Some more press releases now. Let’s get to them.
First, CBS Sports is back in the PGA Tour game after a week off for the Players Championship. This weekend, CBS will air the Texas Open.
ZACH JOHNSON DEFENDS TITLE AS PGA TOUR TEES OFF IN LONE STAR STATE AT “TEXAS OPEN” ON CBS SPORTS MAY 16-17
CBS Sports’ golf coverage moves to Texas for the first of three consecutive tournaments, beginning this weekend with the TEXAS OPEN. The TEXAS OPEN joins the PGA TOUR regular-season as part of the race for the FedExCup title as the tournament moves from the Fall Series this year.
Defending champion Zach Johnson takes on a strong field that includes Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Chad Campbell, Tim Clark, Steven Ames, Aaron Baddeley, Rocco Mediate, Brian Gay, Alex Cejka, Jose Coceres and Jesper Parnevik as CBS Sports broadcasts third- and final-round coverage at LaCantera Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET; both days), live on the CBS Television Network.
Jim Nantz, the 2008 Emmy Award Winner for “Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play” and 2008 National Sportscaster of the Year, serves as anchor of CBS Sports’ golf coverage. Ian Baker- Finch joins Nantz in the 18th hole tower. Peter Oosterhuis calls the action at the 17th hole and Peter Kostis at the 16th hole. David Feherty and Bobby Clampett serve as on-course reporters. Lance Barrow is Coordinating Producer and Steve Milton is Director of CBS Sports’ golf coverage. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
Last year’s win in Texas was Johnson’s fourth PGA TOUR title and first outside Georgia. He began the 2008 TEXAS OPEN final-round one stroke behind Rory Sabbatini but his 6-under 64 Sunday gave him a two-stroke win over three players. With a win this year at the SONY OPEN and two other Top-10 finishes, he is sixth in the FedExCup standings. The TEXAS OPEN is the third-oldest event on the PGA TOUR (1922) and is the longest-running event held in the same city.
On Sunday, MLB Network will premiere a new documentary on the origins of baseball.
MLB NETWORK TO AIR THE TELEVISION PREMIERE OF “Base Ball Discovered” on Sunday, May 17th
MLB Network will air the television premiere of the original documentary “Base Ball Discovered” on Sunday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Narrated by Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Edward James Olmos and produced by MLB.com, the film is a detailed exploration of the many generational theories about the origins of America’s national pastime that will take viewers overseas as it makes an unexpected and historic discovery in Surrey, a county in the South East of England.
Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully has said of the film, “’Base Ball Discovered’ is a grand slam of a study. It provides an intentional walk through the scorebook of history and whether of British or Yankee beginnings, rounders or cricket, whether to salute a general or pitch to a private, it scores big time and is a winner.”
In September 2008, “Base Ball Discovered” won the Award for Baseball Excellence at the third annual Baseball Film Festival at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The award is given to the film which excels in research, factual accuracy, historical context, appreciation of the game, and/or embodiment of the spirit of baseball.
“Base Ball Discovered” will first air on Sunday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m. ET and is scheduled to repeat on May 19th, May 21st, May 22nd and May 24th.
We have TNT quotage from last night’s playoff action.
Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA Playoffs – Wednesday, May 13, 2009
TNT’s schedule will be confirmed at the conclusion of Game #6 of Boston Celtics @ Orlando Magic.
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TNT NBA Tip-off
Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
Barkley on the Mavericks inserting forward Jason Terry into the starting line-up: “That means they are going to try to outscore the Nuggets, I don’t think they can outscore the Nuggets in Denver. If you put Jason Terry in you’re saying ‘we’re going to try to outscore them’. As good as Denver is at home they want to run and gun. I don’t like that decision. (The Mavs) tried to run with Denver for two games and got run out of the building. They played well in Game #3 and they won Game #4. Why would you go back to the strategy and try to outscore the Nuggets? You can’t outscore Denver in Denver and it’s going to make the crowd more important. They need to play better defense. They are giving up too many points, that’s the reason they lost Game #1 and #2. You can’t give up 115 points on the road and expect to win.”
Smith on the Mavericks putting guard Jason Terry in the starting line-up for Game #5: “It becomes a defeatist attitude when you change your line-up this late into a series, the fifth game in, especially after a win. If you really want a guy to play more just put him in earlier, put him in at the nine-minute mark. What’s the difference?”
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Dallas Mavericks (110) @ Denver Nuggets (124) – Denver wins the series 4-1.
Announcers: Matt Devlin and P.J. Carlesimo; with Marty Snider reporting
Carlesimo on why Mavericks forward Josh Howard is an ‘X’ factor: “Josh Howard is a tough match-up for most every team in the league, I call him the ‘X’ factor. I always assume that Dirk (Nowitzki) and Jason Terry are going to give you numbers, that hasn’t been the case with Jason Terry so far in the playoffs, but Josh Howard is the one who you can’t deal with. When you’ve got a third scorer as explosive and talented as him and the fact that he can create his own offense, it is really a problem.”
