Starting another week

- Erin Andrews' contract with ESPN ends in July, lending credence to the opinion voiced here that her stint on Dancing With the Stars may be used to help her venture outside of the world of sports. The well-known sideline reporter is in contract renewal discussions with ESPN and has stated publicly that she wants to stay with the network. But, her twirls on the dance floor are not a bad move in order to broaden her viewership and appeal.

- Speaking of DWTS, ratings are up year-over-year after the season debut last Monday. According to a story in USA Today, last week's show pulled in almost 24 million viewers compared to an average of 18.2 million per show in 2009. The ratings are the highest in ten seasons (has it really been that long?) and can be attributed both to a better celebrity cast as well as a new co-host, Brooke Burke. Said Executive Producer Conrad Green, "What Burke understands is the pressure of people competing. She has the empathy and insights on what it's like." Burke won the competition in season seven and is a welcome addition to the show

- Donald Frey, the designer at Ford who created the Mustang in the mid-1960s, died earlier this month at age 86. Frey was reportedly told by a skeptical Henry Ford II, in very salty language, that the designer would be fired if the Mustang wasn't a success. Ford needn't have worried--original estimates were that 80,000 Mustangs would be sold in year one but, ultimately, over a million were sold in the first two years.