Fang's Bites

Telemundo To Air Over 170 Hours of Olympic Coverage

NBCUniversal has announced that its Spanish-language netowrk, Telemundo will be involved in the Olympics in a big way this year. For 2004 and 2008, Telemundo provided complimentary coverage in boxing and soccer. This year, the commitment for Telemundo goes way up.

Over 170 hours will be beamed from London this summer. The sports that will get the main focus will be basketball, boxing, soccer and swimming.

Noted soccer announcer Andrés Cantor will be a major part of the coverage as he has been for NBC since 2000 when he called both men’s and women’s soccer in English and then for Telemundo in both 2004 and 2008.

Let’s take a look at what NBCUniversal is saying about Telemundo’s coverage.

NBCUNIVERSAL ANNOUNCES ITS MOST EXTENSIVE SPANISH-LANGUAGE OLYMPIC COVERAGE EVER WITH MORE THAN 173 HOURS OF LONDON OLYMPIC PROGRAMMING ON TELEMUNDO FROM JULY 25TH THROUGH AUGUST 12TH

Deportes Telemundo Olympic Team Including Sportscasters Andrés Cantor, Jessi Losada and Sammy Sadovnik, Among Others, Will Present Comprehensive Live Coverage from London 2012 Highlighting Top Hispanic Athletes such as Mexican Diver Paola Espinosa, Cuban-American Gymnast Daniel Leyva, Mexican-American Female Boxer Marlén Esparza and Argentine NBA Basketball Player Manu Ginobili
Telemundo’s Coverage Includes the First-Ever Live Streaming of Spanish-Language Olympic Broadcast in Addition to Exclusive Original Broadband-Only Content

MIAMI – May 14, 2012 – NBCUniversal announced today the most extensive Spanish-language Olympic coverage in the company’s history, offering more than 173 hours of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games on Telemundo, “The U.S. Home of the Olympic Games in Spanish.” Telemundo’s comprehensive coverage will feature marquee disciplines such as boxing, swimming, basketball and soccer, which will be a major broadcast highlight.

Telemundo will deliver a complete 360° Olympic experience across its multiple platforms including its broadcast network, www.NBCOLYMPICS.COM.com/TELEMUNDO and its cable network mun2, which will offer a daily half-hour special featuring behind-the-scenes from the Games. Also, for the first time in the network’s history, Telemundo will offer live streaming of broadcast coverage together with exclusive digital-only content of Olympic events, news, announcements and information via www.NBCOLYMPICS.COM/TELEMUNDO, totaling more than 200 hours of digital content.

“In London 2012 we will present the most ambitious Olympic coverage in Telemundo’s history,” said Jorge Hidalgo, Executive Vice President of Sports for Telemundo Media. “The experience gained by covering the Olympic Games since 2004, the caliber of our sports talent, the complete integration with the NBC Olympics team, and our commitment to our audience will make of London an unforgettable sports feast.”

Deportes Telemundo’s Olympic team, headed by internationally acclaimed sportscaster Andrés Cantor, will include Jessi Losada, Mónica Noguera, Sammy Sadovnik, Edgar Lopez, René Giraldo, Karim Mendiburu, Kaziro Aoyama, Oscar Guzmán, Leti Coo and Verónica Contreras, as well as several former Olympic champions.

Coverage will be live from both London and the network’s studios, bringing the stories of Hispanics participating in the Olympics and the main events both on the field and around the Games to the homes of millions of U.S. Hispanic viewers. With soccer being one of the biggest passion points for U.S. Hispanics, the Olympics’ soccer tournament will represent a major focus of Telemundo’s broadcast, as already-qualified Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and Honduras vie for the gold.

Features and storytelling will be a centerpiece of Telemundo’s Olympic programming, detailing the journey of Hispanic athletes on their quest for Olympic glory. Some of the top Hispanic hopefuls include Mexican diver and 2009 world champion Paola Espinosa, Cuban American multi-medal threat gymnast Daniel Leyva, Mexican American female boxer Marlén Esparza and Argentine NBA basketball player Manu Ginobili.

There you have it.

ESPN Radio Launches New App For Apple iOS Platforms

Here’s another piece of news that was released during today’s ESPN Upfront Presentation. ESPN Radio will be launching a new app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. This will be the first time ESPN Radio has optimized for the iPad. Not only will you be able to listen to ESPN Radio live at all times, you can download podcasts and get material for offline listening when you’re away from a Wifi connection.

ESPN says the app will be free for a limited time and a limited time only. When the limited time ends, the app will carry a hefty $4.99 pricetag.

Android and Windows 7 phones will have access to the new app later this year.

Check it out.

New ESPN Radio App Launches for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Now optimized for iPad and includes “build your sports station” personalization feature
Launch on Android and Windows 7 smartphones later this summer

ESPN Radio today unveils its single, most definitive ESPN Radio App optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and – for the first time – iPad. The app creates a seamless, personalized sports listening experience both live and on demand and includes a new feature that allows fans to build their own sports stations. Additionally, fans now have the option to rewind live audio streams, including ESPN Deportes Radio. Versions for Android and Windows 7 smartphones are slated to launch later this summer.

“This latest version of the ESPN Radio App builds on our promise to deliver the best sports audio content across any device,” said Marc Horine, Vice President, ESPN Digital and Print Media. “With this update, fans now have complete control over their listening experience as the app provides the functionality to customize specifically by sports, teams and athletes they care most about.”

The app is free to download and includes:

• Podcasts: Popular shows that include The BS Report with Bill Simmons, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn and Fantasy Focus;
• SportsCenter: The latest updates every 20 minutes;
• Offline Listening: The ability for fans to download on-demand audio content to listen offline.

Beginning today, fans can download the premium version of the app at no cost for a limited time.  After that, for a one-time fee of $4.99, fans can access the full experience of the app, complete with the new personalization features and enhancements.  These include:

• Custom Station or Playlist: Users can search tens of thousands of audio clips by a specific topic and create a station or playlist of their favorite shows, teams, players and sports;
• Live Audio Functionality: Pause and rewind up to an hour of live audio;
• myESPN Personalization: Customized audio automatically pulled into the app based on favorites;
• Top Searches: Shows popular searches and trends for easy one-click access to top audio;
• Recommendation Engine: Related audio content suggestions;
• Alerts and Push Notifications: For MLB broadcasts, breaking news and more.

Additionally, the premium app will continue to give millions of ESPN Radio listeners access to live, crystal clear radio streams from over 35 ESPN Radio stations, fan favorite shows like Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Waddle & Silvy (Chicago), The Michael Kay Show (New York) and more, select play-by-play broadcasts, live scores and text messaging.  Additional features include integrated news content from ESPN’s five local sites in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Dallas, and social media integrations via Facebook and Twitter.

ESPN Radio launched its first app in September 2009 and has since been one of the top paid sports apps in the marketplace.  Additionally, it was named Best Radio App by Radio Ink Magazine at the Digital Convergence Awards in May 2011.  The ESPN Radio App is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The ESPN Radio app is the latest product from ESPN’s digital audio portfolio.  In March, ESPNRadio.com logged its best month ever since it first launched 11 years ago.  The site generated nearly 1.51 million page views from users listening between 30-60 minutes of digital audio through the ESPN Audio NOW Player, a 511 percent increase compared to the same month last year (source: Adobe/Omniture).  It also generated more than 3.22 million unique visitors (up 10.75 percent) and nearly 27 million total page views (up 35.8 percent).  Additionally, ESPN Podcasts recorded its own best month ever in March, logging 49 million downloads, up 73 percent compared to the same month last year.

That’s it.

ESPN Announces The Return of “30 for 30″

Today is the ESPN Upfront presentation, its unveiling of its programming to advertisers. The presentation is streaming live and I’ve been able to watch what is transpiring at New York’s Best Buy Theater. You can catch it as well and it will be archived starting at 2 p.m. ET today.

We have some press releases coming from the Upfronts and I’ll be posting those this morning. Our first announcement is the return of the ESPN Films brand “30 for 30″.

The 30 for 30 documentaries were unveiled for the 30th anniversary of ESPN and once the films were completed, the network put the brand away, but continued to churn out documentaries under the ESPN Films banner. However, people kept using “30 for 30″ and today, ESPN announced that it will bring the brand back this fall.

The new batch of documentaries will be called “30 for 30, Vol. II” and will have an additional 30 documentaries. Included will be a movie on Bo Jackson. Also, there will be “30 for 30 Shorts” which will be separate and allow filmmakers to provide stories in a reduced format.

Here is the ESPN Films press release.

ESPN Films Announces the Return of the Acclaimed Series 30 for 30

Second Season Includes the Launch of 30 Additional Short Films to Debut on Grantland.com

ESPN Films has announced the return of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 film series. As with the first series, which included collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers such as Peter Berg (Kings Ransom), Barry Levinson (The Band That Wouldn’t Die), Ice Cube (Straight Outta L.A.) and Academy Award-winner Barbara Koppel (The House of Steinbrenner), ESPN Films will once again partner with a wide array of filmmakers to tell incredible stories that capture the core of how sports inspire and entertain. 30 for 30 Vol. II is scheduled to premiere in October.

“30 for 30 was conceived as a finite collection and when the original series ended in December of 2010 with Pony Excess, we had underestimated the strength of the connection fans had made between sports documentaries and the 30 for 30 brand,” said Connor Schell, vice president of ESPN Films. “We’re proud to have created a brand that has become synonymous with quality sports storytelling and we see value in bringing back a second collection of 30 films.”

In addition to a second slate of 30 feature-length documentaries, ESPN Films will broaden its scope to support a whole new crop of stories with the creation of 30 for 30 Shorts – a 30-part digital short film series. 30 for 30 Shorts will be similar to the feature-length films in that each piece will represent a specific point of view of the filmmaker and will be a reflection of how they blend the narrative with their own visual style. Beginning in September, a new short film will debut monthly on Bill Simmons’ Grantland.com. A 30 for 30 Short entitled “Here Now” about Pete Rose is currently online as preview of the series.

Schell continued: “Launching the new 30 for 30 Shorts brand will give us the chance to widen the array of talented storytellers we can work with who are passionate about sports and have something to say.  The short film genre frees the filmmaker from some of the constraints common with long-form projects.”

The new season of 30 for 30 will have a much more defined multimedia component through closer integration with Grantland.com by featuring filmmaker podcasts with Bill Simmons, topical oral histories, in-depth features and more.  Each of the feature-length films and digital shorts will be complemented with a long-form written piece on Grantland.com that will deepen the experience for the viewer by providing them with additional context.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we created 30 for 30, but the response wildly exceeded our expectations,” said Grantland.com editor-in-chief Bill Simmons, who is a co-creator of the series. “We learned through social media and word of mouth, that each film seemed to provoke a broader conversation about the topic, so with these digital extensions on Grantland, we’re giving fans the opportunity to dive deeper into each film subject. It’s the logical next step for the 30 for 30 series – to make it the most ambitious multi-media storytelling project that we could imagine while continuing to innovate the genre with each new film.”

Films scheduled to air as part of 30 for 30 Vol. II include:

Benji (Coodie and Chike)
In 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a sweet-natured youngster from the city’s fabled South Side, and America’s top high school basketball prospect. Nicknamed “Magic Johnson with a jump shot,” Wilson’s natural talents and drive assured his best years were yet to come. Then, in November of his senior year, the life of this exceptional youngster was abruptly and tragically cut short. Wilson’s grim fate sent ripples of horror through the city and the country.

Broke (Billy Corben)
Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, most pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, Leon Searcy and Andre Rison, as well as commentary from Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, Bart Scott of the New York Jets and many other informed voices, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

Bo Knows (Mike Bonfiglio)
A close look at the legendary sports figure Bo Jackson and the marketing campaign that shaped his legacy and redefined the role of the athlete in the pop cultural conversation. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo will forever be known as one of the most famous athletes of all time. This film will look at the marketing of athletes, impossible expectations and the legend of Bo Jackson.

The Season of Their Lives (Jonathan Hock)
When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, N.C. State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship. In The Season of Their Lives, director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since.

Previews of the 30 for 30 Vol. II trailer and the 30 for 30 Short “Here Now” can be viewed at ESPN.com/30for30.

More stuff from ESPN Upfronts coming up throughout the day. I’ll have to read through the press release to make sure I’m not giving you unadulterated spin.

BBC Announces Its Olympic Presenters and Announcers

As we get closer to the Olympics, I’ll be providing you with plenty of news about the networks covering the games. Just like I did with the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, I will provide press releases and links to news about the host broadcaster. In 2010, I gave press release posts not only from NBC, but also from CTV in Canada. I plan to do the same for this year adding BBC to the mix.

If you’re going to be traveling to London to see the games, chances are that you’ll watch some of the BBC’s coverage. The host broadcaster plans 24/7 coverage of the entire games starting in July and running into August. Some of the presenters include some BBC veterans like Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Sue Barker, Hazel Irvine and Gabby Logan. Those names may not ring a bell in the US, but in the UK, they’re quite familiar.

We have the complete talent lineup for BBC plus their planned schedules. Take a look.

London 2012 Olympics: BBC presenters and commentary teams

BBC Sport has revealed its full line-up of presenters and commentary teams for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Leading figures from the world of sport such as Sir Steve Redgrave, Michael Johnson, Denise Lewis and Tim Henman are joined by household names from BBC television, including Barry Davies, Jake Humphrey, Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Sue Barker and Matt Baker.

BBC Radio 5 live’s Nicky Campbell, Peter Allen and Colin Murray feature alongside the likes of James Cracknell, Steve Backley, Pippa Funnell and Karen Pickering.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will lead the team of expert commentators across BBC Radio 5 live’s Paralympic coverage.

On this page you can find a sport-by-sport breakdown of our TV and radio presentation teams, as well as details of the TV programmes and presenters you can expect to see each day of the Games.

BBC TV programmes (all times BST)

09:00-midnight – Every Olympic sport from every venue through up to 24 simultaneous, HD-quality, live Olympic streams on the BBC Sport website. 24 channels are also available to cable and satellite viewers through the BBC Red Button.

06:00-09:00 – Olympic Breakfast, BBC One/BBC One HD. A combination of Hazel Irvine and Bill Turnbull or Chris Hollins and Sian Williams start the morning with a look at the main stories from the day before and the expected highlights of the day ahead, also incorporating national and regional news and weather.

09:00-11:30 – Olympics 2012, BBC One/BBC One HD. Mishal Husain brings the first of the day’s live action from the athletics, rowing and swimming heats. Venue presentation from Matt Baker, Clare Balding, Jonathan Edwards, Jake Humphrey and John Inverdale.

09:00-19:00 – Olympics 2012, BBC Three. Manish Bhasin, Rishi Persad or Sonali Shah will complement BBC One with some of the best action on offer from the 26 sports at the Games.