Nuggets center Chris Anderson on his normal look and the change into his ‘Birdman’ persona: “Pretty much on a day-to-day basis I look like this, until I’ve got to take care of some business and then I bring the ‘Birdman’ out of the cage. The roar of the crowd definitely brings out even more energy, and pushes the tempo of the game even quicker. Every time they get loud I get loud, too.”
Carlesimo on the lack of production from Mavericks center Erick Dampier: “(Erick Dampier) is somebody that Dallas needs something from. Damp is giving them hardly anything, nothing on the offensive end, not nearly as much as he should defensively or rebounding. They need Erick Dampier to give them something inside.”
Carlesimo on Mavericks guard Jason Kidd playing poorly in the Pepsi Center: “Jason Kidd is out of sorts again. This building has been terrible for him all two and a half games of the playoffs in Denver.”
TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony at the half.
Anthony on the flow of the game in the first half: “I’m trying not to (slow down), they are trying to be aggressive. (I’m) trying to get to the hole, give me open shots and knock them down. We’re playing together today. I’m not coming out of the game, we need this one. We’ve got to close this one out.”
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Halftime Report
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on his pick for the best scorer in the NBA being Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony: “LeBron is the best player and Kobe Bryant is No. 2. I’ve elevated LeBron past Kobe, but the best scorer in the NBA is Carmelo Anthony.”
Smith: “I would say (Anthony) scores the easiest.”
Barkley: “(Anthony) is not on the same level as those two guys, but as far as instant offense, he can score on anybody. He’s got a better jump shot than Kobe and LeBron. LeBron is the best player though.”
Barkley on why he hated that the Mavericks started forward Jason Terry: “I hated it and I’ve got three reasons why: first, (the Mavericks) were going to try to beat the Denver Nuggets with offense. You’re not going to beat Denver in Denver with offense because it gets the guys on the team fired up and it gets the crowd fired up. Second, it takes the ball out of Dirk (Nowitzki’s) hands. They can’t match up with Dirk, so it takes the ball (from him) and he’s going to get less shots. Third, it hurts (Dallas’) bench. (Terry) is the only guy on their bench who can get 20 points.”
Smith: “Fourth, they really were only five seconds away from being 2-2 (in the series). You’re offense and defense and strategy were pretty consistent.”
Smith on the impact legendary NBA coach Chuck Daly had on those whose lives he touched: “How many lives did (Chuck Daly) change? If they never met Chuck Daly, what type of player, what type of person, what type of lifestyle, what type of life would they have had if they never met Chuck Daly? That was mind-boggling to me to see the amount of people who were there that he actually touched and changed their whole life and changed everything about them and their persona and what people thought about them as a person.”
Barkley on the fraternity of sports: “I look at the world in two ways, you either play sports or you don’t. It’s the greatest fraternity in the world. Once you play sports, you understand what people go through in other sports, but all the people you meet along the way is really cool.”
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Carlesimo on the impressive performances of Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki and Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony: “They’ve been unbelievable, a lot of other players are playing well, but these two are playing at an incredible level. These two are playing at a very, very special level and they are sustaining it all throughout the playoffs. The thing that is most impressive to me is that they are doing it in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line.”
Carlesimo on Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin’s aggressive defense: “Kenyon (Martin) is one of the better big defenders in the league because he’s got quick feet, he’s strong and he takes pride in defense. He’s an aggressive, nasty player; a good nasty. Kenyon Martin, with very little recognition, maybe it’s because of the couple of years with the injuries, I don’t think he got a vote for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s one of the better four man defenders in the league.”
Carlesimo on the dominant perfor
mance in the playoffs of the Denver Nuggets: “It’s not an accident that a number two seed coming into the playoffs, if anything (the Nuggets) are playing better than anyone else in the Western Conference right now. Not that the Lakers and Houston aren’t worthy opponents, but (Denver) has been the most consistent. They and Cleveland have dominated the playoffs to this point.”
TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Chauncey Billups after Denver defeated Dallas to move on to the Western Conference Finals.
Anthony on how the Nuggets got to this point of advancing to the Western Conference Finals: “It’s special, we worked hard in the offseason, training camp, throughout the whole season. We stuck through everything, we overcame a lot of adversity and stayed complacent and stayed humble. The hard work paid off, but we’ve still got a lot of business to go take care of.”
Anthony on what guard Chauncey Billups brought to the Nuggets after being traded from Detroit for Allen Iverson: “(Billups) is a leader, he came to this team and brought a business-like attitude to this team, something I was looking to bring in the offseason and he brought it. He brought the defensive mindset we were looking for and the things we were working on in the offseason.”
Billups on the standing ovation from the Denver fans: “It was great to know the fans appreciate the hard work we put in all year, we’re just trying to keep it going.”
Billups on how they will approach playing in the Western Conference Finals: “We’re very dangerous, if our defense is locked in and paying attention to the small things, our offense is explosive. We’ve got so many guys who can beat you and hurt you, it’s just about being locked in and focused. It’s not over, we’re still on a roll, the road ain’t over yet, we don’t really have time to celebrate. We’re moving on to bigger and better things and hopefully we can remain successful.”
