Videos of the Week - Batman Cartoons

Don't ask me why, but I have been a fan of Batman since I was a kid. I liked the Batman TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward, but I preferred the 1968 Filmation series which was first shown on CBS, then aired on various outlets, most recently, the Cartoon Network and it's sister channel, Boomerang.

I guess it was the crude art and the voices which included Casey Kasem as Robin and Ted Knight as the narrator and the Riddler. I do wish these would make it to DVD, but I don't know who owns the rights.

Here are a few episodes for you. And instead of me trying to describe the episodes, I'll copy and paste the descriptions from YouTube member alanr4447a. But first, the Open:



The Jigsaw Jeopardy
With his hideout in a jigsaw puzzle factory, the Riddler captures Robin, and ties him down "spread-eagle" on a giant jigsaw, with its blade poised to DIVIDE UP the Boy Wonder! Batman, meanwhile, walks into an acid-bath trap, and later has to tackle an EGG-splosive peril. Includes Batgirl (who disguises herself as Robin!)



Will the Real Robin Stand Up?
One Robin just not enough for you? Catwoman enlists a wayward teen, a Robin look-alike, to take Robin's place, and learn all of Batman's secrets. Meanwhile, she leaves the real Robin dumped into a construction pit in the back of a van, buried under tons of rocks. Includes a "training" scene not shown on cable. Will the REAL Robin Please Stand Up?? Jane Webb is the voice of Catwoman.



It Makes Two To Make a Team
The Joker, Penguin and Riddler are after an Incan treasure map, but their attempts to steal it are continually thwarted by the teamwork of Batman, Robin and Batgirl; so, they plan to break up the Dynamic Duo by making Robin jealous of Batgirl. To top it off, they lure Robin into a trap, where they have hungry crocodiles waiting!

I don't know where the plank came from. Jane Webb is Batgirl. Ted Knight is the three villains.



Simon The Pieman
Simon the Pieman sets out to be the new king(rolling)pin of crime in Gotham City. He and his "pie-thons" capture Robin on stakeout, and put him under the grindstone of a windmill, as storm winds approach -- while Batman is stuck in a traffic jam! Later, Simon invites Batman to a mixer -- a giant electric mixer, that is. Simon also serves up chocolate-covered Batgirl, and hot buttered Robin!



The Crime Computer
The Penguin's latest crime spree is aided by the fancy gadgets invented by the brilliant but eccentric Prof. Billingsly -- especially a supercomputer that can plan meticulously detailed crimes. And when the electronic gargantua is fed the brainwaves of Batman and Robin, it perfects its ability to hunt them down! While they struggle to keep one step ahead of their ultimate nemesis, the Dynamic Duo face a deadly sulphur pit, and a crocodile lashes out at Robin!



Perilous Playthings
n this shorter episode, Catwoman moves in to the studio for the completed movie "Tom Thumb in Toyland", where there are giant versions of various toys, with a plan to destroy the Dynamic Duo. After capturing them, she launches a spinning propellor at Batman, and puts Robin into a giant, explosive pinball game! Catch Batman's instruction to Robin to save himself...



Enjoy!

Late Friday/Early Saturday Links - Thank you, Chris Pursell

You might be wondering why I'm thanking Chris Pursell. He's the Deputy Editor of TV Week and has just recently started a blog on the sports media. I've linked to him since he began his "Pressbox" blog and he has linked to this site in his latest entry defending the right of Tiki Barber to state his opinions on NBC regarding his former team. I thank him for the kind words and I welcome those of you who are visiting Fang's Bites for the first time. I hope you enjoy your visit here. And if you notice my ever-growing links on the right, Chris' blog has been added. He's had good interviews with some of the sports TV industry's heavy hitters. Once again, the kind words from him are much appreciated.

Ok, to the other links for today.

ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber looks at the good, bad and the ugly in the network's Michael Vick coverage.

Richard Sandomir in today's New York Times reports that Harold Reynolds alleges that race played a role in his firing from ESPN.

In his Farther Off the Wall blog, the LA Daily News' Tom Hoffarth has an extensive media notes entry which includes stuff on NBC's Football Night in America, Monday Night Football and the lack of availability for the Versus channel which picks up the BYU-UCLA game later today.

The Sports Media Watch blog notes that Thursday's NFL season opener on NBC was down slightly from last year, but still won the night. The site also gives its usual weekend ratings predictions.

Even though the NFL game between Indianapolis and New Orleans was down in the ratings compared to last year, it still gave NBC a big win in the key demographics.

Newsday's Neil Best had a column in the can while he's on vacay and his latest one is on Kenny Albert who's about to enter his 14th NFL season on Fox. 14th?

The Grands Rapids Press says viewers are beginning to find more options to get the Big Ten Network. Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Big Ten Network is forcing people to use their imaginations when it comes to games. What? Ron Greeson of the Daily Advocate (OH) says there's no progress in talks between BTN and Time Warner Cable. John Jarvis of the Lancaster (OH) Eagle-Gazette writes that bars and restaurants with satellite dishes are benefiting from the BTN-Time Warner dispute. Jeff Richgels of the Capital Times (WI) writes that there's still no progress with Charter Communications as well. And from the San Antonio Express-News, Jerry Garcia writes that BTN gained some more viewers thanks to its deal with Dish Network.

The Dallas Morning News' Barry Horn looks at the increased amount of personnel in the NFL studio shows on CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a story on Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer premiering the Grumpy Old Coaches segment on Fox NFL Sunday.

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch looked at a 5 p.m. Friday "special announcement" made on WEEI which turned out to be much ado about nothing. Nothing new on the Dennis & Callahan front by the way.

In his Four DVR's, no waiting blog at the Houston Chronicle site, David Barron talks about one victim in the city's sports radio morning show wars.

That's it for now. Sunday links coming up early Sunday (of course!) and Videos of the Week further down the line. Once again, thanks to Chris Pursell of TV Week for the nice words.