11:30-13:45 – Olympics 2012, BBC One/BBC One HD. Live action continues into the afternoon with Matt Baker, Clare Balding or Hazel Irvine. The focus remains on athletics, rowing and swimming heats plus other events including the men’s triathlon. Coverage switches to BBC Two 13:00-13:45.

13:45-16:00 – Olympics 2012, BBC One/BBC One HD. Clare Balding, Jake Humphrey or Hazel Irvine take up the baton, focusing on the conclusion of events such as the cycling road races, tennis finals, equestrian and diving.

16:00-19:00 – Olympics 2012, BBC One/BBC One HD. Sue Barker brings us action from the track cycling, gymnastics, tennis and equestrian events. Coverage switches to BBC Two 18:00-19:00.

19:00-22:35 – Olympics 2012, BBC One/BBC One HD. Gary Lineker takes us through the evening and into the night with action including athletics and swimming finals. Coverage switches to BBC Two 22:00-22:35.

19:00-23:00 – Olympics 2012, BBC Three. Jake Humphrey presents the best of the live action from the football, hockey, boxing and basketball.

22:40-midnight – Olympics Tonight, BBC One/BBC One HD. Gabby Logan, in the company of star guests from the world of sport and beyond, focuses on the stories and personalities that have dominated the day and looks at the sport still in progress.

00:15-01:00 – Olympic Sportsday, BBC One/BBC One HD. Dan Walker rounds up the main stories from the day’s action.

BBC Radio 5 live

06:00-10:00 – Breakfast. Nicky Campbell and Rachel Burden will present 5 live Breakfast from the Olympic Park, giving listeners the latest stories at the start of the day and interviews with athletes making the news.

10:00-14:00 – Victoria Derbyshire and Mark Chapman will cover the start of the sporting schedule.

10:00-midnight (approx) – Ian Payne and Anna Foster will broadcast live on 5 live Olympics extra, a temporary service broadcasting on digital radio, Freeview and online offering extra choice to listeners.

14:00-18:30 – Peter Allen and Colin Murray follow all of the day’s events.

18:30-22:30 – Mark Pougatch will anchor the evening sessions.

22:30-01:00 – Tony Livesey continues the coverage with reaction and discussion from all over the UK.

Sport-by-sport commentary teams

Ceremonies (opening and closing)

TV: Huw Edwards, Hazel Irvine, Trevor Nelson. Radio: John Murray.

Archery

TV: Eddie Butler, Liz Mynott.

Athletics

TV: Steve Cram, Paul Dickenson, Jonathan Edwards, Brendan Foster, Colin Jackson, Michael Johnson, Phil Jones, Denise Lewis, Steve Trew. Radio: Kriss Akabusi, Steve Backley, Darren Campbell, Mike Costello, Allison Curbishley, Sonja McLaughlan, Katharine Merry

Badminton

TV: Gail Emms, David Mercer.

Basketball

TV: John Amaechi, Mike Carlson. Radio: Fabulous Flournoy, Chris Mitchell.

Beach volleyball

TV: Matt Chilton, Ed Leigh.

Boxing

TV: Ron McIntosh, Jim Neilly, Lucy O’Connor, Richie Woodhall. Radio: Steve Bunce, Darren Fletcher.

Canoeing

TV: Andrew Cotter, Paul Dickenson, Helen Reeves. Radio: Alistair Bruce-Ball, Martin Cross, Anna Hemmings.

Cycling

TV: Chris Boardman, Jill Douglas, Ed Leigh, Hugh Porter, Jamie Staff. Radio: Simon Brotherton, Matt Dawson, Rob Hayles.

Diving

TV: Bob Ballard, Leon Taylor.

Equestrian

TV: Andy Austin, Judy Harvey, Ian Stark, Michael Tucker. Radio: Pippa Funnell, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, John Hunt.

Fencing

TV: Karim Bashir, Graham Bell.

Football

TV: Steve Bower, Mark Bright, Garth Crooks, Martin Fisher, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Alistair Mann, Guy Mowbray, Jacqui Oatley, Jonathan Pearce, Jo Potter, John Roder, Robbie Savage, Sue Smith, Lucy Ward, Faye White, Steve Wilson. Radio: Ian Dennis, Dion Dublin, Mike Ingham, John Murray, Jen O’Neill.

Gymnastics

TV: Matt Baker, Mitch Fenner, Christine Still. Radio: Craig Heap, Alison Mitchell.

Handball

TV: Paul Bray.

Hockey

TV: Mel Clewlow, Barry Davies, Sean Kerly. Radio: Mel Clewlow, Alistair Eykyn, Sean Kerly.

Judo

TV: Nicola Fairbrother, Nick Mullins.

Modern pentathlon

TV: Steph Cook, Eleanor Oldroyd. Radio: Pippa Funnell, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, John Hunt.

Rowing

TV: Garry Herbert, Sir Steve Redgrave, Daniel Topolski. Radio: James Cracknell, Martin Cross, Alan Green.

Sailing

TV: Leigh McMillan, Shirley Robertson, Richard Simmonds, Rob Walker. Radio: Juliette Ferrington, Pippa Wilson.

Shooting

TV: David Oates.

Swimming

TV: Sharron Davies, Mark Foster, Andy Jameson, Adrian Moorhouse. Radio: Bob Ballard, Steve Parry, Karen Pickering.

Synchronised swimming

TV: Andrea Holland, Eleanor Oldroyd.

Table tennis

TV: Ian Marshall, Matthew Syed.

Taekwondo

TV: John Cullen, Nick Mullins. Radio: Jonathan Overend.

Tennis

TV: Tracey Austin, Chris Bradnum, Andrew Castle, Andrew Cotter, Tim Henman, John Lloyd, Sam Smith, Virginia Wade. Radio: Iain Carter, Annabel Croft, Jonathan Overend.

Triathlon

TV: Matt Chilton, Steve Trew. Radio: Alistair Bruce-Ball, James Cracknell.

Volleyball

TV: Jonathan Legard.

Water polo

TV: Nigel Adderley, Lisa Knights.

Weightlifting

TV: Colin Bryce, Non Evans, Jim Neilly.

Wrestling

TV: Colin Bryce, Non Evans.

Presenters, news correspondents and reporters

Programme presenters: Matt Baker, Clare Balding, Sue Barker, Manish Bhasin, Chris Hollins, Jake Humphrey, Mishal Husain, John Inverdale, Hazel Irvine, Gabby Logan, Gary Lineker, Rishi Persad, Sonali Shah, Bill Turnbull, Dan Walker, Sian Williams.

News correspondents: David Bond, Sally Nugent, James Pearce, Dan Roan, Andy Swiss, Joe Wilson.

Feature reporters: Tina Daheley, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Leon Mann, Jason Mohammad, Ore Oduba, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Garry Richardson, Helen Skelton, Michael Vaughan, Reggie Yates.

And I’ll be doing this for NBC when it provides its complete talent lineup and it should be coming soon.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Bundesliga
Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Hertha BSC — Gol TV, 2:30 p.m.

College Baseball
Central Michigan vs. Michigan State, Detroit, MI — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.

Cycling
Giro d’Italia: Stage 10 — Universal Sports, 9:30 a.m.
Tour of California: Stage 3, San Jose to Livermore — NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.

IIHF World Championships
Pool Play, Helsinki, Finland
USA vs. Switzerland — NBC Sports Network, 1 p.m.

MLB
American League
Cleveland at Minnesota — STO, 1 p.m.
Detroit at Chicago White Sox — Fox Sports Detroit/WGN America, 2 p.m.
Seattle at Boston — Root Sports Northwest/NESN, 4 p.m.
New York Yankees at Baltimore — MLB Network/WWOR/MASN, 7 p.m.
Oakland at Anaheim Angels — Comcast SportsNet California/Fox Sports West, 4 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — Sun Sports/Sportsnet One, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Texas — Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.

National League
Houston at Philadelphia — Fox Sports Houston/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
San Diego at Washington — Fox Sports San Diego/MASN, 1 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 1:45 p.m.
Cincinnati at Atlanta — MLB Network/Fox Sports Ohio/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at New York Mets — Fox Sports Wisconsin/SNY, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Miami — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — MLB Network/Fox Sports Arizona/KCAL, 10 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco — MLB Network/Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10:15 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 3 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, midnight
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 1 a.m. (Wednesday)

NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 2: Indiana at Miami — TNT, 7 p.m. (Miami leads series, 1-0)

Western Conference Semifinals
Game 1: Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio — TNT, 9:30 p.m.

Inside the NBA — TNT, midnight

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Final
Game 2: Los Angeles at Phoenix — NBC Sports Network/TSN/RDS, 9 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Conference Final Pregame — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 8 p.m.
NHL Live Postgame — NBC Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Conference Final Postgame — NHL Network, 11:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Outside the Lines First Report — ESPN, 3 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
E:60 — ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Internazionali BNL d’Italia, 1st and 2nd Round — Tennis Channel, 5 a.m.

Entertainment
Eat Street: Deli-licous Delights — Cooking Channel, 8 p.m.
NCIS (season finale) — CBS, 8 p.m.
America’s Got Talent — NBC, 8 p.m.
Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed — Biography, 8 p.m.
The Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis — HBO, 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles (season finale) — CBS, 9 p.m.
Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed — Biography, 9 p.m.
Deadliest Catch: Vital Signs — Discovery, 9 p.m.
The Weight of the Nation: Challenges (finale) — HBO, 9:10 p.m.
Private Practice (season finale) — ABC, 10 p.m.
No Kitchen Required: Koh Lanta — BBC America, 10 p.m.
Narrow Escapes of World War II: The Doolittle Raid — The Military Channel, 10 p.m.
Amish: Out of Order: Amish in Public — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: Brisbane, Australia — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Looking at Some Sports Media Personnel Moves and Non-Moves

I have accumulated a lot of links today, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to get to them right now. I’ll save them for Tuesday, but I can get to a couple of sports media personnel moves. Lots of stuff to get to. This will be done in bullet form.

• It was broken earlier tonight by Jim Miller, the co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN“:
  

  Staying. @notthefakeSVP has just finished telling colleagues he has renewed his deal with ESPN.

  — James Andrew Miller (@ESPNBook) May 14, 2012

  And it was later confirmed by Scott Van Pelt himself:

  Appreciate the interest and support here.Feel very fortunate to have gone through process but glad it’s over. Ultimately, ESPN is my home

  — Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 15, 2012

  It’s a good move. SVP had a couple of suitors, NBC and Fox, but chose to stay where he’s most comfortable. Van Pelt has his radio show which he has enjoyed doing plus the early SportsCenters. While he could have left to go to NBC and return to his old stomping grounds of Golf Channel, ESPN is the best place for him. I told you throughout that I thought he would stay in Bristol and he did.

• Speaking of Golf Channel, the co-host of Morning Drive, Erik Kuselias is leaving the show and heading up the East Coast to become a host of NBC SportsTalk on sister network, NBC Sports Network. Stephanie Wei of the Wei Under Par golf blog had the story and some interesting gossip that I was not aware of. I’m not enamored with this move as I’m not enamored with Kuselias. He comes off as smug and pompous and I’m sure he’ll come off as smug and pompous on NBC Sports Talk. I’m not sure what anyone sees in him as he’s worked at ESPN on both radio and television, then moved to Golf Channel to launch its morning show with Gary Williams and Holly Sonders.

  Apparently during his time on Morning Drive, he became friendly with Sonders and they began dating. According to Stephanie’s story, the two are now engaged.

  Kuselias was one of the subjects of A.J. Daulerio’s Scorched Earth Policy on ESPN in 2009 after he felt the network deliberately misled Deadspin on a couple of stories.

  Anyway, it seems Kuselias will move back up north and make guest appearances on NBC Sports Talk. I don’t think NBC will use Kuselias to replace regular host Russ Thaler. At least I hope not.

• A couple of other ESPN notes, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reports that SportsCenter anchor and celebrated puckhead John Buccigross has reupped with ESPN:
  

  Source tells me @Buccigross has also re-upped with ESPN. No doubt he’ll be fighting the good fight for NHL love at the Empire.

  — Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 15, 2012

  I’ve followed Buccigross since he was in Providence and felt he was very solid. He remains so to this day and along with Linda Cohn, continues to hold the torch for hockey at ESPN. Here’s hoping he’ll be back hosting the sport one day.

  Richard also reported yesterday that Michelle Bonner is leaving.

  Longtime ESPNNews/SportsCenter anchor Michelle Bonner and ESPN have parted ways. Another work-a-day, no-shtick anchor. Wish her well.

  — Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 13, 2012

  I liked Michelle. Too bad about her departure.

• Now that ESPN has decisions on Dana Jacobsen, Michelle Beadle and Scott Van Pelt, the network can now focus on its last major free agent, Erin Andrews. Look for her to remain with the network and keep her hosting position on College GameDay during college football season.

That is it for tonight.

ESPN Networks All Over The NCAA Division I Softball Championship

In its increased commitment to the NCAA, the ESPN Family of Networks will have extensive coverage of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship including every game of the Women’s College World Series.

There will be coverage of up to 62 games from the regionals to the Super Regional games, all the way to the Women’s College World Series held again at Oklahoma City, OK. This will be the 12th year that the ESPN Family will carry all of the games of the WCWS.

Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza will be the main team for the Softball Championship and they’ll be assigned to the Louisville, KY Super Regional and then go to the Women’s College World Series.

The whole enchilada begins this Friday with coverage of eight games on ESPN2, ESPN3 and the Longhorn Network (that’s right) and continuing throughout the weekend.

Here’s the ESPN press release.

ESPN Provides Extensive Coverage of NCAA Division I Softball Championship

Every Women’s College World Series Contest for 12^th Straight Year

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine as the coverage home to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship with up to 62 games Friday, May 18 to Wednesday, June 6. The lineup will include telecasts of every Women’s College World Series (WCWS) contest for the 12^th straight event and every game from all eight Super Regional sites for the fifth straight year. Coverage begins with games from three Regional sites.

As mentioned on ESPNU’s 2012 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Selection Show, action begins Friday, May 18 with six telecasts from three sites -– Louisville, Ky.; College Station, Texas; Tucson, Ariz. ESPN3 will simulcast every Regional, Super Regional and WCWS game aired on ESPN networks.

SEC teams earned the most bids this year by conference with nine, followed closely by the Pac-12 with eight. The Pac-12 has won 23 of 29 NCAA Division I Softball Championships. The last non-Pac-12 school to win a title was Michigan in 2005. This year’s No. 1 seed, California, has the most consecutive championship appearances with 26, behind only Fresno State with 30.

