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Something strange has been happening with my DIRECTV subscription this past week. CBS College Sports Network and VS (yes VS) has been available on my television even though it is not part of my CHOICE^™ subscription package.

I only found out because I walked in the house to find SWMBO, who hates sports TV, watching the NCAA Women's D-I Lacrosse Championship replay on CBS College Sports. "I am not watching sports, I am watching lacrosse, " she said.

I chose not to mince words with her on that one. But I did choose to watch the replay of the thrilling NCAA Men's D-II Lacrosse championship game between Le Moyne and C.W. Post. Watch is the operative word because the audio was worse then I have experienced on the worst of the regional networks or syndicated packages.

But that reminded me that I had forgotten to post about the news that ESPNU will be available to subscribers of the DIRECTV CHOICE™ package starting on July 1, 2009. I have been missing ESPN Classic since that got taken out of the package, and frankly have no real interest in watching the Big Ten Network, which is in the package. But I am looking forward to seeing ESPNU and what I may have been missing there. I am not looking forward to see what they may drop in the change.

Here is the press release from DIRECTV.

Disney and ESPN Media Networks and DIRECTV, Inc., today announced an agreement to widen its distribution of ESPNU to DIRECTV's CHOICE^™ programming package beginning July 1. ESPNU will now be available to more than 46 million college sports fans across the country. As part of the agreement, DIRECTV will also launch ESPNU HD by the end of the first quarter 2010. Additionally, ESPN Classic will be repackaged into the DIRECTV SPORTS PACK.

ESPNU provides college sports fans with more than 550 live events annually and televises some of the top Division I conferences in the nation, including: the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, SEC, Sun Belt and WAC. The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA that includes extensive coverage of 22 NCAA Championships, including sports from each of the three collegiate seasons.

"ESPNU is committed to college sports programming 365 days a year, and this move to DIRECTV's CHOICE package allows better access for college sports fans -- nationwide -- to all of the quality content provided on the network," said David C. Preschlack, executive vice president, Disney and ESPN Media Networks.

"DIRECTV continues to offer the best sports programming to its customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV, Inc. "By expanding the distribution of ESPNU, we take that commitment to another level for all college sports fans across the country."

I had to catch a little bit of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee semifinals on ESPN this morning. When I brought it up on ESPN360, Alex Wells from San Diego was spelling:


The intro lower 3rd graphic said he is a 13-year old 8th grader. !3 years old? You would never guess it looking at him and hearing him. Could be be the Danny Almonte of the spelling bee world? Nah, not likely. Oh and he missed the word, doubling the s.

Here is a list of this morning's semi-finalists:

Speller	Age	Hometown
Esther Park	13	Little Rock, Arkansas
Brandon Whitehead	13	El Centro, California
Paige Vasseur	13	Valencia, California
Josephine Kao	14	Roseville, California
Alex Wells	13	San Diego, California
Ramya Auroprem	13	San Jose, California
Claudine Broussard	13	Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, Canada
Laura Newcombe	10	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Veronica Penny	11	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Vincent Medina	14	Coral Springs, Florida
Miguel Gatmaytan	13	Ocala, Florida
Serena Skye Laine-Lobsinger	13	West Palm Beach, Florida
Talmage Nakamoto	14	Kealakekua, Hawaii
Kyle Mou	13	Peoria, Illinois
Aishwarya Pastapur	13	Springfield, Illinois
Vaibhav Vavilala	14	Indianapolis, Indiana
Kennyi Aouad	13	Terre Haute, Indiana
Shari-Jo Miller	11	Mandeville PO, Manchester, Jamaica
Kavya Shivashankar	13	Olathe, Kansas
Sidharth Chand	13	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Brent Henderson	14	Blue Springs, Missouri
Tussah Heera	13	Las Vegas, Nevada
Avvinash Radakrishnan	13	Nashua, New Hampshire
Michael Sun	14	Paramus, New Jersey
Kevin Drew	14	Wellsville, New York
Sriram Hathwar	9	Painted Post, New York
Neetu Chandak	13	Seneca Falls, New York
Zachary Zagorski	13	Oceanside, New York
Siraj Sindhu	14	Watertown, New York
Tino Cusi Delamerced	13	Cincinnati, Ohio
Anamika Veeramani	13	North Royalton, Ohio
Nicholas Rushlow	11	Pickerington, Ohio
Connor Aberle	13	Portland, Oregon
Sukanya Roy	12	South Abington, Pennsylvania
Keiko Bridwell	14	Woodruff, South Carolina
Akshay Raghuram	10	Amarillo, Texas
Mouctika Paluri	13	Carrollton, Texas
Aditya Chemudupaty	12	Pearland, Texas
Andrew Traylor	14	Staunton, Virginia
Tim Ruiter	12	Centreville, Virginia
Eleanor Runde	14	Seattle, Washington

