Fang's Bites

Golf, Track & Field and Other Weekend Programming

I’m going to slap together a few press releases in this post. If you want to avoid the baseball, World Cup or tennis and are looking for other sports to watch, then you have the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Hartford, CT or the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships. I have weekend programming press releases listed here and you can browse through to see if something catches your fancy.

First, CBS carries the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship, formerly known as the Greater Hartford Open.

KENNY PERRY SHOOTS FOR REPEAT VICTORY THIS WEEKEND AT “TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP” ON CBS SPORTS, JUNE 26-27

Kenny Perry returns to Connecticut aiming for a repeat victory at the TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP as CBS Sports covers all the action from TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., broadcasting the third and final rounds on Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET, both days), live on the CBS Television Network. 

 

CBS Sports’ Verne Lundquist and Ian Baker-Finch provide commentary from the 18^th hole tower. Peter Oosterhuis calls the action at the 17^th hole.  Peter Kostis and David Feherty serve as on-course reporters.

Last year, Perry won by three strokes over Paul Goydos and David Toms and set a new tournament record with a 22-under 258.  Perry, who turns 50 in a few weeks, will attempt to be the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2002 to successfully defend his Travelers Championship title this weekend.  This year’s standout field includes Rickie Fowler, Padraig Harrington, Hunter Mahan, Retief Goosen, Matt Kuchar, Stewart Cink, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Rocco Mediate, V.J. Singh, Ricky Barnes, Charley Hoffman, Chad Campbell, Scott Verplank, Aaron Baddeley, Steve Elkington, Tim Herron,  Corey Pavin, Goydos and Toms.

Lance Barrow is Coordinating Producer, CBS Sports’ golf.  Jim Rikhoff  will produce CBS’s coverage of the Travelers Championship and Chris Svendsen will direct.  Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

More after the break.
If you want to see Olympic stars from the 2008 Summer Games, then the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships might be for you. ESPN will carry coverage today and tomorrow from 1-3 p.m. ET and NBC comes in with an hour of coverage both days as well. Here’s a quick blurb from ESPN.

The 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Drake University will be televised live Friday, June 25, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, June 26, at 1 p.m.; and Sunday, June 27, at 1 p.m.  Play-by-play announcer Dwight Stone will call the action, joined by analyst Alto Boldin and reporter Elizabeth Moreau. The five-day event marks the third event of the 2010 USATF Outdoors Visa Championship series where athletes compete for cash, prizes and valuable points. The top male and female athlete with the top overall performance at the end of the series will be named Visa Champion and each will receive a $25,000 bonus.

And this is NBC’s release.

OLYMPIC MEDALISTS HEADLINE THE 2010 U.S. OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE THIS WEEKEND FROM DES MOINES, IOWA

NEW YORK- June 24, 2010- NBC Sports presents live coverage of the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships this Saturday and Sunday from 3-4 p.m. ET from Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. This meet marks the third event of the 2010 USATF Outdoor Championship Series and will showcase the country’s best professional track and field athletes competing for national honors.

Coverage Saturday begins at 3 p.m. ET and will feature the following events: 400m hurdles (men’s and women’s), 1500m (women’s), 400m (men’s and women’s), and 100m hurdles (women’s). Sunday’s coverage, also beginning at 3 p.m. ET, will highlight the 800m (men’s), 400m hurdles (women’s), 200m (men’s and women’s), 1500m (men’s), 110m hurdles (men’s), long jump (men’s), and the pole vault (women’s). Commentary will be provided by NBC’s Olympic Track and Field broadcast team of Tom Hammond, Ato Boldon, Lewis Johnson and Dwight Stones.

Highlighting the men’s competition is 2004 Olympic gold medalist and reigning national champion Shawn Crawford who will compete in the 200m event and will face two-time World Outdoor bronze medalist Wallace Spearmon. Among the competitors in the men’s 400m is 2004 Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist David Neville and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Kerron Clement. David Payne, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist, will compete in the 110m hurdles event and will be up against 2008 Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver. The 400m hurdles competition will showcase 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Bershawn “Batman” Jackson.

Headlining the women’s competition is two-time Olympic gold medalist (2004,2008) Sanya Richards, who will looks to reclaim her title for the sixth time in the 400m run. Des Moines native and two-time World Indoor champion Lolo Jones will join the competition in the 100m hurdles and competing in the pole vault event is 2008 Olympic silver medalist Jenn Suhr.

And if you’re into action sports, NBC picks up the start of the Dew Tour this weekend.

DEW TOUR KICKS OFF 6TH SEASON WITH SKATE OPEN, INTERNATIONAL SKATEBOARDING FEDERATION SKATEBOARDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEKEND

Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White Provides On-Air Analysis Of Skate Vert Competition

NBC Sports & USA Network Launch 36 Hours of Dew Tour Coverage Over Five Consecutive Months

NEW YORK – June 24, 2010 – NBC Sports and USA Network launch 36 hours of Dew Tour coverage over five consecutive months this weekend with Dew Tour’s Skate Open, International Skateboarding Federation Skateboarding World Championships from the TD Garden in Boston, Mass., where world titles in street and vert skateboarding will be decided. NBC Sports’ live coverage of the skate vert finals airs Saturday and taped coverage of the skate park finals airs Sunday, at 4-6 p.m. ET both days. USA Network will air late-night coverage of skate vert Saturday at midnight ET and skate park Sunday, 2-3 a.m. ET.

Two-time Olympic snowboard halfpipe Gold Medalist and 2007 Dew Tour skate vert Champ, Shaun White, provides on-air commentary and analysis of the skate vert competition for NBC Sports and USA broadcasts.  In addition to White, athlete analysts Paul Zitzer, Chris Miller, Todd Richards and Jackie Pickering will join host Kenan Harkin and correspondent Tiffany Simons from Boston.

Top skate athletes from around the world will be competing at the Skate Open in both skate park and vert, including defending Dew Cup champion and Skate Vert World Champion, Bucky Lasek. Boston-local Andy Macdonald, up-and-comer Alex Perelson and vert legend Bob Burnquist will also be among those competing in a fierce battle for both the Skate Open win and the title of ISF Skateboarding World Champion in the vert discipline.

The defending Skate Park World Champion and three-time Dew Cup champion, Ryan Sheckler will look to repeat his World Champion status again in 2010. However, he will have to contend with the likes of Paul Rodriguez, Chaz Ortiz and Greg Lutzka.

Entering its sixth year, the top athletes in the world will take part in the 2010 Dew Tour, all competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup that will be awarded at season’s end to champions in each of the five disciplines. The 2009 Dew Cup champions include Chris Cole (skateboard park), Bucky Lasek (skate vert), Garrett Reynolds (BMX park), Jamie Bestwick (BMX vert) and Ryan Nyquist (BMX dirt).

Date/Event/Site – Venue

July 23-24: BMX Open – Chicago, Ill. – Museum Campus

Aug. 12-15: Wendy’s Invitational – Portland, Ore. – Rose Quarter

Sept. 16-19: Toyota Challenge – Salt Lake City, Utah – Energy Solutions Arena

Oct. 14-17:  Dew Tour Championships – Las Vegas, Nev. – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino    

That’s it.