2012 ESPN Highlights:

• More than 125 hours of NCAA Division I Softball Championship game action as well as studio hours surrounding the games with highlights, expert analysis and press conferences after Super Regionals.
• For the first time, the Longhorn Network will also offer exclusive games from a Regionals series, televising all games involving No. 8 Texas from the Austin, Texas Regional site, beginning Friday, May 19 at 5:30 ET.
• Super Regionals and WCWS games will include the expert opinion and experience from six U.S. Olympic Gold Medalists, one of which was a three-time NCAA Champion. All 11 analysts are former All-Americans and six played for teams that were seeded in this year’s Championship:
  • ESPN Softball Analysts at Super Regionals: Leah Amico (Arizona), Garland Cooper (Northwestern), Jennie Finch (Arizona), Amanda Freed (UCLA), Cheri Kemp (Missouri Western), Jessica Mendoza (Stanford), Amanda Scarborough (Texas A&M) and Michele Smith (Oklahoma State)
  • ESPN Softball Analysts in Studio: Charlotte Morgan (Alabama) and Stacey Nuveman (UCLA)
  • As part of ESPN’s celebration of 40 years of Title IX, espnW.com will give fans inside access on a team’s road to the WCWS with features, photos and player blogs from six of the top-25 programs.
  • ESPN International will provide the WCWS in 178 countries and territories on ESPN Australia, ESPN Africa, ESPN Caribbean, ESPN Europe, ESPN Israel, ESPN Latin America, ESPN Middle East, ESPN Pacific Rim and ESPN Brazil.
  • In 2012, the ESPN networks will air over 400 hours of NCAA Spring Championships coverage, increasing more than 30 hours from 2011. As part of ESPN’s extended rights agreement with the NCAA, spring championship programming highlights seven sports over eight weeks: Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s Volleyball, Baseball and Softball. For the first time, ESPN networks will also air the Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field and Women’s Lacrosse Championships.

NCAA Division I Softball Championship – Regionals
(Schedule subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup (location)	Regional Game	Network
Friday, May 18	4:30 p.m.	Kentucky vs. Michigan (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game1	ESPN2/ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Texas State vs. LSU (College Station, TX) Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf	Game 1	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Northwestern vs. No. 6 Texas (Austin, TX) TBD	Game 2	Longhorn Network
	5:30 p.m.	Notre Dame vs. Hawaii (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Valparaiso vs. No. 15 Louisville (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 2	ESPN2/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Bethune-Cookman vs. No. 8 Texas A&M (College Station, TX) Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf	Game 2	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	North Dakota State vs. No. 13 Arizona (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 2	ESPNU/ESPN3
Saturday, May 19	1 p.m.	Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 3	ESPN/ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner (College Station, TX)	Game 3	ESPN3
	3:30  p.m.	Game 1 loser vs. Game  2 loser (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 4	ESPN/ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser (College Station, TX) Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf	Game 4	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 5	ESPN/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 3	ESPNU/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser (College Station, TX)	Game 5	ESPN3
	8:30 p.m.	Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 4	ESPNU/ESPN3
	11 p.m.	Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 5	ESPNU/ESPN3
Sunday, May 20	1 p.m.	Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner (Louisville, KY) Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 6	ESPN2/ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner (College Station, TX) Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf	Game 6	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (Louisville, KY)* Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	Game 7	ESPN2/ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (College Station, TX)* Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf	Game 7	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner (Tucson, AZ) Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 6	ESPNU/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (Tucson, AZ) * Pam Ward and Michele Smith	Game 7	ESPNU/ESPN3

NCAA Division I Softball Championship – Super Regionals

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup (Location)	Game	Network
Thu, May 24	8 p.m.	TBD (Site 1)	Game 1	ESPN2/ESPN3
	10 p.m.	TBD (Site 2)	Game 1	ESPN2/ESPN3
Fri, May 25	2 p.m.	TBD (Site 5)	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	TBD (Site 1)	Game 2	ESPNU/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	TBD (Site 1) *	Game 3	ESPN or ESPN2/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	TBD (Site 3)	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	TBD (Site 2)	Game 2	ESPN or ESPNU/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	TBD (Site 4)	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	11:30 p.m.	TBD (Site 2)*	Game 3	ESPNU/ESPN3
Sat, May 26	noon	TBD (Site 5)	Game 2	ESPN/ESPN3
	noon	TBD (Site 6)	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	2:30 PM	TBD (Site 5) *	Game 3	ESPN/ESPN3
	2:30 PM	TBD (Site 3)	Game 2	ESPNU/ESPN3
	5 p.m.	TBD (Site 4)	Game 2	ESPN/ESPN3
	5 p.m.	TBD (Site 3) *	Game 3	ESPNU/ESPN3
	7:30 PM	TBD (Site 4) *	Game 3	ESPN/ESPN3
	7:30 PM	TBD (Site 7)	Game 1	ESPNU/ESPN3
	10 p.m.	TBD (Site	Game 1	ESPN2/ESPN3
Sun, May 27	1 p.m.	TBD (Site 6)	Game 2	ESPN/ESPN3
	3:30 PM	TBD (Site 6) *	Game 3	ESPN/ESPN3
	3:30 PM	TBD (Site 7)	Game 3	ESPNU/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	TBD (Site 7) *	Game 3	ESPNU/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	TBD (Site	Game 2	ESPN2/ESPN3
	9:30 PM	TBD (Site *	Game 3	ESPN2/ESPN3

NCAA Women’s College World Series, (Oklahoma City, Okla.)

Date	Time	Game	Network
Wed, May 30	2 p.m.	WCWS Press Conferences	ESPNU
	4 p.m.	WCWS Press Conferences	ESPNU
Thu, May 31	Noon	WCWS Pre-Game Show	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Game 1	ESPN2/ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Game 2	ESPN2/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Game 3	ESPN2/ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Game 4	ESPN2/ESPN3
	11:30 p.m.	WCWS Post-Game Show	ESPNU
Fri, June 1	7 p.m.	Game 5	ESPN2/ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Game 6	ESPN2/ESPN3
Sat, June 2	noon	Game 7	ESPN2/ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Game 8	ESPN2/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Game 9	ESPN/ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Game 10	ESPN/ESPN3
Sun, June 3	1 p.m.	Game 11	ESPN/ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Game 12	ESPN/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Game 13*	ESPNU/ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Game 14*	ESPNU/ESPN3
Mon, June 4	8 p.m.	Championship – Game 1	ESPN2/ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	WCWS Post-Game Show	ESPNU
Tue, June 5	7:30 p.m.	WCWS Pre-Game Show	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Championship – Game 2	ESPN2/ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	WCWS Post-Game Show	ESPNU
Wed, June 6	7:30 p.m.	WCWS Pre-Game Show	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Championship – Game 3*	ESPN/ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	WCWS Post-Game Show	ESPNU

ESPN3 will carry every game; direct links to exclusive games included
* denotes “if necessary” game

That’s going to do it.

NBC and the NHL State The Conference Semifinals Were The Most Watched Evah!

Joint press release from the National Broadcasting Company and the National Hockey League on the ratings for the just completed Conference Semifinal Round. According to both companies, combined viewership on the NBC Sports Group (CNBC, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network) was up 28% from a year ago as the games averaged 1.32 million people.

On NBC Sports Network, the average viewership was 1.29 million which is up 43% from 2011 when the network was known as Versus (I’ll be happy when I don’t have to write “formerly known as Versus” or “when the network was known as Versus” anymore).

NBC Sports Network has even more good news as Game 7 of the Washington Capitals-New York Rangers series averaged 1.68 million viewers.

And for Game 1 of last night’s Western Conference Final between the LA Kings and Phoenix Coyotes, the game was the most watched game on cable in the home markets. We expect final ratings on that game tomorrow.

The announcement from NBC and the NHL.

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS ARE MOST-WATCHED ON RECORD

Conference Semifinal Games Across NBC, NBC Sports Network & CNBC Average 1.32 Million Viewers, Up 28% vs. Last Year
Viewership Up 43% for Conference Semifinals on NBC Sports Network vs. 2011
Rangers-Capitals Game 7 Is Second Most-Watched NHL Game of 2012 Playoffs on Cable
Total Audience Up 23% for 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs vs. Last Year

NEW YORK – May 14, 2012 – The NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the first two rounds of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have averaged 1.06 million viewers, making the Conference Quarterfinals and Conference Semifinals the most-watched first two rounds on record (sine 1994, when cable program data started). On NBC, NBC Sports Network and CNBC, the 2012 Conference Semifinals averaged 1.32 million viewers, making them the most-watched Conference Semifinals on record. More than 39 million total viewers have watched the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC, NBC Sports Network and CNBC, up 23% vs. last year (32.2).

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

According to Fast National data released by The Nielsen Company, the 2012 Conference Semifinals:

• Averaged 1.29 million viewers on the NBC Sports Network, up 43% percent vs. last year and the best on record for a single cable network.
• Averaged 1.32 million viewers across NBC, the NBC Sports Network & CNBC, up 28% vs. last year and the best on record.

RANGERS – CAPITALS GAME 7

Saturday night’s Game 7 between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals was watched by 1.68 million viewers on the NBC Sports Network, making it the second most-watched 2012 Conference Semifinal game on cable. Game 3 of the series, which was won by the Rangers in triple overtime, was watched by 1.85 million viewers, making it the most-watched Conference Semifinal game of 2012. The NBC Sports Network was the No. 1 network overall in both markets during the game.

• In New York, Rangers-Capitals Game 7 received a 4.8 HH rating, the highest local rating ever in the market for a NHL game on the NBC Sports Network. The telecast was up 129 % vs. 2008’s two-game average (2.07).
• In Washington, Rangers-Capitals Game 7 received a 7.67 HH rating, the second-highest local rating ever in the market for a NHL game on the NBC Sports Network. The telecast was up 19% vs. the market’s 2011 Semifinal average (6.45).

KINGS-COYOTES GAME 1

Last night’s Western Conference Final Game 1 between the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes delivered record ratings for both local markets. The NBC Sports Network was the highest-rated cable network in both local markets during the telecast of the game.

• In Los Angeles, Game 1 received a 2.14 HH rating, the highest local rating ever in the market for a NHL game on the NBC Sports Network.
• In Phoenix, Game 1 received a 5.56 HH rating, the highest local rating ever in the market for a NHL game on the NBC Sports Network.

Final national ratings will be available shortly.

That’s it. I’ll try to put a few more things on the site before the night is through.

NBC Sports Group Announces Coverage of NHL Conference Finals

We now have the coverage plans for NBC and NBC Sports Network for the NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals that will be played over the next two weeks should both series go the maximum.

NBC Sports Network will carry the majority of games. Should both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals go the full seven games, NBC Sports Network will carry six of each while NBC will take just one game from each. And if there are Games 7, NBC Sports Network will air both of the deciding games for each Conference Final.

Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire call the Eastern Conference Final between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.

Out West, Dave Strader, Darren Pang and Brian Engblom will monitor the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes.

Here’s your NBC press release.

NBC SPORTS GROUP TO AIR EXCLUSIVE NHL CONFERENCE FINALS COVERAGE

All Games to Air on NBC or NBC Sports Network
Day 34: Eastern Conference Finals Start Tonight — New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers, 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

NEW YORK – May 14, 2012 – Day 34 — The NBC Sports Group’s exclusive Conference Finals coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues tonight in New York with the Eastern Conference’s Game 1 between the #1 Rangers and the #6 New Jersey Devils at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live.

Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-glass’ analyst) will call the action in the Rangers-Devils series. The team of Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (analyst) and Darren Pang (‘Inside-the-glass’ analyst) will helm the Western Conference games between the Kings-Coyotes. The Kings won last night’s Game 1, 4-2, in Phoenix. The series resumes tomorrow night with Game 2 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Continuing through the Stanley Cup Final, all remaining Stanley Cup Playoff games will air exclusively on NBC and NBC Sports Network. Following is the schedule for the remaining Conference Finals games (all times ET and subject to change):

Monday, May 14
8 p.m.	#6 New Jersey Devils @ #1 New York Rangers (Game 1)	NBC Sports Network
Tuesday, May 15
9 p.m.	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 2)	NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, May 16
8 p.m.	#6 New Jersey Devils @ #1 New York Rangers (Game 2)	NBC Sports Network
Thursday, May 17
9 p.m.	#3 Phoenix Coyotes @ #8 Los Angeles Kings (Game 3)	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, May 19
1 p.m.	#1 New York Rangers @ #6 New Jersey Devils (Game 3)	NBC
Sunday, May 20
3 p.m.	#3 Phoenix Coyotes @ #8 Los Angeles Kings (Game 4)	NBC
Monday, May 21
8 p.m.	#1 New York Rangers @ #6 New Jersey Devils (Game 4)	NBC Sports Network
Tuesday, May 22
9 p.m.	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 5)*	NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, May 23
8 p.m.	#6 New Jersey Devils @ #1 New York Rangers (Game 6)*	NBC Sports Network
Thursday, May 24
9 p.m.	#3 Phoenix Coyotes @ #8 Los Angeles Kings (Game 6)*	NBC Sports Network
Friday, May 25
8 p.m.	#1 New York Rangers @ #6 New Jersey Devils (Game 6)*	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, May 26
8 p.m.	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 7)*	NBC Sports Network
Sunday, May 27
8 p.m.	#6 New Jersey Devils @ #1 New York Rangers (Game 7)*	NBC Sports Network

*If Necessary

CHANNEL FINDER

With all 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games airing nationally for the first time, the NBC Sports Group created a channel finder to help fans find NBC and NBC Sports Network in their area by simply entering a zip code.

Click here for the channel finder.

PRE-GAME & POST-GAME COVERAGE

NHL Live, NBC Sports Network’s NHL pre-game show, will air every game night a half hour before the game of the night begins. NHL Post-Game will air a 30-minute program following the conclusion of game coverage every night of the playoffs.

GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR

For the first time in the 95-year history of the NHL, every Stanley Cup Playoff game will be televised nationally. The NBC Sports Group will provide unprecedented access to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, May and June, televising as many as 105 playoff games and possibly more than 262.5 hours of programming. Games will be presented on NBC, the NBC Sports Network, the NHL Network, and NBCUniversal’s business channel CNBC in primetime.

NBC Sports Network	Forty Two*
CNBC	Thirteen
NBC	Ten
NHL Network	Six

* Includes Devils-Panthers Conference Quarterfinal Game 7 that was joined in progress

That’s all.

NBA on TNT Announcing Assignments For Tonight and Tomorrow

Let’s provide the NBA on TNT announcing assignments for tonight and tomorrow night. TNT has a double-double for tonight and tomorrow with the Conference Semifinals.

That’s it.

“Big Break Atlantis” Premieres Tonight on Golf Channel

One of Golf Channel’s most popular series, “Big Break” returns tonight. With an all-female cast this season, the dramatics may be ratcheted up a notch. The show goes from the cold and wind of Ireland last season to the beautiful tropics of the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas.

The 12 member cast will be seeking a spot in the LPGA Kingsmill Championship in September. In addition, there will cash prizes along the way. The women range in age from 19-31 and all are in various stages of their golf careers.

Golf Channel has tweaked Big Break to make the show a cumulative points format. You’ll see what that means in the press release.