We thought the National Spelling Bee hit the big time when the finals aired on ESPN. But that is obviously not enough for spelling junkies. Now we can catch the raw drama and emotion of Cinderella and the opening rounds on ESPN360!

Spellers from across the country will meet in Washington, D.C. this week for the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee, and ESPN360.com has exclusive live coverage of the preliminary rounds Wednesday, May 27, from 1:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. The broadband sports network will also simulcast ESPN’s telecast of the semifinals (Thursday, May 28, at 10 a.m.) and the finals (8 p.m. on ABC).

And yes, there is an app for this.

Bee fans with iPhones and iPod Touch devices can also be part of the spelling action by downloading the ESPN Spelling Bee game application from the iTunes App Store.

Time to get my brackets done!

Forget the Indy 500, the fast-paced sport of college lacrosse is on ESPN this weekend. The final four of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Lacrosse Championships will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

Here is the press release issued by ESPN.

NCAA D-I Men’s Lacrosse Semifinals and Championship on ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPN360.com

This Memorial Day Weekend, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPN360.com will present the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse National Semifinals and Championship from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.


On Saturday, May 23, on ESPN2 HD, No. 3 Duke will face off against No. 2 Syracuse for the first semifinal at noon, followed by No. 5 Cornell vs. No. 1 Virginia at 2 p.m. The National Championship will air Monday, May 25, at 1 p.m. on ESPN HD. Dave Ryan, Quint Kessenich and Rob Simmelkjaer will team for the fourth year in a row to call all three games. ESPN360.com will simulcast every game.

In addition, for the second year in a row, during ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD will utilize “SkyCam” at the Final Four, which gives an aerial camera angle of the field. For a sixth consecutive year, officials will wear wireless mics to bring viewers closer to the on-field atmosphere.

The ESPN networks televise all 15 games from the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship. In 2009, ESPNU featured 30 Division I regular-season college lacrosse games in national telecasts – more than any other network – including unprecedented coverage of 12 in high definition on ESPNU HD and ESPN2 HD.

Photograph Courtesy of Syracuse University Sports Information.

Organizations cannot expect to set up social networking tools like Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter and expect people to just sign up on a whim. They also cannot expect that most of their stakeholders (i.e. employees, vendors, customers, etc) will know about these tools without explanation or instructions on how to use them.

SunSports/Fox Sports Florida has grasped this right out of the gate, and is developing tools to help users. The first is this viral video featuring SunSports/Fox Sports Florida social networking guru and on-air talent Whit Watson:


How is this video successful in its goal?

1. It tells you what they are doing to communicate with fans.
2. It explains what Twitter is*
3. It tells you how to sign up for Twitter and Facebook.
4. It tells you how to find them using these tools.
5. It tells you who will be communicating with them and what they will be communicating.
6. It solicits feedback and suggestions from their stakeholders.

They could have done a better job explaining what Facebook is and its benefits (i.e. community building) because a lot of people may not know what Facebook it, or do not understand the underlying value proposition.

As far as the video goes, the opening clip of the inside the park home run was a bit long on its own and does not grab the attention with what they are doing. What would have been cool is if they had flown fan's tweets about the home run over the video.

They have also put a shorter video on their home page that launches when people visit the web site. Again, they are telling people up front and marketing the use of their tools.

If your organization is looking for ways to educate stakeholders and market your social media initiatives, this video is a great example to get you started.

Related Link(s)

Eye on Sports Media on Facebook
Eye on Sports Media on Twitter
SunSports/Fox Sports Florida

As reported here last week, there is some upheaval going on on the production side of the NFL on Fox. Now it is time for some more, but not all, details (as they are not yet available).

David Hill, Fox Sports Chair and Executive Producer, has demoted lead NFL director Artie Kempner. Even more stunning for me is that Hill has also split the legendary producer/director team of Bob Stenner and Sandy Grossman. who have worked together at Fox and CBS Sports for more than four decades.

