It's not the volume of the media notes, but the quantity ... er, quality ... yup, that's it

=More of our own Q-and-A with Wallechinsky on the upcoming Olympics, compiling his books, etc.:

-Q: Does the process of doing these books become easier or more difficult with news events changing the medal tables of races that took place years ago, like in the Marion Jones case?
-DW: My nephew and I usually now wait a couple of years after each Summer Games because too many stories now play out later than before, with positive drug tests, someone dying, a great story surfaces. There's no point in writing it too early. We do compile the stats right away, but then we use Lexus-Nexus database, a very valuable resource. We do look up every previous medal winner from the previous edition to see if anything has changed. It also gives us a chance to update earlier stories.
With this edition, we talked to the publisher to find out just how long we could wait before including the last pieces of information on Marion Jones. We wanted to wait. Fortunately we were able to get it in right before it went to print. With today's technology it's much easier to wait a little longer. Back in '84, we'd have to have it all done nine months in advance of the printing.

-Q: Do you ever see issuing the book in CD form so people can take it with them to the Olympics as a research took for their laptops?
-DW: I use a searchable pdf format, and that's how I'll travel with it. I feel buying a CD is so 20th Century. The 21st Century demands more on line or a portable thumb drive.

-Q: How long does this series continue?
-DW: Now it seems that I'm expected to do it. I've kind of moved careerwise into other subjects, like politics, which is the most preferred way to spend my day. But with Jamie helping me, we're contracted to do these books through the London Games (2012) and then we'll reassess.

-Q: What do you look forward to most with the upcoming Games?
-DW: From a non-sporting point of view, I'm getting there early because I'm fascinated with what I believe will be a clash between the Chinese government and the foreign media. From my experiences, they're unawayre of what the media will do. To them, these Games are about them, the Chinese, and not the rest of the world. When you have 20,000 members of the media used to going where they want, and now they're coming up against the Communist Party, it should be interesting.
In terms of sporting events, I'm a big track and field fan, especially the running races. But also the Michael Phelps story, from my point of view as a historian, is a really big one. Unless he breaks his legs between now and diving into the pool, he'll be the first in Olympic history to win more than nine career gold medals. That's been on the books for 80 years. All the hype for him is legit. From an American point of view, I also expect men's basketball to do well. They're motivated to win gold and should be exciting to watch. It's sad that we're saying goodbye to softball. And then the best stories are the ones you don't expect.

-Q: How do you watch the Games when you're there, outside of actually being at the events?
-DW: I am able to be in the NBC compound and watch as many as five events at a time. There's so much going on at once that I'm perfectly happy to sit in the studios and watch. I'm very excited about the option we have of watching so much of the Games on the Internet. It's a fantastic opportunity to follow so many sports, in the early heats. In Europe, they've always had a great choice of watching, and I think now we've finally caught up and gone beond them.

==NBC thumped its chest this week about having 90 percent of its advertising spots sold for the upcoming Olympics -- meaning it's on pace to go north of $1 billion in revenue. (Thank goodness for all that back-to-school shopping). Dick Ebersol, NBC's czar of five rings, had to chime in with a statement: "As a true fan of sports, especially big event sports, this may be the greatest year I can remember and I think we are all lucky to witness it. It's been a special convergence of sports and media, for various reasons some of these events played out in primetime or at times that are rare and unique to each sport, and somehow that helped add a little splendor to some of these magical moments. I think we are all lucky to be living in a special time in the world of sports right now. We at NBC Sports have been lucky to cover some of these great moments this year and we are in a position to cover more in the months ahead. We have the biggest sporting event in the world in the Summer Olympics and, five months later, we'll cover the biggest sporting event in the U.S. - it's an unofficial national holiday - the Super Bowl. As sports fans, it's a great time for all of us."
That's later, as in Feb., 2009. Too far down the road for us to even think about.
Part of that Olympic ad buy is Democratic presidental canidate Barack Obama, with $5 million invested in promoting himself. Media Life Magazine reports that the remaining 10 percent of NBC's ad inventory will probably go unsold when the Games start because companies continue to cut back on ad spending. A 30-second spot during the NBC coverage is going for $750,000.