BIG BREAK ATLANTIS TEES OFF MONDAY WITH POPULAR AND PRESSURE-PACKED ‘GLASS BREAK CHALLENGE’

New Format and Challenges in Store for the 12 Competitors
More than $80,000 in Cash and Prizes on the Line for Ultimate Champion
All-Female Cast at Different Career Stages Looking for a Big Break to the LPGA Tour

ORLANDO, Fla., -– Golf Channel’s Big Break Atlantis reality competition series starts off with a bang on Monday’s premiere episode (9 p.m. ET) which will feature a new format, new twists and challenges that will test the 12 competitors’ mental and physical toughness on the course. With one of the largest prizes in the history of the series on the line, the pressure will be high from the start when the competitors face off in one of the most popular challenges on the series – The Glass Break.

The Big Break Atlantis series format this season will rely on points. Winners of each challenge will receive points, with the first player accumulating 100 points automatically advancing to the championship match in the season finale. The ultimate champion will have the opportunity to put her golf career on the fast track with an invitation to compete in the 2012 LPGA Kingsmill Championship (Sept. 6-9) on the LPGA Tour and $50,000 in cash. In addition to the tournament exemption and cash, the winner also will receive an endorsement contract, which includes an additional $10,000 in cash; a $10,000 shopping spree; a $10,000 car rental credit, full exempt status and all entry fees waived for a full Symetra Tour season and an all-expense paid return trip for two to Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Big Break Atlantis will showcase a cast of 12 women at different stages of their golf careers. Several are currently playing on the Symetra Tour (LPGA developmental tour), while others either turned professional for the series or are giving professional golf a second try. The series also will feature special guest appearances from Women’s World No. 1 Yani Tseng and LPGA Tour professional Gerina Piller, a former Big Break competitor from the series’ 11^th season taped on Prince Edward Island. Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott and Stephanie Sparks return as co-hosts for the series.

The competitors on Big Break Atlantis are:

Anya Alvarez, 22, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Shannon Fish, 23, Spring, Texas
Natalia Ghilzon, 21, Windsor, Ontario
Meghan Hardin, 19, Lake Arrowhead, Calif.
Selanee Henderson, 25, Temecula, Calif.
Marcela Leon, 31, Orlando, Fla. / Monterrey, Mexico
Aubrey McCormick, 29, Arlington, Va.
Allison Micheletti, 24, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Zakiya Randall, 20, Atlanta, Ga.
Gloriana Soto, 25, Windermere, Fla. / San Jose, Costa Rica
Christina Stockton, 24, Rocklin, Calif.
Kelly Villarreal, 29, Birmingham, Ala.

Shot in January at the Bahamas resort, the 11-part series will unfold on the Tom Weiskopf-designed Ocean Club Golf Course, a picturesque par-72 championship layout featuring breathtaking signature holes, and seaside greens and tees stretched over 7,100 yards of coastline.

The Big Break show concept pits highly skilled golfers against each other in a variety of challenges that test their physical skills and mental toughness. One contestant will be eliminated each week during Big Break Atlantis, with the last player standing awarded her Big Break, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in an LPGA Tour event.

Past Big Break champions have won tournament exemptions to compete on some of the world’s top professional circuits, including the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Canadian Tour. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, Big Break VII: Reunion champion and PGA TOUR professional, caught the world’s attention in 2011 with three top-five finishes, and Ryann O’Toole, competitor on Big Break Sandals Resorts in 2010 competed on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team as a Captain’s Pick during her rookie year in 2011.

Several other past Big Break competitors are currently competing on the world’s top tours, including Matt Every (PGA TOUR), James Nitties (Nationwide Tour), Kim Welch and Sara Brown (Ladies European Tour); and Piller, 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup Team member O’Toole and 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup Team member Kristy McPherson (LPGA Tour).

I’ll have more throughout the day. Keep it here.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Baseball
Florida State at Clemson — ESPNU, 6 p.m.

Cycling
Giro d’Italia, Stage 9 — Universal Sports, 9:30 a.m.
Tour of California, Stage 2 — NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.

Golf
Big Break Atlantis (season premiere) — Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Feherty: Bill Clinton — Golf Channel, 10 p.m.

Minor League Baseball
Rochester Red Wings at Syracuse Chiefs — MLB Network, noon

MLB
American League
New York Yankees at Baltimore — YES/MASN, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Boston — Root Sports Northwest/NESN, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — Sun Sports/Rogers Sportsnet, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Minnesota — STO/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Chicago White Sox — Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Kansas City at Texas — Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Oakland at Anaheim Angels — Comcast SportsNet California/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis — ESPN/WCIU/Fox Sports Midwest, 7 p.m.
Cincinnati at Atlanta — Fox Sports Ohio/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
Houston at Philadelphia — Fox Sports Houston/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at New York Mets — Fox Sports Wisconsin/SNY, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Miami — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Washington — Fox Sports San Diego/MASN2, 7 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco Giants — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 3 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, midnight
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 1 a.m. (Tuesday)

NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 2: Philadelphia at Boston — TNT, 7 p.m. (Boston leads series, 1-0)

Western Conference Semifinals
Game 1: Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City — TNT, 9:30 p.m.

Inside the NBA — TNT, midnight

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Eastern Conference Final
Game 1: New Jersey at New York Rangers — NBC Sports Network/CBC/RDS, 8 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Conference Final Pre-Game — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Live Postgame — NBC Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Conference Final Post Game — NHL Network, 10:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Outside the Lines First Report — ESPN, 3 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 11 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Internazionali BNL d’Italia, 1st Round — Tennis Channel, 5 a.m.

Entertainment
How I Met Your Mother — CBS, 8 p.m.
America’s Got Talent (season premiere) — NBC, 8 p.m.
House (season finale) — Fox, 8 p.m.
Jeffrey Dahmer: The Monster Within — Biography, 8 p.m.
The Weight of the Nation: Part 1, Consequences — HBO, 8 p.m.
Undercover Boss Abroad: Skyline International Development — TLC, 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother (season finale) — CBS, 8:30 p.m.
Top Gear — BBC America, 8:30 p.m.
House — Fox, 9 p.m.
Hart of Dixie (season finale) — The CW, 9 p.m.
Johnny Carson: American Masters — PBS, 9 p.m.
Undercover Boss Abroad: YMCA — TLC, 9 p.m.
The Weight of the Nation: Part 2, Choices — HBO, 9:10 p.m.
Hawaii Five-0 (season finale) — CBS, 10 p.m.
Richard Hammond’s Crash Course: Demolition — BBC America, 10 p.m.
Fatal Encounters: Who Shot the Sheriff? — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
Hotel Impossible: The Hotel Corpus Christi Bayfront, Corpus Christi, TX — Travel Channel, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: Marbella, Spain — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Meat Men: Emergency Steaks — Food Network, 11 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Inside Mad Men, Season 5, Episode 9 — “Dark Shadows”

In this episode, Betty Francis is back and while she’s dealing with her weight problems, she sees Megan inside her apartment and gets jealous on how she looks and her relationship with the Draper children. And she forces Don to reveal some his past to Sally.

In the meantime, Roger is paying everyone from Ginsberg to his estranged second wife Jane. And Don feels threatened by Ginsberg to screw him over.

We have the discussion of the episode from creator Matt Weiner, Jessica Paré, Jon Hamm and Vincent Kartheiser.

And we have scenes from next week’s episode, again out of context.

If I get more videos from Mad Men, I’ll post them, but we’ll take what we can get. The next Mad Men episode, “Christmas Waltz” airs next Sunday night at 10 ET/PT on AMC.

A Trio of Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

Happy Mother’s Day.

It’s been quite the day in sports already. A few thoughts in bullet form.

• Fox promised us unprecedented coverage on the last day of the English Premier League season and it delivered. Using FX, Fox Sports Net, Fuel and Speed in addition to its Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus on online platforms, it provided full coverage of the final day of the EPL season as teams were scrambling for the Title, Champions and Europa League spots and avoiding relegation. With ESPN2 allowed to air the Manchester City-Queens Park Rangers match, Fox focused on the other 9 games of the day. Using FX as its main hub, there were real time updates on the Fox Box as well as cut-ins by Rob Stone showing scores from other games.

  If Fox retains the US rights for the English Premier League, I would love to see more of this coverage not only for what was dubbed “Survival Sunday” by Fox, but for the Opening Weekend of the season as well.

  I admit I wasn’t a fan of Rob Stone when he was at ESPN, but he’s grown on me as host of the Premier and Champions League on Fox Soccer. And the way Fox utilized its platforms today was excellent. One could argue they should have been doing this all along.

  If Fox is going to do this next year, then open up the pay platforms of Fox Soccer Plus, Foxsoccer.com and Fox Soccer2Go for the weekend. Those of us who don’t subscribe to those platforms were shutout today.

• One pet peeve I have about Fox is that it won’t allow online streaming of its sports properties. Whether it be MLB, NASCAR, college football or NFL, the network makes us watch its product on television. If we can’t be in front of a TV, then we’re pure out of luck. Some the online rights are locked with the league as with the case of MLB and the NFL, but ESPN, NBC and CBS have been diligent in getting online rights. Fox remains steadfast in not streaming its events. I hope that changes as the network goes forward with the NFL and any other sports properties it obtains from here on out.
• And Friday’s development that Michelle Beadle is leaving ESPN is not a surprise. While there has been no firm confirmation from neither ESPN, NBC where she’s reportedly heading nor from Michelle herself, she’s about good as gone.

  I told you in the past that sports is not what Michelle wants to do full-time. By keeping a hand in special events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl should be enough for her. And by co-hosting Access Hollywood, it gives NBCUniversal a versatile personality.

  She’ll do well for NBC.

That’s going to do it for now.

Videos of the Week — The Holy Roller, Oakland vs. San Diego, 1978

I was watching Top Ten Raiders on NFL Network on Friday (yet another in a long series of Top Ten shows by NFL Network) when during a segment on former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, a look at the controversial play known as “The Holy Roller” was aired.

If you aren’t aware of the play and if you’re a true NFL fan, how can you not, it’s one of the most controversial in NFL history. It happened during a game between AFC West Division rivals the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers. Played at San Diego-Jack Murphy (now Qualcomm) Stadium, the Chargers were leading the Raiders, 20-14.

The Raiders were on the Chargers’ 14 yard line driving for the winning score when with :10 left to play, Stabler went back to pass. He was hit and about to be sacked by Chargers linebacker Woodrow Lowe. The game appeared to be just about over when Stabler flipped the ball forward onto the ground. The ball was bouncing freely and that was where all things went haywire.

Raiders Running Back Pete Banaszak ran towards the ball and knowing if he got tackled, the game would be over. So as Banaszak was falling to the ground, he too flipped the ball forward towards the goal line. At the 2 yard line, Tight End Dave Casper kicked and batted the ball forward in the guise of trying to pick it up, then when he was safely inside the endzone, fell on it and the officials inexplicably ruled it a touchdown tying the game. And with the extra point, the Raiders won, 21-20. And following the season, the NFL outlawed any flipping forward of the ball.

Since that fateful day in 1978, the footage seen of that moment is usually from NFL Films, on ground level and from inside the Chargers endzone with the play coming towards us.

NBC Sports which had the rights to the AFC at the time aired the game in 1978. Now I can’t recall if it was a national or regional game. When I looked at the video that is posted below, I’m not sure if NBC had brought the audience from another game to this one or if this was the actual showcase game. I don’t think it was the showcase game, perhaps another late game was.

Jim Simpson and Paul Warfield are on the call. By this time, Simpson was a year from leaving NBC and joining an upstart cable sports network called ESPN. Simpson had been the “B” announcer for NBC for both MLB and the NFL during the 1970′s, but by 1978, Dick Enberg had supplanted Simpson as the “B” announcer behind Curt Gowdy. The following season, Enberg would replace Gowdy as NBC’s NFL “A” announcer and Don Criqui would become the “B” play-by-play man.

Here’s the final 54 seconds of the game as it aired on NBC on September 10, 1978.

Interesting to see how the NFL was produced back then. There were no constant scoreboards and the time was hardly shown. And you can hear that neither Simpson nor Warfield felt that any foul play was afoot.

To get another perspective and from those involved in the play, we have from the Raiders QB Ken Stabler, RB Pete Banaszak, LB Ted Hendricks, executive Al LoCasale, tight end Dave Casper, WR Fred Biletnikoff, DE George Atkinson, coach John Madden and from the Chargers, LB Woodrow Lowe, LB Jim Laslavic, QB Dan Fouts and yes, the San Diego Chicken all talking about what became known as “The Holy Roller”.

And here’s another perspective of the play from yes, Top Ten from NFL Network, this one, “Top Ten Controversial Plays” and it’s Number Ten.

So funny to hear the comments from everyone involved.

NHL Conference Finals Schedules Set

Now that the Eastern Conference Final is set, the National Hockey League has released the full schedule for both the East and West series.

The Western Conference Final begins Sunday at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Network, TSN and RDS as the Los Angeles Kings take on the Phoenix Coyotes. TSN will air Games 1-3, then CBC takes over starting with Game 4 through the rest of the series. NBC airs one game of this series next Sunday.

Then on Monday, the Eastern Conference Final drops the first puck at 8 p.m. as blood rivals New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers square off for a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The last time the Rangers and Devils faced each other in the ECF was in 1994 and the Rangers won that in a dramatic 7 game series and went on to beat Vancouver for its first Stanley Cup since 1940. And if I remember right, just like last year when the Bruins beat Vancouver, the city rioted. Some things never change.

Anyway, CBC and RDS will air all of the Eastern Conference Final. NBC Sports Network airs all but one game. NBC takes Game 3 next Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

We have the schedule from the National Hockey League.

2012 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
SERIES M	TIME (ET)	#1  VS. #6	NETWORKS
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012	8 PM	NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012	8 PM	NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2012	1 PM	NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY	NBC, CBC, RDS
MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012	8 PM	NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012	8 PM	NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012	8 PM	NY RANGERS AT NEW JERSEY	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012	8 PM	NEW JERSEY AT NY RANGERS	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
2012 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
SERIES N	TIME	#3  VS.  #8	NETWORKS
SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012	8 PM	LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX	NBCSN, TSN, RDS
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012	9 PM	LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX	NBCSN, TSN, RDS
THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012	9 PM	PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES	NBCSN, TSN, RDS
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012	3 PM	PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES	NBC, CBC, RDS
*TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012	9 PM	LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012	9 PM	PHOENIX AT LOS ANGELES	NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012	8 PM	LOS ANGELES AT PHOENIX	TBD, CBC, RDS

That is all.

NHL Conference Finals Set To Begin on NBC Sports Network

Tomorrow night, NBC Sports Network airs Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers live from Madison Square Garden. Mike “Doc” Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre “Mindless” McGuire.

Then on Sunday, the Conference Finals begin when NBC Sports Network starts airing the Los Angeles Kings-Phoenix Coyotes. Dave Strader, Brian Engblom and Brisn Heyward will be on the call.

The next day, the Eastern Conference Finals begin on NBCSN. The New Jersey Devils will play either the Rangers or Caps.