First, let's look at the Kempner demotion. Artie has been the lead director for Fox NFL games since 2003. According to sources who asked to remain anonymous, there has been a rift or some level of tension between Artie and Hill. What straw broke the camel's back is not clear, but the message cannot be clearer.

Artie, who is also the NASCAR director for Fox, has been removed from the "A" team and relegated to the "C" game. For the first half of the season, he will work with producer Fran Morrison. After the Major League Baseball season ends, Pete Macheska will take over the producer responsibilities for that broadcast crew. One source said this looked to be a move down the ladder for Macheska as well.

Rich Russo will move into the "A" team director's chair, working alongside producer Richie Zyontz. These left a hole with producer Michael Burks team. And this is where my jaw dropped while parsing the information I was gathering.

Hill has split the legendary and long-time team of Bob Stenner and Sandy Grossman. Stenner came to work at CBS in 1959, working in the mailroom. Grossman joined CBS in 1963 as an usher on a game/quiz show. Eventually they moved into sports. They became production partners working with Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier and produced their first Super Bowl (Super Bowl V) in 1971.

For 21 years, they worked with Summerall and John Madden, both at CBS and Fox. In 2002, they produced their last Super Bowl. The next year, Madden moved on to ABC and Monday Night Football. That same year, Stenner and Grossman were taken off of the A team.

This split has many people scratching their heads, as this is supposed to be Grossman's last year according to one source.

While Grossman has been teamed with Burks, Stenner is moving to a different crew, taking along analyst Brian Billick with him. Brian Baldinger is gone, recently signing a deal to work a Sunday radio package with Compass Media.

For the technical crews, this means a lot of movement, and unfortunately a lot of lost jobs. According to one source, Stenner's new director chose to replace some of Stenner's crew. Because Mike Burk's crew had been together a long time, and had originally been with Grossman, a lot of people were looking for new jobs.

This proved to be difficult as Hill ordered cost-cutting moves. Each crew was told that they had to eliminate one technical position. The production teams had to choose to eliminate a camera man or a sub mixer or a tape operator. One source said he heard that the A and B team lost 3 or more technical positions each. This has yet to be confirmed.

All of this ties into what one source said Hill, who returned to Fox Sports in 2007, sees as necessary to shake things up because he "wasn't happy with all of the coverage, whatever that means."

The official Fox announcement of all the changes for both production and talent is not expected until after the MLB All-Star game in July.

A Fox Spokesperson declined to provide any official comment on these changes.

I just got confirmation that the rumors of Fox Sports totally mixing up their production and talent teams for the 2009 NFL season are indeed true.

One of the production changes is absolutely stunning, but I will hold off on publishing it until the final lists are officially released by Fox.

Update (5:30 pm et): According to a Fox Spokesperson, Fox Sports will not be making any official announcement on the changes until after the MLB All Star Game.

I have been struggling with writing this post for over a week now. The struggle was not with finding the words to write. The struggle was whether or not the subject should be written about. It is only after exchanging emails with a sports editor and talking to other people that I have decided to go forth with it. It is not about attacking the person or a question of my like or dislike for a person. It is about the fact that other people, especially a young man from Athens Academy outside of Athens, Georgia, look up to this person as a role model. And role models do not drive drunk, putting their lives and the lives of others at risk.

Jeff Dantzler (pictured left) has been a fixture of University of Georgia athletics coverage for many, many years. The native of Statesboro, Georgia originally arrived in Athens to play tennis for legendary college tennis coach Dan Magill. After graduation, he worked in the sports information department, and then moved on to radio and television work. He is known as the voice of the Lady Bulldogs basketball team, and as an analyst for Georgia Men's Basketball radio coverage.

But the Bulldog Nation has seen or heard very little of Dantzler since his DUI arrest last week. He has not been on the air at 960 the Ref for his afternoon radio show. His last blog post for Bulldawg Illustrated was on May 5, 2009.

Except for a single blog posting by freelance journalist/photographer Dan Matthews of Oconee County, you would never have heard of the arrest. It was never reported in the local media or in the Atlanta media. Some people have told me that they suspected it was a "cover-up by Vince Dooley and the boys."

