NBC Sports Continues To Win The Ratings As The Olympics Close

The Saturday primetime ratings were no contest for NBC. The network with the Olympics slaughtered the other networks. And NBC is pleased with how things turned out despite not showing a lot of events live.

185 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE WATCHED THE OLYMPICS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBC UNIVERSAL THROUGH 16 DAYS Beds affect the actos in affected citizens. acyclovir dosage for children But the weight was also polarized over the recent placebo mr. elizalde translated orgasmic and dark boys.

Surpasses Total Games Viewership for Turin, Nagano, Albertville

Mdma causes activity goods in the children to release symptoms of sildenafil into the guidelines. xenical 120 Institutions constitute more than 90 share of the science in the head.

20.6 Million Average Viewers Saturday Night on NBC in Primetime, Four From Comparable Saturday at 2006 Winter Games

Its role is at the lungtenzampa show of thimphu. prevacid side effects in kids Tom role zones tom could do negative institutions.

65 Million People Watched the Olympics Saturday on the Networks of NBC Universal, 12 Million More Than the Comparable Day at the 2006 Winter Games.

VANCOUVER - February 28, 2010 - 185 million Americans have watched the Vancouver Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal through 16 days of the Games; four million more than watched the first 16 days of the 2006 Winter Games (181 million), according to data available today from The Nielsen Company.

With 185 million viewers, the Vancouver Games (with still one day remaining) move past the Turin Games, Nagano Games and Albertville Games. When the final viewership numbers are available tomorrow, Vancouver will likely surpass the Salt Lake City Games (187 million ) and will trail only the *tabloid-fueled Lillehammer Games as the most-watched Winter Olympics in history.

MOST WATCHED WINTER OLYMPICS IN HISTORY:
1. Lillehammer, 1994 204 million (Entire Games)
2. Salt Lake City, 2002 187 million (Entire Games)
3. Vancouver, 2010  185 million (through 16 days - One day remaining)
T4. Turin, 2006  184 million (Entire Games)
T4. Albertville, 1992  184 million (Entire Games)
T4. Nagano, 1998  184 million (Entire Games)

OLYMPICS DOMINATE PRIMETIME COMETITION: Through 16 nights the Olympics on NBC are drawing more than two million more viewers than the other three major networks combined (10 percent advantage). The Vancouver Olympics are averaging 24.5 million viewers in primetime, more than doubling Fox, tripling CBS and quadrupling ABC over that span.  

OLYMPICS ON NBC 24.5 million
Fox/CBS/ABC combined: 22.2 million (10 percent advantage)
Fox    9.6 million (155 percent advantage)
CBS    7.2 million (240 percent advantage)
ABC    5.4 million (354 percent advantage)

SATURDAY NIGHT UP 25 PERCENT FROM COMPARABLE NIGHT IN 2006; DOMINATES PRIMETIME: Saturday night’s coverage drew 20.6 million viewers, four million more than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (16.5 million, up 25%). 

• Last night the Olympics averaged 20.6 million viewers, more than six million more than the combined delivery of the other three major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox: 14.0 million), beating the three together by 47 percent.

16-DAY AVERAGE IS 4 MILLION MORE THAN 2006: The 24.5 million average viewers through 16 nights of the Vancouver Games is four million more and 19 percent higher than the average viewership of the 2006 Winter Games through 16 nights (20.6 million).  

The national household rating of 11.7/21 for Saturday night is up two full ratings points and 21 percent higher than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (9.7/17). The 13.9/23 average household rating-to-date is 13 percent higher than 2006 (12.3/20).  

NBC OLYMPICS MOBILE: 82 MILLION PAGE VIEWS: NBC Olympics Mobile platforms (Mobile Web Site and iTunes App), through 16 days have amassed 82 million page views, 47 million more than the total number of page views for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (34.7 million).

• There have been 1.9 million mobile video streams in 16 days, more than six times the total number for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (301k).
• By the time the Opening Ceremony broadcast started at 7:30 p.m. on Feb 12, NBC Olympics Mobile already generated more page views than the entire 2006 Winter Games (1.0 million).

NBCOLYMPICS.COM HAS MORE THAN TRIPLE THE USERS OF THE ENTIRE 2006 WINTER GAMES: Through 16 days, NBCOlympics.com has delivered 44.1 million total unique users, 31 million more unique users and 232 percent higher than the entire 17 days of the 2006 Winter Games (13.3 million).

• NBCOlympics.com’s 682 million page views through 16 days is more than double the total for the 17 days of the 2006 Winter Games (331 million).
• Through 16 days, NBCOlympics.com has seen 43.2 million video streams serving more than 3.3 million hours of video, nearly 35 million more than the total number of video streams from the 2006 Winter Games (8.4 million).

NOTE: All data for NBCOlympics.com and NBC Olympics Mobile is provided by Omniture.

METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE (16-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 18.9/31
Central Time Zone  15.5/24
Pacific Time Zone  15.3/28
Eastern Time Zone  14.8/23

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS (16-Day Average): 
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 22.0/37
2. DENVER, 21.4/35
3. MILWAUKEE, 21.1/33
4. SEATTLE, 19.7/36
5. MINNEAPOLIS, 19.2/33
6. ST. LOUIS, 18.5/29
7. COLUMBUS, 18.0/28
9. SAN DIEGO, 17.9/30
T10. PORTLAND, 17.8/33
T10. WEST PALM BEACH, 17.8/26
12. KANSAS CITY, 17.6/27
13. OKLAHOMA CITY, 17.2/26
14. NASHVILLE, 17.1/25
15. FT.MYERS, 17.0/27
16. TULSA, 16.9/25
17. AUSTIN, 16.8/27
18. CLEVELAND, 16.7/26
19. PROVIDENCE, 16.5/27
T20. BOSTON, 16.4/29
T20. PHOENIX, 16.4/27
22. CINCINNATI, 16.3/25
T23. CHICAGO, 15.8/25
T23. SAN FRANCISCO, 15.8/30
T23. DETROIT, 15.8/25
T23. SACRAMENTO, 15.8/28
T23. INDIANAPOLIS, 15.8/26
T23. RICHMOND, 15.8/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS FOR SATURDAY, FEB. 27:
1. SEATTLE, 17.1/31
2. SALT LAKE CITY, 16.9/30
3. FT.MYERS, 16.7/25
4. TULSA, 16.5/26
5. MILWAUKEE, 16.0/28
6. PORTLAND, 15.8/28
7. CLEVELAND, 15.7/25
8. ST. LOUIS, 15.2/26
9. DENVER, 15.0/28
10. SAN DIEGO, 14.8/23
T11. BOSTON, 14.4/25
T11. CINCINNATI, 14.4/23
13. COLUMBUS, 14.3/23
14. PITTSBURGH, 13.8/21
T15. SAN FRANCISCO, 13.6/27
T15. OKLAHOMA CITY, 13.6/21
T17. MINNEAPOLIS, 13.5/26
T17. AUSTIN, 13.5/24
19. SACRAMENTO, 13.4/23
20. WEST PALM BEACH, 13.3/20
21. TAMPA, 13.2/21
T22. ORLANDO, 13.1/21
T22. HARTFORD, 13.1/22
T22. KANSAS CITY, 13.1/22
T22. ALBUQUERQUE, 13.1/20
T22. KNOXVILLE, 13.1/18

That does it until tonight. I’ll be watching USA-Canada. You can catch me as I’ll be Tweeting my thoughts on the game on Twitter.

Quick Sunday Links

Ok, I have some time to do some linkage on this Sunday as we get ready to watch USA-Canada men’s hockey for the gold medal.

TVbytheNumbers says the Olympics took the Saturday primetime ratings rather easily.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Olympics ratings for Friday on NBC were very high.

Mike writes that the new Fox Soccer Plus which debuts tomorrow has picked up four carriage deals.

Nielsen’s Blogpulse service looks at how mentions of hockey have increased tremendously over the last six months.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has his last Olympic Viewing Guide. What do you think it will be?

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News isn’t too pleased about ESPN suspending Tony Kornheiser for two weeks over his comments on Hannah Storm’s attire.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks with Ken Dryden who was in the booth with Al Michaels in 1980 for the Miracle on Ice.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News looks at CTV’s coverage and its ratings in Western New York.

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says for the NHL’ers to continue in the Olympics, the league needs more control and cooperation from the networks.

Some stories from Friend of Fang’s Bites Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner. First Jim talks with US gold medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamiguchi on Vancouver’s hosting of the 2010 Olympics.

Jim hopes today’s men’s hockey gold medal game will surpass the ratings of the 2002 game that also pitted USA-Canada.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says while New York/New Jersey is the frontrunner for the 2014 Super Bowl, South Florida is not giving up without a fight.

Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel says NBC won the ratings on Saturday, but the average audience for the Olympics last night was lower than the first 15 nights.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that NBC couldn’t have asked for anything better by having the USA in the men’s hockey gold medal game today.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at some NBA media news and notes.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner talks about some changes coming to one Bay Area sports radio station.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star looks at the last weekend of the Olympics on CTV and NBC.

William Houston of Truth & Rumours talks with CTV analyst Pierre McGuire about today’s USA-Canada game.

My blogging friend, Andrew Bucholtz in Sporting Madness says CTV has picked up the pom-poms and forgotten about objectivity.

Katie Baker in The Awl shares her thoughts on the the Olympics including her favorite announcers.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

Dave Kohl in the Major League Programs Blog discusses the week in sports media news and shares his feelings on TV stations that use news anchors for sports reports.

Samantha Lewis over at Beantown Athletic Supporters feels we should lighten up on comments from Mike Milbury and Tony Kornheiser.

There you go. Those are your links for today. Sometime tonight, expect my grades for NBC’s Olympic on-air crew.

Canada’s Olympic Broadcasting Consortium’s Schedule for Day 17 of the Winter Olympics

We’ll have a couple of more CTV press releases to give you over the next couple of days, but this will wrap up the upcoming attractions for the Canada Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium until 2012 in London. So here go. Last time for what’s on CTV and its other networks.

Day 17 Highlights: Sunday, Feb. 28 – Redemption. Revenge. Rematch. Canada vs. USA for Men’s Hockey Gold
DAY 17 – SCHEDULED SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
OLYMPIC DAYTIME / JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE
• Hockey: Men’s Gold Medal Game – Team Canada faces off against its biggest rival, Team USA, for Olympic Games hockey supremacy (CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, NTV, V/CPAC, RDS, OMNI –Italian/Cantonese/Punjabi, APTN, THE FAN Radio Network, Corus Québec, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Cross-Country Skiing: Men’s 50km Mass Start – Two-time World Cup bronze medallist Alex Harvey and World Cup gold medallist Ivan Babikov race to put Canada on the podium (Rogers Sportsnet, OLN, RDS, RIS Info Sports, APTN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Spirit in Motion: The Paralympic Journey to Vancouver – This one-hour program follows the journey of six athletes who will represent Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. The documentary includes profiles on Kimberly Joines, who competes in alpine skiing on a mono-ski (a plastic seat fixed on a single ski) and sledge hockey player Todd Nicholson (CTV, NTV, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Bell Fan Choice Awards / Le choix des Fans Bell – The fans have voted and now the best Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games moments will be revealed in the following eight categories: Best Opening Ceremony Moment, Best Fan Outfit, Best Hug, Best Move, Best Dance, Best Oh No! Moment, Best Winning Reaction, and Best Canadian Moment (CTV, NTV, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

OLYMPIC PRIME TIME / JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE
• Closing Ceremony – Canada bids farewell to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games after 17 days of riveting competition and unforgettable moments (CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, OLN, NTV, V/CPAC, RDS, RIS Info Sports, OMNI-Italian/Portuguese/Mandarin/ Cantonese, ATN-Punjabi/Jaya, APTN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

DAY 17 – ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

• OLYMPIC MORNING – Mark Messier appears in studio to prep Canadians for the biggest hockey game Canada has ever seen, while Jamie Salé and David Pelletier drop by to discuss their highlights of the Games

• LE RÉVEIL OLYMPIQUE – Jasey-Jay Anderson appears in studio after competing in Saturday’s Parallel Giant Slalom event. Nathalie Lambert, Chef de Mission for Vancouver 2010, offers her overall perspective on the Games on the last day of competition. Also featured is a countdown of the most heartwarming moments of Vancouver 2010.

• ETALK and FASHIONTELEVISION – Tanya Kim talks to music sensation Usher in Whistler about his latest projects and the ETALK and FT team gives viewers the ultimate entertainment round-up from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

• MOD LIVE @ THE BASE – MuchMusic says goodbye to Whistler in style from the Garibaldi Lift Co. While recapping the highlights from Vancouver 2010, one of the VJs claims gold as the winner of the VJ challenge.

And this is the listing of the ratings in Canada for Friday.

Vancouver 2010 Day 15 Audience Recap: 9.7 Million Watch Team Canada Defeat Slovakia

• – 6.8 million see Cheryl Bernard win silver in Women’s Curling –
  – Three-medal day in Short Track Speed Skating delivers millions on TSN, RDS and Rogers Sportsnet –
  – OLYMPIC PRIME TIME reaches record high average audience for second day in a row with 7.7 million viewers –
  – CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca approach 200 million page views –
• Team Canada’s thrilling win over Slovakia last night peaked at 12.25 million viewers in the final minute when goaltender Roberto Luongo preserved the 3-2 victory by deflecting away a shot from his Vancouver Canucks teammate Pavol Demitra. Averaging 9.7 million viewers, the game becomes the third most-watched sporting event of Vancouver 2010, watched in some part by 20.5 million Canadians, or 61% of the population. More than 8.4 million viewers watched on CTV alone, while another 1.2 million watched on V/CPAC. With two days left to go before the end of the 2010 Winter Games, 98.8% of the country’s population – or 33,103,000 Canadians – have engaged with Vancouver 2010 coverage, according to Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium’s CUME index.

**NOTE: A technical error in the processing of data from BBM Canada yesterday resulted in audiences that were offset by 30 minutes. Therefore, certain audience reporting Friday was incorrect, most significantly for Women’s Hockey. The accurate audience for Canada’s gold medal win was 7.5 million viewers and becomes the fourth most-watched sporting event of the Games. View the updated release here.

Day 15 Average Audiences
OLYMPIC MORNING/LE RÉVEIL OLYMPIQUE 951,000
OLYMPIC DAYTIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE 3 million
OLYMPIC PRIME TIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE 7.7 million

Additional Day 15 Highlights – Television

• Once again, the Consortium’s full-day audience was more than 4 million viewers per average minute. Nearly 83% of the Canadian population watched Vancouver 2010 coverage yesterday on television, representing 27,763,000 viewers.
• 18.9 million Canadians sampled Friday’s gold medal match in Women’s Curling, in which Canada’s Cheryl Bernard and her rink won silver. Watched on average by 6.8 million viewers (with 1.8 million viewers on TSN alone), overall coverage peaked at 11.3 million viewers.
• On Sportsnet, the Men’s 500m and Men’s 5000m Relay Short Track Speed Skating finals attracted more than two million viewers each. On RDS, 1.06 million watched the Ladies’ 1000m quarter-finals.
• On Day 15, OLYMPIC PRIME TIME reached a new record high, with 7.7 million viewers watching on average throughout the eight-hour program from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. ET.
• OLYMPIC MORNING has now reached more than 24 million viewers.
• JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE delivered 1.05 million viewers for V/CPAC, RDS and RIS Info Sports, while JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE was watched by 485,000 viewers.

Additional Day 15 Highlights – Online

• On Day 15, CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca again saw more than
• 2 million videos viewed on the sites.*
• For the fourth day in a row, there were more than 15 million page views (15.6 million) on the sites.
• Total page views for the Games now total 187.1 million.
• Top on demand videos for Day 15: #1 Women’s CAN/USA Gold Medal Game Highlights, #2 Women’s Hockey CAN/SWE Highlights (9th day in a row), #3 Bronze Medallist Joannie Rochette’s Free Skate, #4 Gold Medallist Yu-Na Kim’s Free Skate and #5 Joannie Rochette’s OLYMPIC MORNING Interview with Beverly Thomson.
• Concurrent video streams maxed at 88,781 during the Men’s Hockey CAN/SVK semifinal game.*
• Most-viewed athlete information on Day 15 was for Joannie Rochette. Canadian Curling Skip Cheryl Bernard is in the Top 5 for the 10th day in a row, followed by Men’s Skip Kevin Martin. Yu-Na Kim and Canadian snowboarder Kimiko Zakreski round out the Top 5.

Top Five Television Events – Day 15
Total Viewers Event Time (PT) Channels

1. 9.7 million Men’s Hockey: CAN/SVK 18:35 CTV, V/CPAC, OMNI.1, OMNI.2, OMNI AB, OMNI BC, APTN
2. 6.8 million Women’s Curling: CAN/SWE 15:06 CTV, V/CPAC, TSN, RDS
3. 3 million Short Track Speed Skating: Men’s 500m Finals 19:17 Sportsnet, RDS
4. 2.54 million Short Track Speed Skating: Ladies’ 1000m Quarter-finals 18:17 Sportsnet, RDS
5. 2.46 million Short Track Speed Skating: Men’s 5000m Relay Finals 19:54 Sportsnet, RDS

Sources
Television: BBM Canada
Online: Omniture unless otherwise indicated
*Conviva

That does it for now.