=Twas also revealed in the Chicago Tribune this week (linked here) that 10 out of the 34 sports, at minimum, will be broadcast during the Olympics from the NBC headquarters in New York, keeping more than two dozen broadcasters here instead of China, where the events will be played, to do them off TV monitors instead of at the events.
"This is part of a mandate from the IOC to reduce strain on the host city by bringing fewer people," NBC Sports spokesman Brian Walker told the paper.
Meaning, that while NBC may be employing more than 100 broadcasters, not all of 'em need a visa.
The 10 sports include archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, handball, shooting, soccer, softball and tennis. Even some basketball games.
The story said that "the network had not intended to announce its remote Beijing plan but also had not attempted to hide it from the public."
NBC Sports and Olympics executive producer David Neal told The Sports Business Daily in a statement: "As part of our negotiations with the IOC in 2003 for the rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, we agreed to quickly move toward a 25 percent reduction in our on-site personnel and facilities for future games. That process began with the 2006 Torino Olympics. As our coverage plans for the '08 Beijing Olympics expanded to more than 3,600 hours, covering all 34 summer Olympic sports, we decided to develop a significant broadcast and digital operation based in (N.Y.) to handle cable and online coverage of 13 of those 34 sports. In those cases, our firm plan is and always has been to have our on-camera hosts identify their location as being at NBC's Olympic headquarters in (N.Y.), and to have our play-by-play commentators not only identify which Chinese city that each competition is taking place in, but also to say that they are broadcasting from our (N.Y.) Olympics headquarters."
Kinda sneaky, eh? Now, instead of virtually live, you gotta wonder if the announcers are virtually present.

==The current issue of Sports Illustrated (July 28) allows writer Brian Cazeneuve to handicap all 302 events -- and in doing so he predicts China will win more gold (49) but the U.S. will have more medals (45 gold, 121 overall, to China's 102).
He has Michael Phelps winning the 200 free, 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 and 400 IM and part of the 4x100 free relay, 4x200 free relay and 4x100 medley relay. That's eight gold. He's also got wins for Aaron Peirsol in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Katie Hoff in the 200 free and 400 IM, Kate Ziegler in the 800 free, Natalie Coughlin in the 100 back, and nothing for Dara Torrez in the 50 free.
He's tabbed gold for both U.S. men and women's basketball, Allyson Felix to win the 200 meter women's sprint, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh to repeat as women's beach volleyball gold, and Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser to win men's gold, two Americans (Rau'shee Warren, in 112, and Demetrius Andrade in 152) taking gold in boxing, a possible sweep by the U.S. in BMX racing, silver for the U.S. women's gymnastics team, but gold for America's Shawn Johnson in the all-around, and gold for women's softball, but bronze for Davey Johnson's men's baseball team.

**BASEBALL:

==Angels flagship (and owned) radio station KLAA-AM (830) has added Jeff Biggs as a man-about-locker room guy and talk show host as it continues to figure out how it's going to fill in all those hours round game coverage. Biggs, now a veteran of the L.A. airwaves at several sports stations, is hosting Angel Talk on get-away days, as well as doing post-game interviews inserted into the Terry Smith-hosted Angel Talk. He's also logged in for his own show, "The Biggs," from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. When the team is away in another time zone, his show will follow the end of the game and go until 10 p.m. On off days, he'll go from 7 to 10 p.m., following Dave Smith's "The Drive" -- and you know Smith also hosts that thing after doing the morning shift with Roger Lodge. KLAA has also added college football to the mix, carrying the Notre Dame games this fall (with Biggs hosting a college football show).

==A story in the Sports Business Journal (linked here) says that the MLB TV network still plans a Jan. 1 launch with a ton of studio shows airing up to seven hours live each day once the season starts. Network president and CEO Tony Petitti, formerly of CBS Sports, says the New Jersey-based network will also air "classic games" (see: The NHL Network) and documentaries.

==The Yankees-Red Sox games from Fenway Park make their way onto Fox's regional Saturday game (Channel 11, 12:55 p.m.) and ESPN's national Sunday game (5 p.m.). TBS takes Florida at the Chicago Cubs at 11 a.m. Sunday. The Angels' game at Fenway on Monday is a national game on ESPN (4 p.m.).

**TENNIS:

==Broadcast lineup again for the East West Bank WTA event at Home Depot Center in Carson:
Today: Noon to 4 p.m. on the Tennis Channel; 8 to 10 p.m. on ESPN2
Saturday semifinals: 4 to 6 p.m. on Tennis Channel; 7 to 9 p.m. on ESPN2
Sunday final: 2 to 4 p.m. on ESPN2; 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tennis Channel.
Cliff Drysdale, Mary Jo Fernandez and Pam Shriver call it for ESPN2; Ted Robinson and Corina Morariu work it for Tennis Channel.

**CYCLING:

==And what will we remember at this Tour de France?
It ends Sunday. Unless there's no one clean enough to finish it.
CBS does its hour-long wrapup Sunday from 1 to 2 p.m. Greg Amsinger, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen report. Versus provides the production of the race, as well as the final stages live.
Today's stage 19 was live at 5:30 a.m., repeated at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Saturday's stage 20 is live at 5 a.m., repated at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2, 5 and 9 p.m. as well.
That final stage Sunday goes live from 4:30 to 9 a.m., then repeated at 5 and 9 p.m.

