times profiles MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac.

Tim Ellerbee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the SEC's new contract with ESPN will put many of the conference's football games into primetime.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman says CBS is going into the vaults to replay a 1963 golf duel between Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about a local sports radio station juggling its lineup. Barry also looks at the latest person ousted from 4th and Long.

Penny Parker of the Denver Post talks with outgoing Fox Sports Net President Bob Thompson.

The Toronto Star's Chris Zelkovich says a regular season CFL game beat out the Wimbledon men's final in the ratings.

Kate Holton of Reuters says ESPN is going to launch a new channel in the UK to carry English Premier League games as well as some of its US programming.

A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin gets on the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock for the character assassination of Serena Williams.

A bunch of links to the Sports Media Watch now. The ratings for the Wimbledon men's final were down from last year, but still strong. The AT&T National beat Wimbledon in the ratings. A boring Wimbledon's ladies final trailed last year's all-Williams affairs. Manny Ramirez's return to the Dodgers failed to bring any juice to Fox's MLB ratings. SMW has some more ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito talks about the mixing of summer sports to help build a brand.

That's going to do it for now.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Cycling
Tour de France, Stage 4 - Versus, 8:30 a.m.

MLB

American League
Oakland at Red Sox - Comcast SportsNet California/NESN, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Detroit - Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay - TSN/Sun Sports, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Chicago White Sox - STO/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
New York Yankees at Minnesota - WWOR/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Baltimore at Seattle - MASN/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.
Texas at Anaheim Angels - Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
Cincinnati at Philadelphia - Fox Sports Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets - KCAL/SNY, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Chicago Cubs - SportSouth/WGN America, 8 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Houston - FSN Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
St. Louis at Milwaukee - Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Washington at Colorado - MASN2/FSN Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
San Diego at Arizona - Cox 4/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Florida at San Francisco - Fox Sports Florida/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd - MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight - ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final - MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
The Superstars - ABC, 8 p.m.
America's Got Talent - NBC, 9 p.m.
Deadliest Catch - Discovery, 9 p.m.
Shouting Fire: Stories From the Edge of Free Speech - HBO, 9:45 p.m.
Primetime: Family Secrets - ABC, 10 p.m.
Rescue Me - FX, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman - CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Monday's Press Release Action

We have quite a few releases for you. Let's give you stuff from CBS Sports first.

It says ratings for the AT&T National won by Tiger Woods jumped by over 200% from last year when Tiger was out due to knee surgery.

RATINGS ROAR AGAIN FOR CBS SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF PGA TOUR’S “AT&T NATIONAL” FINAL ROUND WITH 207% INCREASE

CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the PGA TOUR’s AT&T NATIONAL, which saw host Tiger Woods win his tournament with a birdie at the 16^th hole and pars at 17 and 18 to beat Hunter Mahan by a stroke, on Sunday, July 5 (3:00-6:30 PM, ET) scored an overnight household rating/share of 4.6/11, up +207% from last year’s 1.5/3 in the metered markets.

Sunday’s 4.6/11 was the highest rating for a PGA TOUR event (non-major) on CBS Sports since a 4.6/9 for the final round of the BUICK INVITATIONAL (1/27/08) and the highest rating for the final round of the AT&T NATIONAL since the inaugural event in 2007.

Sunday’s final-round rating peaked at a 6.3/14 from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

CBS Sports' third-round coverage of the AT&T NATIONAL on Saturday, July 4 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET) earned an overnight household rating/share of 2.6/7, up +100% from last year's third round 1.3/3 in the metered markets.

Saturday’s 2.6/7 was the highest-rated third round for this event.

The Late Show with David Letterman will have Wimbledon Ladies Champion Serena Williams as guest tonight.

2009 WIMBLEDON WOMEN'S SINGLES AND DOUBLES TENNIS CHAMPION SERENA WILLIAMS TO VISIT CBS' "LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN," MONDAY, JULY 6

NEW YORK, July 6 — 2009 Wimbledon women's singles and doubles tennis champion Serena Williams talks about her victories when she visits the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Monday, July 6 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. On Saturday, Serena defeated her sister, Venus, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the women's singles final to capture her third Wimbledon title and 11th major championship. Later that afternoon, Serena and Venus teamed up to win their fourth Wimbledon women's doubles title and ninth Grand Slam doubles title as a duo, defeating Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Also featured on tonight's LATE SHOW will be an interview with actress Hayden Panettiere, a special Top Ten List presented by Optimus Prime from "Transformers," and a performance by musical guests Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. The LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN is a production of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. Barbara Gaines, Maria Pope, Jude Brennan and Rob Burnett are the executive producers.