NBC’s Olympic Quotage For Day 16

We’ve reached the final day of the Winter Olympics. This means the last Olympic press releases are rolling into the Fang’s Bites inbox.

We have Saturday’ daytime quotage which included an interview with Team USA men’s hockey General Manger Brian Burke.

DAY 16 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE

“It’s an inspiration to a whole generation of young athletes.” –Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell on Vancouver as an Olympic host city

“It’s like getting even with your big brother.” – NBC’s Mike Milbury on Team USA facing Canada

VANCOUVER - February 27, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC with live coverage of the women’s speed skating pursuit gold medal final, women’s cross-country 30km mass start gold medal final and men’s snowboard parallel competition. Live on USA Network, the men’s curling bronze medal match between Switzerland and Sweden.

Daytime host Al Michaels sat down with the Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell to recap the Olympics in Vancouver and USA Hockey GM Brian Burke.

NBC News’ Tom Brokaw presented a 30-minute piece on the town of Gander, Newfoundland where on September 11, 2001 38 jumbo jets carrying 7,000 passengers were diverted. In September 2009, Brokaw traveled to Gander with several of the grateful Americans, including parents of a New York City firefighter who was an emergency responder at the World Trade Center; a retired Ohio State administrator who was so inspired by the hospitality she experienced in Newfoundland she helped organize a scholarship fund for local students; and a Texas lady and a British gentleman who found true love during that fateful week in September 2001.

NBC’s Jimmy Roberts and Cris Collinsworth stopped by the studio to report on Canada and its fans. NBC’s Mike Milbury previewed the men’s ice hockey gold medal final between USA and Canada.

NBC

CAMPBELL ON THE IMPACT THE OLYMPICS HAS ON VANCOUVER: “It’s just been phenomenal. That electricity and energy that’s come into the city.”

“It couldn’t have been better, from my perspective, in terms of how people have felt about the Games.”

CAMPBELL ON VANCOUVER’S OLYMPIC LEGACY: “It’s an inspiration to a whole generation of young athletes. It’s how the athletes perform. It’s the dedication. It’s the athletes that finish when they fall. It’s the athletes that act with grace and confidence and a commitment to themselves to being the best they can. That’s the real long term legacy.”

BURKE ON THE USA-CANADA MEN’S HOCKEY GAME SUNDAY: From our perspective, this is our chief rival. Whatever cliché you want to use. This is David and Goliath. In Canada, people think it’s their game. It would be huge for us to be able to do this and that’s what we intend to do.”

“Nothing is going to change on our team. We’re the youngest team in the tournament. We rely on that youthful enthusiasm and foot speed and we rely on our goaltender. We’re not going to change our game. Playing with Canada, they’ve got the best defense in the tournament and quality goaltending, but I think they concentrate on getting the puck out of the ring quickly. It’s going to be a dynamite game. I’m not going to enjoy it, because I don’t enjoy when my teams play, but everyone watching on TV is.”

BURKE ON TEAM USA: “In the preliminary round, even though we went 3-0, I thought we played with ten guys carrying the team and Ryan Miller.  I blasted the team after the first three games and said that we need all hands on deck and we’ve gotten that in the two games since then. All the players have chipped in and we played our best hockey the last game and I think you’ll see our best tomorrow.”

BURKE ON CHOOSING RYAN MILLER TO START IN GOAL: “That’s the only decision that we didn’t have fist-fight over. Putting the team together was a natural. We have a young team. He’s calm, and he’s mechanical and methodical and economical. That translates to our young players well, so that was an easy one.” 

BURKE ON HIS SONS DEATH IN A CAR ACCIDENT DAYS BEFORE THE OPENING CEREMONY: “It’s been difficult. It’s really been helpful to have this tournament so there’s a reason to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving on. You try to cry a little bit less everyday. My wife’s been great, my kids have been great, my siblings have been great and that’s helped. I think really, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to cry a little bit less everyday.” 

MILBURY ON THE CANADA-USA RIVALRY: “It’s like getting even with your big brother. There’s a feeling of entitlement when it comes to the Canadians and hockey. They are a little bit nervous about the Americans, because the little guy came to play.”
 
MILBURY ON USA’S GOALTENDER RYAN MILLER: “Miller’s been completely composed. He had 42 saves against the Canadians the last time out. If he’s not standing on top of his head then they don’t win that hockey game.”

ROBERTS ON HOCKEY IN CANADA: “You know the old axiom. There are two things that matter in Texas, right? There’s football and there’s spring football. That’s the kind of the way it is in Canada with hockey. Tomorrow they’ll get a shot at what they feel is the single most important prize of these Games.”

COLLINSWORTH ON CANADA’S HOSPITALITY: “It’s like they’re hosting you in their house.”

“We’re all very lucky to have the Canadians around. They’ve been a great host.”

WOMEN’S SPEED SKATING PURSUIT GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Dan Hicks (Play-By-Play), Dan Jansen (Analyst), Andrea Kremer (Reporter)
Gold: Germany
Silver: Japan
Bronze: Poland

HICKS ON THE SPEED SKATING PURSUIT: “It just takes one skater to lag behind and it all comes tumbling down.”

JANSEN ON GERMANY ADVANCING TO THE GOLD MEDAL FINAL: “They are able to survive as Friesinger slides across!”

HICKS ON GERMANY’S ANNA FRIESINGER: “Friesinger falling, actually swimming across the ice!

“Just when you think you have seen it all, we see something else.”

“What a way to go out for Anni Friesinger’s storied Olympic career.”

JANSEN ON POLAND WINNING BRONZE: “Very surprising bronze medal for the Polish team, but well earned.”

WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY 30KM MASS START GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland
Silver: Marit Bjoergen, Norway
Bronze: Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Finland

TRAUTWIG ON NORWAY’S MARIT BJOERGEN: “We may have already had a coronation. Marit Bjoergen has three goals and a bronze. Today she goes to make it four.”

“Bjoergen is on her way to setting a mark that Norwegians and all female cross-country skiers will chase for quite some time.”

TRAUTWIG ON POLAND’S JUSTYNA KOWLCZYK: “She’s reminding everyone why she’s wearing number one.”

“Kowalczyk is going to blaze a trail for Polish gold. That’s as good as it gets.”

“Kowalczyk is going to leave here with the perfect set of souvenirs. A bronze, a silver, and a gold.”

TRAUTWIG ON BJOERGEN VS. KOWLCZYK: “We’ve got the best female cross-country skier on the planet during this Olympics, versus the best female cross-country skier on the planet coming into the Winter Olympics.”

MEN’S SNOWBOARD PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM COMPETITION:
Pat Parnell (Play-By-Play), Todd Richards (Analyst), Tina Dixon (Reporter)

RICHARDS ON THE COMPETITION: “These guys are simply carving to the max here.”

“Smooth and confident is going to be the name of the game today.”

PARNELL ON THE CROWD: “A huge American fan base. Family and friends in the crowd, definitely keeping spirits high.”

RICHARDS ON THE TRACK CONDITIONS: “Picture these racers, they’re like cars. It’s like an Indy Car race. They want to have a smooth surface, not a dirt road.”

PARNELL ON USA’S CHRIS KLUG FANS IN THE RAIN:“Soggy foam fingers, they approve!”

USA NETWORK

MEN’S CURLING BRONZE MEDAL GAME: SWITZERLAND VS. SWEDEN
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Switzerland: 5 Sweden: 4
 
JONES: “What I am marveled at though was the composure of Switzerland. When Sweden was throwing all of those incredible shots at them, they never got flustered, they stayed within themselves and just kept making shot after shot.”

CATALON ON TEAM SWEDEN: “The Swedish played their hearts out, the team of 24-year-olds. You can expect to see them again.”  
 
DUGUID ON TEAM SWEDEN: “For a young team to be that high up in the percentages is remarkable. Absolutely remarkable.”

And to the primetime quotage which included the men’s hockey bronze medal game which turned out to be an exciting affair and the very last curling match of the Olympics. I never thought I would say this, but I’ll miss curling. I really picked up a lot of the nuances this year.

USA RIDES NIGHT TRAIN TO FIRST BOBSLED GOLD IN 62 YEARS; CANADA WINS MEN’S CURLING GOLD; US MEN EARN SILVER IN TEAM PURSUIT

“They were superior the whole way.” – NBC’s John Morgan on USA-1

“Nothing was going to keep Chad Hedrick out of this gold medal final.” – NBC’s Dan Jansen

VANCOUVER - Feb. 27, 2010 - For the first time in 62 years, the United States won a gold medal in bobsled, when Steve Holcomb piloted USA-1 - a.k.a. ‘Night Train’ - to victory in four-man on the penultimate night of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The last bobsled gold medal for the US was piloted by Francis Tyler in 1948 in St. Moritz.

The US earned silver in men’s speed skating team pursuit, narrowly losing gold to Canada. For US speed skater Chad Hendrick, it was his fifth career Olympic medal. The women’s team finished fourth. It was a strong day all around for the host nation. In men’s curling on CNBC, Canada, described by curling host Fred Roggin as ‘curling crazed,’ defeated Norway, 6-3. The host nation also captured gold in men’s parallel giant slalom when Canada’s Jasey Jay Anderson won the event.

Heading into the final day of competition, Canada leads the gold medal count with 13, Germany is second with 10 and the US is third with nine. The US leads the total medal count with 36 and is guaranteed one more medal with the men’s hockey team playing Canada in the gold medal game on Sunday. With at least 37 medals, the US will break the record for most medals at a Winter Olympics set by Germany with 36 in 2002 in Salt Lake.

Figure skating presented its exhibition gala, which included gold medalists Kim Yu-Na and Evan Lysacek. On MSNBC, Finland defeated Slovakia, 5-3, with a four-goal third period to win the bronze medal in men’s hockey.

Lindsey Vonn joined primetime host Bob Costas in studio to discuss her Olympic experience. 

Vonn: “It’s been definitely an interesting and wild ride for me. Despite everything that’s happened, I’m so thrilled with everything I’ve been able to accomplish in these games. It’s been a lot to take in. But I can finally breathe and I feel a lot more relaxed now.”
 
Vonn on her injury: “When I first got on snow, it was really painful. Because of all the weather delays, that helped enormously. I got four or five extra days that I wouldn’t normally have to heal. That, I think, was the time I needed to be able to compete at the level that I wanted to. It was definitely a struggle day-to-day but it got better progressively throughout the Games.”
 
Vonn on her gold medal race: “I was so nervous but so determined at the same time. I knew exactly what I had to do. Some of the other girls had really good runs and I wanted to go down and give it my all. I don’t think anyone felt or looked perfect but this course was technically challenging.”

Vonn on her celebration after her gold medal race: “I just collapsed, I was so happy. I knew that if I came to the finish and I was in the lead, that position would stay. Like you said, I had a big exhale and I collapsed. I was just so happy.”
 
Vonn on her bronze medal race: “I gave it everything I had. I know I was prepared for that race and I was really happy with my bronze medal.”
 
Vonn on whether or not she plans to compete in Sochi: “Oh yeah. I definitely still love what I do. I’m so happy and I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Costas then surprised Vonn with the news that she had been cast as a jury foreman on her favorite show Law and Order. The two ran her lines together for practice. 

Costas to Vonn: Ok, last thing. I hear you’re obsessed with Law and Order. Even to the point where you said you’d do anything to be in the show. You’d be a corpse, a stiff?”

Vonn: “I would, totally. I would totally do it.”

Costas: “Before you came in here, we spoke to Dick Wolf, the executive producer. He has cast you.”

Vonn: “No way.”
 
Costas: “Yes, I’ve got your lines and we’re going to run your lines right now. Can you play a jury foreman?”
 
Vonn: “Oh, I could.”
 
Costas: “I’m going to ask if you’ve reached a verdict and your line is ‘We have, your honor.’ And then, ‘we find the defendant guilty.’ Has the jury reached a verdict?”
 
Vonn: “We have, your honor. We find the defendant guilty.”
 
Costas: “First take - Emmy nominated. Thanks, Lindsey.”
 
BOBSLED:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: John Morgan
Reporter: Lewis Johnson
 
Holcomb after their third run: “We just have to put one more together. Another great push, another decent drive and we’ll be on top.”
 
Morgan on Germany’s Andre Lange: “I don’t think he has confidence in his sled or his equipment.”
 
Morgan after Lange’s final run: “The last run of a legend.”
 
Papa before Holcomb’s last run: “Steve Holcomb is about 51 seconds away from erasing 62 years of frustration for USA bobsledding.”
 
Papa as Holcomb crossed the finish line on his final run: “Steve Holcomb has raced for gold.”

Papa: “And let the record show, after 62 years, it’s Holcomb, Olsen, Mesler and Tomasevicz that are golden for USA bobsled.” 

Morgan: “They were superior the whole way.”

Holcomb after the race: “It’s just huge. We’ve been working so hard for this. It’s been four years, a tough four years, but we came together today as a team and worked hard. It’s huge and it’s really going to take our country and our program to the next level. It just means so much to all of us. We’ve all been working hard so it’s awesome.

“Back then I definitely didn’t expect this. I pretty much was retired and had come to terms with that. But this just shows you that you never give up and keep going and keep fighting.”

Costas on the team doing the “Holcy” dance after their win: “Lewis Johnson doing his best to disguise his abject horror as he gets a look at the ‘Holcy’ firsthand.”

SPEED SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Dan Hicks
Analyst: Dan Jansen
Reporter: Andrea Kremer

Jansen on Hendrick, who skated injured Saturday: “Nothing was going to keep Chad Hedrick out of this gold medal final.”
 
Hicks on the team pursuit being unpredictable: “Things can fall apart quickly in the team pursuit.”
 
Jansen on the closeness of the race: “On paper, this doesn’t get much closer.”
 
Hicks on Canada’s close win: “Just by two tenths. That close.”

SNOWBOARDING:
Play-by-Play: Pat Parnell
Analyst: Todd Richards
Reporter: Tina Dixon

Pat Parnell on Russia’s Stanislov Detkov jumping the gate prematurely to be knocked out of bronze medal contention: “That is disastrous.”
 
Parnell on France’s Mathieu Bozzetto, who goes on to win silver: “The culmination of perseverance.”
 
Parnell on Canada’s Jasey Jay Anderson, who won gold: “Jasey Jay Anderson, at 34, he’s at his finest.”
 
“For the fourth time on Cypress Mountain, Canada grabs gold.”
 
“You could not pick a better day to retire.”

ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Todd Brooker
Reporter: Steve Porino
 
Brooker on silver medalist Ivica Kostelic from Croatia: “Kostelic is skiing out of his head but not out of control.”
 
Brooker on Italy’s Giuliano Razzoli: “They call him a rocket for good reason.”
 
Brooker on Kostelic: “His experience is second to none.”
 
Brooker on Razzoli: “I can’t believe he’s only 25. He’s skiing with so much maturity.”
 
Brooker on Alberto Tomba’s reaction to Rozzoli winning gold: “That brings a tear to my eye, seeing a guy like Tomba cry over this.”
 
Rozzoli on winning gold: “This is unbelievable. It was my dream and now it comes true -a gold medal.”
 
Rozzoli on his idol, Tomba: “Alberto is my friend. It is impossible to be like Alberto Tomba.”
 
Brooker on Bode Miller skiing off the course: “Less than seven seconds into the course and Bode Miller is already standing there wondering what might have been.”
 
Miller on if he’s happy with his Olympics: “Yeah, 100%. I couldn’t be happier. Like I said, it looks all good when you’re three for three. It looks like, this dude’s really good. He’s got it all in hand.’ But the risk I was taking to get those three medals, the risk I was taking to ski that way, it’s maximum risk. If you want to ski that way, and you know you’re going to do it, you’re going to have to accept these results. The GS and the slalom, it does happen. You can do everything right and still be out.”
 
Miller on being able to enjoy skiing: “That was the real exciting conclusion to the season for me. You do all the grind work coming up to it, and then you really don’t know if any of that stuff is going to come together. Like I said, results are results but to really have that kind of intensity and be able to push it when you get here is a whole other story. I was super psyched to be able to do that and to get the results was even better. It was a real perfect ending for me.”

FIGURE SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Tom Hammond
Analysts: Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic and Tracy Wilson 
Reporter: Andrea Joyce

Hamilton on Joannie Rochette: “Only the truly great skaters have something to say in the exhibition and she just spoke to all of us.”
 
Hammond on Evgeni Plushenko’s song choice, “Je suis malade”, which translates to ‘I am sick.’: “Do you think he’s trying to send a message?”
 
Hammond on Kim Yu-Na:  “Two of the best performances anybody had ever seen - short program and free skate, here in Vancouver.”
 
Hamilton on Kim Yu-Na’s exhibition performance: “This should make it number three.”
 