NFL Viewing Picks for Sunday, 9/9/07

Fox NFL Sunday, noon
New England at NY Jets - CBS, 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 708
Miami at Washington - CBS, 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 709
Atlanta at Minnesota - Fox, 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 711
Philadelphia at Green Bay - Fox 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 710
Denver at Buffalo - CBS, 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 704
Pittsburgh at Browns - CBS, 1 p.m./DirecTV channel 705
Chicago at San Diego - Fox, 4:15 p.m./DirecTV channel 713
Tampa Bay at Seattle - Fox, 4:15 p.m./DirecTV channel 715

Football Night in America - NBC, 7 p.m.
Sunday Night Football/NY Giants at Dallas - NBC, 8:15 p.m.

And for those of you who have Sirius Satellite Radio and love hearing the hometown calls of each team, here are the channel assignments for Week 1.

NFL Picks for Week 1

Here are my picks for Week 1 in the League Where They Play for Pay. I have done this over the past few years for a couple of message boards to which I have belonged, but since I have this blog, why not put it here?

By the way, Gribble Nation is the best site I have seen to compile the network coverage maps for NFL games. Here's the map for CBS on Week 1. The map for the Fox early games is here. And the Fox late games and I think it looks like Chicago-San Diego will be going to most of the country (sarcasm added). Every week in the picks, I'll give you the coverage maps and thanks to J.P. for allowing me to link to his site.

Let's go to the games:

New England at NY Jets - CBS, 1 p.m.
A rivalry game right off the bat. Two franchises that have been linked ever since Bill Parcells left New England for the Jets and Bill Belichick left the HC position of the NYJ. Now, Eric Mangini, the former NEP Defensive Coordinator is the second year HC of the NYJ. It's all incestuous. Anyway, the Jets defeated the Pats in Foxboro in their last meeting. The New York media is in love with Mangini and he managed to get a cameo appearance on "The Sopranos" out of it. This game has some question marks for the Pats. Safety Rodney Harrison is suspended for four games for admitting he ordered Human Growth Hormone from an Albany pharmacy that has been linked to Cardinals OF Rick Ankiel, Blue Jays 3B Troy Glaus and Dallas Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson. DL Richard Seymour is out for six weeks as well. QB Tom Brady has shoulder problems and his accuracy is coming into question. It's not known which Randy Moss will show up, the one that plays hard or the one who admits to taking plays off. But even with these question marks, the Jets have some of their own. They have a young offensive line. QB Chad Pennington is finally healthy, but the Jets are wondering about the future. If these things had happened to the Pats last season, I would be picking the Jets, but with the Patriots signing free agents galore in the offseason, I'll take the Pats here by a score of 23-14.

Miami at Washington - CBS, 1 p.m.
The Miami Dolphins had a strange offseason. First Nick Saban denies that he's leaving to go to Alabama, then seemingly 6 minutes later, he's leaving on a private plane to Tuscaloosa to coach the Crimson Tide. Owner Wayne Huizenga has to scramble and settles on Cam Cameron to be the HC. During the NFL Draft (which I attended), the buzz was that the Dolphins were going to draft Brady Quinn in the first round. We all know what happened as Tedd Ginn, Jr. was introduced as the Dolphins' pick. And the Dolphins went through a dog and pony show to finally get Trent Green from Kansas City. So you have the Dolphins who certainly know how to make things interesting. Their fans have a sense of entitlement even though they've won nothing since the 1970's. Pats fans? I can understand. Cowboys fans? Not so much, but it's understandable. But Dolphins fans? Please. Anyway, the Redskins have Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts to run the ball. QB Jason Campbell is a huge question mark. I like Dolphins DE Jason Taylor, always have. He'll give Campbell some fits. Washington is favored at home by 3, but I'll take the 'fins (yes, even after bashing them here, but just wait, I've got more material on them down the line) by a score of 20-10.

Iggles at Green Bay - Fox, 1 p.m.
Donovan McNabb is healthy after getting hurt last season. He doesn't have to worry about looking over his shoulder as Jeff Garcia has gone to Tampa Bay. The Packers have Brett Favre and that's just about it. Even though McNabb likes to throw, expect to see a lot of running plays for the Eagles. Philadelphia is my pick to win the NFC East and their playoff campaign begins at Lambeau Field. Take the Eagles to win, 30-7.

Atlanta at Minnesota - Fox, 1 p.m.
Sunday begins the Joey Harrington Era in the A.T.L. With Michael Vick gone, the Falcons can move forward and focus on the task at hand. How to survive in the NFC South without Vick. New coach Bobby Petrino has a new offense which will be useful against the Vikings defense. Minnesota has a young QB. I'll take the Falcons who will want to make a statement, 24-13.

Denver at Buffalo - CBS, 1 p.m.
I like Denver to take this one. Buffalo has too many holes plus Jay Cutler is coming into his own as a leader. Broncos, 30-19.

Carolina at St. Louis - Fox, 1 p.m.
The Rams generally do well in their home openers. Carolina has a tough defense. WR Steve Smith is a great fantasy pick (I had him last year on my team). Dante Hall now returns kicks for the Rams. I'll take the Rams on the carpet, 27-24.

Steelers at my Browns - CBS, 1 p.m.
This game brings up many questions for the Browns. Charlie Frye will start at QB for the Browns, but he showed he could barely move a tree stump during the preseason. I'm not too confident he can use weapons like Braylon Edwards or Kellen Winslow. While Jamal Lewis looks to rejuvenate his career in Cleveland, I'm not sure this where it'll happen. Ben Roesthlisberger wants to show he can throw. With DB Leigh Bodden arrested this week, we have another distraction for the team. Yet he plans to play. I throw up my hands. It pains me to write this, but Steelers win, 30-3.

Tennessee at Jacksonville - CBS, 1 p.m.
Yeah, right.

KC at Houston - CBS, 1 p.m.
You can't pay me enough to watch this game.