Official CBS Web site: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/

And here's what Serena told Dave about grunting and other things.

2009 WIMBLEDON WOMEN’S SINGLES AND DOUBLES CHAMPION SERENA WILLIAMS TALKS TOURNAMENTS AND GRUNTING AND INDULGES IN AN IMPROMPTU TENNIS PRACTICE WITH LETTERMAN WHEN SHE VISITS CBS’ “LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN,” MONDAY, JULY 6

Serena Williams talks about tournaments and grunting and indulges in some tennis practice with Letterman, when she visited the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Monday, July 6 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Letterman asked Williams, who defeated her sister, Venus, in the women’s singles final and then teamed up with her to take the doubles title that after her victory in the women’s singles final, beating her sister, Venus, “Do you really want to go play doubles after you win the singles?” Williams said, “Absolutely, because, I mean, when I won the singles, I had to beat Venus in the finals in order to win. So last year, she actually beat me in the final and she won, so last year, I was so excited to get on the doubles court because I wanted to win a title. I didn’t want to go home without anything. And so this year when I won, I was actually more excited to go out and play doubles because, more than anything, I wanted Venus to win, to leave with something.”

After a torn quad muscle in Williams’ knee kept her from playing for a year, Letterman wondered, “Were there times when you thought, ‘you know what, this may be – this may be it?’” Williams confessed, “Of course – I mean, when you’re down and out after surgery, it’s like you feel like there is no comeback and there is no way back, but it’s always very important to never give up, guys.”

Letterman asked Williams if she’s looking forward to playing the U.S. Open, and Williams said, “Yeah, I do. I was just coming in today over the bridge and saw the stadium over there and had so many wonderful memories, and I automatically thought, I thought, ‘Wow, I want to get out of this car and just go over there and start training,’ so that’s my next goal is to win the Open ‘cause that’s like what I really want to do.”

Letterman asked Williams about the grunting noises she makes while playing, and “is it mostly younger women who make noise when they hit the tennis ball or is it men and women now? She thinks “it’s definitely more the ladies thing.” Letterman wondered, “Now why is that? Is that something they are taught when they’re learning to play the game?” Williams revealed, “When I was younger growing up, I used to watch Monica Seles and she’s like the first person that I know that really used to grunt really loud and really hard, so that’s kind of how I modeled my grunt after? Yeah, because you have to have role models when it comes to grunting…” Letterman asked, “Can it be distracting to somebody who doesn’t typically make much noise to have an opponent who is making noise?” Williams laughed, “I often wonder that, I often wonder…I’m thinking like we were playing just recently in the finals and Venus and I were grunting really loud in the doubles and the other girls weren’t doing anything, and after the point, I was thinking, ‘Wow, that was pretty loud, was that distracting for them?’ So, like I said, I’ll often wonder.” Williams also revealed that grunting “advanced in everything, like if I play golf, I grunt, if I’m playing soccer and I kick the ball, I grunt…" Letterman had Williams laughing when he joked, “What about at breakfast? ‘…Need some coffee here – ugh! How about some more eggs – ugh!” After the interview, Letterman and Williams indulged in an impromptu tennis practice, taking turns hitting tennis balls into the balcony of the Ed Sullivan Theater.

CBS will re-air a 1963 Wonderful World of Golf segment between Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead this Sunday.

CBS Sports to Air 1963 Match between Nicklaus and Snead on Sunday, July 12 Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Competition hasn’t been shown in 46 years

From the archives of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf comes a classic 1963 match-up between 23-year-old Jack Nicklaus and legendary Sam Snead, then 50 years old and the owner of a PGA TOUR-record 81 wins. Filmed at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Monterey, CA, the 18-hole stroke play competition pitted current and future greatness in Snead and Nicklaus, who was the reigning U.S. Open champion.

The match was filmed on February 24 and came down to the final hole. It hasn’t been rebroadcast in any manner since 1963, until now. NICKLAUS VS. SNEAD REVISITED will be aired by CBS Sports on Sunday, July 12, at 2 p.m. ET. Produced by PGA TOUR Productions and digitally re-mastered to high definition, the one-hour special will feature an exclusive interview with Nicklaus regarding the match and his fondness for Pebble Beach, swing tips from both Nicklaus and Snead, mini-features on the two contestants as well as the golf course, and interviews with writers, television producers and fans who were in attendance. The airing of NICKLAUS VS. SNEAD REVISITED leads into CBS Sports’ final-round telecast of the John Deere Classic, Sunday, July 12, 2009 from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

The following day, Golf Channel will run a documentary on the famous 1977 duel between Nicklaus and Tom Watson in the Open Championship.

