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Lakers forward Ron Artest, who has legally petitioned for his name to be changed to Metta World Peace, is reportedly in discussions to become the latest athlete to twinkle his toes on Dancing with the Stars. The Hollywood Gossip says Artest is “seriously thinking about it.”

Filming for the popular show ends in November, which presents a scheduling problem for Artest if the NBA lockout ends and the league’s season begins on schedule in late October.

Past athletes who’ve participated on DWTS include Hines Ward, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and Kurt Warner.

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Joe Buck is brutal.

As you were…

[H/T The Big Lead]

Mary Carillo, who left ESPN in the middle of last year’s United States Open because of an undisclosed dispute, is joining the Tennis Channel for the French and U.S. Opens, where she will provide analysis, play-by-play, interviews and features. Carillo, who won a 2006 Sports Emmy Award and has been a commentator since retiring from tennis in 1980, will be paired on air with John McEnroe, a childhood friend with whom she won the 1977 French Open mixed-doubles championship.

“Tennis Channel just continues to impress everyone with the passion and knowledge they bring to covering this sport, and I really wanted to be a part of that,” said Carillo. “I’ve done things with them several times in the past but never as a member of their broadcast team. It will be great to get going with them at the French Open and contribute to the quality of work they’re producing.”

In 2010 Carillo became the first female recipient of the Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism. The WTA Tour, the governing body of women’s professional tennis, has twice awarded her its “Broadcaster of the Year.”

 

 

During the third period of Game 5 against San Jose, the Red Wings scored three goals against the Sharks to stave off elimination for the second straight game and inch within 3-2 in the series. This prompted commentator Jeremy Roenick to call Sharks center Patrick Marleau “gutless” and say he’s suffering from an injury — to his heart. Marleau, a former teammate of Roenick’s, has no points in the series and allowed a crucial turnover to Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk that led to the Red Wings’ game-winning goal in the 4-3 victory.

 

Rashard Mendenhall‘s bad week isn’t over just yet.

After getting canned from Champion athletic brand for his controversial tweets about Osama bin Laden, now comes word that the company is refusing to pay out the balance of Mendenhall’s endorsement deal.

“We intend to pay Rashard through the termination of the contract, which we have dated as effective next Friday,” said spokesman Max Hall.

According to Hall, “the termination is allowed by and consistent with the language contained in the contract.”

The 23-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers running back recently signed a four-year contract extension with Champion through 2015. He first signed a deal in 2008.

 

Michael Vick has agreed to let Bombo Sports & Entertainment do a documentary about his life. Bombo CEO Bob Potter said the 70- to 90-minute biopic on Vick, who served time in federal prison for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring, will not gloss over the unsavory details of Vick’s past.

“I am a dog owner, so this won’t be a sugar-coating, but it should be a good film about an athlete who is fantastically talented and really polarizing at the same time,” Potter told Sports Business Daily.

Potter hopes the documentary, which does not yet have a director, can be released in time for the 2011 NFL season and perhaps air on ESPN.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are off to a great start in the ratings category.

Versus set a network record by averaging 534,328 viewers during their opening night triple-header Wednesday. It was the best opening night in its six year of Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage and it was a 12 percent increase over last year.

North of the border, CBC saw a 29 percent increase over last year, averaging 1.58 million viewers for its two opening night playoff broadcasts.

Locally, Game 1 of Washington-New York posted a 6.2 rating on Comcast SportsNet in the D.C. market, the second-highest Capitals rating in network history. In Pittsburgh, Penguins-Lightning delivered a 16.2 rating on ROOT Sports and Red Wings-Coyotes earned a 9.4 on Fox Sports Detroit.

ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jalen Rose will make his return to the network Saturday.

He was suspended by the network following his DUI arrest last month in Michigan.

Rose will work the ESPN NBA studio show.

Think you had a great night?

I bet you can’t top Luke Driscoll‘s Thursday evening.

The 33-year-old St. Louis Rams scout was arrested early Friday morning for urinating on a building in downtown Indianapolis.

According to Metro police, Driscoll exposed his genitals to a female officer and his speech was “very slurred’ at the time.

He was charged with public nudity and public intoxication.

CBS and Turner Sports revealed the preliminary TV schedule for the 2011 March Madness tournament.

For the first time, games will be spread across four networks, with CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV all airing games live.

To accommodate the new TV partners, games will have staggered start times, and expanded programming hours, encouraging viewers to flip to another game once the one they are watching ends. Games will start as early as noon ET, and continue live through midnight ET.

The Final Four and the National Championship will remain on CBS, while the First Four games will appear on Turner’s TruTV March 15 and 16.

Game and studio productions will be seamless across the networks, using the same talent lineup, graphics and music packages.

Much more information, including the schedule, is after the jump.

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