Watchdog

The Phils-Mets tilt that was supposed to be on Fox Saturday afternoon now is on SNY Sunday afternoon.

The wrinkle is that SNY hadn't been planning on showing any of the games in the series, and now has had one dumped into its lap. What to do?

The network will show the first 5 1/2 innings with limited commercial interruption and from the bottom of the sixth on with no commercial interruption.

SNY will fill the gaps with additional content such as Gary Cohen and Ron Darling answering viewer e-mails.

No word yet on whether ESPN plans to go commercial free for the Sunday night game between the teams.

Three thoughts about the Giants' opener:

1. I knew I should have flown to Vegas Thursday and bet the house on John Carney leading the NFL in scoring.

2. Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth made note of the loud booing behind them during halftime, but at some point during the telecast NBC should have made note of whom fans were booing: Giants exec Steve Tisch, who took the heat for frustration with PSL sales for the new stadium.

3. Health issues have two long-time members of the Giants' radio team in limbo - Dick Lynch, who has not worked at all this season, and Dave Jennings, who worked the preseason and seemed to struggle at times. He did not work the regular-season opener.

This limited blogging stuff is getting to me. I'll be back to normal Monday, and have only one scheduled week off from then through the end of June.

Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Continue reading "John Carney is the NFL's leading scorer!" »

No, I did not hear Chris Russo's first Sirius XM show Thursday.

Yes, someone else from Newsday was on the case.

Thanks, Marcus.

How big a deal is Sarah Palin's VP nomination in Alaska, a state whose residents understandably often feel neglected and/or misunderstood by their countrymen in the Lower 48?

Here is a hint, although granted it's a story 25 years old this week:

When the Soviets shot down a civilian Korean aircraft near Sakhalin Island on Sept. 1, 1983, network TV newscasts covering the event noted that the plane had refueled in Anchorage.

"Anchorage." Not "Anchorage, Alaska."

This prompted an editorial in The Anchorage Times celebrating the fact "Anchorage" sufficed on national TV to identify our town, a sign we had finally arrived as a major city. Sure, 269 people - including a U.S. Congressman - died and the incident led to a diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and the Soviets, but at least Anchorage got plenty of pub!

If anyone finds me a copy of that editorial, he or she will be inducted into the WatchDog Hall of Fame, assuming I start one at some point.

The last time I spoke to Bob Sheppard was in March, when I attempted to invite myself to his Baldwin home to watch the Yankees' opener with him, since he was not going to be physically able to make it to the stadium.

Cool column idea, right?

His polite reply: "Oh, no."

Alas, Bob still hasn't made it to the stadium, but he has not ruled out an appearance for the final game at the big ballpark in the Bronx. Jim Baumbach spoke to him about that today.

That's all from me. Enjoy the Hudson Valley Renegades against the Brooklyn Cyclones on SNY tonight.

MSG is making an aggressive bid to succeed YES as the TV simulcast home of "Mike'd Up," formerly known as "Mike and the Mad Dog," a person familiar with the process said.

WFAN's afternoon show has been simulcast on YES since the network launched in 2002.

YES' contract to carry the show expires at the end of this year, but it had the right to cancel the simulcasts after the breakup of Chris Russo and Mike Francesa last month. It decided to keep the show through the end of December, as planned.

What about after that, though? YES has a right to match MSG's offer, but its level of interest in doing so is not clear.

The show provides many hours of programming, but Yankees president Randy Levine long has been interested in severing the relationship, according to multiple people familiar with the situation. With the contract ending and a new stadium opening, the Yankees and YES might conclude this is the time to part ways.

YES is believed to be considering launching its own talk show that would originate from the new Yankee Stadium.

Will YES seek to match MSG's offer? "We don’t publicly discuss strategy,'' spokesman Eric Handler said.

Is YES formulating its own show? "We are always exploring new programming opportunities, as evidenced by the four new programming series we launched in the first seven months of 2008 (The Joe Girardi Show, YESterdays, SportsLife NYC and Forbes Sports Money)," Handler said.

(MSG and Newsday both are owned by Cablevision.)

I haven't gotten around to interviewing Jenn Sterger, a recent addition to the Jets' game-day festivities.

So Bob Mantz beat me to it here.

Bob asks the tough questions, such as: If Sarah Palin can run for VP, why not Jenn?

Speaking of Ms. Palin, what's with the thick upper Midwest accent? I knew many transplanted North Dakota and Minnesota types when I lived in Anchorage, but Palin has lived in Alaska since she was in infant.

Speaking of the Republican Convention, it's absurd that with three cable news channels filling 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 mind-numbing days a year, convention watchers were forced to turn to C-Span to watch the traditional roll call of states that nominated John McCain.

Sure they're corny and predetermined, but they are a celebration of America and Americana, and skipping them so political commentators can have more babbling time is an insult to viewers loyal to both major parties and is downright unpatriotic.