Re-Live the Nicklaus-Watson Battle at Turnberry in GOLF CHANNEL Special

ORLANDO, Fla., July 6, 2009 – One of the most memorable showdowns in major championship history took place at the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry, when Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson engaged in a historic 36-hole battle for the Claret Jug that became known as “The Duel in the Sun.”

When the 2009 Open Championship returns to Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland, next week, GOLF CHANNEL will chronicle the story of the duo’s epic battle in a special presentation, Duel in the Sun, airing Monday, July 13 at 9 p.m. ET. The half-hour special includes tournament footage from the original broadcast and features recent interviews with Nicklaus and Watson, third-round leader Roger Maltbie, 1977 U.S. Open Champion and third-place finisher Hubert Green, and several award-winning journalists.

Duel in the Sun will document the Nicklaus-Watson pairing in the final round at the 1977 Open Championship, where they separated themselves from the field. Watson, going for his second major of the year, birdied the 71^st hole on Sunday to take the lead for the first time, ultimately finishing one shot ahead of Nicklaus at 12-under-par. Green, who finished 11 strokes back of Watson at 1-under-par, was the only other player to break par for the tournament.

Duel in the Sun will re-air Monday, July 13 at 9:30 p.m. ET and Tuesday, July 14 (Monday night) at midnight ET.

We get an update from MLB.com on the voting for the last roster spots for the 80th All-Star Game.

2009 ALL-STAR GAME FINAL VOTE IN PROGRESS ON MLB.COM

Races start with Sandoval and Kinsler narrowly leading as voting enters second day

NEW YORK, July 6, 2009 –Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants and Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers are the clubhouse leaders after the opening 24 hours of online fan voting in the 2009 All-Star Game Final Vote, held exclusively on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and the individual Club sites.

Sandoval currently owns a very small lead over the other four players on the ballot for the final roster spot on the 2009 National League All-Star Team, followed closely by Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies; Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals.

On the American League side, Kinsler leads the very close race among the five candidates for the final roster spot, followed by Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers; Chone Figgins of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; Adam Lind of the Toronto Blue Jays; and Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The eighth annual All-Star Game Final Vote ballot commenced exclusively on MLB.com and the individual Club sites at 2 p.m. (EDT) yesterday and will continue until the voting concludes at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Mobile voting is available exclusively on Sprint capable mobile phones and fans can send the word "Vote" to 1122 to receive the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot. Standard text rates apply. In Canada, fans should text the word "Vote" to 88555.

The All-Star Game Final Vote program has seen nearly 140 million votes cast since its inception in 2002, including last year's record-setting total when fans chose Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays and Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers. Previous winners of the All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote are: Hideki Okajima (AL, 2007); Chris Young (NL, 2007); A.J. Pierzynski (AL, 2006); Nomar Garciaparra (NL, 2006); Scott Podsednik (AL, 2005); Roy Oswalt (NL, 2005); Hideki Matsui (AL, 2004); Bobby Abreu (NL, 2004); Jason Varitek (AL, 2003); Geoff Jenkins (NL, 2003); Johnny Damon (AL, 2002); and Andruw Jones (NL, 2002).

Fox Sports and MLB Advanced Media team up for an online pregame show from the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

FOXSPORTS.COM ON MSN & MLBAM REPRISE

MLB ALL-STAR BATTING PRACTICE SHOW

Live Show from St. Louis Begins All-Star Coverage at 4:30 ET

Digital ASG Plans Include Second Screen In-Game Camera Experience

New York & Los Angeles – So, it’s All-Star Tuesday and you can’t wait to get home from work to watch the Midsummer Classic. You find yourself daydreaming about being in St. Louis, watching the game’s best hitters take batting practice, launching ball after ball into the Missouri sky. Well, once again, with a click of your mouse, FOXSports.com on MSN and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) can transport you there.

FOXSports.com on MSN and MLBAM, for the third consecutive year, partner to co-produce the MLB ALL-STAR BATTING PRACTICE SHOW, live on Tuesday, July 14 at 4:30 PM ET from Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis, home of the 80^th MLB All-Star Game. FOX Sports’ Chris Rose hosts, while MLB Network’s Royce Clayton provides analysis. FOX’ Ken Rosenthal reports and conducts interviews from the batting cage. Fans can access the show by logging onto www.mlb.com or www.foxsports.com.

Once the hour-long program concludes at 5:30 PM ET, the show’s multiple cameras remain live in fixed positions, providing ambient background audio and video as preparations for the pre-game ceremonies and game continue. At 8:00 PM ET, when FOX Sports begins its live national coverage of the MLB ALL-STAR GAME PREGAME SHOW, the same cameras that were used during the batting practice show are once again manned and provide a second-screen, viewer-pick-the-angle, online experience. As many as five camera angles are expected to be available.