We have the press release from NBC Sports Network previewing the action over the next few days. It’s all posted below. Check it out.

NBC SPORTS GROUP TO AIR DECIDING GAME 7 OF RANGERS-CAPITALS SERIES TOMORROW NIGHT AT 7:30 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Western Conference Final Starts Sunday with Los Angeles at Phoenix at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

NEW YORK – May 11, 2012 – Days 31-33 - The NBC Sports Group will conclude second-round coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday night with the Eastern Conference Semifinal Game 7 as the Rangers host the Capitals at 7:30 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network. Coverage continues on Sunday with the start of the Conference Finals in Phoenix with Game 1 of the Western Conference between the #3 Coyotes and the #8 Los Angeles Kings at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. Coverage begins with NHL Live at 7 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, on NBC Sports Network.

Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-glass’ analyst) will call the Eastern Conference games. The team of Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (analyst) and Darren Pang (‘Inside-the-glass’ analyst) will call Kings-Coyotes series.

Continuing through the Stanley Cup Final, all remaining Stanley Cup Playoff games will air exclusively on NBC and NBC Sports Network. Following is the current schedule for Conference Finals games. Scheduling for remaining games is TBA (all times ET and subject to change):

Sunday, May 13
8 p.m.	#8 Los Angeles Kings at #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 1)	NBC Sports Network
Monday, May 14
8 p.m.	Eastern Conference Final (Game 1)	NBC Sports Network
Tuesday, May 15
9 p.m.	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 2)	NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, May 16
8 p.m.	Eastern Conference Final (Game 2)	NBC Sports Network

EMRICK ON RANGERS-CAPITALS GAME 7: “In Game 7’s, unlike Game 6’s, where you have one team whose hunger can sometimes not match that of a desperate opponent…you have both teams hungry, both throwing caution out the window when it comes to hitting, blocking shots. There’s a good chance the hero won’t be on the marquee. The stars often cancel, leaving room for the offensive hero to be Dan Girardi (vs. Ottawa) or Joel Ward (vs. Boston).”

OLCZYK ON THE KINGS: “As I said at the beginning of the year, before the playoffs started, they are the most dangerous team in the running. Skill, size, goalie and great motivating and direction from Darryl Sutter, I’m not surprised to see them here.”

EMRICK ON THE DEVILS: “In a spring of surprises, the Devils have surprised outsiders but not themselves. Whomever they get will be the biggest physical challenge they have had. Their games with the Rangers and Capitals are mean, grinding board-battles. They will rely on their experience–most among the five remaining teams–their fore-checking thievery and their goaltending.”

ENGBLOM ON THE COYOTES: “The Coyotes have stunned the NHL by advancing to the Western Conference finals. Their goaltender, Mike Smith has been astonishing and their committed team effort is inspiring to watch. They are up against Jonathan Quick, who has been every bit as good as Smith, and a Kings team that is big, fast, and dynamic on the fore-check, led by Dustin Brown and Mike Richards.”

CHANNEL FINDER

With all 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games airing nationally for the first time, the NBC Sports Group created a channel finder to help fans find NBC and NBC Sports Network in their area by simply entering a zip code.

Click here for the channel finder.

PRE-GAME & POST-GAME COVERAGE

NHL Live, NBC Sports Network’s NHL pre-game show, will air every game night a half hour before the game of the night begins. NHL Post-Game will air a 30-minute program following the conclusion of game coverage every night of the playoffs.

COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL COVERAGE

Comcast SportsNet, the local home for the Capitals will closely follow hometown team, if they win Saturday’s game, and their playoff progress with pre- and postgame coverage, breaking news and analysis throughout each team’s playoff run.

GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR

For the first time in the 95-year history of the NHL, every Stanley Cup Playoff game will be televised nationally. The NBC Sports Group will provide unprecedented access to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, May and June, televising as many as 105 playoff games and possibly more than 262.5 hours of programming. Games will be presented on NBC, the NBC Sports Network, the NHL Network, and NBCUniversal’s business channel CNBC in primetime.

NBC Sports Network	Forty*
CNBC	Thirteen
NBC	Ten
NHL Network	Six

* Includes Devils-Panthers Conference Quarterfinal Game 7 that was joined in progress

That’s all.

MLB on FOX Back To A 1 P.M. ET Start

After a week back at 4 p.m. ET, Fox Saturday Baseball is back to 1 p.m. Fox has a NASCAR race in primetime thus the early start time for MLB. Once again three games being sent all over the country.

Most of the nation will see Anaheim at Texas. Others will see the Chicago Cubs taking on Milwaukee while some will receive the New York Mets at Miami.

Once again, Joe Buck will take the week off meaning he’ll have called a total of four out of a possible six games. However, with primetime games starting next week, Joe returns. For how long is the question.

We have the preview from Fox Sports for you.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

Josh Hamilton & Rangers Host Albert Pujols & Angels on the FOX Saturday Baseball at 12:30 PM ET; Cubs/Brewers & Mets/Marlins Also Featured

HOME RUN HERO HAMILTON RETURNS TO FOX -– It might be safe to say that no MLB player will have a bigger game this season than Josh Hamilton had at the plate Tuesday night. Hamilton, who hit four home runs against Baltimore, returns home to Texas as his Rangers host Albert Pujols and the Angels during the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK this Saturday, May 12 (12:30 PM ET). After a slow start following his tumultuous off-season, Ryan Braun’s powerful bat has returned as he leads the Brewers in a home encounter with the Cubs. In South Beach, David Wright and the Mets get their first glimpse at former shortstop Jose Reyes’ new digs as they take on the Marlins.

Coverage begins with the FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL PREGAME SHOW, a full 30-minute program, originating live from MLB Network’s state-of-the-art Studio 3 in Secaucus, NJ. The show is hosted by MLB Network studio host Greg Amsinger, who is joined by analysts Harold Reynolds and Kevin Millar.

For instant updates throughout the week and during games from the entire MLB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MLBONFOX. Fans can gain more access to exclusive FOX Sports content by logging on to www.facebook.com/foxsports.

Anaheim Angels at Texas Rangers, Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros & Ken Rosenthal, going to 38% of USA
Rangers Ballpark – Arlington, TX
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Portland, Providence, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa
Probable Pitchers: Jerome Williams, RHP (3-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Matt Harrison, LHP (4-2, 5.11 ERA)

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers, Daron Sutton & Bob Brenly, going to 31% of USA
Miller Park – Milwaukee, WI
MARKETS INCLUDE:  Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City
Probable Pitchers:  Jeff Samardzija, RHP (4-1, 3.03 ERA) vs. Shaun Marcum, RHP (1-1, 3.41 ERA)

New York Mets at Miami Marlins, Kenny Albert & Tim McCarver, going to 23% of USA
Marlins Park – Miami, FL
MARKETS INCLUDE:  Atlanta, Buffalo, Charlotte, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, West Palm Beach
Probable Pitchers:  R.A. Dickey, RHP (4-1, 3.76 ERA) vs. Ricky Nolasco, RHP (4-0, 2.72 ERA)

ROSENTHAL:  RANGERS’ HAMILTON IN LEAGUE OF HIS OWN -– Tuesday night in Baltimore, Josh Hamilton became only the 16^th major leaguer to hit four home runs in one game. Hamilton’s exploits only add to an incredible season he was already having writes MLB on FOX & FOXSports.com reporter Ken Rosenthal. “This was not a night to lament what Hamilton might have become if he had not lost years of his career to injuries, addictions and suspensions nor was it a night to predict what he might earn on the free-agent market next offseason if the Rangers fail to sign him to a new contract. This was a night to celebrate one of the most gifted athletes ever to play the game, to revel in who he is, right now.”

To read more from Rosenthal click here: http://on-msn.com/JwbQrZ.

That will do it.

It’s Official: She’s Gone. Michelle Beadle Is Leaving ESPN

Hall and Oates from 1976 and the Old Grey Whistle Test. She’s Gone. Michelle Beadle is leaving ESPN2′s SportsNation.

The official word came today. Jim Miller, co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” has the news.

Bye bye Bristol: The @MichelleDBeadle deal is to be by cohost of access Hollywood (w billy bush), major sports events and new show tba.

— James Andrew Miller (@ESPNBook) May 11, 2012

My best to Beadle. She has been a friend to this site and will always remain so.

UPDATE, 1:35 p.m.: Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch contacted both ESPN and NBC. ESPN has not budged from its official position that was provided to Fang’s Bites yesterday and NBC is not commenting.

Re: @ESPNBook & @SPORTSbyBROOKS reports of Michelle Beadle leaving ESPN. NBC declined comment. ESPN says no change on previous comments.

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 11, 2012

That’s all.

UPDATE, 3:50 p.m.: Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead with everything over, but the official announcement from NBCUniversal, wonders what ESPN could have done to keep Michelle in Bristol (answer: probably nothing).

I wonder if Michelle will make some sort of announcement on SportsNation today. I’m hoping she does as I’ve bet Richard Deitsch some Starbucks over this. But even if she doesn’t say anything today, I’m sure next week that there will be some type of official press release from NBC and perhaps a short, terse statement from ESPN as well.

Now with Dana Jacobsen and Michelle Beadle gone from the Alleged Worldwide Leader, management can focus on their two remaining free agents, Scott Van Pelt and Erin Andrews. Look for both to remain with the Bristolians for the foreseeable future.

Finally Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday megalinks. You’ve been owed some and I haven’t been able to do links for most of the week.

Of course, you have the Weekend Viewing Picks which provide plenty of college sports, soccer, baseball and the NBA and NHL postseason action.

Now let’s do your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today explores Jason La Canfora’s decision to leave NFL Network and bolt to CBS.

Media Rantz looks into the potential departure of Michelle Beadle from ESPN to NBC.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says E! will produce a special on New York Jets QB Tim Tebow.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report hears from a Fox Soccer executive on why the Fox Sports Media Group chose to air so many English Premier League games on the final day of the season.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk writes that despite reports to the contrary, it appears that the New York Jets won’t make another appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

Eriq Gardner at the Hollywood Reporter says a group of fans have filed a class action lawsuit against MLB and its TV partners on the antiquated and silly blackout policy.

Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel says while the Minnesota Vikings will finally get their long-awaited stadium, one state legislator attempted to sneak a bill ending all local NFL blackouts. I think that was a great idea.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable writes the long-anticipated Time Warner Cable Los Angeles Lakers-centric regional sports network will launch in October.

At Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that Fox has sold out its ad inventory for the UEFA Champions League Final.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says social media is changing the way we watch sports.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says there are times when the N-word should to be published in full.

Eric Goldschein at SportsGrid says CBC Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean stretched his analogy too far in comparing the 9/11 First Responders to NHL players this week.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at NBC/Golf Channel’s joint production of this week’s Players Championship.

Brandon Costa of SVG explores ESPN’s expanded multiplatform rights for NCAA Championships.

And SVG tells us about the Big East Conference’s in-house production of the league’s Baseball Tournament.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com looks into the dollars and cents of the major college sports TV rights contracts.

Patrick Rishe at Forbes says while the ACC signed a rich contract with ESPN, it still doesn’t compare to the Pac-12′s huge megadeal.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff chronicles her day spent at the MLB Fan Cave for espnW.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch crunches the numbers behind the ratings rise for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and the lower for the NBA Playoffs.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing also looks into the ratings for the NBA and NHL Postseasons.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead notes the disturbing arrest of the PA Announcer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth looks at some of the sports media stories that are irking him this week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

I haven’t been able to address the death of Carl Beane, the Red Sox public address announcer. Carl was a radio reporter in Western Massachusetts and also free-lanced for ESPN Radio, CBS Radio, Fox Sports Radio to report on various NFL and college games. He died this week when he suffered a heart attack and crashed his car. He was 59. It seemed everyone in New England had some connection to Beane. I’ll give you some of the stories that have been written about him this week.

David Scott at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog gets reaction from people at the network who knew him.

Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston says Beane felt he was born to be the Fenway Park public address announcer.

WEEI’s Mike Petraglia writes about his personal connection to Beane.

Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox paid tribute to Beane at last night’s game by not having anyone do the PA.

Amanda Bruno of the Springfield Republican writes that Beane was a role model and mentor to her.

To other stories now, heading back to the Globe, Chad Finn says the ACC got its huge deal and it will affect member school Boston College in many ways.

Chad says former Red Sox voice Jerry Trupiano is getting some familial help in trying to get the Houston Astros radio gig.

Desmond Connor of the Hartford Courant says the Big East’s interim commissioner is hopeful his conference can cash in on the recent big spending by ESPN and other networks.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with the legendary Vin Scully.

Richard profiles the person behind a fake Walt Frazier Twitter account.

Jack Bell of the Times interviews Fox Sports President Eric Shanks about Sunday’s unprecedented English Premier League coverage.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times rails over player unions defending their membership for the wrong reasons.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with NBC’s Pierre McGuire.

Justin has five questions for TNT’s Kenny Smith.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says a former local sports reporter is returning to her roots with Time Warner Cable’s Southern California network.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says technical difficulties plagued a local radio broadcast of the Yankees.

Pete says many of NBC/Golf Channel’s cameras will be focused squarely on one hole at the Players Championship this week.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record explores the new SNY deal to air UConn women’s basketball games.

At the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner asks if high school football is doomed.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call watched the train wreck of former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens appearing on Dr. Phil this week and being confronted by his multiple baby mommas.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post says MLB Network compared the swings of the late Mickey Mantle and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a new local sports radio morning host comes with some baggage from his old job.

David says Comcast and ESPN cut a deal this week for subscribers to watch the network online.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that Fox Sports Oklahoma will air specials next week on the state’s two major college football programs.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds TV and Radio ratings are up this season.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch explores the Cubs’ Kerry Wood blowing up at the local media this week.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin looks at NBC’s coverage of The Players Championship.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that a local sports anchor gets to talk news on the radio.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says the local media plans to cover Junior Seau’s public memorial today.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star notes that outgoing flagship TV station KCAL gave another farewell to the Los Angeles Lakers this week.

Jim looks at the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass which will get plenty of attention on NBC/Golf Channel at the Players Championship.

Jim provides his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Time Warner Cable’s new sports channels.

Tom tries to give Kings fans missing their local TV voices a silver lining.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News goes over the latest developments at the Pac-12 Networks.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s Ron MacLean had to clarify his 9/11 remarks before Game 6 of the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals series.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the announcing assignments for both CBC and TSN in the NHL Conference Final round.

And we are done. Enjoy your sports weekend.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, May 12

Boxing
World Championship Boxing: Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto replay — HBO, 10:15 p.m.

College Baseball
St. John’s at Louisville — ESPNU, 11:30 a.m.
Michigan at Purdue — Big Ten Network, noon
Georgia Tech at Virginia — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports South/NESN/Sun Sports, 1 p.m.

College Softball
ACC Championship, Chapel Hill, NC
ESPN, 4 p.m.

Big East Championship, South Bend, IN
ESPN2, 6 p.m.