**MOTOR SPORTS:

==ESPN and ABC grab NASCAR to finish off the 2008 season, starting with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday (10 a.m., ESPN). The network that a year ago brought out the colored flame graphics to show how cars draft each other will now be in the refinement mode of getting all that pulled together again, says Rich Feinberg, the network VP in charge of motorsport production.
"We launched a tremendous amount of things last year, from the first high-definition on-board cameras to 'draft track," he said. "It was such a Herculean effort to get all of that from conceptual paper to reality. What we've done now is to take the off-season and leading up to our Sprint coverage to reflect on last year and figure out how to use things in a better, more dynamic and entertaining way. Just as we've done with some of our talent assignments, is taking a step back, what worked, what areas do we think we could do better, implementing those, and then getting it all out on the road. It's an ongoing process of refinement."
ESPN is using Tony Stewart as an "in-race reporter," says Feinberg, because "Tony speaks his mind. And sometimes our coverage wants some criticism and feedback, and we welcome that. We always think we can be better. Like a race team, you're only as good as your last time around the track. I think that people take some of Tony's comments and misconstrue them and read things into them. Tony Stewart has won the Brickyard 400. We're all very, very familiar with his passion about that racetrack and his love of the Indiana area and the Midwest, and to me it made absolute perfect sense to have the defending champion and a very outspoken one be our 'in-race reporter' and add to the show."

==The Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) series makes its live network debut Sunday (Noon to 1:30 p.m., Channel 4) from the Quarry in Chula Vista. Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast report.

==Dale Earnhardt Jr. is supposed to open the phone lines and take calls from listeners on hix XM Satellite Radio show Tuesday (5 p.m.) on XM chanel 144. Get in rotation now: 1-866-XMSN-144 (967-6144). Keep the questions brief and refrain from any sort of awkward Chris Farley-meets-Paul McCartney moments.

**MEDIA FAME:

==We'd love to read another column about how Rick Reilly has become so famous, people are now mistaking him for other celebs. Oh, Rick can write it for us? Read on at this link. It's journalism gold, worth every penny of his new multi-media ESPN contract.

==Our all-time favorite sports media critic, Norman Chad, and his take on blogging (linked here)
"Blogs are not the end of the world as we know it; rather, they are an extension of a world we've always known. ... And if you're thinking of starting a blog, don't; the world needs more blogs like Madonna needs more Botox."

**MISC:

==ESPN has decided on Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley and Marcellus Wiley to cover the AFL's ArenaBowl XXII between Philadelphia and San Jose in New Orleans (Sunday, noon, Ch. 7). Coaches and players, as well as a game official, will wear the live mikes and talk to ESPN commentators during the game - let's see that in a Super Bowl, eh? They're using 14 cameras for the telecast, including a robotic device under the scoreboard. Instant replay will be used for the first time in ArenaBowl history.
And if that's not enough, the game will reair on ESPN Classic -- because it will be a foregone conclusion that it'll be classic-worthy -- on Monday at 9 a.m.
ESPN Classic also will reair the 2000 Nashville-Orlando), 2004 (San Jose-Arizona) and 2005 (Colorado-Georgia) games between 4:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

==ESPN reports that its latest V Foundation auction and fundraiser collected $1.13 million in pledges - including $57,100 for the right to have Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic broadcast their daily radio show from a listener's home. The winner of that event, by the way: Marta Maranda of Jupiter Island, Fla., who is the ex-wife of one-time ESPN employee Rush Limbaugh (left), and apparently may have some difficulty cashing in on the donation since word is her homeowners association won't allow it to happen (story linked here).

==The other newsworthy result from last week's ESPY Awards from the Nokia Theatre near Staples Center: An ESPN.com writer was hit by a car. Wait, we'll let him tell you all about it (linked here). The lesson: Don't go wandering the streets of L.A. at 2 in the morning.

==ESPN and ESPN2 carries five U.S. men's basketball warm-up contests before their Olympics appearance, starting tonight (ESPN, U.S. vs. Canada in Las Vegas, 5 p.m.) and continuing Thursday, July 31 (vs. Turkey in China, ESPN2, 5 a.m.), Aug. 1 (vs. Lithuania in China, ESPN2, 5 a.m.), Aug. 2 (vs. Russia in China, ESPN2, midnight, carrying into Aug. 3) and Aug. 5 (vs. Australia in China, ESPN2, 5 a.m.), Rick Kamla of NBA TV does the play-by-play with Fran Fraschilla as the analyst. Probably from a studio in New Jersey for those last four.