Chicago at San Diego - Fox, 4:15 p.m.
One of the marquee games this weekend. LaDanian Tomlinson is going to run roughshod on the Bears defense. Now early last season, the Bears D was on a par with the 1986 Chicago "46" defense, but it fell apart later in the season. Watch LT run right for a TD. Watch LT run left for 15. Watch LT run up the middle for 20. The Bears may have won the last four meetings between these two teams, but this is a different Charger team and it wants to show that it's not in the "Martyball" era anymore. With Norv Turner at the helm and seemingly in sync with GM AJ Smith, this game is a chance for the Chargers to make a statement to the rest of the league that last season's 14-2 record was not a fluke. Watch San Diego have fun in this game. Chargers win, 39-14 over a Bears team with a journeyman Rex Grossman at the helm.

Tampa Bay at Seattle - Fox, 4:15 p.m.
Matchup of the two 1977 expansion teams. Seattle playing at home. I heard Peter King Friday on WEEI and he told Dale Arnold & Michael Holley that this Seahawks team is better than the one that went to the Super Bowl. Now Peter can be wrong, but he's rarely wrong about assessments like this. Tampa Bay has Jeff Garcia as the new starting QB. Cadillac Williams has to get going to prevent the Seahawks home crowd from getting really loud. I do think Shaun Alexander still has something left in the tank at age 30, although he did show a few signs last season of slowing down. Take the Seahawks to win this one, 27-20.

Detroit at Oakland - Fox, 4:15 p.m.
Why is this game on television? I'll pick Detroit to win this one outright,23-13.

NY Giants at Dallas - NBC, 8:15 p.m.
Like the other New York team, the Giants get a heated division rival in Week 1. This will be funny. Tiki Barber will be on NBC's Football Night in America before the game. He's already questioned QB Eli Manning's leadership and said coach Tom Coughlin was one of the reasons why he retired. Tiki, if you remember, Coughlin helped you to stop fumbling. Anyway, the Giants no longer care about Tiki. They have to contend with QB Tony Romo who won't have WR Terry Glenn to throw to. But with a Giants secondary in shambles, Romo won't need Glenn. And if the Giants defensive line doesn't get pressure on Romo, he'll be able to make some long passes. Manning won't have to win the game by himself, RB Reuben Droughns comes over from the Browns to shore up the running game along wihth Brandon Jacobs. Take the Cowboys to win at home and you can rest assured that Romo won't be holding on figgys and extra points anymore. Cowboys, 17-13.

Baltimore at Cincinnati - ESPN, Monday, 7 p.m.
I admit, the opening Monday Night doubleheaders are a good idea. To get two division games on the first night is good for the league and the Bengals want to prove their a playoff caliber team after missing the postseason in 2006. Carson Palmer is a good QB. Chad Johnson says he'll do something on his first touchdown to ensure he gets fined. Now, if he does this with Ray Lewis watching, he's a better man than me. For the Ravens, all Steve McNair has to do is to manage the offense and not put everything on his shoulders. The Bengals are favored by under a figgy. The Bengals won their last meeting on a Thursday night at home and they're at home to start the season. This will be a knock out, drag out AFC North division fight. I'll take the Bengals to win, 10-3.

Arizona at San Francisco - ESPN, Monday, 10:15 p.m.
When are the 49ers going to get out of Candlestick (Monster) Park? Most teams have joined the 21st Century and are playing in state-of-the-art facilities. And while there's a lot of history in that stadium, the Niners won't be competitive until they're able to leave and play in a new place. That's my feeling, at least. QB Alex Smith is an up and coming star. RB Frank Gore is well entrenched in the backfield. Arizona is playing a new defensive system under another new coaching staff. While I do think the Cardinals are improved, it will still take them a while to get to the next level. This is a battle of two teams who want to take the next step. I do think it'll be the 49ers winning this game at home, 24-21.

Those are your picks. Late Friday/early Saturday links coming up.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, September 8
US Open, Men's semifinals - CBS, noon
PGA Tour/BMW Championship, 3rd Round - NBC, 3 p.m.
MLB/Florida at Philadelphia or Dodgers at Giants or Minnesota at Chicago White Sox - Fox, 3:55 p.m.
MLB/Red Sox at Baltimore - NESN, 7 p.m.
MLB/Cubs at Pittsburgh - WGN, 7 p.m.
MLB/Washington at Atlanta - TBS, 7 p.m.
NASCAR/Chevy whatever the hell it's called 400 - ABC, 7:30 p.m.
US Open, Women's Final - CBS, 8 p.m.
UFC 75 - Spike, 9 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

Sunday, September 9
US Open, Women's Doubles Final - USA Network, 1 p.m.
MLB/Washington at Atlanta - TBS, 1 p.m.
MLB/Red Sox at Baltimore - NESN, 1:30 p.m.
PGA/BMW Championship - NBC, 2 p.m.
Minnesota at White Sox - WGN, 2 p.m.
US Open, Men's Final - CBS, 4 p.m.
MLB/Cleveland at Angels of Anaheim - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 - CBS, 8 p.m.
Ice Road Truckers - History Channel, 9 p.m.
MTV Music Video Awards - MTV, 9 p.m.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (season premiere) - HBO, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

College Football Viewing Picks for Saturday, 9/8/07 (all times Eastern)

Big shout out to Matt's College Sports on TV Website for the info.