Life is not so simple as that. It was not a "Dooley and the boys" cover-up. It was an editorial decision by the Athens Banner-Herald. According to one source inside the newspaper, it was not considered newsworthy, and it would was felt that it would provide celebrity for someone considered to be a celebrity in his own mind. It was also debated, according to this source, if it made sense to report an arrest of somebody most people would not recognize.

If this had been Dantzler's first brush with the law, or his first controversy, there might be some merit to that argument. But it was not may not have been, as the red flags are all over the booking report for the Sheriff's office. The charges included:


It is clear APPEARS from these charges that it is not his first DUI arrest, and that he had may have had at least one prior DUI conviction. That can be considered nothing less than reckless behavior. If so, that can be considered nothing less than reckless behavior.

In 2003, he was suspended (some say fired) for asking, on the air, 3 UGA coeds what color underwear they were wearing. When legendary radio play-by-play man Larry Munson was looking to leave his on-air responsibilities, it is widely known that Dantzler was lobbying for the job. This rubbed more than a few people the wrong way.

So did the Athens Banner-Herald make the right decision in not reporting this story?

I say no, because they have missed the bigger picture. Dantzler is a very visible member of the UGA athletic community. Athens is a college sports town, and many, many people know who Dantzler is. By not reporting this, they missed an important opportunity to make a statement of how stupid and selfish it is for someone to be driving drunk. They missed an opportunity to show why people should be careful in deciding who they consider to be a role model.

And it also shows a little bit of media hypocrisy. The media is always more than willing to write sensational news when an athlete or other celebrity is arrested for DUI or some other transgression. They are also all over any news of steroid use by athletes. So what if alcohol abuse and drunk driving is more destructive than steroid use?

A Sticky Situation

When asked this morning about Dantlzer's status at 960 the Ref, station program director David Johnston said "I cannot say anything about it." That was not unexpected.

Of course, the station is in a tough position on this because of all of the remote broadcasts Dantzler and partner Chris Brame have done from local watering holes, pubs, etc, all the time pushing the drink promotions available at those sites. Now that they are owned by Cox Radio, who knows what is going on behind the scenes.

The Cox Radio Code of Conduct does not address situations such as these.

Every Saturday at UGA home football games, Dantzler works as the PA annoucer in the press box. A year or two ago Dantzler appeared in the press box, and from his behavior seemed to be a little buzzed. I thought "no way" and just wrote it off to him probably playing golf that morning in the hot sun. But now I am left to wonder.

I am also left a little concerned for a young man from Athens Academy. This young man, who aspires to be an on-air sports media talent just like his icon and, by all appearances, mentor, sits beside him each and every home game. Do these aspirations include behaviors that are reckless and self-destructive?

Don't get me wrong. We all have made mistakes in errors or judgement in the past. I am certainly guilty of that. But I would like to think that others and myself would learn from our mistakes and grow. From all appearances, Danztler has not.

So while the local media is silent on this matter, I cannot be and I want Jeff to read this for what it is: an encouragement to get his act together.

Dantzler is an extremely talented man with a great potential. I watched in awe as he easily segued into a spontaneous, knowledgeable on air interview with Bobby Clampett at the 2009 Athens Regional Foundation Classic. His ability to switch gears to know his interviewee and the deep background for the interview without having to do research is something that cannot be learned. It is an innate skill.

But he keeps shooting himself in the foot. According to one source, who asked to remain anonymous, his friends have tried and tried to get him to clean up his act and cut back on the drinking. It has not worked. Because of this and his other problems, there is at least one sports media talent agent, according to this source, who will not touch him with a ten foot pole. That is called career limiting.

Until he addresses his challenges and admits them, his career may indeed be over. And that would be a shame.

Related Link(s)

Cox Radio Code of Conduct (PDF File)
Dan Matthews Blog Posting About the Arrest

For the citizen journalists out there (e,g, bloggers), a dream has been to be credentialed to follow a NFL team and reach NFL Nirvana: being credentialed to cover the Super Bowl.

Impossible? Pipe dream? For the most part yes. But, there are opportunities this year thanks to Bleacher Report and CBSSports.com through their newly launched NFL Correspondent Network:

We’re thrilled to announce an exciting new initiative being brought to you by CBSSports.com and BleacherReport.com. The CBSSports.com NFL Correspondent Network is a unique opportunity whereby aspiring sports journalists will be given the opportunity to provide in-depth coverage of NFL teams as fully credentialed members of the press corps.