The NBC Olympics TV schedule for the U.S. games (with PDT times):
August 10 (7:15 p.m.) vs. China
August 12 (5:00 p.m.) vs. Angola
August 14 (5:00 p.m.) vs. Germany
August 16 (7:15 p.m.) vs. Spain
August 18 (5:00 p.m.) vs. Greece
August 20: quarterfinals
August 22: semifinals
August 24: final (on last day of the Games)

==Bill Macatee and Ian Baker-Finch drive CBS' coverage of the PGA's RBC Canadian Open this weekend in Toronto (noon to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday). Peter Oosterhuis, who won the 1981 Canadian Open, calls the the 17th hole, and Peter Kostis calls the 16th hole, David Feherty and Bobby Clampett are on the course. Passports, please.

==TLC (The Learning Channel) will re-air a one-hour show (Saturday, 7 p.m.) called "The Real Estate Pros: A Home Run for Trademark," where the Greenville, N.C. home formerly owned by Shoeless Joe Jackson is transformed into a Shoeless Joe museum. Josh Hamilton, now with the Texas Rangers, helped on the rebuilding project on the construction crew. The show originally aired in 2007.

==Having attended enough ESPY Awards "ceremonies" to know that many things said during the host's opening monologue are edited out by the time the taped show airs four days later, it's no surprise that Justin Timberlake said something stupid enough to get cut between last Wednesday's taping and the Sunday night viewing (see link here). It would have been bigger news if they'd kept it in, as they did with many off-color jokes that Lance Armstrong was given to read off the Tele-Promp-Ter two years ago and stayed in past the edit phase.

==OnionSports fake story of the week (linked here):

Report: Greg Maddux Can Guess Any Pitcher's WHIP Just By Looking At Them

SAN DIEGO -- Padres starter Greg Maddux possesses the uncanny ability to correctly guess any pitcher's WHIP, or walks plus hits per innings pitched, based on that pitcher's appearance alone, NL pitchers reported Monday.
"I don't know how he does it, but yesterday during warm-ups, he pointed at me, then Johnny [Cueto], then Francisco [Cordero], and said, '1.28, 1.37, 1.46,'" said Reds starter Edinson Volquez, who had minutes earlier challenged Maddux by betting that the 42-year-old veteran would "never in a million years" be able to guess his WHIP. "The man has a gift."
Said Bronson Arroyo: "He sort of stared at me for a minute and said '1.58,' then said 'wait, no,' rubbed his chin a little, asked me to stand up straight, and then said '1.59.' I don't know what my posture has to do with how many runners I allow on base, but I'll be damned if he wasn't exactly right."
Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny is not looking forward to his team's upcoming series against the Padres, as he has been lying about his 1.83 WHIP all season to impress his teammates.

**AND FINALLY:

==You can apparently be eliminated from the Wikipedia data base, if you aren't important enough to be there in the first place.
That's what recently (in April) happened the the long-time hilarious entry posted by Pete Arbogast, the USC radio play-by-play man (on football, not basketball, unless you count women).
A recent check of his posting came up empty, with the following notation about why it was deleted:

-20:56, 21 April 2008 Stifle (Talk | contribs) deleted "Peter Arbogast" ‎ (A7 (bio): Real person; doesn't indicate importance/significance)
-03:09, 20 April 2008 Fabrictramp (Talk | contribs) deleted "Peter Arbogast" ‎ (Expired PROD, concern was: It is recommended that this page be removed to comply with the Wikipedia notoriety guidelines, along with continued lack of compliance with unverifiable content, lack of citations, and self-editing policy.)

Apparently, not important or significant enough to keep in the files.
That said, his bio has re-emerged in something called NationMaster (linked here), an eyclopedia of sorts that includes pretty much verbatim what Arbogast had written about himself on Wikipedia. Including the outstanding paragraph that thankfully transferred in tact (or with lack of tact):

"Pete returned as the football only announcer in 2001 (replacing Lee Hamilton, who broadcasted Trojan games from 1998-2000 on XETRA Sports 690; Rory Markas continued on as the men's basketball announcer). Some have objected to what they perceive as Arbogast's bias in favor of USC especially attacking calls by the referees that go against the Trojans. USC however welcomed Arbo back with open arms, having grown tired of Hamilton's non-affiliation with the University."

Arbogast does, however, live in Wikipedia history. The link he added to the item on the "O.J. Simpson Murder Case" (linked here) includes:

"Radio station KNX also provided live coverage of the slow-speed pursuit. USC sports announcer Pete Arbogast and station producer Oran Sampson contacted former USC coach John McKay to go on the air and encourage Simpson to end the pursuit. McKay agreed and asked Simpson to pull over and turn himself in instead of committing suicide."

Yes, but did it work?