West Virginia at Marshall - ESPN2, 11 a.m.
Miami (FL) at Oklahoma - ABC, noon
Nebraska at Wake Forest, ESPN, noon
Bowling Green at Michigan State - Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 218)
Nevada at Northwestern - Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 219)
Akron at Ohio State - Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 220)
Miami (OH) at Minnesota - Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 221)
E. Illinois at Purdue - Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 223)
URI (my Rams get national exposure!!!!) at Army - ESPN Classic, 1 p.m.
Cal at Colorado State - CSTV, 2 p.m.
NC State at Boston College - ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Oregon at Michigan - ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Fresno State at Texas A & M - FSN, 3:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia - ESPN2, 5:45 p.m.
Notre Dame at Penn State - ESPN, 6 p.m.
BYU at UCLA - Versus (good luck finding this in So. Cal.), 6:30 p.m. (DirecTV channel 603 as of tonight, why it moved from 608 is beyond me)
TCU at Texas - FSN, 7 p.m.
W. Illinois at Illinois - Big Ten Network, 7 p.m. (DirecTV channel 218)
Syracuse at Iowa - Big Ten Network, 8 p.m. (DirecTV channel 220)
USF at Auburn - ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Va. Tech at LSU - ESPN, 9:15 p.m. (Game of the Day)
Wisconsin at UNLV - Versus, 10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona State - FSN, 10:15 p.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Baltimore - NESN, 7 p.m. (had the Sox home last night, my bad)
College Football/Navy at Rutgers - ESPN, 7 p.m.
Basketball Hall of Fame Inductions - ESPN Classic/NBA TV, 7:30 p.m.
Jericho - CBS, 8 p.m.
Doctor Who - SciFi, 8 p.m.
Flash Gordon - SciFi, 9 p.m.
Painkiller Jane - SciFi, 10 p.m.
Dodgers at Giants - ESPN, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior - G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

The Friday Linkage

It's Friday and it's the day when the contracts for WEEI's John Dennis and Gerry Callahan expire. So what happens now? Today, it was Bob Halloran and Steve Burton co-hosting in D&C's place. Will Dennis and Callahan return on Monday in time for the first regular season Patriots Monday? Or will we hear another rotation of substitute co-hosts? Your guess is as good as mine. Dave Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch speculates on life without D&C for WEEI.

Let's get to some other links, shall we? Today is megalink day so without further delay, here we go.

USA Today's Michael Hiestand has a story on NBC's Tiki Barber breaking an unwritten TV analyst's rule which is not to criticize your old coach.

Normally I go from East Coast to West Coast, but today, I'll go the other way, West to East this morning.

Starting with the Los Angeles market, Larry Stewart of the Times is back to writing two stories on Fridays. His first is on the networks pulling out all the stops for the NFL season. Story #2 is on Tiki Barber taking shots at his old team, the New York Football Giants.

In the LA Daily News, Tom Hoffarth discusses some issues with each of the four TV networks televising the NFL this Sunday. He reports that tomorrow's UCLA-BYU game will be on the barely seen Versus. And in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth says the LA Kings-Anaheim Ducks game will be picked up by FSN Prime Ticket.

The Ventura County Star's Jim Carlisle writes about the networks shuffling their various NFL announcing and studio lineups.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says Bay Area fans can rest assured now. The Raiders game on Sunday will be televised locally.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with Fox' Troy Aikman about his former offensive coordinator, Norv Turner who's now the coach of the San Diego Chargers.

Jay Posner in today's San Diego Union-Tribune also talks to Aikman who says he won't pull punches on Turner on Sunday's game against the Bears (which will be on Fox at 4:15 p.m. ET).

David Barron who announced this week that he'll be doing less work on the sports media beat for the Houston Chronicle, has a story on the Austin CBS affiliate deciding to air the Tennessee-Jacksonville game over the Texas opener against the Chiefs.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News says the Spurs have announced their TV schedule.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that Timberwolves radio announcer Brian Sieman got an offer he couldn't refuse and accepted the LA Clippers job.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfey discusses the great Brett Favre with the great Emmitt Smith who joins ESPN this season.

From the Chicago Tribune, Teddy Greenstein writes about the Dish Network signing with the Big Ten Network.

Dave Darling in the Orlando Sentinel is not a fan of the NFL Thursday opener.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that Joe Rose is ready to join Jimmy Cefalo and Jim Mandich in the Dolphins' radio booth.

The State's Doug Nye says DirecTV and the NFL are directly snubbing cable TV customers. And Nye has his TV notes for this weekend.

Laura Nachman of the Bucks County Courier Times has your primer for Eagles programming this season.

In the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman says NBC is hoping Tiki Barber will give the "Football Night in America" show some heat.

The New York Post's Phil Mushnick says SNY's Keith Hernandez should stop drawing attention to himself. The Post's Justin Terranova talks with NBC's John Madden about the Giants' Eli Manning. And Terranova has five questions for CBS' Phil Simms.

To Canada and Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star who warns readers that they may have to pay more to watch their beloved Maple Leafs.

In the Toronto Globe and Mail, William Houston reports that CBC will have a daily Hockey Night in Canada show on Sirius Satellite Radio. And in Houston's regular media column, he says rugby and women's soccer will vie for Canadian viewers' attention.

And here's the CBC/Sirius story from CBC Sports.

Those are your links for now.

Thursday Night Linkage - Big Ten Network Signs with Dish Network

As I recorded the Appalachian State-Michigan game off the Big Ten Network, listened to the Red Sox off the internet and kept tabs of the Indy-Saints game from NFL Gamecenter, plus occasionally surfing to US Open.org, this has turned into one of the busier nights in sports of the year. Let's do some links for you.

The Big Ten Network signs up the Dish Network which means the two major satellite services offer the channel. Pete Bigelow of the Ann Arbor News writes that the channel will be on in time for Saturday and then offer HD capabilities the following week. The Detroit Free Press says BTN will be on channel 439. One more story for good measure from Penn State Live. George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that there will be an HD feed of the Ohio State-Akron game. John Lafayette of TV Week also has the story. Tom Witosky of the Des Moines Register says the news comes just in time for Iowa's game against Syracuse.

Two things from the Sports Media Watch blog. Paulsen looks at the ratings for the NFL on NBC last season. And the blog bids farewell to the summer.

CNBC's Darren Rovell is in Indianapolis to cover the New Orleans-Indy NFL season opener and he got to play a game of Cornhole with a Coors Light girl. What is that? Darren explains.

ESPN tells us the features it will air on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. Mike Shields of Mediaweek tells us that ESPN has added two new series produced exclusively for the web and mobile phones. College Gameday's Tom Rinaldi has taped a segment with Appalachian State kicker Julian Rauch for this Saturday.