The show’s production infrastructure is supported by MLBAM’s Mediaplayer ’09, with cameras provided by FOX Sports. Pre-produced features and packages, including game highlights, are planned, but are only viewable via the set’s camera stream.

And here's what ESPN will cover for Motorsports this week.

Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Nationwide Series on ESPN in Prime Time from Chicagoland

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races in prime time on Friday night as it makes its only appearance of the season at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. ESPN will have a live, high definition telecast of the race on Friday, July 10, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC. The race re-airs Saturday, July 11, at 2:30 a.m. on ESPN2 and again at 1 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Also this weekend, live coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying airs Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2, while coverage of final practice airs Thursday, July 9, at 7 p.m.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage, with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake, with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program with analysis by Wallace and Brad Daugherty, owner of a winning team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.

Craven, Said, Blount on NASCAR Now Roundtable

ESPN NASCAR analysts Ricky Craven and Boris Said and ESPN.com reporter Terry Blount will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, July 13, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Nicole Manske hosts half-hour episode of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday and Wednesday of this week at 5 p.m. and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Manske also hosts the one-hour weekend edition that airs Saturday, July 11, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway. Said will join Manske on the set, while Mike Massaro and Marty Smith will report from the track.

NASCAR Now originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Spake and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing from Denver on ESPN2

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series travels to Bandimere Speedway near Denver this weekend, and ESPN2 will air qualifying and eliminations action on a same-day basis. Qualifying from the Mile-High NHRA Nationals airs Saturday, July 11, at 8 p.m. ET, with eliminations airing Sunday at 7 p.m. Finals coverage re-airs Monday, July 13, at 2 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

The second half of the season kicks off with the first of three consecutive weekends of racing and one of its greatest challenges. Teams travel high and deep into the Rocky Mountains to more than 5,800 feet, where the altitude affects everything from engine tune-ups to aerodynamics. Crews must make changes to established power-making combinations and battle lack of downforce to tackle the environs. The event is testament to the skill and adaptability of the racers.

Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn host NHRA RaceDay on Sunday at 11 a.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Other NHRA programming airing on ESPN Networks this week includes the 2003 NHRA Nationals from Brainerd, Minn., airing Monday, July 13, at noon on ESPN Classic. Following at 1 p.m. is an hour of NHRA Sportsman Series action from Atlanta Dragway.

IndyCar Series Races at Toronto Live on ABC

After a one-year absence, one of North America’s famous racing venues returns to action this weekend as the IndyCar Series races in Toronto on the famed Exhibition Place street circuit. ABC will have live coverage of the event on Sunday, July 12, at 1 p.m. ET.

The CART/Champ Car Series raced at Toronto for 22 years, starting in 1986, before the event took a year off last year when open wheel racing unified.

Marty Reid will call the race for ESPN on ABC’s coverage with analysis by former IndyCar Series star Scott Goodyear. Reporting from the pits will be Jack Arute, Brienne Pedigo and Vince Welch.

Pro Pulling League Action Airs Sunday on ESPN2

The Pro Pulling League, which features modified trucks, tractors and other vehicles, will be in action for more than two hours on Sunday, July 12, in five half-hour program beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.

The programs will feature highlights from events held in Wheatland, Mo., and Henry, Ill. The league is sanctioned by the American Tractor Pulling Association.

And those are the releases for tonight.

Monday Afternoon Linkage

There are enough links for me to do an update. Haven't done a second linkfest during the day in a long time so here we go.

Do we have a media feud brewing?

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog goes after Keith Olbermann for a post he did over the weekend in his MLB.com blog. You know that Keith responds, don't you? And you can see Keith putting Dan in "World's Worst" on MSNBC's Countdown. This is coming from a mile away.

Also in the Sporting News, Dan Levy of On The DL writes that NBC Sports just doesn't hate tennis fans, but perhaps all sports fans in general.

Back to Dan, this time in the WaPo, he reports that the Wizards have a new flagship radio station.

CNBC's Darren Rovell says Lacoste ran a full-page ad congratulating Andy Roddick despite his loss at Wimbledon.

Kristina Peterson of the Wall Street Journal writes that as a Senate panel investigates the Bowl Championship Series, proponents of a college football playoff say a new postseason system would increase cable TV revenues.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated feels the hearings will be a giant waste of time.