Michael Kay's interview of Chris Russo on 1050 ESPN this afternoon ran so long that Russo eventually ended up interviewing Kay about the Yankees, and elicited some interesting responses.

(If it were not for sports talk radio, my job would be much less strange.)

Here is the link to the audio.

Russo will be making his Sirius XM Satellite Radio debut from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday with an NFL preview show from the ESPN Zone in Times Square. (His regular show launches Sept. 15.)

Because WFAN is the local rights-holder for Giants games, Russo was not allowed to have the show emanate from Giants Stadium.

Mike Francesa will be at the stadium doing his solo show. Still no word on exactly when he will fill out his new on-air roster, but Bob Heussler likely will be the first addition as the regular update man for the radio version of "Mike'd Up."

I went to the U.S. Open today for the first time since 1995 and discovered someone lopped off the top of Louis Armstrong Stadium. Who knew?

It turns out big matches have moved to a building called Arthur Ashe Stadium.

While there I encountered Roslyn's own Darren Rovell of CNBC. He suggested I check out his story on taking a ride in a blimp over the Open. Here it is.

I also talked to Tennis Channel honchos about the station's offerings (all four Grand Slam events in 2009) and distribution (growing, but still no Cablevision).

Talks with Cablevision, which owns Newsday, are ongoing, but one holdup is a common one in these types of discussions: Tennis Channel wants to be on basic, not on a sports tier.

One of Tennis Channel's biggest problems is that, like the NFL Network, it is not owned by a big media or cable company, and thus lacks the leverage to gain wider distribution under America's convoluted pay TV system.

But that's a long, boring story for another day.

For those of you with an RSS feed - or who check on the blog every minute or so all day - be advised that Chris Russo is scheduled to appear with Michael Kay on 1050 ESPN any second now.

Would have been funnier if Chris were going head-to-head against Mike Francesa on WFAN, but Mike is off today because of the afternoon Mets game.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

I tried in August to take a blogging break. Then I tried taking off the last week of the month.

Didn't matter. WatchDog Nation came through yet again, carrying the blog to another all-time page views high.

We were first among Newsday sports blogs for August and a few bytes short of the overall title. Pet Rock outleaned us at the wire. Congrats La Monica and friends.

Thank you as always, readers and commenters, for your ridonkulous loyalty.

Boland was second in sports and set a new monthly record for the Jets blog. Anything interesting happen with that team last month?

Limited or no blogging rest of week (see two posts below). Back to normal Monday.

Mike Francesa's new afternoon show on WFAN doesn't yet have a supporting cast, but it does have a name.

When the show relaunches in the next week or so, it will be called "Mike'd Up," same as Francesa's Sunday night TV show on Ch. 4, a person familiar with the station's plans said.

The radio version will have the subtitle "Francesa on the FAN," which has been the temporary name for the show.

WFAN needed permission from WNBC to use "Mike'd Up," and secured it.

It is not clear when the new name, jingle(s) and cast officially will be announced. Francesa initially targeted Sept. 5, but next week appears more likely.

Several people familiar with the process said Bob Heussler is the favored candidate for the update role, but the search for a No. 2 man (or woman) is ongoing.

(UPDATE: Oh, heck. Francesa just announced on the air the new name is "Mike'd Up." Well, at least I had a scoop for 20 minutes. That's a lot in the Internet era, right? I guess I should have posted this news this morning. Sigh.)

My father-in-law, Ed, died Monday. I'm happy my last words to him Sunday morning brought glad tidings: Phils win, Mets lose.

Yup, he was a Philadelphia guy, through and through.

Did someone say "gruff?"

Let's put it this way: The guy was an original Flyers season ticket holder in 1967-68 whose fandom peaked with a team perfectly matched to its time and place - the Broad Street Bullies of the mid-1970s.

Happily, he passed along an appreciation of sports to his middle child.

Even an old Rangers fan had to be impressed by a woman's knowledge of a classic, hated rival. Thanks to the lessons passed on from her father, Mrs. WatchDog had me at Kindrachuk.

Veteran MLB official scorer Howie Karpin has a more relevant take on the whole C.C. Sabathia error/hit controversy than you or I do.

Here it is.

Here is an open letter to listeners from Jody McDonald via loyal reader Jim Burns. Get well soon, Jody Mac.

"To the hundreds of my fans and friends who have attempted to call me, and the thousands that have attempted to e-mail me, I thank you all very much. As you have probably heard by now, I needed to have quadruple bypass surgery. The procedure to this point has been a success. I now start the process of healing and getting better. This was way too close of a call, and will serve as a wake-up call for me. I am hoping to be back, talking Phils' pennant race, Eagles' good September start, and all things Philly sports before you know it. Thanks for the support you have shown my show during my absence, and I would appreciate it if you continue in that vein. I would love to reply to everyone individually, but I am just not up to the task. But know, your concern makes the fight I am fighting a little easier every day. Talk to you soon..."

Jody Mac

Hey, don't laugh. Ronald Reagan started out as a sportscaster, remember?