Howard Herman of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle says two new changes to the TV lineup for the NFL networks will be Ron Jaworski on Monday Night Football and the Two Grumpy Men segment on Fox NFL Sunday.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today has an extensive article on the NFL increasing its control on media content.

The Big East says all of its 144 league games this upcoming men's basketball season will be aired on either CBS Sports or on the ESPN family of networks.

Bruce Crumley of Time magazine says millions of Europeans are watching baseball, not just online, but through ESPN's North American Sports Network (NASN) channel.

DirecTV has announced it will carry all of MLB's postseason either on TBS or Fox in HD.

That's it for the links for now. I'll be back with a megaupdate tomorrow.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Baltimore at Red Sox - NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open - USA Network, 7 p.m.
Appalachian State at Michigan (re-air) - Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
College Football/Mid. Tennessee at Louisville - ESPN2, 7 p.m.
College Football/Oregon State at Cincinnati - ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
College Football/Baylor at TCU - CSTV, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 - CBS, 8 p.m.
NFL/New Orleans at Indianapolis - NBC, 8:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

The Thursday Afternoon Update

Here are some more links for you.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog at Examiner.com has highlights of a conference call conducted by the NBC Sunday Night Football crew.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Football website has an interview with CNBC's Darren Rovell.

Darren has a story on the NFL's two most marketable players, Peyton Manning and Reggie Bush.

MASN has announced its college football lineup for the fall.

In his blog, Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has an entry on the defending Stanley Cup champs Anaheim Ducks having all of their games televised for the first time.

Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News in his Farther Off the Wall blog talks about ESPN Classic and NBA TV showing the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this Frdiay which will include former Chicago Bull and current Laker head coach Phil Jackson in the Class of 2007.

CBS Sports will have coverage of the women's semifinals of the US Open tomorrow along with its usual Championship weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

NBC Sports announces its coverage plans for the PGA's BMW Championship this weekend.

The Boston Radio Watch site looks at the plans of three stations in the market for football season.

The Big Ten Network has the coverage map for its games this weekend plus channel assignments on DirecTV. Matt's College Sports on TV site has the listing of what games can be seen where this weekend.

ESPN talks about its NFL coverage for all of its platforms.

That's it for now. Check back for a possible update tonight. Primetime viewing picks coming up.

Thursday Morning Linkage

Time to give you some links on this Thursday. On WEEI, it was WBZ-TV's Bob Lobel and Steve Burton filling in for Dennis & Callahan once again. Tomorrow is the day when D&C's contracts expire.

On this opening night of the NFL season, Susan Bickelhaupt of the Boston Globe talks with CBS' Dan Dierdorf and ESPN's Ron Jaworski about the Patriots. Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union writes about Jaworski joining Monday Night Football. Don Benevento of the Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier Post also has a story on Jaworski. In the Philadelphia Daily News, Mark Kram says Jaworski is ready for some Monday Night Football. Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says NFL Network games will be hard to see in the Bay Area. Mike Burrows of the Denver Post looks at the building of a football nation, some of the events listed include TV watersheds. Also from the Denver Post, Anthony Cotton says football is king in the US, thanks partly to TV.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star talks about the opening of the NFL season and some of the changes in TV partners in Canada. And William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks with NBC's John Madden about being ready for the season. Bill Harris of the Winnepeg Sun talks with NBC's Al Michaels.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Raiders game against Detroit is close to being blacked out locally in the Bay Area.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes about ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson, NBC's John Madden and Bethanie Mattek's wardrobe.

Andy Fixmer of the Bloomberg News service writes that due to higher rights fees for MLB, NFL and NASCAR and lower subscription fees from the cable companies means ESPN's growth has slowed, and lowering Disney's stock price.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Bill Doyle talks with NESN's Don Orsillo who for some reason changed his policy about mentioning no-hitters on the air.

Dave Dye of the Detroit News says controversy over the Big Ten Network stands to get uglier. From very amateurish looking West Liberty (IA) Index, Susan Sedlacek writes that Liberty Communications has BTN while Mediacom customers still cannot watch it. Mike Prisuta of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says BTN is worth watching.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has his media power rankings for August.

While ESPN announced last week it would reduce the scripted fare it had offered, news comes from the Television Critics Association Convention that the network is still considering doing a movie about the late Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says even with a local TV station dumping its traditional sports report on its newscasts, other stations feel local sports still needs to be covered.

A lot more links than I expected for a Thursday, but the opening of the NFL season has helped. I'll be back later.

Bethanie Mattek as a French Nanny?

After seeing Bethanie Mattek's wardrobe for the first time in this year's US Open, I have come to realize that the girl likes to wear outrageous outfits on the court. This year's numbers were not the first to draw attention, but the fact that she advanced to the second round in the women's singles and went to the quarters in the women's doubles with Sania Mirza got her more publicity than in the past.

Thanks to Marija of the Women's Tennis Blog, we discovered that Bethanie had plans for a French nanny outfit that was later shelved:

"New York is crazy. It's always cool to do something here. It's just keeping up with what the crowd likes. People are so vocal about it. Some love it or hate it. If they love or hate it, they'll come see it. I think it helps tennis."
American Bethanie Mattek on her latest 'outrageous' outfit, a leopardskin number.

"She can do what the hell she wants. It really doesn't matter to me. I can do what I want for that matter."
Mattek's doubles partner Sania Mirza has her say.

"Very special. She was even more sexy than ever today."
Chan Yung, who teamed up with Chuang Chia-Jung to beat Mirza and Mattek, proves it takes all sorts.

"I was going to have a French nanny kind of look. That one was put aside."
Mattek proves that there are limits even to her fashion taste.

Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport.

Just for good measure, here are some of her outfits from her ten days at Flushing Meadow.

The gold dress with matching headband

The infamous leopard skin dress

One more for good measure.

From her doubles match showing plenty of cleavage.