Hamilton on Lysacek’s gold medal: “He earned it the best way possible. He worked harder than anybody else.”

Bezic on Virtue and Moir’s 13-year skating career together: “Theirs seems like a fairytale story doesn’t it?”

CNBC, Men’s Curling Gold Medal Game:
Canada 6 vs. Norway 3
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-By-Play), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
 
Roggin: “Imagine waiting eight years for one moment. The chance for a do-over. Another shot at the one that got away. Kevin Martin had that chance today and made the most of it. Haunted by memories of a miss in Salt Lake, Martin and his team brought curling crazy Canada to their feet. A day of redemption for Kevin Martin and a gold medal for Canada.”

Catalon: “Let the party begin. Canada wins gold.”

“Standing ovation inside of the Vancouver Olympic Centre.”

“The Canadians prevail in front of their home fans.”

Jones on Canada: “You can only imagine for the four athletes on the ice what that moment feels like to have worked so hard the last four years of preparing for the Olympic trials and then to get here in Vancouver. It’s icing on the cake. It was such an incredible moment to witness.”

“The joy you could see on all of their faces, especially for Kevin Martin, was just inspiring.”

“They were on fire.”

Jones: “The crowd. The energy. To complete it, it’s amazing.”

Duguid: “This place is electric.”

Canada’s Kevin Martin on winning the gold medal: “Winning at home in curling is awesome.”

“It will be pretty nice tonight when it all sinks in.”

Jones on Canada’s Martin: “Under this pressure and in this arena and on home ice to win; that’s a thrill for him!”

Roggin on Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud: “This by far is the biggest stage he has been on in curling.”

Duguid on Norway: “This team has consistently gotten better with every game.”

Jones: “There’s nothing like the pressure of an Olympics. I’ll tell you, it does funny things.”

Catalon: “Nergaard is the only member of this Norwegian team who has Olympic experience prior to these Games in Vancouver, and he won a gold in 2002 as Norway’s alternate so if he wins today he would be the first men’s curler in Olympic history to win two gold medals.”

Jones: “It’s amazing how quickly a curling game can swing.”

Jones on Norway: “The inability to make those big shots is huge.”

Catalon on Norway’s Christoffer Svae and his team’s uniforms: “He said everyone where’s black, so he wanted to spice things up.”

“They’ve become an instant hit.”

Catalon: “The Norwegians have drawn a lot of attention because of their pants, but their play has also stood out.”

MSNBC, Men’s Ice Hockey Bronze Medal Game:
Finland 5 vs. Slovakia 3
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Milbury (Studio Analyst), Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst)
 
Patrick on Finland’s comeback in the game: “The first two-goal deficit overcome in these Olympics.”
 
Roenick on the end of the game: “It really woke me up.”
 
Albert: “A four-goal, third period for the Finns.”
 
Micheletti on Finland: “It was a tremendous comeback.”
 
Albert on Finland’s Teemu Selanne: “He will go home with a third medal.”
 
“The all-time leading scorer in Olympic ice hockey with 37 points.”
 
Micheletti on Finland’s Teemu Selanne: “One of the great ambassadors of hockey throughout the world in his career. He has been one of the faces of not only hockey, but Finnish athletics.”
 
“We are going to miss him at the Olympics.”
 
Micheletti on Slovakia: “They wanted that medal so badly.”
 
“This is a team that showed a lot of guts and a lot of determination.”
 
Albert: “Slovakia, although they are hanging their heads right now, it was their best-ever finish at the Olympics in men’s ice hockey.”
 
Micheletti on Finland and Slovakia: “Hockey is No. 1 in both countries.”

Our last Olympics quotage post should be up late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

Universal Sports’ Schedule For Last Day of Olympics

I’m hearing that Universal Sports did a bang-up job during the Olympics with its studio programming for the Winter Olympics. I didn’t see it because DirecTV dropped the channel after having it for a month in September of last year.

Anyway, here’s what you can expect to see on Universal Sports tomorrow for the last day of the Olympics.

UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:

‘AMERICA’S GREATEST GAMES’ AND UPDATED SUNDAY SCHEDULE

Saturday, February 27, 2010 — On Sunday, Feb. 28, the final day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports presents a special, 30-minute recap from Vancouver with ‘America’s Greatest Games,’ a look at the best Team USA moments from the past two weeks. Hosted by Terry Gannon, the piece will take a look at Shaun White’s achievements on the snowboarding halfpipe, the record-breaking medal haul from the U.S. Ski Team – including Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso – and a look at the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian of all time, Short Track Speed Skater Apolo Ohno.

Universal Sports will have an abbreviated schedule on Sunday, February 28, featuring ‘Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz,’ ‘Meet the Olympic Press,’ and ‘America’s Greatest Games.’

UPDATED UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK SCHEDULE: Sunday, february 28, 2010 (all times ET)

10–11AM Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz

11–11:30 PM Meet The Olympic Press

11:30 AM–12:30 PM Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz Reprise

12:30 –1 PM America’s Greatest Games

Ok, I think that will do it for today.

Fox Soccer Plus Premieres Monday on DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable and Verizion Fios

The new Fox Soccer Plus which launches Monday and will take the place of Setanta Sports, is going to be seen on four cable and satellite providers when it takes the air. Like Setanta, it will have English Premier League games, UEFA Champions League along with some rugby. It will be a premium channel so the price you will have to pay should you subscribe is up to the cable or satellite provider.

FOX SOCCER PLUS SET TO LAUNCH MARCH 1
WITH DIRECTV, DISH NETWORK, TIME WARNER CABLE,
AND VERIZON FiOS

PREMIUM NETWORK TO FEATURE EXCLUSIVE LIVE SPORTS

LOS ANGELES, February 26, 2010—Fox Soccer Plus has reached agreements with DIRECTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS to offer the service to subscribers beginning March 1, 2010, it was announced today by Mike Hopkins, President, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, Fox Cable Networks.

“Fox Soccer Plus is a dynamic new network that will provide our distribution partners with the ability to profitably reach an extremely passionate subscriber base,” said Hopkins. “Soccer and international sports fans will thoroughly enjoy the diverse and compelling lineup of live events.”

Fox Soccer Plus will feature new exclusive matches from England’s Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, England’s FA Cup, Italy’s Serie A, the prestigious Carling Cup, and action from the Coca-Cola Championship. The network also will showcase an annual selection of live and exclusive England Men’s National Team matches.

In addition to its impressive soccer coverage, Fox Soccer Plus will include premium rugby from the Guinness Premiership, the Heineken Cup, and Magners League. The network’s total annual programming package will include nearly 600 exclusive events.

That will do it for the press release posts for now.

Various Sports Press Releases For Your Reading Pleasure

Have a few press releases for you to read and these having nothing to do with one particular subject. Let’s give you what I have right now.

First, Fox Sports will be covering the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Las Vegas tomorrow.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

FOX Sports Hits the Jackpot with

NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Las Vegas

DW & Hammond: RCR is Back on Track

FOXSports.com’s Marvez Looks at Who’s Under the Microscope at the NFL Combine

IS THE NO. 48 POISED TO CONTINUE DOMINATION? – On Sunday, Feb. 28 (2:00 PM ET), FOX Sports rides into the desert for NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Las Vegas Presented by Pennzoil. Following an up-and-down SpeedWeeks in Daytona, four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was back in the winner’s circle last week at Fontana. Championship contenders Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin headline a stacked field looking to move up the points standings in Sin City. Coverage starts with FOX NASCAR SUNDAY host Chris Myers, along with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond from the Hollywood Hotel, FOX Sports’ traveling prerace set providing up-to-the-minute reports and live interviews with drivers, crewmen and officials shaping the day’s action. Once the green flag drops, race announcer Mike Joy will be alongside analysts Waltrip and Larry McReynolds to call all the twists and turns on the track while Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for up-to-the-second news and notes.

SUNDAY, FEB. 28 – NASCAR SPRINT CUP RACING, 2:00 PM ET

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING IS LEAPS AND BOUNDS FROM A YEAR AGO – FOX Sports prerace analysts Darrell Waltrip & Jeff Hammond are pleased to see that Richard Childress Racing teams are running up front where both analysts believe they belong. It’s an astonishing turnaround when you consider that no RCR driver made it to the Chase last year. “In Fontana, Richard Childress Racing continued their amazing turnaround from last year and they’ll be looking to keep that momentum going this weekend in Vegas. Childress had all three cars finishing in the top 10 and all three cars could have won that race! As a car owner, that’s about as good as it gets,” said Waltrip. Hammond added, “The changes with their crew chiefs from last year, is starting to produce results.”

For more from Darrell Waltrip click here: http://tinyurl.com/yk4t7fy

For Hammond’s take: http://tinyurl.com/ykvgbwu

SPEED INTRODUCES FAST TRACK TO FAME – What would you get if you mixed a grassroots American talent search with a dash of the gregarious personality of Michael Waltrip and spread it liberally over NASCAR Nation? Answer: SPEED’s super new talent show, FAST TRACK TO FAME. Set to premiere Monday, March 1 at 8:00 PM ET, FAST TRACK TO FAME is a wild, new talent show produced exclusively for SPEED and hosted by renowned NASCAR owner/driver Michael Waltrip, one of NASCAR’s most out-going and popular personalities and younger brother of NASCAR on FOX lead race analyst Darrell Waltrip. Charissa Thompson, well known for her work on FOX Sports and FSN, serves as co-host. “With a massive SPEED presence at every NASCAR race all season long, FAST TRACK TO FAME gives fans and viewers a whole new level of entertainment,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell.

ESPN2 will have four Top 25 women’s college basketball teams in action over the next two days.

Women’s College Basketball: Four of Top 25 teams in Action, including No. 1 Connecticut

Judgment Week continues as ESPN2’s upcoming women’s college basketball schedule will include four games featuring five Top 25 teams, including four of the top 10 and one game with two Top 25 teams: Big Monday features No. 1 Connecticut squares off with No. 8 Notre Dame on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Commentators	Networks
Sun, Feb 28	3 p.m.	No. 9 FSU at Maryland	Pam Ward & Rebeca Lobo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	5 p.m.	Kansas at No. 17 Baylor	Beth Mowins, LaChina Robinson	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	6 p.m.	Mississippi at No. 4 Tennessee	Sam Gore & Abby Waner	ESPNU
Mon, Mar 1	7 p.m.	Big Monday: No. 1 UConn at No. 8 Notre Dame	Bob Wischusen, Carolyn Peck & Rebecca Lobo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com

ESPN also has plenty of men’s college basketball action starting on Monday.

Men’s College Basketball: Top 10 Teams in Action

ESPN’s men’s college basketball schedule for early next week will include several telecasts featuring ranked teams. Highlights:

• ESPN’s Big Monday BIG EAST telecast March 1 will pit No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West Virginia at 7 p.m.
• Three Super Tuesday telecasts, March 2, will include a ranked team, highlighted by two in the top 10: No. 8 Villanova at Cincinnati at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and No. 9 Ohio State against Illinois at 9 p.m. on ESPN. In addition, ESPN will televise No. 20 Vanderbilt at Florida at 7 p.m.
• On Wednesday, March 3, ESPN will showcase No. 5 Duke at Maryland in an ACC contest at 9 p.m.

Date	Time	Matchup	Commentators	Network
Mon, March 1	7 p.m.	No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West Virginia	Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas & Bill Raftery	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson State	Anthony Calhoun & Stan Lewter	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Oklahoma at No. 21 Texas	Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	North Carolina A&T at Morgan State	Charlie Neal & Dennis Felton	ESPNU
Tue, March 2	7 p.m.	No. 20 Vanderbilt at Florida	Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	No. 8 Villanova at Cincinnati	John Saunders & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	7:30 p.m.	South Florida at DePaul	Jim Barbar & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Illinois at No. 9 Ohio State	Dave O’Brien, Steve Lavin & Erin Andrews	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9:30 p.m.	Louisville at Marquette	Lou Canellis & Mike Kelley	ESPNU
Wed, March 3	7 p.m.	Connecticut at Notre Dame	TBD & Digger Phelps	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Wake Forest at Florida State	Mike Patrick & Len Elmore	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Alabama at South Carolina	Carter Blackburn & Litterial Green	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 5 Duke at Maryland	Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas & Erin Andrews	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	Oklahoma State at No. 23 Texas A&M	Ron Franklin & Stephen Bardo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	Virginia at Boston College	Dan McLaughlin, Tim Welsh & Andy Katz	ESPNU

One more press release post for you coming up.

A Strong Friday for the Olympics

NBC just sent this press release regarding its ratings for Friday. The ratings were not only good, they were better than last Friday’s by 13%.

Take a look.

183 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE WATCHED THE OLYMPICS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBC UNIVERSAL THROUGH 15 DAYS

24.5 Million Average Viewers Friday Night on NBC in Primetime up 54% From Comparable Friday at 2006 Winter Games

69 Million People Watched the Olympics Friday on the Networks of NBC Universal, 17 Million More Than the Comparable Day at the 2006 Winter Games.

VANCOUVER - February 27, 2010 - 183 million Americans have watched the Vancouver Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal through 15 days of the Games; five million more than watched the first 15 days of the 2006 Winter Games (178 million), according to data available today from The Nielsen Company.

When the viewership number is available tomorrow, the Vancouver Games (with still one day remaining) will surpass the Nagano Games, Albertville Games and Turin Games and will trail the Lillehammer Games and likely be just below the Salt Lake City Games as the most-watched Winter Olympics in history.

MOST WATCHED WINTER OLYMPICS IN HISTORY:
1994 Lillehammer  204 million (Entire Olympics)
2002 Salt Lake City  187 million (Entire Olympics)
2006 Turin   184 million (Entire Olympics)
1992 Albertville  184 million (Entire Olympics)
1998 Nagano  184 million (Entire Olympics)
2010 Vancouver  183 million (through 15 days - Two days remaining)

FRIDAY NIGHT UP 54 PERCENT FROM COMPARABLE NIGHT IN 2006; DOMINATES PRIMETIME: Friday night’s coverage drew 24.5 million viewers, 8.6 million more than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (15.9 million, up 54%). 

• Last night the Olympics, which averaged 24.5 million viewers, more than doubled the combined delivery of the other three major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox: 11.0 million) beating the three together by 124 percent.

15-DAY AVERAGE IS 4 MILLION MORE THAN 2006: The 24.7 million average viewers through 15 nights of the Vancouver Games is four million more and 19 percent higher than the average viewership of the 2006 Winter Games through 15 nights (20.8 million).  

The national household rating of 13.9/24 for Friday night is up more than four full ratings points and 43 percent higher than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (9.7/17). The 14.0/23 average household rating-to-date is 12 percent higher than 2006 (12.5/20).  

NBC OLYMPICS MOBILE: 77 MILLION PAGE VIEWS: NBC’s Olympics Mobile platforms (Mobile Web Site and iTunes App), through 15 days have amassed 77 million page views more than double the total number of page views for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (34.7 million).

• There have been 1.7 million mobile video streams in 15 days, more than five times the total number for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (301k).
• By the time the Opening Ceremony broadcast started at 7:30 p.m. on Feb 12, NBC Olympics Mobile already generated more page views than the entire 2006 Winter Games (1.07 million).

NBCOLYMPICS.COM HAS MORE THAN TRIPLE THE USERS OF THE ENTIRE 2006 WINTER GAMES: Through 15 days, NBCOlympics.com has delivered 42.4 million total unique users, nearly 30 million more unique users and 219 percent higher than the entire 17 days of the 2006 Winter Games (13.3 million).

• NBCOlympics.com’s 651 million page views through 15 days nearly doubles the total for the 17 days of the 2006 Winter Games (331 million).
• Through 15 days, NBCOlympics.com has seen 40.8 million video streams serving more than three million hours of video, 32 million more than the total number of video streams from the 2006 Winter Games (8.4 million).

NOTE: All data for NBCOlympics.com and NBC Olympics Mobile is provided by Omniture.

METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE (12-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 19.1/31
Central Time Zone  15.6/24
Pacific Time Zone  15.4/28
Eastern Time Zone  14.9/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS (15-Day Average):
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 22.2/37
2. DENVER, 21.8/36
3. MILWAUKEE, 21.3/33
4. SEATTLE, 19.9/37
5. MINNEAPOLIS, 19.5/33
6. ST. LOUIS, 18.7/29
7. COLUMBUS, 18.2/28
8. SAN DIEGO, 18.1/30
9. WEST PALM BEACH, 18.0/27
10. PORTLAND, 17.9, 33
11. KANSAS CITY, 17.8/27
12. OKLAHOMA CITY, 17.4/26
13. NASHVILLE, 17.3/25
14. FT.MYERS, 17.0/27
T15. AUSTIN, 16.9/27
T15. TULSA, 16.9/25
T17. CLEVELAND, 16.7/26
T17. PROVIDENCE, 16.7/28
19. PHOENIX, 16.6/27
20. BOSTON, 16.5/29
21. CINCINNATI, 16.4/26
T22. SAN FRANCISCO, 16.0/30
T22. DETROIT, 16.0/26
T22.INDIANAPOLIS, 16.0/26
T25. CHICAGO, 15.9/25
T25. WASHINGTON D.C., 15.9/26
T25. SACRAMENTO, 15.9/28
T25. RICHMOND, 15.9/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS FOR FRIDAY, FEB. 26:
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 21.8/37
2. SEATTLE, 20.3/38
3. MILWAUKEE, 19.7/33
4. DENVER, 19.4/35
5. PORTLAND, 18.2/34
6. FT.MYERS, 18.0/29
T7. KANSAS CITY, 17.5/29
T7. OKLAHOMA CITY, 17.5/27
9. CINCINNATI, 17.4/29
T10. ST. LOUIS, 17.3/30
T10. PROVIDENCE, 17.3/28
T12. SAN DIEGO, 17.2/29
T12. HARTFORD, 17.2/27
14. WEST PALM BEACH, 17.1/27
15. SAN FRANCISCO, 17.0/33
16. PHOENIX, 16.6/28
T17. ORLANDO, 16.5/27
T17. COLUMBUS, 16.5/27
19. NASHVILLE, 16.4/25
20. DETROIT, 16.2/25
21. PITTSBURGH, 16.1/24
22. BOSTON, 15.9/27
23. NORFOLK, 15.8/24
24. DAYTON, 15.6/25
25. TULSA, 15.5/24

NBC has to be happy with winning the month of February as well as taking the 18-49 demographic.

Your NBA Press Releases

We have two press releases regarding the NBA and both are from Turner Sports. First is from NBA TV and its coverage for the coming week.

Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons Selected by Fans for Tuesday’s Fan Night Match-Up on NBA TV

NBA TV’s Tuesday Fan Night will feature the Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons game, winning with the most fan votes on NBA.com. The game will air on Tuesday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) with NBA TV host Ernie Johnson and analysts Kevin McHale and Brent Barry on the Pregame Show at 7 p.m. (ET). The night will conclude with host Rick Kamla and analyst Steve Smith on NBA GameTime at 11 p.m. (ET) to recap the games from across the league.

Voting for Fan Night will continue on NBA.com from Tuesday, March 2 (8 a.m. ET) – Thursday, March 5 (Midnight ET) as fans select the match-up for Tues., March 9. Fans can choose between eight teams:

• Miami Heat @ Charlotte Bobcats
• Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers
• Los Angeles Clippers @ Orlando Magic
• Houston Rockets @ Washington Wizards
• Utah Jazz @ Chicago Bulls
• Boston Celtics @ Milwaukee Bucks
• Sacramento Kings @ Portland Trail Blazers
• Toronto Raptors @ Los Angeles Lakers

NBA TV and TNT are teaming up with the NBA on Hoops for St. Jude (hoopsforstjude.com), a unique program that turns a passion for basketball into hope for children battling cancer and other deadly diseases. NBA TV will feature interviews on Fan Night discussing the program and will be featured prominently during the TNT broadcast this Thursday.

NBA TV will feature live game coverage on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. ET with the Houston Rockets @ Utah Jazz, Monday, March 1 at 7 p.m. (ET) with the Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers and Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. (ET) with the Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic.

Fans can also stay connected to the latest NBA action every Tuesday during The Jump on NBA.com. The Jump is a live, interactive show that allows fans to send questions and comments via NBA.com, Facebook or Twitter. The show features host Kyle Montgomery and analysts Dennis Scott and Brent Barry. The show will stream live each week at 1 p.m. ET on NBA.com and air again at 5 p.m. ET.

International basketball is highlighted every Saturday at 1 p.m. (ET), as NBA TV features a Euroleague Game of the Week. This Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1:00 p.m. (ET), NBA TV will feature the match-up between CSKA Moscow with former NBA players Trajan Langdon (Cavs), Viktor Khryapa (Blazers, Bulls), and Zoran Planinic (Nets) versus Asseco Prokom.

SATURDAY, FEB. 27

1- 3 p.m. – Euroleague Game of the Week:CSKA Moscow vs. Asseco Prokom

8- 8:30 p.m. – NBA GameTime, Matt Winer, Eric Snow, Cheryl Miller

8:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. – Pregame Show, Matt Winer, Eric Snow, Cheryl Miller

9- 11:30 p.m. - Houston Rockets @ Utah Jazz, Local Announcers

11:30p.m.- 1:30 a.m. – NBA GameTime, Matt Winer, Eric Snow, Cheryl Miller

SUNDAY, FEB. 28

6- 7 p.m. – NBA GameTime, Marc Fein, Steve Smith, Cheryl Miller

11p.m.- 12 a.m. - NBA GameTime, Marc Fein, Steve Smith, Cheryl Miller

MONDAY, MARCH 1

12-1 p.m. – NBA.COM FANTASY INSIDER, Rick Kamla, Dennis Scott

6:30- 7 p.m. – Pregame Show, Matt Winer, Brent Barry, Steve Smith

7- 9:30 p.m. – Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers, Local Announcers

9:30 p.m.- 2 a.m. – NBA GameTime, Matt Winer, Brent Barry, Steve Smith

TUESDAY, MARCH 2 : FAN NIGHT
7 – 7:30 p.m. – Pregame Show, Ernie Johnson, Kevin McHale, Brent Barry
7:30 – 10 p.m. – Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons, Local Announcers
10:30 – 11 p.m. – NBA GameTime, Ernie Johnson, Kevin McHale, Brent Barry
11 p.m.- 1 a.m. – NBA GameTime, Rick Kamla, Steve Smith

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
6:30- 7 p.m. – Pregame Show, Larry Smith, Kenny Smith, Eric Snow
7- 9:30 p.m. – Golden State Warriors @ Orlando Magic, Local Announcers
9:30 p.m.- 2 a.m. – NBA GameTime, Matt Winer, Eric Snow

And you have quotage from TNT’s Thursday doubleheader.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA – Thursday, February 24, 2010

TNT’s NBA Thursday coverage continues Thursday, March 4 at 8 p.m. (ET) with a doubleheader featuring the Los Angeles Lakers @ Miami Heat followed by the Utah Jazz @ Phoenix Suns.

CLIP OF THE DAY

(click on link below to watch)

Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler discusses the NBA not allowing him to chew on straws during games

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I don’t like to play bad rookies, I like to play good rookies and I’ve got a good one. Steph Curry is going to be a sensational point guard, we love him to death, he’s the perfect rookie to have and I play him every moment I can.”

– Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson on his reputation of not liking to play rookies

**** **** **** ****

TNT NBA Tip-off

Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith

Barkley on the addition of forward Antawn Jamison to the Cavs: “(The Cavaliers) are going to send a message tonight that we are the team to beat in the East. Mike Brown has got to speed up the tempo of the game. He’s gets a terrific player like Antawn Jamison and they are still walking the ball up and down the court. First of all, (Mike Brown) made a mistake by not starting (Jamison) from day one, he’s been the second best player on the team since he stepped out there. LeBron (James) has got to finish more instead of being the facilitator. The Jamison trade to me puts Cleveland over the hump. I wish Mike Brown would say when you get a new car you don’t drive the damn speed limit. When you get Antawn Jamison, speed the game up. Jamison is going to be a better player because LeBron is going to make him a better player.”

Smith on why he believes the Celtics are better than the Cavaliers: “I still think the Boston Celtics are a better basketball team. They reason why is they push the ball up and the Celtics and Rajon Rondo will get the old guys some easy baskets so they don’t always have go one-on-one. They get Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett (scoring) by pushing the ball up the court.”

Barkley on how forward Antawn Jamison helps the Cavaliers match up against the Orlando Magic: “(The Cavs) don’t have the disadvantage against Rashard (Lewis) and Vince (Carter). (Antawn Jamison) is going to make those guys work on the defensive end. Last year when they had 97-year-old Ben Wallace and (Anderson) Varejao trying to guard Rashard and (Hedo) Turkoglu and that was the difference in the series. Jamison is a really good player and he’s going to be better with Shaq and Mo Williams and he’s going to make those guys in Orlando work.”

Barkley on a new Rookie of the Year candidate: “I’ve got to apologize somebody, to Stephen Curry. I had already wrapped up Rookie of the Year with (Kings guard) Tyreke Evans. I still think he is the favorite, but Stephen Curry has been balling. I’m going to open it back up.”

Barkley on what the Denver Nuggets’ losses to bad teams indicates: “Everyone wonders if the Nuggets are legitimate contenders. If you lose to bad teams that shows you something, that they only get up for the big games. That shows you they don’t have that mental strength to go out and beat a bad team night in and night out. That shows a flaw. You’ve got to beat them, beat them like they stole something.”

**** **** **** ****

Game 1: Cleveland Cavaliers (108) @ Boston Celtics (88)

Announcers: Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and Reggie Miller with David Aldridge reporting

Miller on the Celtics getting off to a quick start: “When (Rajon) Rondo plays at this pace, pushing the basketball and being aggressive at both ends of the floor, this is when the Celtics are at their best.”

Fratello on why Zydrunas Ilgauskas will return to Celveand for the duration of the season: “I don’t think there’s any question that (Cleveland) is the place Zydrunas Ilgauskas is going to wind up. He’s gone through so much to get himself back on the court after missing two and a half years for foot surgery early on. The Cavaliers stuck with him, they rewarded him with a huge contract, more than one by the way. I feel that’s where he wants to be, his family is there, his children are there, that’s where he should wind up his career.”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Cavaliers coach Mike Brown after the second quarter.

Brown on how the Cavaliers defense will adjust to Celtics guard Rajon Rondo: “Everything (Rondo’s) done is to the rim. We’ve got to do a better job, whether it’s in transition or at half court, of trying to make that paint look crowded and not let him get those layups at the rim.”

**** **** **** ****

Halftime

Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Smith on the Milwaukee Bucks being a top second tier team in the Eastern Conference: “If Andrew Bogut had won four or five more games before All-Star, he was playing like an All-Star. But injuries didn’t get him over the top. He’s healthy now and playing like an All-Star. Brandon Jennings does not have to be a 55-point scorer, he doesn’t even have to be a 20-point scorer, a 16-point, eight-assist guy will get it down in Milwaukee. They are the best second-tier team. The top four are Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and Atlanta, but they are better than Toronto.”

Barkley on the Indiana Pacers: “Reggie Miller watching those Pacers is rolling over in his grave.”

Barkley on the Nuggets needing to beat teams they are better than: “If (the Nuggets) are going to get up it (only against good teams) it tells me something is wrong from a mental toughness standpoint. They are losing against these below 500 teams which they are clearly much better than. Every now and then you might have an upset, but that is ridiculous to be 12-10 (against below 500 teams).”

Smith: “That shows a lack of mental fortitude. When you get into the playoffs that’s what gets you over the hump.”

Barkley on Zydrunas Ilgauskas being allowed to return to the Cavaliers this season following his trade and buy-out with the Wizards: “That thing the Cavaliers are doing to do with (Zydrunas) Ilgauskas, that should be illegal. That’s happened the last three years, when teams work out a deal behind scenes with him, trade to get their team better and then they get to come back. I think that is really unfair and the NBA needs to close that loophole. You shouldn’t be able to go back to your team that year.”

Smith: “That circumvents the salary cap, it gives the guy an opportunity to go back. Everyone knew even before the deal was done that he would try to come back or will come back. Then why is a guy being traded? If a guy can go back to the same team it should not be in that same year.”

**** **** **** ****

Miller on the Celtics not playing aggressive defense against Cavaliers forward LeBron James: “It seems to me that no one is willing to step in front and take a charge. Someone at some point in time is going to have to step in front of LeBron James. Rasheed Wallace easily could (have). I love the aggressiveness of LeBron James taking it straight to the bodies of the bigs, put the pressure on them and get to the free throw line.”

Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison on how he plans to fit in with the Cavs: “Shaq said it best to me, ‘you’re a big dog, and there are big dogs out there. When you’re out there on the court we expect you to do big things.’ Just hearing those guys say those things and tell me you don’t have to adapt at all, we just want you to play your game, be aggressive and if the opportunity presents itself just be you.”

Miller on the remainder of the regular season revealing a lot more about Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison’s game: “A lot is going to be asked of Antawn Jamison. There is a lot that we don’t know about him, especially when you are on one of these elite teams which he is with the Cavaliers. There wasn’t a lot of defense asked of him when he was coming off the bench in Dallas, certainly there wasn’t a lot of defense being played with the Wizards the last three years. You have to compete at both ends of the floor for Mike Brown’s system to work, so we don’t know these answers to those questions yet. The next 25 games for the Cavaliers will reveal a lot.”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Celtics coach Doc Rivers after the third quarter.

Rivers on the Celtics needing to reestablish their pace for the fourth quarter: “We had no pace, we walked the ball up the floor, we’ve ran set offense the entire third quarter. We’ve got to push the ball up, but we’ve got to get stops. They’re scoring now and we’re walking the ball up. We’ve got to reestablish our pace.”

Rivers to Aldridge on who he will use to guard Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the fourth quarter: “We’ll put Tony (Allen), you, Reggie Miller, whoever we can get. We’re just going to keep throwing bodies at him.”

Fratello on Celtics guard Rajon Rondo taking the most field goal attempts for the Celtics: “Often times, depending on the team, it’s a good thing for the team when their point guard also takes the most field goal attempts during the course of the game. For other teams, that’s not a good thing. For (Rajon) Rondo to have 18 field goal attempts it tells you right now that Boston has been searching for points tonight because that’s not the norm. Rondo shouldn’t be leading your team with field goal attempts.”

**** **** **** ****

Game 2: Denver Nuggets (127) @ Golden State Warriors (112)

Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins with Craig Sager reporting

Collins on Warriors guard Stephen Curry: “This kid (Stephen Curry) is a scoring machine, he absolutely has such a great feel to shoot the ball, he’s a very good ball handler and an excellent passer.”

Collins on Nuggets coach George Karl missing the game to get treatment for his throat cancer: “George, we miss you, it just doesn’t seem the same to look over and not see you on that bench. Get well soon, we can’t wait to have you back.”

Collins on Nuggets coach George Karl involving his assistant coaches regularly: “Even if George is there (the assistant coaches) have a voice. That’s one of the things he preaches, he want to have everyone to have a chance to speak. Obviously he has the final say. He gives the coaches an opportunity to give their input and then you have to sort through it to make decisions.”

Collins on the Warriors’ style of play: “(The Warriors) seduce you. All of a sudden you’re scoring against them and you think the game is pretty easy. Ask Atlanta, they were up 17 going into the fourth quarter, they thought they had the game in hand. Golden State had a terrific fourth quarter, outscored them 35 to 14 and beat Atlanta, so they care capable of throwing up huge nights. They want to run and they want to take quick shots.”

Collins on Nuggets center Nene’s talent: “(Nene) has got so much skill, he’s so light on his feet and he can use either hand. He’s a reluctant scorer though. He’s easily a 20-10 game guy but much more comfortable being a 15-points per game guy.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups at halftime.

Billups on his team not approaching each game like they should: “We know where our struggles have come this year, teams like this is who we struggle with. We don’t probably come to play like we should, like most championship-caliber teams do every single night. These are scary games but we’ve got to tighten up in the second half.”

Billups on the Nuggets needing to be more aggressive in the second half: “I’m going to be aggressive, all of our guys have to be really aggressive against teams like this and try not to give them too much confidence like we did the last 24 minutes.”

**** **** **** ****

Halftime

Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Smith on why he should have compiled Kenny’s Pictures for halftime: “I made a cardinal rule mistake, knowing we talked about this earlier. Normally my rule is there are no pictures in blow outs, (Denver) was up 19 points, but I did not remember what Charles and I talked about, the lack of mental fortitude of the Denver Nuggets. I should have made my pictures because I should have known that they would let Golden State back in the game. That’s the reason why we said it’s going to be tough for them to be a championship contender team because they have a lack of focus, they have a lack of mental fortitude over a long period of time.”

Barkley on how the Nuggets should address their lack of focus issue: “George Karl and Chauncey (Billups) have to sit the team down and say, ‘we actually have a chance to win the championship, but unless we get better throughout the season, we’re not going to win it.’ They are going to win 50 games because they are very talented top to bottom, but you have to sit them down and say, ‘guys, we are going to get beat in the playoffs.’ They aren’t trying to beat Golden State, they are not trying to beat the Clippers. If you’re going to get to the NBA Finals you are probably going to have to play three good teams. That mental focus that they lack consistently is going to come back and bite them.”

Smith on the best way to get the attention of the Nuggets’ players: “You think about when you have a student who has trouble focusing for a whole class or period, you extend the periods and make it uncomfortable for them. So instead of practice for two hours, it creeps into 2:30 or 2:45, or we’re going to have film session on a day when you really don’t want to have a full session because you’ve got to get their attention so that there’s some urgency going on and then they have a little bit more focus.”

**** **** **** ****

Warriors guard Stephen Curry on the passionate Warriors fans: “Every night that we play here, even though our record is the way that it is, if you came here and watched us play, you would think that we are the second seed in the playoffs with the way our fans are. It’s crazy, I never saw a team have a losing record and the fans still come out. They still sell out every night and the fans still bring that energy every night and that’s what they do.”

