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      <title>Watchdog</title>
      <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/</link>
      <description>Sportswatch columnist Neil Best leaves no stone unturned as he brings you news and commentary on the world of sports media.</description>
      <language>en</language>
      <copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
      <lastBuildDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:23:28 -0500</lastBuildDate>
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      <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> 

            <item>
         <title>Newsday has one of best newspaper Web sites in U.S.</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><img align="right" alt="test%2520pattern.gif" src="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/test%2520pattern.gif" width="320" height="240" />On summer hiatus.</p>

<p>Please enjoy our other fine Newsday <a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-sportsblogs,0,2605307.htmlstory" target="0">sports blogs</a>.</p>

<p>For up-to-the-minute coverage of the sports world, check <a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/" target="0">Newsday.com </a>early and often.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/newsday_has_one_of_best_newspa.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/newsday_has_one_of_best_newspa.html</guid>
         <category>Newspapers &amp; Magazines</category>
         <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:23:28 -0500</pubDate>
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            <item>
         <title>No Kidding: Knicks blog wins Newsday page views title</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Thanks as always, WatchDog Nation, for another powerful month of page views in June.</p>

<p>We recorded our fifth best month ever - with four of the top five coming in the first six months of 2009.</p>

<p>WatchDog finished third overall behind monthly champ <a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/" target="0">TV Zone </a>and second among sports blogs to a monster performance by Alan Hahn's <a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/" target="0">Knicks blog.<br />
</a></p>

<p>I have a feeling Hahn's blog is going to do even better next June 30/July 1!</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/no_kidding_knicks_blog_wins_ne.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/no_kidding_knicks_blog_wins_ne.html</guid>
         <category>Knicks</category>
         <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:51:55 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Friday comment contest winner</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>This week's winner is Scott E for his comment on <a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/used_giants_stadium_seats_avai.html#comments" target="0">my post </a>regarding the sale of Giants Stadium seats at $499 per pair:</p>

<p>"Rather than buy a PSL at the new stadium, can I buy a pair of old seats and take them with me to the new place? They'll perform the same job at a fraction of the cost."</p>

<p>Excellent idea!</p>

<p>Here is another way to look at it: For the price of a $20,000 PSL plus the $700 game ticket to the Giants' first preseason game of 2010, you could buy 84 seats from the old stadium, set them up in your back yard and invite 83 friends over to watch the third-stringers play on TV on an early August evening.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/friday_comment_contest_winner_74.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/07/friday_comment_contest_winner_74.html</guid>
         <category>Comment contest winners</category>
         <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:19:46 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Beach volleyball returns to Brooklyn; BDSSP is no more</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" alt="6a00d8341c630a53ef00e553c8ec4a8834-800wi.jpg" src="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/6a00d8341c630a53ef00e553c8ec4a8834-800wi.jpg" width="249" height="165" />Odd and ends:</p>

<p>NBC has the women's final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and the men's final at 4:30 p.m. Sunday of the AVP stop at Coney Island. This will be the first time Chris Marlowe and Paul Sunderland call an event together since the Sydney Olympics. The two were teammates on the 1984 Olympic team and have worked three Olympics together. Heather Cox is the sideline reporter.</p>

<p>Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" is kaput. Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reports: Fox confirmed that "Best Damn Sports Show Period" taped its final studio show today, and it will be telecast tonight. The show will remain on the schedule through the fall in its "Top 50" format. A few new "Top 50" shows will be produced as well. "Obviously, since the show premiered in 2001, the RSNs have re-focused and added tons of local pro games and locally produced shoulder programs," a Fox spokesperson said in an e-mail. "The need to have a show like 'BDSSP' fill in the gaps isn't what it was eight years ago."</p>

<p>We have only six more months to decide, people. Is it going to be called "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten?"</p>

<p>Photo: Getty</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/odd_and_ends_nbc_will.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/odd_and_ends_nbc_will.html</guid>
         <category>NBC</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:56:36 -0500</pubDate>
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            <item>
         <title>Remember, blogosphere: Neil Best &apos;fears no man&apos;</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yrpu8au3t-k&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yrpu8au3t-k&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></p>

<p>Two important reminders about Neil Best, as we bring another rough-and-tumble blogging month to a close.</p>