And the shot sent 'round the world. Ball boy looking at cleavage.

Say what you will about her outfits, Bethanie knows how to market herself and she may have earned herself a nice endorsement deal out of this.

Wednesday Night Linkage

Doing some links for you now as I had work issues late this afternoon. Let me first thank the people from Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily for their visits to this blog. Also I thank them for linking to my video at YouTube of the first 4:40 of the Big Ten Network in today's edition. You're welcome to visit here any time.

Ok, let's get to the links.

Week 1 of the College Football season was a disaster in the ratings for ABC and NBC this past holiday weekend. First, the good weather in the northeast was a factor, plus scheduling games on a holiday weekend was a major influence on the ratings. This is why the NFL no longer opens the season during the Labor Day Weekend. Paulsen at the Sports Media Watch blog says games on both ABC and the peacock network were beaten by the PGA's Deutsche Bank Championship on NBC.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in his Business of Sport blog says the Appalachian State-Michigan game came at the right time for the Big Ten Network. Ty Hilenbrandt of SI on Campus says BTN could make the Big Ten irrelevant. I don't agree with that. Michael Carr blogs on Multichannel News that the upset of Michigan serves to help BTN. The Bloomington (IN) Pentagraph says the Indiana season opener vs. Western Illinois will not be seen in most of the Hoosier State as it will be carried on BTN. Antoine Pitts of the Ann Arbor News says the announcing team of Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis got to call their second big upset of 2007 (they called Boise State-Oklahoma on Fox with Barry Alvarez on New Year's Day in the Fiesta Bowl).

Neil Ostrout of the Connecticut Post says the UConn men's basketball team will have at least 13 national appearances this upcoming season.

That's it for now. I may have a follow up on Bethanie Mattek's wardrobe coming up.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Choices

Toronto at Red Sox - NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open - USA Network, 7 p.m.
Dodgers at Cubs - WGN/ESPN, 8 p.m.
The Power of 10 - CBS, 8 p.m.
Hotel Babylon - BBC America, 9 p.m.
Havoc - IFC, 9 p.m.
Ninja Warrior - G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

Mid-Week Linkage

Hello. Every day, I briefly check WEEI to hear who's hosting the morning show for Dennis & Callahan. Today, it was Bob Lobel and Steve Burton from Channel 4 in Boston along with Jon Meterperel. Unless something happens quickly, it appears that Entercom is willing to continue without its signature show for as long as it takes. Of course, the contracts of John Dennis & Gerry Callahan expire on Friday. We'll see if this gets resolved, but the chasm between the two sides might be too big at this point. Anything changes, I'll let you know.

The PGA Tour is reeling after Tiger Woods missed the first leg of the FedEx Cup "playoffs", the Barclays, and now, Phil Mickelson is skipping the third leg, the upcoming BMW Championship in Chicago. CNBC's Darren Rovell explains why the top two players in the world aren't so willing to play.

Let's go to USA Today where Michael Hiestand looks at the weekend TV ratings. Hiestand also writes about the NFL announcing and studio teams for the network TV partners.

The Hartford Courant picks up wire copy on the changes in the NFL TV networks' lineups.

Molly Willow of the Columbus Dispatch looks forward to the return of Monday Night Football and the "Jacked Up" segment on Monday Night Countdown.

Steve Zipay of Newsday writes about Boomer Esiason's debut on WFAN.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on the new stadium for the New York Giants and Jets.

Let's check out the latest on the Big Ten Network. Joe Rexrode of the Lansing (MI) State Journal writes that Comcast still won't budge in this dispute. Students of Michigan State will be able to see BTN on campus. Walt Moody of the Centre (PA) Daily Times says Pennsylvania viewers of BTN could not view the Appalachian State-Michigan game. Mike Joseph also of the Centre Daily Times writes that a Penn State trustee is lobbying Pennsylvania legislators to support BTN.

Jack Bogacyzk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail says West Virginia will not get a payday for playing Marshall on ESPN2. This marks first time the two schools will have played at Marshall's field since 1915.

ESPN will contribute to Good Morning America's third hour which will be seen online only.

All of the Phoenix Suns games will be on TV and in HD.

The Mayors of Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina have written a joint letter to Time Warner Cable asking the company to pick up MASN.

TSN, one of two all-sports TV networks in Canada, has signed an 8 year extension to show Toronto Maple Leafs games. By the way, the Leafs will be seen on no less than four different outlets. And William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Rogers Sportsnet has ponied up the cash to become the primary regional carrier of the Leafs. Rogers has its own release here.

Those are the links for now.

When Female Tennis Players Attack

This year's US Open has brought us many an attractive female tennis player. Unfortunately, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova all were eliminated within the first week. Then there's Bethanie Mattek of the US, whose wardrobe has gotten notices, but in this case, it's not a good thing. Thanks to my friend, Linda, who pointed this out to me. The Women's Tennis Blog wrote about Bethanie's attire which included a hideous gold dress with headband (picture courtesy of Ms. Flux at Flickr).

But the main purpose of this entry is due to this:

Is it right of Bethanie to be flirting with the ballboy? I'm sure the boy's mother slapped him for looking down Bethanie's cleavage.

Reading Bethanie's bio on the WTA Tour website, one thing that sticks out is that she wears basketball shoes on the court? Short of not having a sponsor, I'm wondering if that's on purpose.

According to her Wikipedia bio, Bethanie is certainly known for making fashion statements on the court:

• 2004 US Open - wore a leopard print outfit.
• 2005 US Open - fined for wearing a striped cowboy hat.
• 2006 Wimbledon - appeared in a 'soccer theme' complete with £10 football socks, chandelier earrings, a boob-tube worn over a strappy vest top, tiny running shorts and a headband.
• 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open - sported pink knee-high socks.
• 2006 US Open - she showed up this time in beige; a loosely draped top, with a crocheted waist and split sleeves that resembled a toga, teamed up with beige knee-high socks.
• 2007 US Open - wore another leopard print outfit.