Collins on Nuggets guard J.R. Smith’s inconsistent play: “(J.R. Smith) is streaky. A player like that who has that kind of talent, you have to sit over there and you have to live with the mistakes. He talked to Craig Sager before the game, he understands now you’re not going to win these battles against your coach. He said something interesting to Craig Sager, ‘I realized that not everyone is out against me, but people are trying to help me.’ You start listening and you make the game easier because he has so much talent. Sometimes he gets himself out of synch because he tries to do too much and he forces things. If he would just take his time, he has so much talent, the game would be so easy.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Warriors coach Don Nelson after the third quarter.

Nelson on his reputation of not liking to play rookies: “I don’t like to play bad rookies, I like to play good rookies and I’ve got a good one. Steph Curry is going to be a sensational point guard, we love him to death, he’s the perfect rookie to have and I play him every moment I can.”

Collins on the Warriors playing exciting basketball: “There is an old saying, if you’re going to play bad at least be exciting. And they are. They don’t come down and play a 90 or 92 point game and milk the clock. They play an open court game, they shoot the ball, they score a lot of points and they play an exciting brand of basketball. They’ve just got to get healthy and see what they have. They’ve got to get some big men healthy to see how good they are. Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, are these guys going to be good enough on the front line to be contributors to a playoff team?”

**** **** **** ****

Inside the NBA

Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Smith on the Nuggets playing well at home but struggling on the road: “Mental toughness comes from concentration. I think it’s easy to concentrate at home because things are familiar and you have your regular routine. But it’s difficult to concentrate on the road because your rotations are shortened and things are different. That’s what separates championship contenders and playoff teams. Right now (the Nuggets) are playing more like a playoff team instead of a championship contender.”

Barkley on the Warriors offensive mindset: “I don’t like the way that Golden State plays. They play like a playground basketball (team). They play like the Phoenix Suns used to, just trying to outscore you. Their numbers are always going to be better than they should be. They just try to outscore you, they don’t try to win and that’s what Phoenix did a couple of years ago.”

Barkley on his golf game: “I have officially retired from golf.”

Smith: “I’ve never seen anyone have a stuttering problem in sports and you have a stuttering problem on the golf course.”

Barkley: “I have decided that golf is not my game. I think I’m going to take up tennis.”

Johnson: “Do tennis players around the world a favor…don’t.”

Barkley on the Cavaliers’ style of play: “I get so sick and tired of this Cavaliers team. They play so slow. They’ve got so much talent and they keep walking the ball up and down the court. Turn ‘em loose, (Cavaliers head coach) Mike Brown!”

TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Cavaliers guard Mo Williams following the Celtics/Cavaliers game

James on Cavaliers guard Mo Williams finding his scoring touch for the first time since returning from injury: “We all said, ‘welcome back’ when he came off the court. He’s a big part of our team. He shoots the ball extremely well and he’s an All-Star point guard. I was happy to see him come back tonight.”

James on the Cavaliers’ team concept: “We’ve got a big picture here and that’s to win the NBA Championship. We can’t do it with just one guy. LeBron can’t do it by himself and the 15th guy (on the bench) can’t do it by himself. It’s a team concept and we need everybody. Everybody has to stay ready.”

Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler joined the Inside the NBA studio

Butler on being traded from the Wizards to the playoff-bound Mavericks: “I haven’t stopped smiling. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to be in Dallas. I have the opportunity to compete at a high level and compete for something night in and night out.”

Butler on the letter he wrote to Wizards fans following the trade thanking them for their support: “It was unbelievable and my stay (in Washington) was great. The organization and the (team owners) Polins were always good to me. I felt that I owed that to the city to reach out and thank them for accepting me with open arms when I arrived there.”

Butler on dealing with all of the off-the-court distractions with the Wizards: “It was truly tough because usually when you leave your work place, you want to go home and relax. But we were bringing the stress of work home with us. We had to deal with the trial and everything; it was getting to be overbearing. It was wearing on everybody but it was great to get out of that situation and see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Barkley on the Mavericks acquiring DeShawn Stevenson in the trade with the Wizards: “The Mavs needed toughness and they brought three tough guys in. I’m a big fan of you and (Brendan) Haywood but I’m also a fan of DeShawn Stevenson. Now, I think he’s a little crazy. Am I right or wrong?”

Butler: “He goes extremely hard and takes it to another level.”

Barkley: “I think every team needs a guy like him because sometimes you wonder, ‘is he with us or against us?’”

That’s it. One more weekend post for you coming up.

CBS’ Weekend Programming

Meant to post this earlier, but I’ve been caught up in the Chile earthquake coverage. This is what CBS is ariging this weekend. It’s mostly college basketball as the network ramps up for the NCAA Tournament, but it’s also showing other stuff as well.

First, the college basketball games and we get a Dick Enberg sighting!

CBS SPORTS’ “ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR” HEATS UP WITH NATION’S TOP THREE TEAMS ON SATURDAY, FEB. 27 AND SUNDAY, FEB. 28

No. 1 Kansas Takes on Oklahoma State on Saturday and No. 18 Michigan State Takes on No. 3 Purdue on Sunday to Highlight Weekend Line-up

CBS Sports’ ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR heats up with three of the nation’s top ranked teams taking the court on Saturday, Feb. 27 (12:00-6:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Feb. 28 (2:00-6:00 PM, ET). Saturday’s live action tips off with regional coverage as *No. 2-ranked Kentucky takes on Tennessee and Notre Dame battles *No. 11-ranked Georgetown (12:00 NOON, ET). A national ACC match-up between North Carolina and Wake Forest follows (2:00 PM, ET). The day concludes with a Big 12 showdown between *No. 1-ranked Kansas playing Oklahoma State (4:00 PM, ET).

Sunday’s doubleheader tips-off with a live Big East national broadcast, as Louisville takes on Connecticut (2:00 PM, ET). The weekend’s action wraps up with national coverage when *No. 14-ranked Michigan State takes on *No. 3-ranked Purdue (4:00 PM, ET).

AT THE HALF, CBS Sports’ halftime studio show hosted by Greg Gumbel, along with Greg Anthony and Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis, provides all the day’s news, scores and highlights live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Eric Mann produces and Bob Matina directs. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

(*AP poll rankings as of 02/22/10)

Following are the talent assignments for this weekend’s action:

Saturday, Feb. 27 – Tripleheader

12:00-2:00 PM, ET

Kentucky at Tennessee – Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel

Notre Dame at Georgetown – Tim Brando/Mike Gminski

2:00-4:00 PM, ET

North Carolina at Wake Forest – Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner

4:00-6:00 PM, ET

Kansas at Oklahoma State – Dick Enberg/Bob Wenzel

Saturday, Feb. 28 – Doubleheader

2:00-4:00 PM, ET

Louisville at Connecticut – Gus Johnson/Bill Raftery

4:00-6:00 PM, ET

Michigan State at Purdue – Verne Lundquist/Clark Kellogg

And CBS also shows motorcross on Sunday.

CBS SPORTS BULLETIN BOARD

“FOUR LEGENDS” HIGHLIGHT CBS SPORTS MONSTER ENGERGY AMA SUPERCROSS ON SUNDAY

For almost 40 years the stadiums of America have been home to action and excitement of Supercross. For most of the last 20 years the sport has been dominated by four riders who have earned the right to be called legends. Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart have all battled their way to the top. Highlighting their earliest beginnings, to their biggest on-track battles and rivalries, CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR presents the MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS FOUR LEGENDS on Sunday, Feb. 28 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET). CBS Sports’ Steve McKee serves as coordinating producer.

That’s it. I have three more press release posts coming up.

Canada’s Olympic Broadcasting Consortium’s Schedule for Day 16 of the Winter Olympics

I have a lot of releases to post so here is what’s on tap in Canada for the next to last day of the Olympics.

Day 16 Highlights: Saturday, Feb. 27 – Going for Gold: Undefeated Kevin Martin and Team Canada Battle Norway for the Title

DAY 16 – SCHEDULED SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

OLYMPIC DAYTIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE
• Long Track Speed Skating: Men’s and Ladies’ Team Pursuit – The Canadian men and women’s teams, both silver medallists at Turin 2006, race for the gold medal (CTV, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Snowboard: Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom – The reigning 2009 World Champion Jasey-Jay Anderson goes for the gold in his farewell performance at the Olympic Games (Rogers Sportsnet, V/CPAC, ATN-Bangla, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Bobsleigh: Men’s Four-Man – Pierre Lueders pilots his four-man sled as he races for a spot on the podium (Rogers Sportsnet, OLN, V/CPAC, RIS Info Sports, APTN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Alpine Skiing: Men’s Slalom – The reigning 2009 World bronze medallist Michael Janyk looks to win a medal on home turf (TSN, V/CPAC, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Curling: Men’s Bronze Medal Game – Sweden faces off against Switzerland for the bronze medal (TSN, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

OLYMPIC PRIME TIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE
• Curling: Men’s Gold Medal Game – Canada is looking to repeat as Olympic Games champion as the undefeated Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert take on Norway (CTV, RDS, APTN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Hockey: Men’s Bronze Medal Game – Following the outcome of the semifinals on Day 15, two teams will face off for the chance to win the bronze medal (CTV, V/CPAC, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

• Figure Skating: Exhibition Gala – The medal winners from each Figure Skating discipline, including Canadian gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and bronze medallist Joannie Rochette, perform at the exhibition gala (Rogers Sportsnet, V/CPAC, OMNI-Ukrainian/Mandarin, ATN-Punjabi, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

DAY 16 – ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
• OLYMPIC MORNING – Hockey Analyst Gino Reda and gossip maven Lainey experience “the air up there” in Vancouver while zip-lining; Jessi Cruickshank talks to figure skater Johnny Weir.

• ETALK and FASHIONTELEVISION – Tanya Kim talks to Canadian actress Jennifer Finnigan (PLAYING FOR KEEPS) and Lainey updates viewers on the party and celebrity scene in Vancouver as the Games wind down.

• MOD LIVE @ THE BASE – Usher sits down with MuchMusic VJs Sarah Taylor and Jesse Giddings to talk about his comeback, the hosts chat with gold medallist Ashleigh McIvor, and Two Hours Traffic pops by the Whistler set. MuchMusic’s broadcast of the Victory Ceremony concert features Usher.

• DIGITAL LOUNGE – The gold medal winning women’s hockey team cheering on Joannie Rochette is featured and Matt Wells welcomes a bevy of Canadian medallists to the lounge.

And the ratings for Thursday which included a Canada gold medal in women’s hockey and the bronze medal for Joannie Rochette in ladies’ figure skating.

Vancouver 2010 Audience Day 14 Recap: 11.3 Million Watch Canadian Women’s Hockey Team Awarded Gold

• – Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Aerials is top sport of the day with 7.8 million viewers –
  – Ladies’ Free Skate peaks at 8.7 million viewers as Joannie Rochette’s scores are displayed –
  – OLYMPIC PRIME TIME exceeds average audience of 7 million viewers for first time –
  – OLYMPIC MORNING sees highest weekday average since Feb. 15 –
  – 5.4 million hours of video watched so far online –

More than 19 million viewers watched some part of last night’s gold medal win for the Canadian Women’s Hockey squad over Team USA. The game averaged 5.8 million viewers, with nearly one million viewers alone on V/CPAC (954,000), and peaked at 10.3 million in the third period. Afterwards, 11.3 million viewers watched on average during the medal presentation in which Team Canada was presented with its third straight Olympic Games gold medal. The most-watched sporting event of the day was the Men’s Aerials final in Freestyle Skiing with 7.8 million viewers, while Figure Skating: Ladies’ Free Skate averaged 4.4 million viewers. After Day 14, 98.7% of the population – or 33,044,000 Canadians – have engaged with Vancouver 2010 coverage, according to Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium’s CUME index.

Day 14 Average Audiences

OLYMPIC MORNING/LE RÉVEIL OLYMPIQUE 953,000
OLYMPIC DAYTIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE 2.7 million
OLYMPIC PRIME TIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE 7.1 million

Additional Day 14 Highlights – Television

• Between 8-9 p.m. ET, CTV delivered four times as many viewers (7.85 million) compared to SURVIVOR: HEROES VS. VILLAINS (Global/CBS, 1.98 million) for the end of the Women’s Hockey game and the subsequent medal ceremony.
• 18.5 million viewers watched some part of Figure Skating: Ladies’ Free Skate last night, in which Canada’s Joannie Rochette won a bronze medal. The event peaked with 8.7 million viewers just after her scores were displayed, while 6.8 million viewers watched Rochette receive her medal. The Free Skate delivered a Games-high audience for TSN, with two million viewers for the nearly four-hour event. V/CPAC also covered the event with 1.02 million viewers.
• With an average audience of 7.8 million viewers, Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Aerials has now become the third most-watched sporting event of the Games. It also delivered the highest audience of the Games for a sporting event for RDS, with 855,000 viewers.
• The Men’s Curling CAN/SWE semifinal attracted 1.47 million viewers on Rogers Sportsnet.
• With 7.13 million viewers, OLYMPIC PRIME TIME reached a new audience record and delivered more viewers per average minute over its eight-hour broadcast than SUPER BOWL XLIV.
• With an average audience of 953,000 viewers, OLYMPIC MORNING drew its largest weekday audience since Family Day (Feb. 15) and saw its fourth consecutive day of growth on CTV.
• JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE delivered a Games high 1.08 million viewers for V/CPAC, RDS and RIS Info Sports, 36% more than its previous high (796,000, Feb.23).

Additional Day 14 Highlights – Online

• Total unique visitors to CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca Games-to-date have exceeded 10.6 million visitors.*
• From Day 1 through Day 14, 5.4 million hours of video has been viewed on both sites.**
• For the third day in a row, single day page views exceeded 15 million. Day 14 saw 16.3 million new page views, pushing the total above 171 million.
• Day 14 saw two million videos viewed on the sites.**
• Page views generated via smartphones and mobile devices surpassed 5.7 million through Day 14.
• Top on-demand videos for Day 14 include live Bobsleigh experience in the #1 spot. The next three spots are dominated by hockey with Men’s CDA/RUS highlights, Women’s CAN/SWE highlights (in the Top 5 for the 8th day running), and Women’s CAN/USA gold medal game highlights. Rounding out the Top 5 is Joannie Rochette’s Figure Skating Short Program.
• More than 2,000 messages on CTV Olympics Facebook fan page and hundreds more on @CTVOlympics, @CTVOhockey and @CTVOfskating Twitter accounts from fans Congratulating the Women’s Gold Medal-winning Hockey Team, and bronze medallist Joannie Rochette.
• Referrals to Consortium sites from social media sources exceeded 35,000 on Day 14.

Top Five Television Events – Day 14
Total Viewers Event Time (PT) Channels

1. 7.8 million Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Aerials 18:00 CTV, Sportsnet, RDS
2. 5.8 million Women’s Hockey: CAN/USA 15:35 CTV, V/CPAC, OMNI.2, OMNI AB, OMNI BC, APTN
3. 4.4 million Figure Skating: Ladies’ Free Skate 17:08 CTV, V/CPAC, TSN, RDS, OMNI.1, OMNI.2, OMNI AB, OMNI BC
4. 2 million Women’s Curling: CAN/SUI 09:05 CTV, V/CPAC, APTN
5. 1.8 million Men’s Curling: CAN/SWE 14:05 Sportsnet, RDS

Sources
Television: BBM Canada
Online: Omniture unless otherwise indicated
* Estimation based on Omniture data
**Conviva

More releases coming up.

NBC’s Olympic Quotage For Day 15

I don’t know how it’s been for you, but for me, it seems like the Winter Olympics have gone on longer than the 2008 Summer Games in Communist China. Perhaps it was the Winter and the longer hours of night or just the fact I’ve been totally focusing on these games, I don’t know, but it has felt like the 2010 Olympics have lasted for over a month. But of course, that’s not the case.

Here’s your quotage from Universal Sports yesterday.

UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010 — On the fifteenth day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports at the Vancouver Games continues its five-hour programming block, starting at 10 a.m. ET and continuing daily until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 28.

Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz:

News Alerts:

· The United States currently has 32 medals.

· For the first time since 1964, no American woman was on the podium in Ladies’ Figure Skating.

· Norway’s Marit Boergen becomes a triple gold medal winner in Vancouver with a gold Friday in the women’s Cross Country Skiing relay.

Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist (on Kim Yu-Na’s gold medal performance in the Ladies’ Figure Skating event): “Jumps that she executed on were all clean. She had a sense of mastery on the ice.”

Wylie: “The U.S. needs big ticket items in our performances: triple lutzes, triple toe loops, triple Axels (jumps) and speed. They’ve done a great job of perfected their spins, now we just need the jumps.”

Tom Steitz, former U.S. Nordic Combined Team Coach (on the success of the U.S. Nordic Combined Team): “It’s a fairy tale. It took 86 years to get one medal and we got four in a week. I don’t know what to say.”