Conference USA Championship, Birmingham, AL
CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.

SEC Championship, Tuscaloosa, AL
ESPN, 8 p.m.

Indiana at Michigan State — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
San Diego State at UNLV — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.
Indiana at Michigan State — Big Ten Network, 5:30 p.m.
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.

College Lacrosse
NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament
First Round
Syracuse at Duke — ESPN, noon
Colgate at UMass — ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.
Canisius at Loyola (MD) — ESPNU, 5 p.m.
Denver at North Carolina — ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.

Cycling
Giro d’Italia, Stage 7 — Universal Sports, 9:30 a.m.

ESPN Sports Saturday
ABC, 4 p.m.

Golf
PGA Tour: The Players Championship, 3rd Round — NBC, 2 p.m.

Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 10 a.m. & noon
Golf Central — NBC, 1:30 p.m.
Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 7 p.m.

MLB
American League
Anaheim Angels at Texas — Fox, 1 p.m.
Seattle at New York Yankees — Root Sports Northwest/YES, 4 p.m.
Cleveland at Boston — MLB Network/WKYC/NESN, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Chicago White Sox — Fox Sports Kansas City/WGN America, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Baltimore — Sun Sports/MASN, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Minnesota — Rogers Sportsnet/Fox Sports North, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Oakland — Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet California, 8 p.m.

National League
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee — Fox, 1 p.m.
New York Mets at Miami — Fox, 1 p.m.
Houston at Pittsburgh — Fox Sports Houston/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Philadelphia — Fox Sports San Diego/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Washington at Cincinnati — MASN2/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at St. Louis — MLB Network/Peachtree TV/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Midwest, 7:15 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Arizona, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 9 p.m.

MLB Player Poll — Fox, noon
Fox Saturday Baseball Pregame Show — Fox, 12:30 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 5 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, midnight
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, 12:30 a.m. (Sunday)

MLS
Montreal vs. LA Galaxy — TSN/RDS/KDOC, 4 p.m.
Houston vs. DC United — NBC Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
Columbus vs. Dallas — Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Southwest, 7:30 p.m.
New England vs. Vancouver — Comcast SportsNet New England/Sportsnet One, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago vs. Kansas City — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/KSMO, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle vs. Real Salt Lake — KING/KTVX, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series: Showtime Southern 500 — Fox, 6:30 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 1: Philadelphia at Boston — TNT, 8 p.m.

Western Conference Quarterfinals
Game 7: Denver at Los Angeles Lakers — TNT, 10:30 p.m. (Series tied 3-3)

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 7: Washington at New York Rangers — NBC Sports Network/CBC/RDS, 7:30 p.m. (Series tied 3-3)

NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.
Hockey Tonight — CBC, 7 p.m.
NHL on the Fly — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Live Postgame — NBC Sports Network, 10 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 pm.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Madrid Open, Semifinals– Tennis Channel, 9 a.m. & 1 p.m.
WTA Tour: Madrilena Masters, Semifinals — Tennis Channel, 5 a.m. & 7 a.m.

Entertainment
Mexican Made Easy: Mother’s Day — Food Network, 9 a.m.
Giada at Home: Nonna Luna’s Recipe Diary: Chapter Two — Food Network, 11:30 a.m.
French Food at Home: Tribute to French Canada — Cooking Channel, noon
The Perfect 3: Mac N Cheese — Cooking Channel, 2:30 p.m.
The New High Low Project: Ideal Family Room Makeover — HGTV, 8 p.m.
Shark Men: A Whale of a Tiger — National Geographic Channel, 8 p.m.
Blue Velvet — Sundance Channel, 8 p.m.
Mom Caves: Celebrity Master Suite — HGTV, 8:30 p.m.
Meg’s Great Rooms: Cozy Lodge Retreat — HGTV, 9 p.m.
Casting Food Network Star — Food Network, 9 p.m.
Pink Floyd: The Wall — VH1 Classic, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery: The Writing on the Wall — CBS, 10 p.m.
Fish Tank Kings: 7th Inning Catch — National Geographic Wild, 10 p.m.
Scorned: Love Kills: In the Closet — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
The Graham Norton Show — BBC America, 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Live with host Will Ferrell and musical guest Usher — NBC, 11:29 p.m.
The Thick of It — BBC America, midnight
Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show — BBC America, 12:40 a.m. (Sunday)

Sunday, May 13

College Baseball
Illinois at Penn State — Big Ten Network, noon
Wake Forest at Miami — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 1 p.m.
Indiana at Northwestern — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.

College Softball
Big South Championship, Radford, VA
ESPNU, noon

NCAA Softball Selection Show — ESPNU, 10 p.m.

College Lacrosse
NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament
First Round
Princeton at Virginia — ESPN, 1 p.m.
Stony Brook at Johns Hopkins — ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Yale at Notre Dame — ESPNU, 5:15 p.m.
Maryland at Lehigh — ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.

Cycling
Giro d’Italia, Stage 8 — Universal Sports, 9:30 a.m.
Tour of California, Stage 1 — NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.

English Premier League
Final Day of Season
Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers — ESPN2, 9:55 a.m.
Swansea vs. Liverpool — Fuel, 9:56 a.m.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Fulham — Fox Soccer, 10 a.m.
Stoke City vs. Bolton — Fox Soccer Plus, 10 a.m.
West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal — Fox Sports Net, 10 a.m.
Manchester United vs. Sunderland — FX, 10 a.m.
Chelsea vs. Blackburn — Speed, 10 a.m.
Everton vs. Newcastle — FoxSoccer.com, 10 a.m.
Norwich vs. Aston Villa — Fox Soccer 2Go, 10 a.m.
Wigan Athletic vs. Wolverhampton — Fox Soccer 2Go, 10 a.m.

Formula 1
Grand Prix of Spain — Speed, 7:30 a.m.

Golf
PGA Tour: The Players Championship, Final Round — NBC, 2 p.m.

Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 10 a.m. & noon
Golf Central — NBC, 1:30 p.m.
Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 7 p.m.

IIHF World Championships
Pool Play, Helsinki Finland
USA vs. Finland– NBC Sports Network, 9 a.m.

MLB
American League
Seattle at New York Yankees — Root Sports Northwest/YES, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Boston — STO/NESN, 1:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Baltimore — Sun Sports/MASN, 1:30 p.m.
Kansas City at Chicago White Sox — Fox Sports Kansas City/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2 p.m.
Toronto at Minnesota — Rogers Sportsnet/Fox Sports North, 2 p.m.
Detroit at Oakland — Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet California, 4 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Texas — ESPN, 8 p.m.

National League
New York Mets at Miami — WPIX/Fox Sports Florida, 1 p.m.
Washington at Cincinnati — MASN2/Fox Sports Ohio, 1 p.m.
Houston at Pittsburgh — Fox Sports Houston/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.
San Diego at Philadelphia — Fox Sports San Diego/WPHL, 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee — WGN America/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 2 p.m.
Atlanta at St. Louis — TBS/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Midwest, 2:15 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 4 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Arizona, 4 p.m.

MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 1 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Plays of the Week — MLB Network, 9 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 11 p.m.

MLS
Philadelphia vs. New York — ESPN2/TSN2, 12:15 p.m.
San Jose vs. Chivas USA — Galavision/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 7 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Western Conference Quarterfinals
Game 7: Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis — ABC, 1 p.m. (Series tied 3-3)

Eastern Conference Semifinals
Game 1: Indiana at Miami — ABC, 3:30 p.m.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Semifinals
Game 1: Los Angeles at Phoenix — NBC Sports Network/TSN/RDS, 8 p.m.

NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Conference Finals Pre-Game — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Live Postgame — NBC Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Conference Finals Post-Game — NHL Network, 10:30 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Madrid Open, Final — Tennis Channel, 12:30 p.m.
WTA Tour: Madrilena Masters, Final — Tennis Channel, 9:30 a.m.

U.S. Olympic Trials
Men’s Volleyball — NBC Sports Network, 3 p.m.

Entertainment
CBS News Sunday Morning — CBS, 9 a.m.
Sandwich King: Date Night Delights — Food Network, 11 a.m.
The Best Thing I Ever Made: Family Dinners — Food Network, 11:30 a.m.
60 Minutes — CBS, 7 p.m.
Once Upon A Time — ABC, 8 p.m.
Survivor: One World (season finale) — CBS, 8 p.m.
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates: John Legend; Wanda Sykes; Margarett Cooper — PBS, 8 p.m.
Nurse Jackie — Showtime, 9 p.m.
Masterpiece Mystery: Sherlock, Series II: The Hounds of Baskerville — PBS, 9 p.m.
Game of Thrones — HBO, 9 p.m.
The Killing — AMC, 9 p.m.
The Big C — Showtime, 9:30 p.m.
Veep — HBO, 10 p.m.
Survivor: One World: Live Reunion Show — CBS, 10 p.m.
Mad Men: Dark Shadows — AMC, 10 p.m.
Planet Earth: Extreme Journeys — BBC America, 10 p.m.
Unusual Suspects: Deadly Denial — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
The Borgias — Showtime, 10 p.m.
Girls — HBO, 10:30 p.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Arena Football
Cleveland Gladiators at Milwaukee Mustangs — NFL Network, 8 p.m.

Australian Rules Football
Greater Western Sydney Giants vs. Gold Coast Suns — Fox Soccer Plus, 11:30 p.m.

College Baseball
UConn at South Florida — CBS Spots Network, 7 p.m.
Wake Forest at Miami — ESPNU, 8 p.m.
New Mexico at UNLV — the mtn., 9 p.m.

College Softball
SEC Tournament, Tuscaloosa, AL
Semifinals
Florida vs. Tennessee — ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Georgia vs. Alabama — ESPNU, 5:30 p.m.

Ohio State at Penn State — Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
Iowa at Minnesota — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

Cycling
Giro d’Italia, Stage 6 — Universal Sports, 9:30 a.m.

Golf
PGA Tour: The Players Championship, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 1 p.m.

Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 10 a.m.
Live from The Players — Golf Channel, 7 p.m.

IIHF World Championships
Pool Play, Helsinki Finland
USA vs. Kazakhstan — NBC Sports Network, 9 a.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
Bellator Fighting Championships 68 — MTV2, 8 p.m.
The Ultimate Fighter Live: So Real It’s Unreal — FX, 10 p.m.

MLB
American League
Cleveland at Boston — STO/NESN, 7 p.m.
Seattle at New York Yankees — Root Sports Northwest/YES, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Baltimore — Sun Sports/MASN, 7 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Texas — MLB Network/Fox Sports West/KTXA, 8 p.m.
Kansas City at Chicago White Sox — Fox Sports Kansas City/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Toronto at Minnesota — Rogers Sportsnet/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Oakland — Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet California, 10 p.m.

National League
Houston at Pittsburgh — Fox Sports Houston/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Miami — SNY/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Philadelphia — Fox Sports San Diego/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Washington at Cincinnati — MASN2/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee — WGN America/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Atlanta at St. Louis — MLB Network/Peachtree TV/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Midwest, 8:15 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 3 p.m.
On-Deck Circle — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 11 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, 12:30 a.m. (Saturday)
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 1 a.m. (Saturday)

NASCAR
Nationwide Series: Some Race That Goes 200 Miles and Has A Long Name — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

NBA Playoffs
Western Conference Quarterfinals
Game 6: Memphis at Los Angeles Clippers — ESPN, 9 p.m. (Clippers lead series, 3-2)

NHL
NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 7 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Outside the Lines First Report — ESPN, 3 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.
CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Madrid Open, Quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 7 a.m. & 1 p.m.
WTA Tour: Madrilena Masters, Quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 5 p.m. & 7 p.m. (same day coverage)

Entertainment
Undercover Boss: MasTec (season finale) — CBS, 8 p.m.
The Finder (season finale) — Fox, 8 p.m.
Nikita — The CW, 8 p.m.
The Ricky Gervais Show: Room 102 — HBO, 9 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted — Lifetime (The Network That Hates Men), 9 p.m.
Turf War — DIY Network, 9 p.m.
Primetime: What Would You Do? — ABC, 9:01 p.m.
20/20 — ABC, 10 p.m.
Dateline NBC — NBC, 10 p.m.
Magic City — Starz, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: Mexico — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
The Girl’s Guide to Depravity: The Getting His Attention Rule — Cinemax, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Going For Some More Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

Thursday turned out to be quite the crazy day for those of us who follow the sports media beat. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. On any given day, you just don’t know when sports media news will break. We had two stories throw us for a loop. I’ll do the thoughts as always in bullet form.

• We knew the Michelle Beadle story was going to come to a head, we just didn’t know what direction it would take. Finally, we did hear about some movement. And it all moved around 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Whether Michelle decides to leave ESPN and go to NBC as SportsbyBrooks tweeted on Thursday or remain at the Alleged Worldwide Leader (highly unlikely), she’s going to get paid. I do believe that she will leave, take the job at NBC and be featured on the Olympics this summer, either as a contributor on the Today show, or as a host on one of NBCUniversal’s cable networks, most likely NBC Sports Network.

  I’ve said all along that Michelle’s future is not in sports and if SportsbyBrooks’ tweet is correct, then being a co-host on Access Hollywood with Billy Bush would be right up her alley. And Michelle could always return to sports every two years during the Olympics. But as Michelle herself once told me, the truth will come out soon.

• Now the other piece of sports media news from Thursday was the surprising move by Jason La Canfora to leave NFL Network and join CBS in July to become an NFL insider at its dot com site and on television. As Michael Hiestand of USA Today discovered for Friday’s edition, not only will La Canfora replace Charley Casserly on The NFL Today, he’ll also appear on CBS Sports Network which could have its own Sunday morning NFL pregame show plus other NFL-related programming.

  I thought La Canfora did a good job on NFL Network especially in replacing Adam Schefter in 2009 after he bolted for ESPN. In regards to replacing Jason, NFL Network has recently hired a trio of on-air reporters who could conceivably take his place or it could fill the insider by committee. Whatever direction NFL Network goes in the Insider position, I’m sure it will be someone solid.

• I watched some of ESPNU’s coverage of the SEC Softball Tournament. Beth Mowins did a very good job on the play-by-play. She’s called college football, the Women’s World Cup in Germany in addition to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and she’s called each sport quite well.
• I’m looking forward to Sunday morning when Fox Sports goes all out for the final day of the English Premier League season. All ten games on Sunday will be aired on ESPN2 and nine Fox platforms including Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports Net, Fuel, FX, Speed, Fox Deportes as well as online. It’s going to be bedlam, but in a good way.

That’s going to conclude the thoughts for now.

NHL Conference Finals Games 1 & 2 Are Set

We have the press release from NBC Sports in regards to NHL Conference Finals Games 1 & 2. The Western Conference Finals will begin on Sunday on NBC Sports Network and TSN. The Eastern Conference Finals begin Monday night on NBCSN and CBC. The matchup will be determined after Game 7 between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

We know that NBC and NBC Sports Network will share the Conference Finals in the US.