She certainly likes to entertain.

Tuesday Night Linkage

Time to give you a few links tonight before heading to bed.

It appears that the NFL's TV partners will not have to deal with the silly 45 seconds of online video rule for their websites. The Sports Business Journal's Eric Fisher, Dan Kaplan and John Ourand report that the 45 second rule does not apply CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC, but other sites such as newspaper and TV station websites still must adhere to the rule. According to the article, the networks feel that their exorbitant rights fees should buy them rights to online video. The 45 second rule is of course, supposed to direct fans to NFL.com. We'll see if the league eventually relaxes this silly rule down the road.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse blog reports that ESPN will lower the amount of silly guests in the booth on Monday Night Football. Kamau High of AdWeek says ESPN has begun a new promotional campaign for MNF and I have to say it's actually not as obnoxious as other ESPN campaigns. TV Week's Chris Pursell in his Pressbox blog talks with Keyshawn Johnson who begins his first season as an NFL analyst for ESPN. Advertising Age's Andrew Hampp has a story on the networks scoring profitable ad deals on the NFL.

The great Gregg Easterbrook has the latest edition of Tuesday Morning Quarterback which includes railing against the Preposterous Punt, his all-haiku predictions and a look at the Appalachian State-Michigan game.

The Sports Media Watch blog has the announcing teams for college football on the Disney Sports Networks.

Kira Bindrim of Crain's New York Business writes that ratings for the US Open are down compared to last year while attendance at the National Tennis Center is up.

Randy Petersen of the Des Moines Register reports that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz doesn't have the Big Ten Network at home meaning his family can't watch his games through Mediacom. Centre (PA) Daily Times's editor Bob Heisse in his "Back in Happy Valley" blog wonders what if Comcast decided to settle up with BTN? And Heisse adds one more post regarding overflow games. Michael Zuidema of the Grands Rapids Press says the Appalachian State upset is the first shot from BTN in its battle with Comcast.

The Appalachian State athletics department says ESPN is in town to tape a segment on the upset for College Gameday.

Last Friday, NBC Universal announced it would no longer sell shows for download on iTunes saying prices were too low. Tonight, it's announced a deal with Amazon.com to sell downloads on that site and for higher prices.

That's a lot of links for a Tuesday night and I like it. I'll have more Wednesday morning.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Toronto at Red Sox - NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open - USA Network, 7 p.m.
Power of 10 - CBS, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 - CBS, 9 p.m.
Damages - FX, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior - G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

Tuesday Updated Links

Let's give you a few more links today.

Joseph Whip blogs about HDTV and he criticizes NBC for taking bandwidth away from its picture and thus, causing pixelation. Whip blames the Weather Plus subchannel for this.

The LA Times' Larry Stewart talks with country star Faith Hill about recording "I've Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" for NBC Sports.

Tom Hoffart of the LA Daily News has more in his Farther Off the Wall blog on FSN picking up the re-air of the Appalachian State-Michigan game from the Big Ten Network.

Fans of WSCN will be able to access videos of its Olympic Sports coverage on FoxSports.com.

Mike Battaglino of the New York Post catches up with Bud Collins who says he's been busier than ever since being unceremoniously fired by NBC earlier this year. Bud also said to Battaglino that in addition to doing work for ESPN for its Grand Slam tournaments, Bud will also contribute to the Tennis Channel and I find that to be good news.

Mike Reynolds of the Multichannel News outlines some of the changes coming at ESPN, some of which I have already mentioned in this blog.

LC in the 38 Cliches blog is happy to have Dave O'Brien back in the Red Sox radio booth, but he points out that with Obie out for 10 games doing various ESPN assignments, his point of references for the Red Sox is out of whack. Hopefully that changes next season and we won't have to deal with long stretches of Glenn Geffner. No Geffner, not a little, no Geffner will go a long way with us Red Sox fans who have had to suffer with his talking incessantly off notecards, rushing through live reads of commercials and just making inane points. By the way, LC was worried that Dave would be going to China to call the FIFA Women's World Cup later this month, and I can assure him that Dave is not going to the Far East.

ESPN has announced the relaunch of ESPN360.com that only subscribers to certain Internet Service Providers can access (including Verizon DSL and Fios).

From the Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich writes about Canada's first all-sports radio station, The Fan 590 turning 15 today.

Primetime Viewing Picks coming. I can't wait for next week when I can finally select some good network fare for you.

Back to Work Tuesday Links

They say you're supposed to come back from a three day weekend recharged. Whomever said that should be shot. I'm not recharged. I'm dragging more than usual. I think we should have a five day weekend so we come back Thursday, then leave for home on Friday. That's what we should have. I think I would really be recharged, but a three day weekend, there's not enough time to relax.

Anyway, enough about me, let's get to the back to work links.

For those who think Dennis & Callahan would return to WEEI today, you would be wrong. The station now enters an important phase with the Patriots' season beginning this weekend and the Red Sox heading into the postseason and its morning show is in flux. David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has the latest.

John Molori of Boston Sports Media Watch has an article on CBS' Jim Nantz who is preparing for his third season of lead play-by-play man on the NFL.

Neil Best of Newsday has a new entry in his Watch This! blog and he says he's missed blogging during his vacation.

One show that went on the air today as scheduled was Boomer & Carton on WFAN. Steve Zipay of Newsday had a preview. The New York Daily News' David Hinckley also has a preview.

Darren Rovell of CNBC wonders who really is the winner of the Appalachian State-Michigan game.

The New York Post's Phil Mushnick calls bullshit on a bunch of networks. Also from the New York Post, something we linked to last week, that ESPN will drop scripted programming for the foreseeable future.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that tonight, Fox Sports Net affiliates across the country will have a two hour re-air of the Big Ten Network's Appalachian State-Michigan game. The Detroit Free Press also reports on the FSN re-air.