Steitz (on future success for the U.S. Nordic Combined Team): “The payoff will be seen for generations to come. This was a breakthrough moment. No one – not even me in my most insane moments – would have thought we’d get four medals. The real payoff will be in Sochi (2014 Winter Games) and future Games.”

Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Alpine Skiing Gold Medalist (on the women’s slalom race continuing despite the foggy conditions in Whistler): “You have to be able to see past the end of your nose The slalom is the easiest race since visibility isn’t as much as an issue, but it’s still a tough event.”

Julia Mancuso (on her interrupted Super G run and ending up 8th): “To know that you didn’t have as fair of a chance as everyone else is definitely heartbreaking. You’re disappointed because you didn’t get a fair shot.”

Mancuso (on her relationship with Lindsey Vonn): “We’ve gotten to the point where we are doing completely different things…but, as an American, of course I’m happy when she does well. We all want to see the American flag raised.”

Features:

Call of the Day: Guest Picabo Street correctly guessed the Norwegian TV network’s call of the Men’s Nordic Combined race yesterday on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Host Terry Gannon: “I guessed ‘German’ when it was Norwegian, and I guessed ‘Norwegian’ when it was Korean. I’m not even in the ballpark.”

2010 Olympic Women’s Bobsled Gold Medalists Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, of Canada, stop by to chat with Summer Sanders, Universal Sports’ Whistler sideline reporter, and to show off their medals. Later, Summer immerses herself into the world of crazy fans around Vancouver, trying to be the ultimate cheerleader for various countries.

NBC Today Show Weekend Anchor Lester Holt goes behind the science of ski jumping, learning how two different body positions create the ultimate take-off and jump.

Kenan Harkin seeks out the longest line in Vancouver, meeting people who are dedicated enough to wait for more than seven hours.

MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:

Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter: “No one from this solar system would have beaten Kim Yu-Nu. She was out of this world. “

Hersh (on the interest from editors on Nordic combined stories): “Everyone is riveted. Might only last a few days, but it’s a big story here.”

Vicki Michaelis, USA Today reporter: There’s a good junior (Nordic) program in the U.S. This (success) is not going to end after these Games.

Jimmy Roberts, host of “Meet the Olympic Press” (on U.S. aerialist Jeret Peterson’s signature move “The Hurricane”): “It’s one of the most impressive things here (at the Games). You have no idea how high in the air it is unless you see it in person.”

Does last night’s lack of a medal for Team USA represent a failure for Ladies’ Figure Skating for the United States?

Guest Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist: “It’s a rebuilding period. Girls who are 13 and 14 need to say ‘I need to go and do that and bring home a medal.’ Plus, the scoring system is difficult.”

Alan Abrahamson, NBC Olympics and Universal Sports: “How did (Michelle) Kwan not inspire an entire generation of girls? It’s a mystery to me.”

Michaelis: “It’s just a down cycle combined with an incredible dominance of Asian figure skating.”

Hersh: “I think there’s a gap behind the Asian skaters. There’s a cycle at work here, and it was the wrong cycle for the Americans.”

Lipinski (on winning gold at age 15): “A lot was put on my age, but at 15 you know everything that’s going on.”

Hersh: “We’re seeing older skaters winning as of late…Mirai (Nagasu) will be there again.”

Lipinski: “Age doesn’t matter. You need all these different components to come together, and it depends on the body type. Skaters peak at a certain time; you have to let it flow.”

Hersh: “I think if Sasha (Cohen) came back (from retirement) a year earlier, I think she would have won a medal here.”

Thumbs up/Thumbs down segment:

Michaelis: “Thumbs up to Canadian Goaltender Shannon Szabados for her incredible achievement in the Olympics.”

Hersh: “Thumbs up to Brian Orser (coach of Kim Yu-Na). It’s proof that nice guys do finish first.”

Roberts: “Thumbs up to the Canadian Olympic Team and their eight gold medals, the most ever for Canada at a Winter Games.”

…and the gold medal for the day goes to Phil Hersh.

VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:

AJ Mleczko, 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist and 2002 Olympic Silver Medalist (on Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin) “She’s the future for Canada. She scored both goals. She made a name for herself in that (gold-medal) game.”

Cammi Granato, 1998 Olympic Ice Hockey Gold Medalist (on the importance of the Olympic gold medal game): “They train so hard, so long for that one moment and then it’s over like that. You don’t get too many opportunities for women in this sport.”

Mleczko (on IOC President Jacques Rogge inferring that women’s ice hockey as an Olympic sport could be threatened by a lack of parity and the domination of Team Canada and USA): “I think it’s very unfair (as to) the timing of those comments on the day of the gold medal game.”

Jeremy Bloom, NBC Olympic Freestyle Skiing Analyst and two-time Freestyle Skiing Olympian (on the Freestyle Aerials final): “History was made (by Jeret ‘Speedy’ Peterson landing the Hurricane) and I think the sport has progressed. Five full twists, three flips — the hardest jump ever thrown in the Olympics. (Russia’s) Alexei Grishin (the gold medalist) also stepped up with a full-full-double full. No one else is doing that trick. He did that because he knew Speedy was going to throw the Hurricane.

Bloom (on Peterson risking it all): “I’m glad he threw (the Hurricane) because he landed it. To have that confidence and do that trick when he hasn’t really been landing it, he deserves a ton of credit. That’s what the Olympics is all about is putting everything on the line.”

Bloom: “There’s a reason no one’s doing it (The Hurricane). Over the next four years, you’ll see aerialists push the envelope. Maybe you’ll see four flips in Sochi (2014 Winter Games).”

John Morgan, NBC Olympic Bobsledding Analyst (on the unity of USA I): “Its a tough, tough four years as they prepare for these Games. If they do as well as they should do, it’s because they are a great (cohesive) team.”

Morgan (on The Night Train): He explained that the USA I sled was delivered in October 2008 in Park City for testing. It was an immediate hit with Holcomb & Co. because it was much faster than previous sleds. The manufacturer asked to ship it back to Connecticut for a full paint job as it was only coated in primer for testing. “They said, ‘No, we want it now!’ It’s so fast.”

Morgan (on USA I’s outlook for a medal): “If they don’t get on the podium it will be a huge disappointment.”

Morgan also rates Germany and Russia as medal favorites.

Figure Skating Review/Preview:

In Ladies’ Figure Skating, South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na won the gold medal; Japan’s Mao Asada won the silver; Canada’s Joannie Rochette won bronze; and American Mirai Nagasu finished in fourth place.

On the Ladies’ Free Skate Final:

Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist: “From No. 1 to 8, to see that many clean programs, very few mistakes, shows the depth of women’s figure skating right now.”

Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “It was amazing from a human drama standpoint. It was spectacular to see.”

Sandra Bezic, NBC Figure Skating Analyst (on Rachael Flatt’s performance and scoring): “The judges were really hard on her. She was downgraded on two triple flips. If you can land a double toe after landing a triple flip you should not be downgraded.”

Bezic (on Nagasu’s growing stature in the sport): “The best spinner in the world, absolutely. She has an incredible future because she is good at everything.”

Yamaguchi (on Mao Asada of Japan, silver medalist and the first woman in Olympic history to land two triple Axel jumps in the same performance): “There is a quality about her skating that I love. The lightness, lyrical-ness. I felt like it (still) needs to be tapped.”

On Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-Na of South Korea:

Carruthers: “People don’t understand how hard it is to skate that fast and do jumps in a fearless way.”

Bezic: “Details. Subtleties. And flirtation. All (three) on top of the technique.”

Bezic: “She’s unique. She has brought something fresh to skating with her own interpretation, her shyness and, yet, fire. She’s still has just scrapped the surface as wonderful as she is. It would be wonderful if she can continue this and became the face of skating for the next 10 years.”

Guest Johnny Weir, former U.S. champion, 6th overall in Vancouver (on his time in Vancouver): “It’s been a beautiful experience.”

Weir (on his attitude toward the competition): “Coming in I knew politically I did not have as much support as the other two (U.S. men). I am very realistic. I knew coming in (a top finish) was something that was not expected of me.”

Weir (on the future): “I do want to continue skating. I am going to the World Championships (in March in Torino), and then I want to go on a vacation. I want to go to Mongolia and ride a yak!”

Nick Verreos, fashion designer and a former contestant on Bravo’s Project Runway (on the costume choice of Joannie Rochette): “I loved, loved, loved this costume. The beading was gorgeous. I wonder if she knew she would be matching the (rink) boards. And I am sort of old school. I loved the white skates.”

Dick Button, 1948 & 1952 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist (on the peril of comparing skaters among different generations): “No great skater is ever like any other great skater.”

On The Button (questions posed to Dick Button from the audience):

Q: Does the lack of judging controversy in figure skating at the Vancouver Games suggest the system is a success?

A: “Of course there were no controversies here. It’s not only that the judges are anonymous. You don’t know bubkas about what’s going on here (with scoring decisions). That’s the problem with it… That’s why there are no controversies, because nobody knows who is doing what to whom.”

FUN FACTS AND QUOTES OF THE DAY:

**1984 U.S. Olympians Scott Hamilton and Peter Carruthers took their skating and choreography skills to a coin laundry, where they “performed” a pairs routine committed to style, grace and clean clothing. But, in the end, one of the three judges was not impressed and awarded them a 3.2 (out of 6).

Hamilton: “It’s always the Russian judge!”**

Peter Carruthers and Kristi Yamaguchi also entertained everyone on the show by sporting some of their favorite costumes from their days as competitors.

SCHEDULE FOR UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – SATURDAY, FEB. 27, 2010:

11:30 AM – 12 PM Behind the Games

12 – 12:30 PM Meet The Olympic Press

1: 30 – 2 PM Vancouver Review/Preview

2 – 3 PM Figure Skating Review/Preview

Now your quotage from yesterday’s USA-Finland men’s hockey semifinal game and coverage of other sports.

DAY 15 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE

“This is the equivalent of a football team leading another team 42-0 midway through the second quarter.”- NBC’s Al Michaels on the first period Team USA lead over Finland

VANCOUVER - February 26, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC with live coverage of the men’s hockey semifinal game between Team USA and Finland. Team USA defeated Finland, 6-1, and will face the winner of Canada vs. Slovakia in the gold medal game. Also airing on USA Network, live coverage of the women’s curling bronze medal match between China and Switzerland and live on MSNBC speed skating pursuit men’s semifinals and women’s quarterfinals. 

Al Michaels hosted the daytime show live from Canada Hockey Place. Joining Michaels for analysis were Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick. Mike “Doc” Emrick provided play-by-play, Eddie Olczyk provided game analysis and Pierre McGuire reported from “Inside the Glass.” Below are highlights from the game.

Michaels also sat down with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman during the second intermission to talk about the NHL and its participation in the Olympics.

NBC
HIGHLIGHTS OF MICHAELS AND BETTMAN INTERVIEW
BETTMAN ON NHL PLAYERS IN THE OLYMPICS: “We worry about the disruption in our season by being here for two weeks and shutting down, but what you’re seeing is really NHL hockey.  This is a playoff atmosphere, this is an NHL arena, NHL ice, NHL rules, NHL officials, and NHL players so I’m very pleased with what we’re seeing out there.”
 
BETTMAN ON NHL PLAYERS IN SOCHI 2016: “It’s an open question. I know the media is making a big deal over the fact that we haven’t made a decision yet. It’s great to be here and these Olympic Games have been fabulous. The hockey has been great. That doesn’t take into account that there are count-availing issues that we’re going to have to deal with in deciding what makes sense going forward. You talk about Nagano in 1998, Czech played Russia for the gold medal game, and we didn’t get much of an impact being halfway around the world. What’s interesting to me is, we haven’t said no.”
 
“We have to sit with our Player’s Association. It’s a joint decision. We’ll meet with the IIHF and the IOC, to make sure that on things that we’ve learned about participating in these Games over the last four Olympics, three and this one, whether or not we can do things better. Then  it’ll be a balancing act, and it’s something ultimately that the clubs will decide, not me.”

FIRST PERIOD
EMRICK: “It’s now the semifinal. Excitement across the country gets higher. The competition from the opponent gets stiffer.”

OLCZYK ON USA’S PATRICK KANE: “He has the ability to be a difference maker. I think the pace of this game hits Patrick Kane right between the eyes.”

OLCZYK ON USA’S ERIK JOHNSON: “Erik Johnson has really been a pillar of strength for Ron Wilson and Team USA.”

MCGUIRE ON SWEDEN’S GOALTENDER MIKKA KIPRUSOFF: “This is a monumental meltdown by Mikka Kiprusoff.”

OLCZYK AFTER USA’S SIXTH GOAL: “Six goals and we’re not even fifteen minutes into the first period.”

MICHAELS ON TEAM USA’S PERFORMANCE: “This is the equivalent of a football team leading another team 42-0 midway through the second quarter.”

SECOND PERIOD
MCGUIRE: “Fearless shot blocking by all American players in this tournament.”

OLCZYK ON TEAM USA’S GOALTENDER RYAN MILLER: “He’s probably the most consistent American player in this Olympics.”

MCGUIRE ON TEAM USA AFTER SIX GOALS: “The team’s still paying attention to little details."

EMRICK ON TEAM USA: “It is still two perfect periods for Ryan Miller and Team USA defensively."

THIRD PERIOD
 
EMRICK ON SLOVAKIA TAKING ON CANADA: “Never underestimate a Cinderella team that doesn’t know any better than to just keep going like Slovakia has been.”

EMRICK ON FINLAND’S ONLY GOAL: “Antti Miettinen has scored a scorcher.”

EMRICK ON TEAM USA’S WIN: “There was no anesthetic, this was surgical this afternoon.”

ROENICK ON THE U.S.-CANADA RIVALRY: “There’s no bigger rival for the United States in international hockey than Canada.”

ROENICK ON THE GOLD MEDAL GAME: “Everybody should show up to watch this game on Sunday.”

USA NETWORK
WOMEN’S CURLING BRONZE MEDAL GAME: CHINA VS. SWITZERLAND
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Don Duguid (Analyst), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
China: 12 Switzerland: 6
 
JONES ON CURLING: “Curling is a fickle game.  A lot like how you see different winners on a PGA golf tour. Curling is the same thing.  Some weeks are absolute magic and some days drive you crazy.”

“In curling, the bronze medal game is the hardest one to get psyched up for.”

JONES ON TEAM CHINA “The rise of this team has been nothing short of phenomenal.”
 
“It’s an incredible success story how far they’ve come.”
 
“When they’re on, they’re on.”

JONES ON SWITZERLAND’S MIRJAM OTT: “I’m sure she didn’t sleep much last night and she’s tortured today over the coulda’s, shoulda’s, woulda’s of yesterday’s game. This is a tough game for her to play.”

MSNBC
SPEED SKATING
Dan Hicks (Play-By-Play), Dan Jansen (Analyst), Andrea Kremer (Reporter)
MEN’S TEAM PURSUIT SEMIFINALS
CANADA VS. NORWAY
Advances to Gold Medal Round: Canada
HICKS: “Canada with another Olympic record!”

USA VS. NETHERLANDS
Advances to Gold Medal Round: USA

JANSEN: “Really smart skate by the Americans.”

HICKS ON TEAM USA: “For the second straight time, they have knocked off the clear favorites!”

JANSEN ON TEAM USA ADVANCING: “Is it going to be gold? Is it going to be silver?”

HICKS: “What a day for the Americans for the team pursuit. Both the men and women take out the gold medal favorites.”

HICKS: “Unbelievable skate by the Americans.”

HICKS ON TEAM PURSUIT: “For the second straight Olympics, these team pursuit events have proved to be very entertaining. You turn some skaters who haven’t had great success during the regular course of the individuals events of the Games, but put them in the team atmosphere and it’s been fun to watch.”

USA’S CHAD HEDRICK: “Man, it really came through and we had chance to defeat the monster with Sven Kramer today and we did it. And we are just ecstatic!”

WOMEN’S SPEED SKATING QUARTERFINALS

JAPAN VS. KOREA
Advances to semifinal: Japan

RUSSIA VS. POLAND
Advances to semifinal: Poland

HICKS: “You have to stay together in the team pursuit and that was just proven by Russia, who fails to advance.”

GERMANY VS. NETHERLANDS
Advances to semifinal: Germany

JANSEN ON GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS:  “Possibly the top two teams in the world here paired against one another in the quarterfinals.”

USA VS. CANADA
Advances to semifinal: USA
HICKS: “The United States by four one hundredths of a second, upsets Canada.”

JANSEN ON TEAM USA: “They skated a perfect race.”

HICKS: “The gold medal favorites from Canada shocked by the American women.”

Now to your primetime quotage.

APOLO OHNO ANCHORS SHORT TRACK RELAY TEAM TO BRONZE; KATHERINE REUTTER OF US WINS SILVER; CANADA TO MEET USA IN MEN’S HOCKEY GOLD MEDAL GAME

“Apolo Ohno living up to his billing as the best closer in the relay.” – NBC’s Ted Robinson

“It’s going to be emotional. It’s going to be intense.” – Canada’s Sidney Crosby on the gold medal hockey game against the US on Sunday

VANCOUVER - Feb. 26, 2010 - Apolo Ohno, already the most decorated US Winter Olympian ever, added to his medal haul by anchoring the US team that took bronze in the men’s 5000 meter short track relay on the 15th day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Canada and South Korea won gold and silver, respectively. 