CBSSports.com and Bleacher Report will select one writer to follow each of the NFL’s 32 teams from the club’s training camp and practices through their regular season and playoff games. The reporters covering the AFC and NFC Champions will also be credentialed to cover Super Bowl XLIV for CBSSports.com and BleacherReport.com.

Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of written work submitted during the evaluation period, as well as education and prior journalism experience. The program is open to any qualified applicant, including the large and dedicated communities of bloggers and writers at CBSSports.com and BleacherReport.com.

This blending of traditional journalism with sports citizen reporting is totally unprecedented—especially on this scale. The combination of CBSSports.com’s impeccable editorial standards and deep ties to the NFL with Bleacher Report’s rich and prolific network of writing talent will result in unparalleled live coverage of NFL teams on a local level.

Please feel free to submit an application and forward this post to any interested friends or coworkers. Applications are currently being accepted. For more information, please browse to:

I would apply but for two reasons. One is that Atlanta and Flowery Branch are a bit too far away for me to be able to cover the Falcons on a regular basis. The other is that this site has been "blackballed" by CBS Sports for being critical of some of their practices. So it is not likely that I would be selected (hey I have to be a realist).

But that does not mean that any of you should not follow your dreams.

Go for it!

Related Link(s)

NFL Correspondents Network Application

Bill Chuck is an accomplished communications consultant, author, and baseball nut. He is the creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales.

”He has made a slight change to his daily newsletter for the 2009 Major League Baseball season, publishing a daily "nine things you need to know in order to talk baseball today."

Bill is a good friend of Eye on Sports Media, so we will be reprinting his "Nine to Know" as a semi-regular piece on the site. They are also published in original form by Bill on his Billy-Ball site.

And if you work in sports media (or any other field) and need a top notch communications consultant, Bill is "one to Know" and contact (see his contact information at the bottom of this post).

Nine to Know

May 6, 2009 - Here are nine things you need to know in order to talk baseball today.

1. The streak is 12

Jeff Weaver and the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 enabling the Dodgers to tie the major league record for most consecutive wins at home to start a season. The 12-0 at home Dodgers are now a major league best 20-8 overall.

Talk about: What a difference a year makes. Last year on this date the Dodgers had won 11 games at home but had five losses to go with those wins and a 19-14 record. They won their 12th game at home on May 19, 2008 making them 12-9 at home and 23-21 overall.

2. The streak is 17

– The Brewers defeated the Pirates, 8-5. That’s 17 straight for Milwaukee over Pittsburgh, the most wins by one team over another since the Orioles took 23 straight from the Royals from 1969-70.

Talk about: here’s the irony, even with their hot streak against this perennial sub .500 team, the Brewers are only 78-73 since 2000 against the Buccos and with a 27-43 record in PNC Park they have the most losses there of any NL team.


3. The streak is five

The Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 7-3. The BoSox are 5-0 vs. New York this season, just the third time they've won at least the first five meetings of a season vs. the Yanks.

Talk about: The Yankees lead the Red Sox in head-to-head meetings since 2000, 88-79 but the last time the teams finished a season with more than a three game differential between the clubs was in 2001 when the Yanks won the season series, 13-5.

4. Four for Four

The Royals and Rangers have each won four straight while the White Sox and the Braves have each lost four in a row

Talk about: John Buck’s 11th inning walkoff single led the Royals to an 8-7 win over the ChiSox. Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s 10th inning grand slam was the key hit in the Rangers 7-2 win over Seattle. The Mets completed a two-game sweep of the Braves in Atlanta, 4-3.

5. The Phils move into first

– With the Marlins loss to the Reds and the Phils 10-7 victors over the Cards, the NL East has a new leader for the first time this season. Shane Victorino was 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI and Jayson Werth had a three-run shot and four RBI

Talk about: Albert Pujols hit his 10th homer of the season in the 9th off of Brad Lidge who has allowed four homers in 10.2 innings. Lidge gave up two dingers last year after allowing 9 in 2007 and 10 in 2006.

6. Six for the Reds

The Reds picked up their sixth shutout of the season and the Reds’ Mike Phillips drove home six in Cincy’s 7-0 win over the Marlins.

Talk about: The Reds are 10-5 on the road this season and completed a 3-2 road trip, during which their staff had an ERA of 1.68.