In Canada, CBC has the entire Eastern Conference Finals. TSN will have Games 1-3 of the Western Conference Finals and then CBC will take over from Games 4 through 7.

We have three press releases in this post. We’ll begin with NBC Sports Network discussing its coverage of the Conference Finals.

GAMES 1 & 2 OF CONFERENCE FINALS SET

CAPITALS-RANGERS GAME 7 SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AT 7:30 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK
DAY 30 – 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs

NEW YORK – May 10, 2012 – Day 30 – The NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues Saturday night with an Eastern Conference Semifinal Game 7, and Sunday night with the first game of the Western Conference Final.

CONFERENCE FINALS SCHEDULE

The NHL announced the schedule for the first two games of both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals today. In the West, the #3 Phoenix Coyotes host the #8 Los Angeles Kings on Sunday and Tuesday nights. In the East, the #6 New Jersey Devils await the winner of the #1 New York Rangers and #7 Washington Capitals series. The Eastern Conference Final will begin on Monday night. (all times ET and subject to change)

8 p.m., Sunday, May 13	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 1)	NBCSN
8 p.m., Monday, May 14	Eastern Conference Final (Game1)	NBCSN
9 p.m., Tuesday, May 15	#8 Los Angeles Kings @ #3 Phoenix Coyotes (Game 2)	NBCSN
8 p.m., Wednesday, May 16	Eastern Conference Final (Game 2)	NBCSN

GAME 7

The #1 New York Rangers host the #7 Washington Capitals in Game 7 of their series at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night on NBC Sports Network. With the series tied 3-3, both teams fight to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win. Neither team has won two consecutive games in this series. Five of the series’ six games have been decided by one goal with two ending in overtime. Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst), and Pierre McGuire (Inside-the-Glass analyst) will call the game. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with NHL Live on NBC Sports Network.

“THE SPRING OF DOC”

In May 14^th’s issue of Sports Illustrated, Michael Farber writes: “Thirty-nine one-goal games, 20 decided in OT, three Game 7s: Nobody captures the drama of NHL Spring quite like the erudite Mike Emrick… This is the spring of Doc… He surely is among the most remarkable working in any sport. Emrick is a hybrid. He uses his voice like an instrument, modulating it to impute significance to a moment in the manner of classic old-school announcers… Beyond tracking the puck from Player A to Player B, he marbles his calls with information and pertinent digression and wry humor, which makes him as fresh as some of the other leading practitioners of hockey’s modern style.”

CHANNEL FINDER

With all 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games airing nationally for the first time and the Conference Semifinals being carried exclusively on either NBC, NBC Sports Network or CNBC, the NBC Sports Group created a channel finder to help fans find those channels in their area by simply entering a zip code.

Click here for the channel finder.

COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL COVERAGE

Comcast SportsNet, the local home for the Capitals, will closely follow hometown team playoff progress with pre- and post-game coverage, breaking news and analysis throughout each team’s playoff run. CSN Mid-Atlantic will have one-hour Capitals Postgame Live shows for all Capitals games in the second round. It will also have extensive coverage online.

GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR

For the first time in the 95-year history of the NHL, every Stanley Cup Playoff game will be televised nationally. The NBC Sports Group will provide unprecedented access to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, May and June, televising as many as 105 playoff games and possibly more than 262.5 hours of programming. Games will be presented on NBC, the NBC Sports Network, the NHL Network, and NBCUniversal’s business channel CNBC in primetime.

NBC Sports Network	Forty*
CNBC	Thirteen
NBC	Ten
NHL Network	Six

* Includes Devils-Panthers Conference Quarterfinal Game 7 that was joined in progress

That’s it for the NBC press release. A jump break and then the Canadian TV press releases.

(continue reading…)

DEVELOPING: Michelle Beadle Reportedly Leaving ESPN For NBC

This coming from my friends over at SportsbyBrooks.

SbB has learned Michelle Beadle will depart ESPN for NBC Sports with the plan for her to land eventually at Access Hollywood as co-host.

— SPORTSbyBROOKS (@SPORTSbyBROOKS) May 10, 2012

According to SbyB, Michelle Beadle has informed ESPN that she’s leaving the network and will go to NBC Sports and eventually become the co-host of Access Hollywood. In my past posts, I told you that Michelle didn’t see herself in sports long-term. One of my predictions had her hosting an entertainment show although my last one had her going to either Today or Good Morning America.

Not surprising that she would leave. Michelle will probably do some work for NBC on the Olympics and then go to Access Hollywood full-time leaving her options open to work for NBC Sports.

We’ll continue to monitor.

UPDATE, 3:48 p.m.: SportsbyBrooks says Beadle will do work for Today and on the Olympics before becoming full-time co-host for Access.

Before Beadle transitions to NBCUniversal-distributed Access Hollywood, she’ll cover Olympics, appear on Today Show, among other duties.

— SPORTSbyBROOKS (@SPORTSbyBROOKS) May 10, 2012

More to follow. Working to get confirmation.

UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Jason McIntyre from The Big Lead has this information from Michelle herself.

Text from Michelle Beadle: “not accurate.” my interpretation: she’s probably leaving Espn, for something at NBC, as SBB claims

— Jason McIntyre (@TheBigLead) May 10, 2012

We’ll continue to monitor.

UPDATE, 4:05 p.m.: Direct statement from an ESPN spokesman, “We are in talks with Michelle,” which I take it to believe that they have not heard directly from her on this as of yet.

UPDATE, 4:35 p.m.: I’ll give the last word on this to Jason of The Big Lead:

Beadle to NBC def not a done deal. Looks good for NBC, though. Gotta wonder how much Espn’s Wildhack will sweeten the pot to keep her.

— Jason McIntyre (@TheBigLead) May 10, 2012

Wildhack is ESPN executive John Wildhack. We’ll see if there’s anything new and if there is, I’ll be sure to pass it along.

Fox Sports To Air UEFA Champions League Final on May 19

Coming next Saturday, Fox Sports and Fox Deportes will air the UEFA Champions League Final live from Munich, Germany.

Bayern Munich from Germany’s Bundesliga and Chelsea from the English Premier League face off in the Final to be played at Bayern’s home field, the first time that’s ever happened in CL history.

Fox Sports will air the match starting at 2 p.m. Curt Menefee will be the event host and set the scene in Munich. Rob Stone will be the on-site studio host and will be joined by Eric Wynalda and Brad Friedel. Martin Tyler and Gary Neville will call the match.

We have the details from Fox Sports.

FOX SPORTS & FOX DEPORTES TO TELEVISE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Bayern Munich & Chelsea FC Square-Off in Munich for World’s Most-Coveted Club Soccer Prize on May 19
Viewership Has Increased 10-Fold in 10 Years

Los Angeles – Only two teams and one game remain in the 2012 UEFA Champions League, the world’s most-watched elite club soccer tournament. On the grandest stage of European soccer, German club Bayern Munich and England’s Chelsea FC face off inside UEFA Fußball Arena Munchen on Saturday, May 19 in Munich, Germany. Bayern has the advantage of being the first team to play a UEFA Champions League Final in its home stadium, while Chelsea is on a quest to capture its first European Cup. For the third consecutive year, FOX Sports is broadcasting this showcase event live, with coverage beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Live from Munich, FOX Sports’ Curt Menefee serves as event host, with FOX Soccer’s Rob Stone hosting on-site studio coverage. FOX Soccer analyst and American National Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda joins Tottenham goalkeeper and former United States National Team player Brad Friedel for pre-game, halftime and post-match analysis. Legendary Sky Sports play-by-play announcer Martin Tyler calls the match with analysis from former Manchester United defender Gary Neville.

FOX Soccer’s pre-game coverage begins at 1:00 PM ET preceding FOX Sports’ over-the-air programming. FOX Deportes is carrying the match live in Spanish, and FOX Soccer re-airs the match at 8:00 PM ET on Saturday night with FOX Soccer Plus doing the same at 5:00 PM ET on Sunday, May 20.

After a week of lead-up programming, FOX Deportes, the nation’s leading Spanish-language sports cable network, begins its coverage on May 19 at 1 PM ET with UCL Final Preview, live from Munich.  Match coverage begins at 2:30 PM ET, followed by the post-match celebration at 5:00 PM ET on Lo Mejor de la UCL.  At 5:30 PM ET, FOX Deportes airs La Ultima Palabra, a special one-hour postgame show live followed later on by an encore match presentation at 10:30 PM ET.  Manning FOX Deportes’ Los Angeles studio are Mauricio Cardenas and Bruno Vain.  John Laguna, Christian Bozzo and Daniel Brailovsky are on-site in Munich with reporters Nelson Vignolles and Alejandro Blanco.

U.S. viewership of the UEFA Champions League Final has exploded in recent years. 2011 was the seventh straight year that English-language viewing increased in the U.S.  Over the last 10 years, the audience has increased almost 10-fold, from 264,000 viewers on ESPN in 2002 to 2.6 million on FOX in 2011.

The 2011 Champions League Final is the highest-rated and most watched in U.S. history.  FSMG’s coverage on FOX (1.4 HH rating, 2.6 million viewers) and FOX Deportes (0.7 HH rating, 1.6 million viewers) combined to generate a 2.1 household rating and 6 share, drawing an audience of 4.2 million viewers nationally, dwarfing the ratings and audience of 2010 by +75% (1.2) and +91% (2.2 million), respectively.  Significantly, the 2011 match on FOX and FOX Deportes also bettered the 2009 match, which featured the same Barcelona and Manchester United clubs, by +62% on rating (2.1 vs. 1.3) and +24% on viewership (4.2 million vs. 2.1 million).

Completing one of the most stunning comebacks in UEFA Champions League history, Chelsea is riding significant momentum into Munich after knocking out reigning champion FC Barcelona. After falling behind 2-0 on the road in its second-leg clash with the Catalans, Chelsea stormed back to secure a 2-2 draw, allowing the Blues to advance to the Final 3-2 on aggregate. Remarkably, Chelsea pulled off this feat down a man, after captain John Terry was red carded in the first half. In order to hoist the famed Champions League trophy, Chelsea will have to defeat Bayern without Terry and suspended teammates Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meireles. This is Chelsea’s first Final since 2008, when the Blues lost to Manchester United.

Bayern Munich returns home to Bavaria and has the support of is home fans in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final. The club already has four European Cups/Champions League titles to its name, having last won the competition in 2001. Managed by Jupp Heynckes, Bayern advances to the tournament’s final stage after defeating Real Madrid on penalties in the second-leg of the semifinals. Bolstered by wingers Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery, the German side has one of the most potent attacks in Europe. Bayern forward Mario Gomez is the second leading scorer in this year’s Champions League (12).

There you have it.

ESPN Films Premieres “SEC Storied: Lolo” on May 21

One of the more popular Olympic athletes on Twitter, Lolo Jones will be profiled on the next edition of ESPN Films’ “SEC Storied” series. You may remember back in 2008 as the heavy favorite for the women’s 100 meter hurdles, Lolo was on her way to win the gold medal when she hit hurdle 9 and stumbled to the ground losing her chance at glory.

Since then, Jones has battled injuries in her attempts to return to the Olympics in London.

But the documentary doesn’t just focus on her athletic struggles, it looks at some of the life struggles she’s had to endure including growing up homeless. We have the press release and a video preview of the documentary.

ESPN Films’ Lolo Jones documentary to Premiere on ESPNU on May 21

SEC “Storied” Film, Lolo, Chronicles the Track and Field Athlete’s Victories and Struggles

Olympic athlete Lori “Lolo” Jones is an expert at overcoming hurdles—both on the track and in life. ESPN Films’ Lolo, the latest installment in the new SEC “Storied” documentary series, will explore Jones’ trying journey thus far; rising from poverty and homelessness to be catapulted into world stardom, including a spot on the USA Olympic Track and Field team and celebrity status. Lolo will premiere on May 21 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

About Lolo

Lolo Jones began chasing her dream in high school. After years of living in poverty and an unstable home life she was determined to be the first in her family to go to college. Constantly looking to improve, Lolo earned a scholarship from the famed Louisiana State University Track and Field program and fought to become the best, among the best.

With the help of coach Dennis Shaver, Lolo became one of the most dominant athletes in the history of the LSU Women’s Track and Field dynasty, winning three NCAA Titles and 11 All-American honors, most notably in the hurdles. After failing to qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, Lolo turned again to Shaver for inspiration to continue fighting for her dream.

After four years of intense training, Lolo found herself right where she wanted to be—on the 2008 US Olympic team and favored to win gold in the 100 Meter Hurdles. But on the verge of reaching that dream, she suffered a heartbreaking stumble at the final hurdle, costing her the biggest race of her life.

Still determined to win an Olympic gold medal, Lolo went through with a risky spinal surgery and another four years of training to prepare for what is now her next hurdle – making the 2012 Olympic team and winning gold this time.

Directed by Rory Karpf with NASCAR Media Group, Lolo features personal interviews from Lolo Jones, her parents, siblings, coaches, teammates and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, along with never-before-seen footage of Lolo in high school and during her 2011 surgery.

Quotes from Lolo

Lolo’s mother, Lori Counter-Jones, on being homeless: “You end up staying with family or friends. At one time we even stayed at the Salvation Army shelter because I was riding around in the car with all 5 of my kids with nowhere to go and they thought we were just going to the park and just taking a ride… because I didn’t tell them that we really didn’t have anywhere to go.”

Lolo on how she started running: “I was running with my dad because we didn’t have a car. As my mom would shift from place to place or dad would be in and out of my life, running was like the friend that never left. It was just always there. I’d say it was the only constant thing in my life.”

Lolo’s sister, Angelia Jefferson, on how Lolo was after 2008 Olympics: “She looked as if she did not just lose the biggest race of her life. I knew that she maybe had 30 minutes of sleep but she looked as if she was OK. But I knew in her heart that she was broken, that her heart was broken and the defeat that she felt and the failure that she felt… I was like, ‘Oh gosh, another knock’.”

Lolo on her outlook for the future: “I feel as if I have so much that is in me and I need to just finally close this chapter. I have gone through so many battles to get there. I’m focused I’m ready to do the work… Really making a conscious effort to focus on every detail to perfection.”

Here’s the video preview.

ESPN Films’ “SEC Storied: Lolo” airs next Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Jason La Canfora Leaves NFL Network For NFL on CBS; Replaces Charley Casserly on NFL Today

Received this from CBS Sports, NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora is leaving to take a similar position at the Tiffany Network. Since 2009, La Canfora has been the main insider on NFL Network taking the role that Adam Schefter held previously.

Jason will join CBSSports.com in July. Then in September, he’ll be seen on The NFL Today joining James Brown, Dan Marino, Bill Cowher, Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason. While it wasn’t mentioned in the CBS press release, it appears that La Canfora will replace Charley Casserly who had been in the role of NFL Today Insider and GM, getting his own segment on The NFL Today.