<p>First, about a minute in: "Best fears no man."</p>

<p>Second, about two minutes in: "There's a man there who is 100 percent testosterone."</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/remember.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/remember.html</guid>
         <category>Random stuff</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:01:25 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>U.S. soccer heartbreaker scores big ratings in NY</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><img align="right" alt="pele_17.jpg" src="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/pele_17.jpg" width="155" height="212" />New York ranked third among 56 major markets tracked in "overnight" ratings for Sunday's U.S. vs. Brazil game in the Confederations Cup final on ESPN.</p>

<p>Miami-Ft. Lauderdale topped the list with 5.67 percent of households, followed by Las Vegas (4.28) and New York (4.23).</p>

<p>The rest of the top 10:<br />
West Palm Beach, 3.65<br />
Hartford/New Haven, 3.64<br />
Atlanta, 3.58<br />
Richmond/Petersburg, 3.46<br />
Washington, DC, 3.45<br />
San Francisco, 3.35<br />
San Diego, 3.30</p>

<p>Photo: Getty</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/new_york_ranked_third_among.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/new_york_ranked_third_among.html</guid>
         <category>ESPN</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:21:31 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Used Giants Stadium seats available for $499 per pair</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" alt="36_26932XL.jpg" src="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/36_26932XL.jpg" width="173" height="200" />Giants Stadium seats are going for <a href="http://www.giantsproshop.com/index.cfm/New_York_Giants_Tribute_to_Giants_Stadium-_Authenticated_Stadium_Seats/Tribute_to_Giants_Stadium-_Authenticated_Stadium_Seats/prd/Tribute-to-Giants-Stadium--Authenticated-Stadium-Seats/item/33927" target="0">$499 a pair</a>, a bargain compared to Shea and old Yankee Stadium seats.</p>

<p>Act fast: It'll be Christmas/Chanukah before you know it.</p>

<p>Or save it for food or college or something boring like that.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/used_giants_stadium_seats_avai.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/used_giants_stadium_seats_avai.html</guid>
         <category>Giants</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:32:22 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Denis Potvin likes to avoid Miami in July; who doesn&apos;t?</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>It <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-06-28-former-athletes-media-layoffs_N.htm" target="0">turns out</a> one of the reasons the Panthers canned long-time TV analyst Denis Potvin is that he preferred to summer in, get this: Canada rather than south Florida!</p>

<p>Seems to me that's a sign of sound mental health.</p>

<p>By contrast, SNY's Keith Hernandez summers in Sag Harbor and winters in Florida, which also makes good former jock/TV analyst sense.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/denis_potvin_preers_to_avoid_m.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/denis_potvin_preers_to_avoid_m.html</guid>
         <category>Islanders</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:32:51 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Knicks City Dancers tryouts eliminate early wannabes</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><img align="center" alt="341_kcd-finalists-630x278.jpg" src="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/341_kcd-finalists-630x278.jpg" width="472" height="209" /></p>

<p>The Knicks City Dancers who, like Newsday, are owned by Cablevision, have been holding auditions for the 2009-10 squad.</p>

<p>Over 350 talented young women showed up for Sunday's first round.</p>

<p>Shockingly, the group's <a href="http://nyknickscitydancers.com/" target="0">Web site</a> has posted pictures of the process. Which works out well, what with this being the final day of my page views month.</p>

<p>Did I ever mention how I watched Game 5 of the '94 Stanley Cup finals with the Knicks City Dancers on a ranch outside Houston? I'm quite sure that I have. So never mind.</p>

<p>Photo: MSG<br />
</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/knicks_city_dancers_tryouts_el.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/knicks_city_dancers_tryouts_el.html</guid>
         <category>Knicks</category>
         <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:30:58 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Kobe Bryant fantasizes about playing cricket, I think</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>It is a rite of early summer: The ESPN news release announcing its annual July time-filler on SportsCenter.</p>

<p>Often these concepts get a tad confusing and convoluted. Last year it was "Titletown," whose goal was to identify America's "Titletown," even though Green Bay has used that nickname for decades.</p>