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Inside the NBA
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on the needs of the Dallas Mavericks for next season: “(Dallas) has got problems, they’ve got a great player in Dirk Nowitzki, they’ve got to make a decision on Josh Howard and Jason Terry is a great guy to bring off your bench. The big question is Jason Kidd. They’ve got issues, they’ve got to get much younger, they’ve got to get some help for Dirk, they need to find some guys who can be physical around him. The Rockets brought some pit bulls for Yao Ming because he’s a finesse player. Dirk is a great player, but he’s a finesse player. They’ve got to bring in some big guys to help him rebound because he isn’t a great rebounder, and they need some depth on the bench. You look at their bench, you’ve got Brandon Bass, (Jason) Barea and that’s pretty much it.”
Barkley on the future of Mavericks guard Jason Kidd: “Jason Kidd is a great player and a Hall of Famer, but he’s at the end of the road. I don’t think he can be a point guard on a championship team. He can be a guy coming off the bench, he can be a great influence in the locker room, but as far as him being a starting point guard against the elite point guards in the NBA, those days are past him. There is a reason Chauncey (Billups) went ballistic tonight he can’t stay in front of those guys anymore. That’s why there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes it’s a train.”
Barkley on his pick for the NBA Finals matchup: “Denver and Cleveland are the two best teams I’ve seen in the playoffs. I’m going to stick with my pick, I think the Denver Nuggets are going to the Finals. The Lakers have been too inconsistent, the Denver Nuggets have everything, they’ve finally got leadership, they’ve calmed down a couple of boneheads and Carmelo Anthony is the best scorer in the NBA right now.”
Smith on picking the Rockets to beat the Lakers in the series: “I’m not counting the Rockets out. We’ve seen the Lakers, they are the most skilled team in basketball, probably the best personnel from 1-12, and they know it and they are arrogant about it. Because they are arrogant, they get complacent. The only way the Rockets know how to play is hard. When the Lakers couple their effort with their skill they are too much, but if they don’t couple that effort and the Rockets play with more effort…if you don’t play with effort your skill doesn’t matter.”
Sirius XM will have coverage of the Indianapolis 500.
SIRIUS XM RADIO ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE BROADCAST COVERAGE OF INDIANAPOLIS 500
XM subscribers and SIRIUS subscribers with the “Best of XM” will hear live broadcast of the Indy 500 plus exclusive programming leading up to the race
For first time, Indy 500 is available to both XM and SIRIUS listeners
NEW YORK – May 14, 2009 – SIRIUS XM Radio the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the Indy Racing League (IRL), the sanctioning body for the IndyCar® Series and Firestone Indy Lights, announced today that it will offer comprehensive coverage of the Indianapolis 500 to both XM subscribers and SIRIUS subscribers with the “Best of XM” programming package.
SIRIUS XM will broadcast “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Indianapolis 500, live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24 on Indy Car Series Racing, XM channel 145 and SIRIUS channel 211 (part of the “Best of XM”). Motorsports fans will hear pre-race programming, including pre-race commentary and analysis by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network broadcast team, interviews with drivers and live coverage of driver introductions. When the green flag drops at 1:00 pm ET, SIRIUS XM listeners will hear live wheel-to-wheel action on the track through every turn and straightaway.
In addition to the Indy 500, SIRIUS XM will broadcast the Firestone Freedom 100 race from the Firestone Indy Lights Series on Friday, May 22 (12:15 pm ET) on Indy Car Series Racing, XM channel 145 and SIRIUS channel 211 (“Best of XM”). The 100 mile race from the Indy Racing League’s developmental series features some of the world’s best young open wheel drivers. After the race, SIRIUS XM will air IMS Radio Network’s review of all the action from Carb Day, offering a recap of the day’s Indy 500 practice, the Pit Stop Challenge and the Indy Lights Series race.
On Community Day, Wednesday, May 20, SIRIUS XM’s exclusive all-sports talk channel, Mad Dog Radio, will broadcast a special Indy 500 preview live from the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET). Host Gary Williams will preview Sunday’s race, interview some of the series’ top drivers, team owners and past Indy 500 champions, and talk with IndyCar fans from around the country. Mad Dog Radio is available nationwide exclusively on SIRIUS channel 123 and XM channel 144.
SIRIUS XM’s coverage will include live broadcasts of all Indy 500 qualifying sessions, including “Bump Day” on Sunday, May 17, the final day of qualifying. “Bump Day” allows teams and drivers who did not qualify for the field of 33 on the first three days of time trials one last chance to drive their way into the grid.
IndyCar® Series races have aired on XM Radio since 2005. This year marks the first season the races will be available to both SIRIUS and XM subscribers.
For more info visit www.xmradio.com/irl.
SIRIUS XM’s motor racing coverage on Sunday, May 24 will also include the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC (5:45 pm ET on SIRIUS channel 128 and XM channel 128 with the “Best of SIRIUS”) as well as the Formula One™ Monaco Grand Prix from Monte Carlo (8:00 am ET on SIRIUS channel 126 and XM channel 242).
And that should conclude the press releases for today. If there are more, I’ll be sure to post them.
