Sports Media Digest- July 16, 2012

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ Status of Woods and Mickelson Means Earlier Start Time for ESPN at Open Championship- ESPN announced today that it will begin its coverage of the Open Championship on Thursday and Friday at 4:30a.m. ET, 30 minutes earlier than originally announced. This will allow the WWL to air the entire rounds of both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods tees off at 4:42a.m. ET Thursday while Mickelson tees off at 4:31a.m. ET Friday. CBS Announces SEC Opener on September 15th- CBS Sports today announced that it will telecast it’s first SEC game on Sept. 15th as Arkansas hosts Alabama. Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson will have the call beginning at 3:30p.m. ET. Mets/Nationals on Wednesday Night Baseball- This week’s Wednesday Night Baseball telecast on ESPN will feature the Washington Nationals at the New York Mets. First pitch is just after 7:00p.m. ET with Dave O’Brien on play-by-play with analyst Nomar Garciaparra and reporter Pedro Gomez. Golf Channel Adds Staff from SI, ESPN- The NBC Sports Group today announced that it has added talent to its stable at the Golf Channel. Damon Hack, former award-winning journalist for Sports Illustrated and The New York Times will serve as a “Golf Channel Insider” for the network’s news programming, including Morning Drive and Golf Central, and as a senior writer for GolfChannel.com. He also will be seen occasionally on NBC Sports Network, reporting golf. Former ESPN anchor Ryan Burr will serve as a host for shows such as Golf Central and will also report for Golf Central from tournaments around the globe. Summer Soccer Series Begins Wednesday on ESPN- ESPN will begin a series of nine soccer matches over three weeks featuring European Clubs and the MLS. Action begins Wednesday at 9:30p.m. ET as the Seattle Sounders host Chelsea FC. Saturday at 2:30p.m. ET the New York Red Bulls host the Philadelphia Union. Adrian Healy, Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas will call both matches on ESPN2 and ESPN3.