A Wednesday Link Thing

Time for some links on this Wednesday. I'll give you stuff that I was supposed to do last night, but did not get to.

First, ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber scolds ESPN personalities for becoming part of the stories they report. Very good point. There is definitely a "look at me" and/or "don't you know who I am" attitude by some reporters at the Alleged Worldwide Leader. The examples cited by Schreiber are very good, especially in the case of the overhyped announcer team switch that led to Dick Vitale calling an NBA game. No one watches games for the announcers, but ESPN wanted people to. Very bad.

USA Today's Michael McCarthy writes that the NFL clock rules will probably be reviewed for next season.

The New York Times' Richard Sandomir talks about the Yankees trying a new strategy to sell its premium seats.

Newsday's Neil Best has Fox's Troy Aikman saying his vehicular escorts to Super Bowl XLII were legal.

CNBC's Darren Rovell has reader comments on the Blackberry commercial. Darren says the New York Mets are denying that the Madoff scandal affected their decision not to sign Derek Lowe. Darren writes that AshleyMadison.com has been denied a spot in the official Super Bowl program. And Darren cites another inaccurate sports commercial.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record writes that Speed Channel will have coverage of the 24 hour race at Daytona later this month.

Ray Frager from the Baltimore Sun feels "the second level" should be banned.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says the ratings for the NFL are pretty much recession-proof.

Roger van der Horst of the Raleigh News & Observer has some various news and notes.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says the Tampa Bay Rays are changing radio stations.

Molly Willow of the Columbus Dispatch says the NFL's ratings are rising above the ratings for primetime TV.

Also from the Dispatch, Nick Chordas writes that 3-D sports broadcasts are scoring with fans.

Ed Sherman of Crain's Chicago Business writes that Comcast SportsNet's new morning show drew decent ratings in its first day. Ed says the change of his former paper, the Chicago Tribune to a tabloid might help newsstand sales. And Ed speaks with a Chicago Cub official about the team being recession-proof.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes the highest rated non-BCS bowl involved the University of Wisconsin.

Dale Miller from the Grand Island (NE) Independent writes a column as if Jack Bauer watched sports television.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says team owners will meet today and take up MLB's archaic blackout rules.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks about the News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram agreeing to share coverage of the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars. The News says this is being done to help cut costs. And Barry says Michael Irvin discussed having a gun pointed at him last night.

Steve Carp from the Las Vegas Review-Journal talks about Billy Packer's new television venture.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News says Florida State Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle got to talk to NBC's Pat Haden about being ... a Rhodes Scholar.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times has Vin Scully reviewing his own performance of the 1956 World Series perfect game that recently aired on MLB Network.

Lance Pugmire of the Times says boxer Marco Antonio Barrera has been hired as a studio analyst by ESPN Deportes. Lisa Guerrero writes about the things she learned about Beisbol in Mexico.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says while Vin Scully is rightfully in first for the Top Sportscasters List, Bill Walton is somehow on that list.

Reuters confirms ESPN's interest in the rights to the English Premier League. EPL Talk says no matter what happens to the U.S. TV rights, changes are definitely coming to how we watch the Premier League.

P.J. Bednarski of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN plans to commemorate Barack Obama's inauguration.

Larry Barnett from Multichannel News serves up ESPN's plans for the Australian Open.

Tom Ferda of Examiner.com wonders if NBC staged the Matt Millen interview during NFL Wild Card weekend.

Some good linkage for you today. That will be all for now.