NASCAR posted a decent showing on Saturday night, helping Fox win the weekend. The Spring Budweiser Shootout won its timeslot in all four 30-minute blocks, beating repeats of CSI, Wipeout, NCIS, and whatever else ABC, CBS, and NBC threw out there.

So that’s the good news. Now for some bad.

The sport has an identity problem. According to The New York Times, it doesn’t have a polarizing figure.

That may be at the heart of what ails Nascar today. In 10 years, no one has been able to replace what [Dale] Earnhardt brought to the sport. As Nascar enters the season-opening Daytona 500 on Sunday after another year of dipping television ratings and faltering attendance, some point to the loss of Earnhardt, even now, as the reason for the decline in interest.

But isn’t this all a little ridiculous? Read more

Last night’s Indianapolis-Washington thriller on NBC’s Sunday Night Football game earned a 13.2 overnight rating and 20 share, making it the top program on Sunday evening for the sixth consecutive week.

Game 2 of the National League Champion Series (6.5/10) was no competition for the NFL, delivering the best primetime overnight rating against a Major League Baseball Champion Series in 13 years.

NBC also saw a 10 percent increase compared to the Week 6 game in 2009 (12.0/19) between Chicago and Atlanta.

You can pencil in Sunday Night Football as the top rated program for next Sunday too, as Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings travel to Lambeau Field to take on the struggling Green Bay Packers. Read more

Quick Hit: Yes, the deadline for Disney and Time Warner Cable to strike a deal has passed. Luckily for TWC customers however, ABC and the ESPN networks are still available on your cable system as the two sides continue to negotiate. By all accounts the basics have been agreed upon, now they just need to hammer out the details. Here’s hoping they finalize that deal soon. Daddy needs access to ESPN3.com.

Brigham Young is leaving the Mountain West Conference. All of university’s teams will join the West Coast Conference in 2011-2012, except the football squad, which will remain independent.

The reward: a contract from ESPN that calls for “an annual minimum of three games on ESPN, ESPN on ABC or ESPN2, including telecasts on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.”

The value of the deal, which runs through 2018 and gives the network an option for an additional year, wasn’t disclosed. It probably isn’t near the reported $9 million NBC pays to televise Notre Dame’s home matches, but it will be a nice boost to the university’s coffers.

“BYU is nationally recognized as an outstanding university and for the history and tradition of its premier athletic programs,” Burke Magnus, ESPN senior vice president, college sports programming, said in a statement. “Once BYU decided to chart an independent course for football, we both recognized it is a good opportunity to build and grow our strong 30-year relationship. With this agreement, college football fans around the country will see the quality and pageantry of BYU as well as the passion and enthusiasm of its supporters.”

BYU isn’t ranked in the top 25 in the 2010 preseason poll.

(UPDATE: BYU and Notre Dame signed an agreement to play each other six times between now and 2020.)

Earlier this week we noted that Boston Celtic Shaquille O’Neal is interested in doing a Dave Chappelle-type comedy program when he finally retires from the game.

Well, it turns out, he already has a comedy show. Saturday, Showtime will air the third (!!) installment of “Shaquille O’Neal Presents: All Star Comedy Jam- Live From Dallas.”

The program, which featurs “some of Shaq’s favorite comedians,” was taped during the NBA All Star weekend and is hosted by Mo’Nique. Performers include Paul Mooney (a “Chapelle’s Show” regular), Corey Holcomb, George Willborn and Michael Blackson.

So there you have it. It looks like Shaq is closer to that comedy show than we all thought.

No word on if the big man will do stand-up himself, but for all of our sake, the answer had better be “yes.”