The Tribune Company says it has finalized a deal to sell the Chicago Cubs to the Thomas Ricketts family for just under its $900 million asking price.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says the deal was held up over the club's media rights.

Maury has a list of celebrities taking part in the All-Star Softball Game prior to the MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about a confused Charley Steiner during yesterday's Dodgers-Padres game.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has some numbers from the PGA Tour's AT&T National.

Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun writes about ESPN Radio's no-talent hack Colin Cowherd's new venture on ESPN2 of which I tried to watch today. The key word is "tried".

David Martindale of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram profiles the other co-host of that show, Michelle Beadle of Texas.

Margaret Jackson of the Denver Post writes about the local ESPN Zone going under as a sign of the hard economic times.

ESPN Star Sports in India is launching its own edition of the National Spelling Bee.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN mistreated rugby fans on Saturday when it shifted a game from the main network to ESPN2 mid-contest to cover the Steve McNair story.

Golfweek says CBS Sports plans to re-air a 1963 Wonderful World of Golf match between Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead this weekend.

EPL Talk says FSN is bringing back an English Premier League show to several of its affiliates.

That's it for now. Back later with some press releases.

A Back To Work/Still Holiday Weekend Links

Some of you may have gone back to work today. Some of you might have extended your holiday weekend today. Whatever situation you're in, linkage doesn't stop so we get some today. I'm in a bit of withdrawal from having morning tennis over the last two weeks and with Howard Stern still on vacation at Sirius XM, I'm a bit lost for morning listening today. So I delve further into the linkage for you.

USA Today's Michael Hiestand went to the AT&T National this weekend to see the small army CBS Sports employs for a PGA Tour event.

CNBC's Darren Rovell talks to Andy Roddick's Mojo (remember the American Express ads?) to see if indeed, he has it back.

Phil Mushnick over at the New York Post praises Tim McCarver for speaking out against Fox's cutting to Manny Ramirez's at-bats on Saturday.

Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News also gives McCarver some love for his anti-Manny statements.

Members of the Philadelphia Inquirer feel Fox Sports ripped off Phillies fans with the Manny cut-ins on Saturday.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that a Baltimore radio station has picked up a Sunday afternoon NFL package.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the 4th of July holiday weekend had a distinct European flavor on sports television.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend in television sports.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News previews tonight's 4th and Long episode.

Ed Sherman in Crain's Chicago Business warns of the return of Jay "The Rat" Mariotti to the Windy City in some capacity.

Thomas V. Bona of the Rockford (IL) Register Star writes about NFL Network and ESPNU joining Comcast's digital tier at the end of this month.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that John McEnroe was a man of few words during yesterday's Wimbledon's men's final.

However, Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star feels John and his partner, Ted Robinson spoke too much!

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail goes over Wimbledon and a host of others subjects.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable reports Golf Channel and Donald Trump are talking about a new documentary on his efforts to build a huge golf course and resort in Scotland.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News looks back at the Wimbledon men's final.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel says the sale of the Montreal Canadiens could give an unexpected boost to Cablevision, the owner of MSG Network and the New York Rangers.

Mark Newman of MLB.com says Yankees online in-market streaming starts on Wednesday.

Phil Villarreal of the Consumerist blog says getting the NFL Network on Comcast systems may still cost you extra.

Shane Bacon of the AOL Fanhouse blog tells us that ESPN/ABC won't show next week's Open Championship in HD!

Joe Favorito says the CFL and the UFL fought to get attention.

And that's going to do it for the links for now.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Cycling
Tour de France, Stage 3 - Versus, 8:30 a.m.

MLB

American League
Toronto at New York Yankees - Rogers Sportsnet/YES, 1 p.m.
Oakland at Red Sox - Comcast SportsNet California/NESN, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Detroit - Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Baltimore at Seattle - MASN/FSN Northwest, 10 p.m.
Texas at Anaheim Angels - Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
Atlanta at Chicago Cubs - ESPN/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 7 p.m.
Cincinnati at Philadelphia - Fox Sports Ohio/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Houston - FSN Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Washington at Colorado - MASN2/FSN Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
San Diego at Arizona - Cox 4/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Florida at San Francisco - Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd - MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight - ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final - MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Tennis
Wimbledon/Men's Final Replay - ESPN Classic, 7 p.m.

Entertainment
Attack of the Show, 1,000th Show Special - G4, 7 p.m.
The Closer - TNT, 9 p.m.
Intervention: Nikki - A&E, 9 p.m.
Dateline NBC - NBC, 10 p.m.
Raising the Bar - TNT, 10 p.m.
Weeds - Showtime, 10 p.m.
Nurse Jackie - Showtime, 10:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman - CBS, 11:30 p.m.