7. Seven for the Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays scored seven times in the 7th inning to top the Indians, 10-6. Adam Lind hit a three-run home run and Scott Rolen hit a one-runner for the Jays.

Talk about: The Indians bullpen has been successful only six times in 13 save opportunities and has a 6.49 ERA.

8. Suspended animation

The Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals game was stopped with one out in the bottom of the 11th either because it was raining so hard or the umps couldn’t stand to watch the action any further. The game included 13 walks, three errors, 18 runners left on base and assorted other miscues.

Astros pitcher Chris Sampson faced seven batters and walked four forcing in three runs. In that inning the Nationals scored six runs on two hits, five walks, one HBP, one error and a partridge in a pear tree.

Talk about: All the stats for the game count and the game will be made up in progress in Houston on July 9, although the Nats will be the home team. Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 23 games. "That's one more than 22," the Washington third baseman said.

9. UNABASHED SELF PROMOTION:

After all if I don’t do it, who will?

My full Cinco De Mayo special was published right here: http://www.dugoutcentral.com/blog/?p=2464

I’ll be on the Happy Hour with J.P. Peterson, 1010 CBS Sports Radio Tampa Bay today just after 4:00 PM

Check my Tweet for #10 – http://twitter.com/BillyBall

Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller, published by ACTA Sports, and available worldwide.

Bill is available for radio appearances, and writing for print or the web: Bill@billy-ball.com

In olden days, it would seem strange to hear "Fox Sports" and "The Wall Street Journal" in the same breath. But now that they are both owned by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, it is not so strange. Rising from this marriage is a live webcast called "The Future of Sports" at 9:00 AM ET on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 (tomorrow).

Sam Walker, sports editor of The Wall Street Journal, will host the panel discussion that will include Gary B. Bettman of the National Hockey League; Roger Goodell of the National Football League; Allan H. (Bud) Selig of Major League Baseball; and David J. Stern of the National Basketball Association.

According to the press release, the event will address the business of sports, including the challenges and opportunities the leagues face in the current economic climate, as well as issues of competition and matters that are important to fans.

The Future of Sports will be hosted by Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. On March 3, 2009, the Journal launched a daily sports page that now appears Monday through Saturday in the paper and online.

About Wall Street Journal Sports

On March 3, 2009, The Wall Street Journal launched the first daily sports page in its 120-year history. The page appears in the print Journal Monday through Saturday and is continuously updated online at WSJ.com.

A mix of insightful feature stories, news, game predictions and quantitative analysis, “Sports” focuses on upcoming events and the most provocative and engaging issues surrounding them.

The page's signature feature, “The Count,” offers an unabashedly quantitative and predictive look at sports. A Monday feature called “The Couch” takes an irreverent look at the major events of the weekend, and “Heard on the Field” is an eclectic mix of daily news and scuttlebut from the world of sports.

Source: Fox Sports press release

Related Link(s)
Wall Street Journal Sports
"Ask the Commisioners" on WSJ Sports
Fox Sports

Some things just do not sink into your consciousness until someone points them out. This includes when someone on Facebook notes that the FSN North video promotions for Due North Outdoors look like they always start with an image of a rolled condom:


Perhaps it really does not look like one? Well some people may say this looks like a more subliminal message:


Notice the graphic as it is placed under host Laura Schara. It looks even more like an unrolled condom, with an arrow pointed at her.

It is not really clear what the round thing is supposed to be. But if networks like FSN North are going to play in the social networking universe, they need to be careful of how people perceive their graphics. Why? Because perception is in the eye of the beholder and some people just may take offense in our hypersensitive society.

Don't believe me? Just take a look at this image and ask yourself how it could possibly result in the threat of a sexual harassment complaint:


Yes, an employee I worked with way back when threatened to file a sexual harassment complaint unless I removed the image from an Intranet web site. You can read more about that over on our sister site, "The Business Controls Caddy."

By the way, what IS it supposed to be?

Related Link(s)

FSN North (Minnesota)
FSN North (Wisconsin)
Due North Outdoors Show Site
Laura Schara bio

Universal Sports and NBC Sports have entered into a long-term partnership agreement with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's governing body for track and field. The agreement covers the the 2010-2015 time period.