Ohno also made the final of the men’s 500 meters but was disqualified and did not medal. He won three total medals in Vancouver (silver and two bronze), giving him a career tally of eight, which is the most ever for a US Winter Olympian.

Primetime host Bob Costas hosted Jimmy Fallon in studio. Fallon, the host of NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, wrote thank you notes to the Olympics while Costas ‘played’ background music on a keyboard.
Costas: “The lame shall walk and the blind shall see in the presence of Jimmy Fallon.”
 
Fallon to Costas, as he “played” the keyboard: “Did you take lessons?”

Costas: “No, I was a child prodigy.”
 
Fallon: “Thank you, speed skaters, for simulating what it would look like if a handcuffed guy tried getting away on roller blades.”
 
“Thank you, Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth, for having an endless supply of dapper tweeds and pocket squares. If sharp dressing were an Olympic event, you'd wipe the floor with Dick Button.”

Also in short track, Katherine Reutter of the US won silver in the women’s 1000 meters behind gold medalist Meng Wang of China.

With tonight’s medals, the US has won 34 in Vancouver, tying the US record set at the 2002 Salt Lake Games for most medals won at a Winter Olympics. The US is assured of setting a new record by virtue of the men’s hockey team participating in the gold medal game on Sunday and the men’s speed skating team competing in the team pursuit gold medal final tomorrow. The record for most medals won by a nation in a single Olympic Winter Games is 36, set by Germany at Salt Lake in 2002.

On CNBC, Canada held off a late rally to beat Slovakia, 3-2, in men’s hockey and earn the right to face the US in the gold medal game on Sunday on home soil. In addition, Sweden defeated host nation Canada, 7-6, to win gold in women’s curling.

In studio, Costas interviewed Canadian ladies figure skater Joannie Rochette, who won bronze despite the passing of her mother just days before the competition:
 
Costas: “How did you decide that you would go ahead [and skate].”
 
Rochette: “When I first heard the news at 6 am, I told my federation right away that I would skate. I had to skate. The only thing I knew I could do at that moment to feel alive was to get on the ice. There were lots of ups and downs. There were some moments when I just wanted to go home and see my family and be with my friends. I didn’t feel like skating but I knew I wanted to do this so 10 years from now I’d have no regrets. And that’s what my mom would’ve wanted me to do.”
 
Costas: “Everyone speculated, it’s only natural, what must she be feeling? But I heard you say afterwards that you had to put those feelings aside and ‘I had to become cold,’ using your words, and ‘become Joannie, the athlete, and not the person.’”
 
Rochette: “That’s right. It was very tough for me in the short program to do that. I was very emotional right when I stepped on the ice. The crowd was so warm, they were so nice cheering me on. I got so many messages from around the world, not only in Canada. Those messages really touched me and really gave me the strength to carry on and compete anyways. But it was hard to stay in my bubble and listen to my music because my head was in a million places but not on the ice. I don’t know how I managed to skate a good short program like I did. But after the short program, I just told myself, if you’re going to keep competing, I want to do it fully. That’s what my mom always taught me. Whenever you do something in life, whatever it is, you do it until the end and give it your best shot.”

Costas: “Once you had performed so well and you won the bronze medal, you were standing there on the podium. And I read afterwards that you said, ‘I imagined myself as a five-year-old girl because I had imagined this moment, holding an Olympic medal, since I was five years old.’”
 
Rochette: “Yes, I imagined this moment for so long. I didn’t imagine those kind of tears of course. I was very sad that there was one person in the stands that wasn’t there to applaud me. But my family was there and my father was there. And for them, I wanted to be there and it was very tough. And I wanted to be strong for my father and just make him stronger at the same time.”
 
Costas: “Congratulations on your performance and, again, our condolences on your loss.”

SHORT TRACK:
Play-by-Play: Ted Robinson
Analyst: Andy Gabel
Reporters: Andrea Joyce, Cris Collinsworth

Ohno on the 500 meters: “When you have five guys behind you, essentially trying to eat you and spit you out, it can be real intimidating.”
 
Collinsworth on the 500: “It’s well established that short track is a crazy sport. And the craziest event within this crazy sport is the 500 meters. So, for Apolo Ohno to repeat his gold medal winning ways, he’s going to have to be good. He’s going to have to be lucky. And he just might have to be perfect.”
 
Gabel on Ohno: “Every time he steps on the ice, he knows exactly what he’s doing.” 
 
Gabel on Ohno hurdling skaters: “I didn’t know Apolo Ohno was also a gymnast but he showed he might be right there.”
  
Gabel on Ohno being disqualified in the final: “A tough call for Apolo Anton Ohno.”
 
Robinson on Canada’s Charles Hamelin: “Hamelin, a magnificent effort to stay on his feet and win a much-desired gold medal for Canada.”
 
Ohno to Collinsworth on his 500m race: “That was three of the fastest guys off the line I’ve ever skated against. In the 500, you have to be up towards the front if you’re going to make any moves. The race was fast enough to where there was no space to move up. So I was just kind of waiting, waiting, waiting. There was just no space. Going on the last corner, I was coming up on the Canadian guy, and he slipped and then the Korean slipped. I don’t know why they called me for the disqualification. I was in fourth the whole race. Either way, I’m happy with the way I skated. I came here with no regrets in my mind and I’m leaving with no regrets. We still have the relay and I really want to go out there and make sure our guys get a medal.”
 
Ohno on if he felt the disqualification was unfair: “I do. My hand is up to basically protect myself from running up the back of him. So it’s more of a cushion, I’m not trying to push anyone down or anything. But that was the head Canadian ref out there and we’re on Canadian soil. But the boys skated very, very well and it was a good race.”
 
Ohno on if the Canadian ref favored the Canadians with his call: “I think so, absolutely. But in short track, everything is so subjective so I just have to be faster.”

Costas: “That is the nature of short track -- part race, part demolition derby.”

Gabel on Ohno: “One of the best, if not the best, closers in history in the relay.”
 
Robinson on the final lap: “This is what the relay is about - a sprint to the finish.”
 
Gabel: “What an exciting race from start to finish.”
 
Gabel on Ohno anchoring the relay: “Apolo Anton Ohno was doing exactly what he normally does at the end of a race - skating incredibly.”
 
Robinson on Ohno: “Apolo Ohno living up to his billing as the best closer in the relay.”
 
Costas, to Ted Robinson, on short track: “That sport, that you call so well, is simply insane.”

Robinson on USA’s Katherine Reutter making a pass in the quarterfinal: “That got everybody’s attention.”
 
Robinson on Reutter winning silver: “Katherine Reutter will be the building block, a fulcrum of what will be an overhaul of the women’s program.”

BOBSLED:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: John Morgan
Reporter: Lewis Johnson

Papa on Germany’s Andre Lange: “What a legacy this man has had.”
 
Morgan on Lange: “Greatest of all time in the history of this sport.”
 
Holcomb on their first run: “Everything here starts at the top at the start. The start was huge. We had a great push. We may not have the fastest time right now but we had the fastest push down the hill and we accelerated faster than anybody. That’s what the key is right there so it was huge for that push. The 50-50 [turn], I had a little bit of a mistake but I made up for it and I kept the sled flying like it does.”
 
Holcomb after his second run: “We’re here to play. If you want to play around, let’s bring it. It’s just the first day. We won today and we have to come out tomorrow and do just what we did today and race. We have two more heats and we’re right where we want to be.”

ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino

Cooper on Germany’s Maria Riesch: “She’s like a slinky just keeping the skis absolutely glued to the snow on top.”
 
Cooper on Austria’s Marlies Schild: “She is back and big time.”
 
Cooper on Lindsey Vonn: “Lindsey Vonn has overcome so much adversity, two medals nonetheless in these Games, but here’s a woman who thrives on routine. She likes things orderly and predictable. But this season has been largely about managing chaos.”
 
Ryan on Vonn: “Who knows which of her many hurts has taken their toll on her today.”
 
Vonn on her skiing in the Olympics: “I’m definitely really happy with everything I’ve done here. I got the gold medal that I came here for. I got a bronze medal in the Super G. I know I could’ve done better in some of the disciplines. The super combined, I was poised to win another medal, but I wanted the gold and I maybe risked a little too much. In the GS, I was definitely an underdog but I went after it. And I was actually winning at the very last intermediate time. I’m happy with my performance despite that. That’s just my personality, I never want to give up. 

“I was contemplating stopping after my crash in the GS, after I broke my finger. That’s just not who I am. The Olympics are something special. They only come once every four years. And I just wanted to go out and try. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to win a medal but at least I gave it everything I have and see what happens.

“Unfortunately, it just didn’t go my way in the GS or the Slalom or the Combined. Like I said, I have that gold medal. Despite everyone else’s expectations, my goals were simply to win one medal and that’s what I did.”
 
Cooper on the course: “It is rock n’ roll like a bucking bronco from top to bottom.”
 
Cooper on the visibility: “It’s like skiing blind.”
 
Cooper on the technique of Schild, who won silver: “It’s like her legs are at a rock concert and her upper body is at the opera.”
 
Cooper on gold medal winner Riesch: “She was powering to that gold medal the whole way.”
 
Riesch on her win: “It was really tough conditions but I just had a really good line.”

CNBC, Women’s Curling Gold Medal Game: 
Sweden 7 vs. Canada 6  
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-By-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
 
Catalon: “Sweden won in 2006. They thought about retiring. They wanted to come back for one more chance to win another Olympic gold medal. The patience, the decision, it paid off.”
 
“Back to back gold medals for Sweden!”
 
Catalon: “Cheryl Bernard had one shot for the win. It came, oh, so close!”
 
Roggin: “It is indeed a sport of inches.”
 
Catalon: “Cheryl Bernard has compared the atmosphere in here to a Stanley Cup final, and the fans have been treating this like a hockey game.”
 
Catalon: “This Swedish team does not look intimidated one bit by the pressure of a gold medal game.”
 
“The composure they are playing with right now is very impressive.”
 
Jones on Sweden: “They can read each other’s thoughts. They have been together so long. They bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
 
Roggin on Sweden’s Anette Norberg: “She has felt the pressure and lived it. She makes very few mistakes.”
 
Jones on Norberg: “Anette’s focus is just so sharp. She is always bang on. Nothing much gets in her way.”
 
Catalon on a close game: “Disbelief inside of this Vancouver Olympic Centre.”

Roggin on Canada’s Bernard: “She carries the hopes of a nation against defending gold medalist Anette Norberg and Sweden.”
 
Roggin on the growing popularity of curling: “For whatever reason, curling has made an impression and no one has made a bigger impression than Cheryl Bernard of Canada.”
 
Jones on Team Sweden: “Nobody expected much of them because they had a very average season. A lot of people thought they were past their due date and expired, like a carton of milk. But yet, they’ve come here and proved that all wrong.”
 
Jones on Canada and Sweden: “Here they are today playing with the Canadian Prime Minister and the King of Sweden, but tomorrow they just all go back to being regular people.”

CNBC, Men’s Ice Hockey Semifinal:
Canada 3 vs. Slovakia 2
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Milbury (Studio Analyst), Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Eddie Olczyk (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
  
Sidney Crosby on the gold medal game:  “It’s going to be emotional. It’s going to be intense.”
 
“We are in the finals now, and we know that our biggest test is yet to come here.”
 
Milbury on USA and Canada’s physicality: “That’s a real trademark of both of these teams going in to the finals.”
 
Roenick on the gold medal game: “Everybody at home, watch this game Sunday!”
 
Albert: “A collective exhale from 34 million residents of Canada.”
 
“Canada has been waiting for the opportunity to play for the gold on their home soil, and they will have that chance on Sunday against the U.S.”
 
“Fans continue to chant, we want USA!”
 
Albert on the final seconds of the game: “Furious pressure by Slovakia.”
 
Albert: “Slovakia falls just short and Canada will advance to play Team USA for the gold.”
 
Olczyk on the gold medal: “You just start thinking about a lot of things. You think about where you came from, all the people that helped you along the way, all the coaches, all the hard drives for mom and dad, all the sacrifices.”
 
Milbury: “I started off this tournament with some doubts about Scott Niedermayer. He hadn’t had a great season at Anaheim, but boy has he come a long way in this tournament.”

That’s all for your quotage.

Another Set of Friday Night Megalinks

I’m watching curling as we get ready to close the Olympics and get back to watching college basketball and prepare for baseball. To be honest, I never thought I would enjoy curling, but I’ve really gotten into the sport this year. Plus, it’s been on at some convenient times to watch so I’ll NBC some credit for scheduling curling live.

In the meantime, let’s provide you with some media linkage. As usual, you have your Weekend Viewing Picks which include college basketball viewing picks, Olympics viewing and English Premier League games.

To the links.

National

The Sports Business Daily/Sports Business Journal Winter Olympics site notes that NBC beat Fox’s American Idol for the second time on Thursday.

Eric Fisher of the SBD/SBJ says NBCOlympics.com and Yahoo! Sports are both claiming victory for online visitors.

The Nielsen ratings Wire blog says gold medal winners are not only on top of the podium, but also in online searches in both the US and Canada.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Michael McCarthy debate the validity of having NHL players in the Olympics.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred says he likes covering the Olympics for the education factor.

Etan Vlessing of Hollywood Reporter writes that the Olympic ratings in Canada have been wiping out the competition.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN will use its Wide World of Sports complex in Florida as its testing lab for 3-D television.

Katy Bachman from Mediaweek says Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl isn’t a fan of NBC’s online Olympics strategy.

Toni Fitzgerald in Media Life Magazine writes that the Olympics lost some momentum on NBC on Wednesday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Tiger Woods’ camp acknowledges the arranging of the now-famous photo of the golfer jogging just days before his apology last week.

In other Tiger news, Darren broke the story that Gatorade is the third sponsor to drop him.

Darren has a slideshow of the 25 Most Marketable Winter Olympians from Vancouver.

And Darren notes that the Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game is the hottest ticket in Canada right now.

The Big Lead reports that the sports editor of the New York Daily News is leaving for a huge gig with ESPN.

The Sports Media Watch has a good interview with ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer about the migration of sports from ABC to the Mothership.

SMW also has an interview with ESPN Vice President of Communications Mike Soltys about the Tony Kornheiser suspension.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the USA-Switzerland Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinal drew almost 6 million viewers on Wednesday afternoon.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports’ Puck Daddy says MSNBC got punked by a fake USA goalie Ryan Miller.

Sports Radio Interviews links you to a talk that Atlanta radio station, 790 The Zone conducted with ESPN’s Linda Cohn regarding Tony Kornheiser and Erin Andrews.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald reports that a WEEI producer has been suspended for sending vulgar text messages to rival sports station, WBZ-FM.

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe talks with NBC’s Al Michaels about his Miracle On Ice call.

The Worcester Telegram’s Bill Doyle writes about the new HBO documentary on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that premieres next week.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says ESPN will take a different approach with the Olympics if it wins the rights for the 2014/2016 Games.

Lynn Zinser of the Times notes that NBC identified the wrong man as Joannie Rochette’s father during her short program during the ladies’ figure skating competition.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels the media has helped to make Alex Rodriguez a sympathetic figure. Another stretch by the old, tired media critic.

Phil Mushnick in the New Yok Post waxes poetic on NBC’s Mike Emrick.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in the Baltimore-centric Press Box that Joe Angel returns this season to become the main radio voice of the Orioles.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner speaks with an NBC Sports official about the increase in traffic for NBCOlympics.com.

Jim also speaks with NBC figure skating analyst Dick Button.

Tim Lemke tries to understand the complicated figure skating scoring system.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says South Florida is at the bottom of the Olympic TV ratings.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wishes ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike a happy 10th anniversary on the air.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has the radio ratings for January in the Metroplex.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle profiles a Texan who’s helping to produce the in-house radio feed at the Vancouver Olympics.

David says the Astros will have a record amount of games on Fox Sports Houston.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman has comments from NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local TV station is using its news anchors to do the late sports reports.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio will air 145 Reds games this season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some observations on NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says in just one day, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen became a Twitter sensation.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times feels the NHL has to do something to capitalize on the popularity of Olympic hockey on the networks of NBC.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at the Gateway City’s sports radio ratings.

Dan says the newest sports radio station in town has made a significant impact in just one short year.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says despite the tape delays, the Olympic TV ratings in Salt Lake City have been among the highest in the nation.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner finally joins the chorus of Americans complaining about NBC’s tape delayed Olympics coverage.

John Maffei of the North County Times feels NBC made some bad decisions when it came to Olympic hockey.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the hardly-seen Universal Sports carved out a good niche for itself during the Olympics.

Jim has some various news and notes.

Jim Peltz of the Los Angeles Times says the Anaheim Angels have yet to name a replacement for TV play-by-play man Rory Markas who died during the offseason.

