The Media Learning Curve: May 29-June 5

We'd tweet this version of the weekly newsletter from the Sports Media Learning Center (still sponsored by no one, but we're close on hiring some muppets to get the word out) but getting anything in 140 characters is character assassination:

With that, we learned:

== ABC had a 8.9 overnight Nielsen rating for Thursday's Game 1, down 14.4 percent from a 10.4 overnight for last year's Lakers-Celtics Game 1, yet up 11.3 percent from an 8.0 for Spurs-Cavaliers Game 1 in 2007. The 8.9 marks the lowest Game 1 overnight rating for the six finals series featuring the Lakers since 2000. The game did a 20.9 in L.A. and 23.9 in Orlando.

== Sportscasters who tweet prove that the whole process has a long, unproductive shelf life (linked here). One of them who seems to be a driving force in this mind-expanding exercise is working this weekend on the Sparks' national telecast (linked here).

== NBC's latest alterations to its NFL studio team include an ex-coach, an ex-player and and excused bus service (linked here). And they're going to change it up as far as the highlights-to-analysis content (linked here).

== More of our very deep thoughts on the Van Gundy brother situation (linked here).

== What do you think, in a few words or less, about ESPN's L.A. studio presence so far? (linked here).

== Reality TV show producer Michael Irvin needs a good lawyer -- again (linked here)

== We're not sure which NBA Finals post-game show to skip the most (linked here)

== Spike Lee Doin' Work for Kobe is recriprocated in video form (linked here)

== All Ralph Wilson had to do was pick up the rotary phone, and we'd have done him the honor for much less public shame and embarassment (linked here)

== Could ESPN do a better job of revealing results of French Open matches before they show the actual tape-delayed event? (linked here)

== And our final scraping together of the notes too good for the newspaper ink (linked here)

== AND THE CLOSING ARGUMENT:

== A correction ran on the front page of The Orange County Register in Thursday's June 4 edition:

"The Lakers will play the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Because of an editing error, the Lakers' opponent was incorrect in an item on Page 1 of the News section in the May 31 edition of the Register."

Now we're curious as to who they were told the Lakers would be playing ahead of time. The Buffalo Braves?

And it only took a couple of days to catch it? Right on.