This year's televised events include (all times ET)

May 8 IAAF Super Grand Prix Doha, Qatar 12 Noon US
May 30 IAAF Reebok Grand Prix New York 4:30 p.m. NBC
May 31 IAAF Reebok Grand Prix New York 12 Noon US
June 7 IAAF Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. 2 p.m. NBC
June 8 IAAF Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. 8 p.m. US
June 14 IAAF Golden League Berlin 2 p.m. US
June 28 US Track and Field Championships Eugene, Ore. 4 p.m. NBC
June 29 US Track and Field Championships Eugene, Ore. 8 p.m. US
July 7 IAAF Super Grand Prix Lausanne 12 noon US
July 10 IAAF Golden League Rome 2 p.m. US
July 12 IAAF World Youth Championships Bressanone, Italy 8 p.m. US
July 17 IAAF Golden League Paris 2 p.m. US
July 24 IAAF Super Grand Prix London 1 p.m. US
July 25 IAAF Super Grand Prix London 1 p.m. US
July 28 IAAF Super Grand Prix Monte Carlo, Monaco 3 p.m. US
July 31 IAAF Super Grand Prix Stockholm 2 p.m. US
Aug. 15 IAAF World Championships Berlin 1 p.m. NBC
Aug. 16 IAAF World Championships Berlin 2 p.m. NBC
Aug. 22 IAAF World Championships Berlin 1 p.m. NBC
Aug. 23 IAAF World Championships Berlin 2 p.m. NBC
Aug 28 IAAF Golden League Zurich 2 p.m. US
Aug. 30 IAAF Golden League Zurich 1 p.m. NBC
Sept. 4 IAAF Golden League Brussels 2 p.m. US
Sept. 6 IAAF Golden League Brussels 2 p.m. NBC
Sept. 12 IAAF World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7 p.m. US
Sept. 13 IAAF World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7 p.m. US
Oct. 11 IAAF World Half Marathon Champs Birmingham, UK 7 p.m. US

* schedule subject to change; visit UniversalSports.com for up-to-date TV and online event schedules and availability of Universal Sports 24-hour network.

Here is the joint release from NBC Sports and Universal Sports

UNIVERSAL SPORTS, NBC SPORTS, AND IAAF STRIKE LONG TERM PARTNERSHIP

Includes all major IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2010-2015 including three IAAF World Championships in Athletics


LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK-May 4, 2009- Universal Sports and NBC Sports today announced a long-term partnership with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's governing body for track and field, and their commercial partner's, Dentsu Inc. for broadcast rights to all major IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2010-2015, including the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The agreement extends the existing relationship between Universal Sports, NBC Sports, the IAAF and Dentsu already in place that covers this year's IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

"This long term partnership with the IAAF confirms that Universal Sports together with NBC will be the long term destination in the United States for the very best in global athletics competitions, providing fans a true season for the sport of track and field," said Claude Ruibal, Chairman and CEO Universal Sports.

"Our relationship with the IAAF is a critical component to our Olympic sports strategy, and this agreement gives us a terrific platform to further build the awareness of the best track and field athletes as we lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games," said Gary Zenkel, President NBC Olympics."

This announcement signifies a substantial increase in the coverage of athletics in the United States as NBC and Universal Sports will make these popular sports available on multiple platforms, with most events covered live and same-day on their networks, starting with a total of over 130 hours of coverage on the two networks in 2009.

"We are proud to extend our partnership with Universal Sports and NBC Sports," said Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF. "They have consistently demonstrated a commitment to providing the IAAF broad distribution of our events and we consider them the perfect partner for the IAAF as we work to further build the sport of athletics in the U.S."

UNIVERSAL SPORTS WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY: Universal Sports is now available in eight of the top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Houston, Miami, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets.

2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS: NBC Sports will provide broadcast coverage of the Reebok Grand Prix on May 30 and the Prefontaine Classic on June 7 in combination with Universal Sports, as well as the 12th IAAF Track and Field World Championships, on August 15, 16, 22 and 23, from Berlin.

2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports television and UniversalSports.com will offer the complete outdoor 2009 IAAF track and field season, with the Golden League, Super Grand Prix and Grand Prix events featuring the top track and field athletes in the world. In addition, Universal Sports will have exclusive live online coverage of the 12th IAAF Track and Field World Championships, August 15-23, from Berlin. Fans can visit the track and field channel on UniversalSports.com/trackandfield for updated schedules (TV and online), news, video highlights, special features, photo galleries, sweepstakes and more.