Tim Cronin of the Chicago Daily Southtown has his take on the Big Ten Network's first moments. Rick Petersen and Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register says the lack of BTN on Mediacom systems gives Iowa residents few options for the game against Syracuse this Saturday. Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says BTN scored with ad sales despite a smaller than expected audience. Jay Hart of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the ESPN College Gameday crew had to take back its comments on Appalachian State.

Andrew Hinkelman of the Anchorage (AK) Daily News has a profile of native Mark Schlereth who's been busy for ESPN.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says NBC is tweaking the technology for Sunday Night Football.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News writes that the NFL is still a cash cow for its network partners.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star has a story on one local sports radio talk show host who wants to stay with his radio station.

Up in Canada, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun talks about the 15th anniversary of all sports radio station, The Fan 590 and talks about its influence throughout the US and Canada.

That's it for now.

Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping the Remote

I haven't done a Hot Chick entry in a while. I figured it was time. Starting at 5 and going down to #1

5. Stacey Dales - ESPN

Doing the sidelines this season on college football broadcasts on ESPN along with her work on the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Stacey is a joy to watch. Not only does she look great, she can talk zone defenses, man-to-man, moving picks and traveling violations with the best analysts out there. She can describe a defensive rotation to me any day.

4. Nigella Lawson - Food Network

Nigella Bites is one of the best cooking shows, bar none. Every time her show is on, I have to stop and watch. I could be doing the most important thing for work or myself, but it will have to wait until the segment or the episode itself is over.

Plus, when she licks the spatula or puts her finger in her mouth to taste one of her concoctions, it's like sex with food. I'm not kidding.

3. The extremely lovely Tina Cervasio - NESN

Her work on the sidelines for the past two seasons on Red Sox broadcasts has been nothing short of excellent. Her features have been very good, plus she has been getting information from Manny Ramirez that other reporters have not. The pictures posted below come from her website.


There hasn't been a day where she doesn't look good. As a subscriber to DirecTV, I can remember her work from the early days of NFL Sunday Ticket and as an update anchor on WFAN. She's come a long way and I wouldn't be surprised if she gets a network gig down the road.

2. Erin Andrews - ESPN

What list would be complete without Erin Andrews? I do think Tina is way better as far as reporting goes. Erin is hot, no doubt about it.



1. Giada DeLaurentiis - Food Network

Everyday Italian is one of those shows you just stop, watch and wait for Giada to make one of her classic expressions when she tastes food. Her smile is infectious. She's gorgeous. Plus, when she spreads chocolate on a Biscotti, it's like watching an artist at work. And of course, there's Giada's Weekend Getaways where we get to watch her ride a jet-ski or swim in a pool. I can go on, but let's get to some pics.



That's it for now.

Videos of the Week

I've been away from the computer for the most part during this Labor Day Weekend so I forgot about Videos of the Week.

Here's a good theme for you. Since ESPN took over ABC Sports last year (the silly ESPN on ABC), I'm worried that people may forget what a powerhouse ABC Sports used to be. It had most of the Olympics from 1968 until 1988. NBC did the 1972 Winter Olympics and had the rights for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but only showed highlights due to the US boycott. Look at what ABC used to have:

Monday Night Football
MLB
College Football
Wide World of Sports
Triple Crown
Indy 500
Pro Bowler's Tour

It was the first network to bring the ACC Tournament to network TV, did the NBA in the 1960's to the early 1970's and certainly began the career of many a great broadcaster from Jim McKay to Al Michaels to Al Trautwig to Jim Lampley. Too bad that ESPN decided to absorb the division into its enormous corporation, but it was coming.

Anyway, here are some videos from ABC Sports for you.

The last moments of the final broadcast of the Professional Bowlers Tour on ABC with the late Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton, Jr. Try not to shed a tear when they pay tribute to Chris.



An ABC Sports promo from 1987.



ABC Sports' sign-off after every broadcast.



A promo for the old Wide World of Sports



And this promo for Wide World is labeled from 1964!



This ABC Sports promo comes from the mid-late 1980's.



ABC Sports used to film the Daytona 500, edit it and present it for later broadcast on Wide World of Sports. That would be unthinkable today. This is from 1969 done by the recently deceased Bill Flemming and Chris Economaki. This is the first of eight parts so if you want to see the rest of the broadcast, you can click on the video below and see it.



And the 1983 Kentucky Derby hosted by Jim McKay with Howard Cosell doing the post parade. Notice Howard holding onto his toupee and poor Bill Hartack trying to hold onto an umbrella. Great stuff.



And the race itself with Jim McKay doing what he did best.



That's it. Enjoy!

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Toronto at Red Sox - NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open - USA Network, 7 p.m.
College Football/Florida State at Clemson - ESPN, 8 p.m.
US Open - CNBC, 9 p.m. (USA goes to WWE Raw at 9 p.m.)
The Closer - TNT, 9 p.m.
Saving Grace - TNT, 10 p.m.
Weeds - Showtime, 10 p.m.
Californication - Showtime, 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark - Showtime Too, midnight

Sunday Links

As I watch the latest episode of the greatly underrated (if that's possible) South of Nowhere on The N and still buzzing over Clay Buchholz's no-hitter for the Red Sox, let me give you a few links on this Sunday.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Saturday's gigantic upset of Michigan by Appalachian State as seen on the Big Ten Network was prime-time fodder seen by a minuscule audience. Amanda Hamon of the Grand Rapids Press says area bars that carried the Big Ten Network through DirecTV did very good business on Saturday. Centre Daily Times (PA) editor Bob Heisse in his Back in Happy Valley blog says he didn't get a good first impression of the network. Dee Miller offers his thoughts on the Big Ten Network taking most of the conference games for itself.

The Examiner's Jim Williams is back with an entry on the broadcast and sometimes, cable outlets for Baltimore, Washington and the Bay Area's college football teams.

Larry Stewart of the LA Times writes about the number of national outlets where you can watch the games. Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret News in Utah has an article of his own on the options for Mountain West fans.

That's it for now. I'll be back on Monday.