Let’s move to football, both college and pro for this press release post.
We’ll begin with the NFL Network and the exhibition games it will air this week.
EXHIBITION SEASON WEEK 1:
FIVE LIVE GAMES ON NFL NETWORK FEATURING DEBUTS OF TOP QB PICKS MATTHEW STAFFORD & MARK SANCHEZ, JAY CUTLER’S FIRST GAME WITH BEARS AND TERRELL OWENS’ FIRST GAME IN BUFFALO
First-Ever Live Exhibition Season Tripleheader on Saturday
Live Telecasts This Week:
Rams at Jets, Friday at 7:00 PM ET
Broncos at 49ers, Friday at 10:00 PM ET
Falcons at Lions, Saturday at 4:00 PM ET
Bears at Bills, Saturday at 7:00 PM ET
Seahawks at Chargers, Saturday at 10:00 PM ET
Fantasy fans sharpen your pencils. The 2009 exhibition season is here and all the action is on NFL Network. For the first time, all 65 games can be seen on NFL Network in high definition.
The live coverage kicks off with a doubleheader on Friday, August 14 at 7:00 PM ET when the St. Louis Rams face the New York Jets in a game that marks the debut of Jets first-round draft pick QB Mark Sanchez, and new head coaches Rex Ryan (Jets) and Steve Spagnuolo (Rams). At 10:00 PM ET, Denver Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels begins his tenure with a new QB in a battle against the San Francisco 49ers.
Saturday, August 15 will feature the first-ever live tripleheader with the Atlanta Falcons vs. Detroit Lions beginning at 4:00 PM ET. Lions QB Matthew Stafford season begins his rookie season after he was selected with the top pick in the draft. Immediately following at 7:00 PM ET, the Chicago Bears face the Buffalo Bills. The Bears unveil their new QB Jay Cutler while WR Terrell Owens makes his debut in front of the Bills home crowd. Finally, at 10:00 PM ET, the Seattle Seahawks take on the San Diego Chargers in a matchup of teams that have each won their division title four of the past five seasons.
During the 2009 NFL exhibition season, NFL Network will televise a record 65 games – up from the 54 shown in 2008. The exhibition season schedule, which is entirely in HD for the first time, also includes a record 12 live games and 97 encore telecasts so that no one will miss a game.
NFL NETWORK AIR TIMES FOR 2009 WEEK 1 EXHIBITION SEASON GAMES
(ALL TIMES EASTERN; ALL GAMES IN HIGH DEFINITION)
Monday, August 10
12:30 AM – Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – encore
Tuesday, August 11
12:30 PM – Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – encore
Thursday, August 13
12:30 AM – Buffalo Bil
ls at Tennessee Titans – encore11:00 PM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles
Friday, August 14
2:00 AM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders
3:00 PM – Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens
9:00 AM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles – encore
12:00 PM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders – encore
7:00 PM – St. Louis Rams at New York Jets – LIVE
10:00 PM – Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers – LIVE
Saturday, August 15
1:00 AM – Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts
7:00 AM – Cincinnati Bengals at New Orleans Saints
10:00 AM – Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens – encore
1:00 PM – Arizona Cardinals at Pittsburgh Steelers
4:00 PM – Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions – LIVE
7:00 PM – Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills – LIVE
10:00 PM – Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers – LIVE
Sunday, August 16
1:00 AM – Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers
4:00 AM – Cincinnati Bengals at New Orleans Saints – encore
7:00 AM – St. Louis Rams at New York Jets – encore
10:00 AM – Houston Texans at Kansas City
1:00 PM – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tennessee Titans
4:00 PM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles – encore
7:00 PM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders – encore
10:00 PM – Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts – encore
Monday, August 17
1:00 AM – Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers – encore
4:00 AM – Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers – encore
7:00 AM – Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs – encore
10:00 AM – Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions – encore
1:00 PM – Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills – encore
4:00 PM – Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers – encore
11:00 PM – Jacksonvi
lle Jaguars at Miami Dolphins
The new Monday Night Football announcing team featuring former Tampa Bay coach Jon Grudin makes its debut this Thursday.
Jon Gruden Makes MNF Exhibition Season Debut Thursday with Super Bowl XLIII Rematch
ESPN will kick off its Monday Night Football Exhibition Season schedule with a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers host wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals at Heinz Field on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Jon Gruden will make his debut in the MNF booth alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski in the first of four ESPN MNF exhibition games in August. Reporter Suzy Kolber will also be in Pittsburgh as the two teams take the field for the first time since Santonio Holmes caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds to play and the Steelers defeated the Cardinals 27-23 for their sixth title in franchise history.
The Cardinals-Steelers matchup will be preceded by a one-hour Monday Night Countdown (7 p.m.) hosted by Chris Berman with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson and senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, whose three-week NFL training camp bus tour will make a one-day visit Thursday to the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football 2009 NFL Exhibition Season Schedule
Date
Time (ET)
Teams
Thu, Aug 13
8 p.m.
Arizona Cardinals at Pittsburgh Steelers
Mon, Aug 17
8 p.m.
Carolina Panthers at New York Giants
Mon, Aug 24
8 p.m.
New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
Mon, Aug 31
8 p.m.
Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans
Suspended wide receiver Donte Stallworth from my Cleveland Browns will speak to ESPN’s E:60 tomorrow night.
Suspended Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth Speaks Exclusively to E:60 Tuesday, August 11, at 7 p.m. ET
Suspended Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth, in an exclusive E:60 interview, will talk in detail with correspondent Michael Smith on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, about the early morning hours of March 14, when Stallworth killed a man while driving under the influence in Miami.
A plea deal was reached in June, and Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail for DUI manslaughter. After serving 24 days of his sentence, Stallworth was released and is under an indefinite suspension from the NFL after meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Aug. 5. It is not known when Goodell will rule on Stallworth’s request to return to the NFL.
Critics have expressed outrage that Stallworth is just another example of a rich athlete buying his way out of hard time. E:60 will air the complete interview with Smith on Tuesday. Stallworth talks for the first time about the morning he killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes, lessons learned while in jail and how he hopes to make a positive impact in the future, on and off the football field.
The UFL has unveiled the name for its Las Vegas franchise.
UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE INTRODUCES LAS VEGAS LOCOMOTIVES AS TEAM NAME & UNVEILS UNIFORMS
LAS VEGAS (August 10, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the Las Vegas franchise will be named the Locomotives and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Locomotives’ “Premiere” season colors of silver, blue and white. The name “Locomotives” was selected after reviewing more than thirty thousand fan entries and receiving interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. Las Vegas Locomotives Head Coach Jim Fassel was also in attendance at the press event.
“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “Las Vegas was originally established in 1905 with the opening of the Salt Lake, San Pedro and Los Angeles Railroads. We wanted to honor the vast history of the city and the intrinsic benefits that this innovation provided to the community.”
Previously, the UFL announced Miami-based GameWear Team Sports as the League’s official uniform supplier. GameWear Team Sports is one of the leading athletic uniform outfitters in the country and has worked extensively in growing the sport of football on the grassroots level. Award-winning designer Ron Caruso of Purepartner created all the teams’ un
iforms using derivatives of the official League logo for all the designs while making each one distinctive.“The inspiration for the “Premiere” season uniform design comes directly from the UFL shield and its foundation colors which represent “green grass”, “blue sky” and silver for innovation,” said Caruso. “Throughout the uniforms, we used the dimensional “arc” of the shield on the chest and supporting “arcs” on the sleeves and pants. The unique font of the numbers reinforces the shield’s classic bold typeface with angles and dimensional treatments conveying depth and motion. The four uniform designs work together in a unified branded system, providing manufacturing efficiencies while allowing each team to retain its own unique and differentiated character.”
Tomorrow, the United Football League will be holding a press conference at AT&T Park to announce the San Francisco team’s name. Similar events will be held in Orlando on Wednesday and in New York on Thursday. Photos of each of the team’s uniforms will be available on the League’s website, www.ufl-football.com, along with video from the press events.
“We are extremely pleased with the names selected for all of our teams and the overall “Premiere” season uniform design,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Name selection for a new sports franchise can be an arduous process having to take into account the disqualification of many great possibilities due to trademark and copyright issues. There was a team of experts headed up by Jeff Sofka of Bendigo Co., and included Charley Inc., GameWear Team Sports, Purepartner, and many others who assisted in the name selection and uniform design processes and we are grateful for all of their hard work.”
The UFL launched its Name the Team Campaign with the redesign of its website in February. From that time, more than thirty thousand entries were submitted. Fans who submitted the selected names will be notified and given the appropriate credit.
The Las Vegas Locomotives’ first game of the season will be on October 8th at Sam Boyd Stadium against San Francisco.Tickets are now on-sale and can be purchased by calling UNLV Tickets Charge by Phone at 702.739.FANS or log onto www.UNLVtickets.com.
To college football and ESPN.com is unveiling some fantasy games just for you.
ESPN.com Debuts Its First Player-Based Fantasy College Football Game, College Football Challenge
Newly Redesigned ESPN College Pick ‘Em, College Bowl Mania Return This Season
ESPN.com recently kicked off its newest and first player-based fantasy college football game, College Football Challenge, for sports fans this season. Players can register now for a chance to submit up to three entries in a specific conference within the Division 1-A football bowl subdivision (excluding 1A Independents), across all conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, 1A Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, Sun Belt, SEC or WAC) or both. Entrants of College Football Challenge select a roster of six offensive players, one team kicker and one team defense each week. ESPN will award the winner with the most points at the end of the season and a guest a trip to the 2010 national championship game.
Returning this year and launching August 11 is the newly redesigned College Pick ‘Em, with a more user-friendly interface for fans and more content integration with ESPNU. The game, which will feature ten – 10 – Saturday college football games played with confidence points, will once again include a mobile extension for players on their phones. Since it was first introduced to fans in 2000, College Pick ‘Em has grown to nearly 300,000 users in 2008, up 83 percent compared to five years ago.
College Bowl Mania, a special pick ‘em game for the 2009-2010 bowl season, will also return this year in December along with its annual TV special. The game, also played with confidence points and first introduced in 2000, grew 140 percent last year compared to 2003, with approximately 480,000 users in 2008 alone. Prizing will be awarded to first place finishers for College Pick ‘Em and College Bowl Mania.
That’s going to wrap up this post. A more general press release post comes up right after this one.