<p>I'm on vacation and don't the patience to figure this year's feature out. So you're on your own. Click below and have at it.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/kobe_bryant_fantasizes_about_p.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/kobe_bryant_fantasizes_about_p.html</guid>
         <category>ESPN</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:52 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Of Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Red Sarachek, etc.</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9-wFi_zTOfI&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9-wFi_zTOfI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>

<p>Finally got around to watching "The First Basket," released on DVD earlier this month (suggested retail, $24.99), whose subtitle pretty much sums it up:</p>

<p>"The Greatest Jewish Basketball Documentary Ever."</p>

<p>Writer/producer/director David Vyorst and narrator Peter Riegert cover the influence Jews had on the early decades of basketball - including their domination of the first Knicks lineup in 1946-47 and the fact one of them, Ossie Schectman, scored the first basket in the history of what is now known as the NBA.</p>

<p>The subject of Jews in sports often requires a tricky balance of self-deprecating humor and justifiable pride, and this documentary strikes it well.</p>

<p>Bottom line: For the first half of the 20th century, hoops at its highest levels - especially in New York - was the Jewish-American national pastime.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/_finally_got_around_to.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/_finally_got_around_to.html</guid>
         <category>Basketball</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:45:37 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Mariano Rivera has been very good for a very long time</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Kevin Kennedy offered an interesting anecdote Monday on his daily Sirius XM baseball show regarding being in the opposing dugout as the Red Sox' manager one day early in Mariano Rivera's career. </p>

<p>(Derek Jeter makes a guest appearance in it.)</p>

<p>Click below for that, via Sirius XM.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/mariano_rivera_has_been_really.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/mariano_rivera_has_been_really.html</guid>
         <category>Satellite Radio</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:20:53 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Michael Jackson taught Michael Jordan to dance in &apos;92</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>In today's Newsday Sports Blog Post of the Day, Jim Baumbach of The Final Score links to a <a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2009/06/michael_jackson_taught_michael.html" target="0">classic 1992 video</a> featuring Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan at the peak of their powers, in which MJ teaches MJ how to moonwalk.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/michael_jackson_taught_michael.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/michael_jackson_taught_michael.html</guid>
         <category>Basketball</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:33:23 -0500</pubDate>
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            <item>
         <title>Mike Francesa to continue Sunday night TV gig on Ch. 4</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>More random, pre-hiatus stuff:</p>

<p>Mike Francesa has agreed to terms with WNBC-TV to continue his Sunday night TV show for at least another couple of years, a New York TV industry source said.</p>

<p>Ken Rosenthal will join MLB Network's roster of insiders effective Tuesday in addition to his Fox duties, joining Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman of SI in the precarious position of both covering and working for MLB.</p>

<p>YES should follow SNY's lead and offer post-game shows even for games on ESPN, Fox or Ch. 9.</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/more_random_prehiatus_stuff_mi.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/more_random_prehiatus_stuff_mi.html</guid>
         <category>Francesa and Russo</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:57:20 -0500</pubDate>
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            <item>
         <title>Padres online, soccer in spotlight, Feinstein on blog</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<p>Random stuff:</p>

<p>Sports Business Journal reports the Padres and Cox Communications soon will follow the Yankees and Cablevision in offering in-market live streaming of games. The Mets? They're working on it, but nothing close, apparently.</p>

<p>I confess to missing the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/soccer/ny-ussoccer0628,0,5495839.story" target="0">U.S.-Brazil</a> game in the Confederations Cup final - I was at Northport High School watching my niece graduate at the time - but the highlights were enough. Wow. American soccer, on the verge! Speaking of soccer, the Red Bulls' new stadium in Harrison, N.J., is almost completed and will make it much easier to take that franchise (and league) seriously. That, and having them win the occasional game.</p>

<p>Paul Maguire will have a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2009-06-28-paul-maguire-espn_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip" target="0">reduced role</a> on ESPN this autumn.</p>

<p>Even <a href="http://www.feinsteinonthebrink.com/" target="0">John Feinstein</a> has a blog now!<br />
</p>]]></description>
         <link>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/random_stuff_sports_business_j.html</link>
         <guid>http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2009/06/random_stuff_sports_business_j.html</guid>
         <category>Baseball</category>
         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:24:20 -0500</pubDate>
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