Tuesday Night Links

We have a lot to catch up on today. Lots of news today and from yesterday which I'll try to provide here.

First, Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News breaks the news that Fox is cutting its MLB pregame show over budgetary concerns and the fact the program doesn't make money. This means for the entire season, the games on Fox will begin at 4:07 p.m. ET instead of 3:55 p.m.

Tom also saw Tony Kornheiser stating he was tired and about to fall asleep on "Pardon the Interruption."

From Deadspin, Fang's Bites fav Stacey Dales is leaving ESPN. Now how am I supposed to get my Stacey fix?

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record reports that the daytime SportsCenters on ESPN are barely registering in the ratings.

A great story from Darren Rovell of CNBC. He talks with former Baltimore Oriole Billy Ripken about the famous (and rare) baseball card that has a curse word in full view.

By the way, I was listening to Sirius Satellite Radio around 4:30 p.m. today and lo and behold, I was surprised to hear Andy Gresh, formerly of the Score in Providence on Mad Dog Radio with Chris Russo. At that time, Russo announced that Greshie will be joining Mad Dog Radio and taking the 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. shift, Monday through Friday. That's a good gig. Not sure about the terms, looking to find out from Gresh. When I do, you'll be the first to know.

On to some links from the Sports Business Journal.

John Ourand and John Lombardo write that the NBA is handing over local digital rights to the regional sports networks and that is definitely big news. That means a Comcast SportsNet or Fox SportsNet affiliate could stream live NBA gamese on their websites.

John Ourand and Tripp Mickle report that the International Olympic Committee may delay the bidding for the US TV rights to the 2016 Games until after the host city is awarded. It would make a huge difference if Chicago was the host than let's say, Tokyo.

Liz Mullen of the SBJ writes that the slow baseball free agent market this offseason is worrying agents.

Eric Fisher says the Baseball Hall of Fame had its best revenue year in 2007.

Terry Lefton writes that the new naming deals for the Mets and Yankees new stadia are getting flak as the financial crunch goes deeper.

Daniel Kaplan reports that the National Football League Players Association is building a huge war chest.

Finally, Terry Lefton tells us that the NFL is not immune from the economy and will fall short of its revenue goal this season.

As a result, the Sports Media Watch reports that the NFL will cut 150 people from its staff. The SMW says Saturday Night Football on ABC ended the season on a down note.

My friends over at The Big Lead feel there's too much network TV gushing over Tim Tebow and Tyler Hansbrough. I'll agree with this.

Over to Newsday's Neil Best who says the New York Islanders are getting some more radio coverage on the Island. And Neil praises NBC for sending Tiki Barber to Dallas to cover the Giants-Cowboys game this Sunday. In his Tuesday column, Neil writes about ESPN's new documentary on the 1958 NFL Championship Game involving the Giants and the Baltimore Colts.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post also writes about the ESPN documentary.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that former NBC, Blue Jays and Yankees analyst Tony Kubek is the recipient of this year's Ford C. Frick Award for baseball broadcasting. He'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame next summer.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says not only did the Ravens beat the Redskins on Sunday Night Football, but Baltimore beat DC in the ratings as well.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says put NBA All-Star Saturday on your calendar as it will be broadcast in 3-D.

I'll end it there for now. I'll have more for you in the morning provided my work computer isn't too slow.