The move was announced today.

JASON LA CANFORA JOINS CBS SPORTS AS “NFL INSIDER” FOR “THE NFL TODAY” STUDIO SHOW, CBS SPORTS NETWORK AND CBSSPORTS.COM

Jason La Canfora joins CBS Sports as the “NFL Insider” for the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show, THE NFL TODAY, the CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com.  The announcement was made today by Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports, and Executive Producer, THE NFL ON CBS.

La Canfora joins James Brown, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher on THE NFL TODAY beginning on September 9. He begins his role as “NFL Insider” for CBSSports.com in July, joining an already experienced staff of writers covering the NFL including Pete Prisco, Clark Judge, Mike Freeman and Pat Kirwan.

Before joining CBS Sports, La Canfora worked for the NFL Network and NFL.com as an NFL Insider from 2009-12.  He appeared on NFL Total Access, NFL GameDay Morning, NFL GameDay Final and Thursday Night Kickoff.  La Canfora also contributed significantly across the NFL’s digital properties including NFL.com.

La Canfora spent six years as a Redskins beat writer during his 10-year stint with The Washington Post.  He also contributed to NHL, MLB, Olympic and World Cup coverage.  During that time, La Canfora’s blog on Washingtonpost.com became one of the most frequented by readers looking for an inside scoop on the Redskins.

In addition to his print and online experience, La Canfora’s broadcast experience includes the NFL Network, as well as appearing on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic as a panelist, analyst and co-host for over a year. He also was a regular co-host on Fox 1370 Radio’s weekly afternoon drive-time sports show heard throughout the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area.

Prior to The Washington Post, La Canfora reported for the Detroit Free Press covering the Detroit Red Wings and their back-to-back Stanley Cup championship wins in 1997 and 1998.  His accolades include a 2004 Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) Breaking News honorable mention; 1998 APSE Game Story third place finish; and a 1997 APSE News Story fifth place finish.

La Canfora graduated magna cum laude with degrees in print journalism and policy studies from Syracuse University in 1996. Born April 14, 1974 in Baltimore, Md, La Canfora and his wife, Lauren, and three children reside in Towson, Md.

That’s all.

ESPN Networks Will Really Be Into Softball This Weekend

Starting today and going into the Women’s College World Series, the ESPN Family will air extensive coverage of college softball. Today, ESPN and ESPNU will carry the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals from Tuscaloosa, AL.

In addition, the ACC, Big East and Big South Championships will be seen on TV. ESPN3 will have other conference championships online.

It all leads to the NCAA Softball Selection Show will ESPNU will air on Sunday night. Check out the announcement from ESPN below.

ESPN Increases Softball Coverage with Ten Conference Championship Matchups

NCAA Softball heads into a week of more championship coverage than ever before across ESPN networks with the addition of the two Conference Championships to ESPNU – the ACC and Big South – and five exclusively live on ESPN3 with the Atlantic Sun, Missouri Valley, Southern, SWAC and Sun Belt.

In addition to simulcasting the entire SEC Softball Tournament and the five Conference Championship games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, ESPN3 will also show the ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinals and six championships exclusively. ESPN networks will air a combined 25 total softball tournament games over four days beginning Thursday, May 10.

ESPNU will close out the record week of championship coverage with the fifth annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship Selection Show on Sunday. May 13, at 10 p.m. and unveil the 64-team field for this season’s final matchups.

Date	Time	Championship	Network
Thu, May 10	Noon	SEC Softball Tournament Quarterfinal: LSU vs. Florida Cara Capuano and Michele Smith	ESPNU
	Noon	ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinal: Virginia vs. Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	SEC Softball Tournament Quarterfinal: Auburn vs. Tennessee Cara Capuano and Michele Smith	ESPNU
	2:30 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinal: North Carolina vs. Florida State	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	SEC Softball Tournament Quarterfinal: Kentucky vs. Georgia Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinal: Boston College vs. North Carolina	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Softball Tournament Quarterfinal: Mississippi State vs. Alabama Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Jessica Mendoza	ESPN
	8 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinal: Maryland vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN3
Fri, May 11	3 p.m.	SEC Softball Tournament Semifinal Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Jessica Mendoza	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Semifinal	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Semifinal	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	SEC Softball Tournament Semifinal Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Jessica Mendoza	ESPNU
Sat, May 12	Noon	Atlantic Sun Softball Championship	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Southern Softball Championship	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Missouri Valley Softball Championship	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Southland Softball Championship	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	ACC Softball Championship Cara Capuano and Cheri Kemp	ESPN
	4 p.m.	Sun Belt Softball Championship	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	BIG EAST Softball Championship Pam Ward and Jennie Finch	ESPN2
	8 p.m.	SEC Softball Championship Beth Mowins and Michele Smith	ESPN
Sun, May 13	Noon	Big South Softball Championship Holly Rowe and Garland Cooper	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	SWAC Softball Championship Adam Amin and Amanda Scarborough	ESPN3
	10 p.m.	NCAA Division I Softball Championship Selection Show	ESPNU

*All games listed will also air on ESPN3; viewing links attached to game designation

There you have it.

Sports Illustrated Focuses On The Death of Junior Seau

This week, Sports Illustrated looks into the death of former San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau. His shocking suicide is still reverberating around the NFL and the sports world.

SI’s Jim Trotter who covered the Chargers talks with those who knew Seau and what could have led to his death.

SI also covers last weekend’s Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight and the Kentucky Derby as well as the NHL Playoffs.

We have a look at what is in this week’s issue both in print and in tablet form. Check it all out in the preview from Sports Illustrated below.

Junior Seau’s Death Has Left Many Unanswered Questions

Floyd Mayweather Turns in His Best Performance
The NHL Playoffs Have Russian Players Front and Center
I’ll Have Another Wins the Kentucky Derby in Stunning Fashion
Kobe Bryant’s Excellence Derives from Both of His Parents

(NEW YORK – May 9, 2012) – Junior Seau was a beloved figure in San Diego and one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history. His suicide last Thursday left those who knew him best stunned, confused and searching for answers. Seau appears on the cover of the May 14, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now.

Senior writer Jim Trotter (@SI_JimTrotter), who covered Seau and the Chargers as a beat reporter in the 1900s, spoke with close friends and former teammates about who Seau was on and off the field. Seau grew up in the Oceanside section of San Diego, played professionally for the Chargers for 13 seasons and lived in San Diego until his death. His loyalty for the community was evident in his foundation, which since 1992 has dispersed nearly $4 million to aid disadvantaged kids and young adults in San Diego County, through programs such as Gangbusters (page 38).

Said former Rams and Bears lineback Pisa Tinoisamoa, “That saved my life. It had people around me and help set me straight…. June [Seau] was behind that. I saw him on my birthday last July, and he came in playing his ukulele and singing Happy Birthday. I didn’t get to tell him personally what he meant to me, but he knew. He saw the success I had, and he was proud of me. Whenever I saw him, he would talk about how good I was. He was always positive. That’s why everyone loved him. They felt they were friends with June. He had that status about him, but to us he was just a man of the people.”

Seau led by example. He was the first to the practice facility in the morning and provided helpful advice for his teammates. Seau ignored pain and insisted that if you could walk, you could play.

Former teammate LaDainian Tomlinson said, “I feel awful that Junior didn’t feel he was close enough to anybody that he could say, ‘Look, something isn’t right.’ He didn’t feel there was anybody, and we all need someone we can go to and say, ‘There’s something going on with me.’ That’s the sad thing, but that’s who Junior was. He didn’t want us to know he was hurting on the field, so off the field he certainly wasn’t going to say anything.”

Senior writer Peter King reflects on a time when he watched Seau play a game in 2000 with a severely pulled hamstring. Because Seau’s pain threshold was high, King held Seau to a higher standard, something King would think twice about doing again.

On the Tablet: Video piece from senior writer Jim Trotter on Junior Seau and a slideshow of Seau through the years.

ALMOST PERFECT – CHRIS MANNIX (@ChrisMannixSI)
There is genius in Floyd Mayweather, a Picasso at work inside a sculpted 5’8’’, 147-pound frame. Last Saturday night Mayweather delivered possibly the finest performance of his career, overcoming a bloody nose and comfortably outpointing Miguel Cotto with his precision punching and impenetrable defense (page 52).

Mayweather’s genius extends beyond the ring. He promotes his own fights as the head of Mayweather Promotions. He assumes all the upfront risk, and thus controls every revenue stream. His previous eight fights generated more than $446 million in revenue, a tribute to his brilliant marketing. Mayweather understands that his empire depends on more than just hype. He understands that the “0” on his record means everything. Mayweather said, “I am carrying the promotion and it’s putting asses in the seats. I know I got to back up what I say.”

ANOTHER WAY TO WIN – TIM LAYDEN (@SITimLayden)
The 138th running of the Kentucky Derby had a thrilling finish and made for a wonderful story. An undervalued horse, ridden by an unknown jockey, roared to unexpected victory and now I’ll Have Another and his team have their sights set on the elusive Triple Crown. I’ll Have Another was purchased for $35,000 in April 2011 by Doug and Dennis O’Neill and J. Paul Reddam. After an up and down year, which included a convincing loss at the Saratoga Hopeful Stakes, he was a long shot to win the Derby (page 48).

But his trainer had a plan, and I’ll Have Another closed out the race in dramatic fashion, defeating Bodemeister. Dennis O’Neill, who beat cancer five years ago, said “A day like this makes it all worthwhile”.

On the Tablet: Video slideshow of the jockey room.

THE RUSSIAN QUESTION – MICHAEL FARBER
The 2012 NHL playoffs have been filled with intensity and excitement, but many of the biggest story lines have been about the missteps of players from the former Soviet bloc. The Predators’ Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn missed a team curfew and were suspended for Game 3 and scratched for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. Alexander Ovechkin, a two-time Hart Trophy winner, has seen significantly less ice time in the playoffs. Ilya Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract with Philadelphia in the off-season, has been inconsistent for the Flyers (page 56).

There have been a few bright spots, but mainly, it’s been an uneasy postseason for Russian players. Some believe it could have an impact on the Edmonton Oilers, who have the first pick in this year’s NHL draft, and will likely choose Nail Yakupov. Terry Jones, a columnist for the Edmonton Star, tweeted last week, “The way the Russians are going in Stanley Cup playoffs, Oilers better give a real, real, real, real good hard think about Nail Yakupov, huh?”

On the Tablet: Slideshow of all-time great Russian NHL players.

WHERE DOES GREATNESS COME FROM? – CHRIS BALLARD (@SI_ChrisBallard)
You might assume that Kobe Bryant inherited his talent for basketball and his burning need for success from his father, former NBA and Italian league player Joe (Jellybean) Bryant. But Joe and Kobe are strikingly different, and while the son got some gifts from his father, he got his fire from an unexpected source, his mom.  When Kobe was 14 years old he tried to dunk on his mom in a backyard game, and she leveled him with a forearm. Kobe said, “She would drop you. Oh, yeah, she was rough. My mom’s the feisty one. She has that killer in her.”

Joe Bryant has been married to the same woman for 38 years, and has close relationships with his children and grandchildren. He travels around the world, immersing himself in new experiences, and is generally loved by the players he coaches. After playing for 10 pro teams in three countries over 18 years, he has coached in the WNBA, the ABA, Japan, Mexico, Italy and now in Bangkok. Joe may never be great, but he is happy. Kobe Bryant may never be happy, and perhaps that’s what makes him great (page 60).

On the Tablet: Podcast with Richard Deitsch and Chris Ballard.

NBA PLAYERS POLL
Who is the league’s best pure shooter?

Ray Allen, Celtics SG — 68%
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks PF — 7%
Kyle Korver, Bulls SF — 6%
Anthony Morrow, Nets SG — 4%
Steve Nash, Suns PG — 2%

[Based on 146 NBA players who responded to SI’s survey]

FAST FACTS: Warriors PG Stephen Curry also received 2% of the votes. He leads all active players in three-point percentage (.441), which puts him behind only Steve Kerr (.454) all time.?.?.?. Allen is the NBA’s alltime leader in three-pointers attempted (6,788) and made (2,718)?.?.?.?. Knicks SF Steve Novak, who led the NBA in three-point shooting in 2011–12 (.472), tied for seventh in voting.?.?.?. In a similar poll on Facebook, SI readers also had Allen (66%) and Nowitzki (16%) finishing 1–2.

SCORECARD: GLORY DAYS – CHRIS BALLARD (@SI_ChrisBallard)
Senior writer Chris Ballard’s book One Shot at Forever tells the story of the 1971 Macon High Ironmen varsity baseball team. The Ironmen represented the smallest school in Illinois history to play in the state finals before they lost to powerhouse Lane Tech. Many members of the team are excited about the book release, but a few still haven’t gotten over the loss (page 19).

For many athletes, high school is the only time they have an opportunity to achieve greatness, but often players remember the losses more than the wins. Ballard writes, “I’m 38 and I still dream about basketball games that I lost in high school (though never, strangely enough, about the ones I won). Likewise, when I get together with certain friends over beers, I know the conversation will eventually lead us back to some field or gym on some fateful afternoon.”

POINT AFTER: FOR PARENTS, A JUNIOR MOMENT – PHIL TAYLOR (@SI_PhilTaylor)
Senior writer Phil Taylor recalls the night six years ago when his then 14-year-old son, Ben, asked Taylor and his wife if he could play football. It was a question they had hoped wouldn’t come. Before deciding, they had to think long and hard about the positives and the negatives of the sport, including the delayed brain damage controlled violence can cause (page 68).

INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS

• MLB (page 30): Out of Whack – Mired in a monthlong slump after signing a huge contract with the Angels, Albert Pujols looks to make adjustments and get back to being a star. Tom Verducci
• MLB (page 32): No More Mo? – Mariano Rivera’s storied career could come to end after he injured his knee in Kansas City last Thursday. (@Joe_Sheehan)
• NHL (page 33): Word to the Doctor – With NBC and its sister stations televising every NHL playoff game; the viewing audience is enjoying the eccentric vocabulary of announcer Mike (Doc) Emrick. Michael Farber
• NBA (page 34): Changing Fortunes – After a tough year filled with criticism, all the right pieces seem to be falling into place for the Miami Heat as the team looks toward an NBA title. (@SI_IanThomsen)
• NASCAR (page 36): – Danica Patrick is experiencing frustration during her first full-time season in stock car racing. (@LarsAndersonSI)

On the Tablet: Truth and Rumors

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD (page)

• Ariana Washington (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) – Track and Field
• Donn Cabral (Glastonbury, Conn./Princeton) – Track and Field
• Rebekah Chenelle (Hebron, Conn./Cornerstone Christian School) – Equestrian
• Collin Olson (Apple Valley, Minn./Pioneer High) – Hockey
• Heather Stearns (Carrollton, Texas/Hebron High) – Softball
• Peter Williamson (Portsmouth, N.H./Dartmouth) – Golf

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces.

That it for this post.