MARATHON COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports is the home of the entire World Marathon Majors series, a championship-style competition started in 2006. The series includes the annual marathons from Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City, as well as the 2009 IAAF World Championship Marathon. Universal Sports will be delivering coverage of other prestigious marathons, including Los Angeles and Stockholm.

For more information on current programming schedules and channel listings please visit UniversalSports.com/tvschedule.

ATHLETE BLOGS ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com features blogs from Lauryn Williams (100m, 200m), Sanya Richards (400m), Shannon Rowbury (1500m) and Ryan Hall (marathon).

We made a slight change on Eye on Sports Media last night, a change that was long overdue.

We have finally implemented the site wide use of our domain name, eyeonsportsmedia.com, a name we have owned since the site was launched in November 2007.



There are a number of reasons for the delay, but the biggest is that we wanted to make sure none of our content got lost in the change.

The change should be transparent to our readers, and any old links that have been bookmarked will redirect to the new domain/url, and the RSS feed will continue to function as normal.

If, however, you find you are experiencing any difficulties in accessing the site or any part of the site, please let us know so we can fix any problems that may have arisen.

Thanks to all of our loyal readers who make this so much fun.

"I can't understand a word he is saying dad," was all my daughter could say. We were sitting and waiting for a replay of the unbelievable and stunning finish by Mine that Bird in Saturday's running of the 135 Kentucky Derby.

We waited, and we waited, and we waited. Instead of seeing a replay of the incredible finish, we watched a slow victory lap and a painful interview of winning jockey Calvin Borel.

It was not painful in the sense that it was hard to watch. It was painful in that he was so hyped up you really could not understand any of his answers to the questions posed by Donna Brothers. His Cajun accent just got too thick to make out what he was saying.

So while we waited, and waited, and waited for a replay, we found ourselves more and more frustrated that there was no replay. When they finally got to one, it was an overhead shot showing the winning horse's changing position as he made his move. That was kind of cool, but it was not the replay we wanted to hear (with the call of the race).

So what did we do? We gave up on waiting and turned off the television. Maybe some sponsor could pony up some money (please forgive the pun) so that it can be shown right away, if that is what it would take.

Yes, Tom Hammond is Still White

Whenever Tom Hammond does a national broadcast, this site inevitably gets hit with Google searches from people wanting to know if he is black or white. And my answer is still the same: what does it matter? He is a human being, a great guy, and a fine announcing talent. Don't you people have anything better to Google about?

Bob Neumeier Misses Derby In Hospital

Long-time Racing Analyst Bob Neumeier was hospitalized after falling ill with an apparent seizure during a Friday broadcast. According to the on-air talent Saturday, he was doing ok and they wished him a speedy recovery. NBC did some talent juggling as a result of this, and the result was amateur television by the fill-in at its best.

Here's hoping Neumeier makes a speedy and full recovery.

Calvin Borel Has a Heck of a Back Story

Calvin Borel was a very happy man on Saturday, winning his second Kentucky Derby in three years. When He won with Street Sense in 2007, he had never ridden in the Derby. ESPN's Pat Forde has a great story on the jockey that was written after his 2007 victory over on ESPN.com.

There was another old-line newspaper bloodletting last week. The Baltimore Sun laid of 61 people, including long-time assistant sports editor and sports media writer Ray Frager (pictured left).

In his farewell column, Frager wrote

I hope to pop up soon with a new sports media blog and would love to continue wasting your time.

I thought to myself "how interesting" that a downsized mainstream media writer would want to continue on with his own blog writeing. I toyed with the idea of asking Ray if he would want to contribute to this site. But then I thought "why would he want to do that?"

Well I should have followed my first instinct and asked Ray of he wanted to do that. I didn't, and Keith Thibault of the Sports Media Journal did. As a result, fans of Ray can read his occasional posts over on Sports Media Journal.

For those of you not familiar with that site, Keith is not a person who feels he has to post a lot of times every single day. Instead, you will find he comes up with some great written and downloadable podcast interviews, as well as his experiences in other areas such as trying his hand at being a beat writer covering a minor league baseball team for a season.

All I can say is "Well done Keith!", and to wish Ray all the best as he works through what to do next in his career.

Related Link(s)

Ray Frager's Farewell Blog Post at the Baltimore Sun
Ray Frager's Inaugural Post at the Sports Media Journal
Sports Media Journal Interview Series
Keith Thibault's PawSox Blog