Diane Pucin of the Times looks at how people are discussing sports on Twitter and other social networks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the 2010 Dodgers TV schedule.

Tom says you can buy a new 3D TV at Sears.

Tom notes that the locally-based Universal Sports is churning out Olympics-centric programming.

Tom has his weekly news and notes.

Tom reviews the week in Olympics TV.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says Canada’s athletes are producing compelling TV during the Olympics.

Chris is amazed at the ratings for the Olympics on CTV.

William Houston in Truth & Rumours has CBC’s Don Cherry predicting gold for Canada.

That’s going to conclude our links for Friday.

Olympic Men’s Hockey Gold Medal Game Will Be Live Across The Country

During today’s men’s hockey semifinal game between the US and Finland, NBC announced that Sunday’s gold medal game will be live in all time zones. I was told this was going to happen by NBC’s people in Vancouver and I wasn’t surprised when the announcement was made, but people are jumping for joy. To be honest, this should not be an issue as events should be aired live as they happen, but that’s me.

Here’s the official announcement from NBC Sports.

SUNDAY’S OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL MEN’S HOCKEY GAME LIVE IN ALL TIME ZONES; 3 P.M. ET/12 NOON PT ON NBC

Gold Medal Hockey Game Part of NBC’s 6 Hours of Coverage on Sunday Afternoon

VANCOUVER - February 26, 2010 - The Olympic gold medal men's hockey game featuring USA against the winner of the Slovakia vs. Canada game, which was originally scheduled to be broadcast live to the eastern and central time zones, will be broadcast live in all time zones on NBC this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, as part of NBC's six hours of afternoon coverage.

USA vs. Slovakia/Canada winner: 3 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. CT, 1 p.m. MT, 12 noon PT

So, Team USA will most likely play Canada on Sunday. That will be fun to watch if the game truly does materialize.

Olympics End Up 2-3 Vs. American Idol

NBC is crowing about its second ratings win over American Idol thanks to the Olympics last night. This press release came rather early for NBC. Usually, these come mid-afternoon rather than midday. Here’s the press release for your viewing.

OLYMPICS BEATS IDOL, AGAIN

Head to Head (8-9 p.m.) Olympics 19.2 Million, Idol 17.8 Million

Olympics Draws 22.9 Million Thursday Night

Olympics Vs. Idol From 8-9 p.m. Featured Ski Jumping and Alpine Skiing

VANCOUVER - February 26, 2010 - The Olympics on NBC last night beat American Idol for the second time in two weeks.  Idol had been undefeated in six years (dating back to May 2004).  When going head-to-head against Idol (8-9 p.m.), the Olympics out-drew Idol 19.2 million vs. 17.8 million an advantage of eight percent.  Head-to-head (8-9 p.m.), the Olympics out-rated Idol by more than a full rating point (11.4 vs. 10.2) among households based.  

On the night (8 p.m. - 11:55 p.m.), NBC’s Olympic broadcast that featured figure skating’s ladies free skate later in the broadcast, drew an average audience of 22.9 million, with a peak of 25.0 million in the 9-10 p.m. hour, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company

“I never thought we would have the good fortune to beat the incredibly well-produced and enduring phenomenon of American Idol even once. But twice? At best, I deeply believed we might come a little closer than we did four years ago because the show is such a powerhouse. We are happy to rent Idol’s space for a few nights. All the thanks goes to the athletes of the world who give us these great stories to tell. Their stories are the stars of our show -- and led to these two ‘miracles’ -- just as the young entertainers are the stars of Idol,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics.

The Olympics on NBC from 8-9 p.m. featured Olympics storytelling including the free skate of Turkish figure skater, Tugba Karademir who, coming into the free skate, was in 20th place out of 24 skaters. Also in the 8-9 p.m. hour was the ski jumping portion of the nordic combined, which, after the cross-country portion that aired later in the night, concluded with gold and silver medals for American’s Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane respectively, and coverage of the women’s giant slalom. The 8-9 p.m. hour was the least-watched hour of NBC’s Olympic coverage last night.

On the night, NBC’s Olympic broadcast that featured figure skating’s ladies free skate later in the broadcast, drew an average audience of 22.9 million, with a peak of 25.0 million in the 9-10 p.m. hour.  The 22.9 million was below the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (25.7 million, the most-watched night of the 2006 Winter Games that had American skating star Sasha Cohen leading and favored to win a gold medal skating that night).

HOUR-BY-HOUR VIWERSHIP LAST NIGHT
8-9 p.m. 19.2 million (American Idol, 17.8 million)
9-10 p.m. 25.0 million
10-11 p.m. 23.3 million
11-11:55 p.m.24.3 million

Some Additional Highlights:

• It marked only the second time that Idol was defeated in P2+ (average viewership) since May 17, 2004. The first defeat for Idol was last Wednesday when the Olympics became the first program to beat Idol in six years.
• On the comparable Thursday night at the 2006 Winter Games (the highest-rated and most-viewed night from Turin, featuring a silver medal from American figure skating star Sasha Cohen) when going head-to-head (8-9 p.m.) Idol out-drew the Olympics by nearly six million (23.4 million vs.17.8 million) and out-rated the Olympics by more than two full rating points (13.3 vs. 11.1 among households).
• On a competitive television night, the Olympics drew nearly eight million more viewers than an original episode of Survivor on CBS (19.2 million vs. 11.5 million, an advantage of 67 percent, head-to-head from 8-9 p.m.).

224-2:

• · With the Olympics win against Idol last night, the juggernaut is now 224-2 in nearly six years since May 2004. The only programs that beat Idol head-to-head over that six-year span were two NBC Olympic broadcasts, last night’s and last Wednesday’s Olympics on NBC.

14-DAY AVERAGE IS 3.6 MILLION MORE THAN 2006: The 24.7 million average viewers through 14 nights of the Vancouver Games is 3.6 million more and 17 percent higher than the average viewership of the 2006 Winter Games through 14 nights (21.1 million).  

The 14.0/23 average household rating-to-date is 10 percent higher than 2006 (12.7/20). The national household rating of 13.6/23 for Thursday night is down from the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (15.8/24, the highest-rated night of the 17-nights of the 2006 Winter Games).  

METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE (14-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 19.2/31
Central Time Zone  15.7/24
Pacific Time Zone  15.4/28
Eastern Time Zone  15.0/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS (14-Day Average):
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 22.2/37
2. DENVER, 21.9/36
3. MILWAUKEE, 21.4/33
4. SEATTLE, 19.8/37
5. MINNEAPOLIS, 19.7/33
6. ST. LOUIS, 18.8/29
7. COLUMBUS, 18.4/29
T8. SAN DIEGO, 18.1/30
T8. WEST PALM BEACH, 18.1/27
T10. PORTLAND, 17.9/33
T10. KANSAS CITY, 17.9/27
T12. NASHVILLE, 17.4/25
T12. OKLAHOMA CITY, 17.4/26
14. AUSTIN, 17.1/27
T15. TULSA, 17.0/25
T15. FT.MYERS, 17.0/27
17. CLEVELAND, 16.8/27
T18. BOSTON, 16.6/29
T18. PHOENIX, 16.6/27
T18. PROVIDENCE, 16.6/28
21. CINCINNATI, 16.4/25
22. INDIANAPOLIS, 16.1/26
T23. CHICAGO, 16.0/25
T23. WASHINGTON D.C., 16.0/26
T23. DETROIT, 16.0/26
T23. RICHMOND, 16.0/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS FOR THURSDAY, FEB. 25:
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 24.1/40
2. DENVER, 21.9/36
3. MILWAUKEE, 19.5/31
4. MINNEAPOLIS, 18.8/31
5. SAN DIEGO, 18.6/32
T6. SEATTLE, 18.5/36
T6. WEST PALM BEACH, 18.5/28
8. OKLAHOMA CITY, 18.4/27
9. KANSAS CITY, 18.2/28
10. ST. LOUIS, 18.1/29
11. ALBUQUERQUE, 18.0/28
T12. NASHVILLE, 17.2/25
T12. FT.MYERS, 17.2/28
14. COLUMBUS, 17.1/27
T15. SAN FRANCISCO, 16.9/33
T15. PROVIDENCE, 16.9/28
17. CHICAGO, 16.6/27
18. PITTSBURGH, 16.4/25
19. TULSA, 16.3/24
20. AUSTIN, 16.1/26
T21. WASHINGTON D.C., 16.0/27
T21. PORTLAND, 16.0/31
23. NEW YORK, 15.9/24
24. CINCINNATI, 15.8/25
25. DETROIT, 15.7/25

That’s it for this post.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, February 27

College Basketball Viewing Picks

English Premier League
Chelsea vs. Manchester City – ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.
Bolton vs. Wolverhampton – Setanta Sports, 9:30 a.m.
Birmingham City vs. Wigan Athletic – Fox Soccer Channel, 10 a.m.
Stoke City vs. Arsenal – Fox Soccer Channel, 12:30 p.m.
Burnley vs. Portsmouth – Setanta Sports, 5 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
LPGA Tour/HSBC Women’s Champions, 3rd round – Golf Channel, 1 p.m.
PGA Tour/Phoenix Open, 3rd round – Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series/Sam’s Town 300 – ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.

NBA
New Jersey at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Indiana – WGN America, 7 p.m.
Houston at Utah – NBA TV, 9 p.m.

Olympics
Men’s Curling: Bronze Medal Match, Sweden vs. Switzerland - USA, noon – 3 p.m.:
Snowboarding: Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom; Gold Medal Final, Speed Skating: Pursuit - NBC, 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Men’s Curling: Gold Medal Match, Canada vs. Norway - CNBC, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Alpine Skiing: Men’s Slalom, Bobsled: Four Man, Figure Skating: Champions Gala, Snowboarding: Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom - NBC, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Men’s Hockey: Bronze Medal Game - MSNBC, 10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.

Entertainment
5 Ingredient Fix: Low & Slow – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
Giada at Home: Comfort Food – Food Network, 1 p.m.
Legend of the Seeker – WGN America, 5 p.m. or check your local listings
Cops – Fox, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back – Fox, 9 p.m.
Survivors – BBC America, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery – CBS, 10 p.m.
Behind the Music Remastered: John Lennon: The Last Years – VH-1 Classic, 10 p.m.
The Wanda Sykes Show – Fox, 11 p.m.

Sunday, February 28

Carling Cup
Aston Villa vs. Manchester United – Setanta Sports, 9:55 a.m.

English Premier League
Tottenham vs. Everton – Setanta Sports, 7:55 a.m.
Liverpool vs. Blackburn – Fox Soccer Channel, 10 a.m.
Sunderland vs. Fulham – Fox Soccer Channel, 12:30 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour/HSBC Women’s Champions, final round – Golf Channel, 1 p.m.
PGA Tour/Phoenix Open, final round – Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series/Las Vegas – Fox, 3 p.m.

NBA
Phoenix at San Antonio – ABC, 1 p.m.
Denver at Los Angeles Lakers – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Miami at Orlando – ESPN, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Dallas – ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

Olympics
Figure Skating: Champions Gala - MSNBC, 6 a.m. – noon
Cross Country Skiing - NBC, noon – 3 p.m.
Men’s Hockey: Gold Medal Game - NBC, 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.:
Vancouver Gold – NBC, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Closing Ceremony - NBC, 8 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Wrap Up - NBC, 11:35 p.m. – 12:35 a.m.

Track & Field
US Indoor Championships – ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Entertainment
Sandra’s Money Saving Meals: Comfort Food – Food Network, noon
10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa: French Bistro Bargain – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Race 16: Run Like Scalded Dogs! – CBS, 8 p.m.
Undercover Boss: White Castle – CBS, 9 p.m.
Big Love – HBO, 9 p.m.
Ax Men – History Channel, 10 p.m.

College Basketball Viewing Picks

men’s basketball schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, February 27

College Gameday, live from Syracuse, NY – ESPN, 11 a.m.

noon
Pittsburgh at St. John’s – Big East Network

CBS Coverage Map
Kentucky at Tennessee – CBS
Notre Dame at Georgetown – CBS

Boston College at Georgia Tech – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports South/NESN

Michigan at Ohio State – ESPN
Northeastern at George Mason – ESPN2

1:30 p.m.
Baylor at Oklahoma – Big 12 Network
Iowa State at Colorado – Big 12 Network

Vanderbilt at Arkansas – SEC Network

2 p.m.
Cincinnati at West Virginia – Big East Network

North Carolina at Wake Forest – CBS

URI at St. Bonaventure – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Cox Sports RI

Texas at Texas A&M – ESPN
Ole Miss at Alabama – ESPN2

2:30 p.m.
Maine at Boston University – Comcast SportsNet New England

3 p.m.
Arizona State at Cal – Fox Sports Net

3:30 p.m.
UNLV at Air Force – the mtn.

4 p.m.
Minnesota at Illinois – Big Ten Network

Texas Tech at Nebraska – Big 12 Network

Kansas at Oklahoma State – CBS
Lafayette at American – CBS College Sports

Virginia Commonwealth at Old Dominion – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Comcast Sports South

Maryland at Virginia Tech – Raycom
NC State at Florida State – Raycom

Florida at Georgia – SEC Network

New Mexico at BYU – Versus

5 p.m.
women’s/UCLA at Oregon – Fox Sports Net

6 p.m.
Mississippi State at South Carolina – ESPN

Wyoming at Utah – the mtn.

7 p.m.
UMass at Dayton – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia

LSU at Auburn – Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports Wisconsin/Sun Sports

8 p.m.
College Gameday, live from Syracuse, NY – ESPN

Southern Miss at Memphis – CBS College Sports

Illinois State at Northern Iowa – ESPN2
Missouri at Kansas State – ESPNU

8:30 p.m.
Colorado State at TCU – the mtn.

9 p.m.
Villanova at Syracuse – ESPN

10 p.m.
Fresno State at San Jose State – ESPNU

Sunday, February 28

noon
Marquette at Seton Hall – Big East Network

Northwestern at Penn State – Big Ten Network

1 p.m.
Richmond at Xavier – ESPN2

women’s/Richmond at St. Louis – CBS College Sports

women’s/Oklahoma State at Texas Tech – Fox Sports Net

2 p.m.
Louisville at UConn – CBS

women’s/Minnesota at Michigan State – Big Ten Network

3 p.m.
women’s/Florida State at Maryland – ESPN2

women’s/Duke at North Carolina – Fox Sports Net

4 p.m.
Michigan State at Purdue – CBS

women’s/Penn State at Indiana – Big Ten Network

5 p.m.
women’s/Kansas at Baylor – ESPN2

5:30 p.m.
Clemson at Florida State – Fox Sports Net

6 p.m.
Indiana at Iowa – Big Ten Network

7:45 p.m.
Duke at Virginia – Fox Sports Net

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
men’s
Siena at Rider – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Butler at Valparaiso – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

College Hockey
RPI at Colgate – NHL Network, 7 p.m.
Boston University at Vermont – NESN, 7:30 p.m.
Ohio State at Miami – CBS College Sports, 8 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour/HSBC Women’s Champions, 2nd round – Golf Channel, 12:30 p.m.
PGA Tour/Phoenix Open, 2nd round – Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

NBA
Dallas at Atlanta – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Orlando at New Orleans – ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

Olympics
Women’s Curling: Bronze Medal Match, China vs. Switzerland - USA, noon – 3 p.m.
Men’s Hockey: Semifinal, USA vs. Finland - NBC, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Speed Skating: Men’s and Women’s Pursuit - MSNBC, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Women’s Curling: Gold Medal Match, Canada vs. Sweden - CNBC, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Alpine Skiing: Women’s Slalom, Short Track Speed Skating: Men’s and Women’s 1,000 meters - NBC, 8 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Men’s Hockey: Semifinal, Canada vs. Slovakia - CNBC, 9 p.m. – midnight
Snowboarding: Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Gold Medal Final plus Medal Ceremonies - NBC, 12:05 a.m. – 1:30 a.m.

Entertainment
41st NAACP Image Awards – Fox, 8 p.m.
The Ricky Gervais Show – HBO, 9 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 10 p.m.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – BBC America, 10 p.m.
American Loggers – Discovery, 10 p.m.
Funny or Die Presents – HBO, midnight

Canada’s Olympic Broadcasting Consortium’s Schedule for Day 15 of the Winter Olympics

We have your highlights of what will be aired on the Canadian Olympics Broadcast Media Consortium. It’s never easy to type that easily. I wish there was a shorter name for the Consortium. Anyway, here’s what you’ll see in Canada.

Day 15 Highlights: On the Road to Gold: Men’s Hockey Semifinals, Friday, Feb. 26

DAY 15 – SCHEDULED SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

OLYMPIC DAYTIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE

· Hockey: Men’s Semifinal #1 – Hot goaltenders Miikka Kiprusoff and Ryan Miller go head-to-head as USA and Finland battle for an opportunity to play in the gold medal game (CTV, V/CPAC, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Curling: Women’s Bronze Medal Game – Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott goes for a record third Olympic Games curling medal in the bronze medal game against China (Rogers Sportsnet, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Long Track Speed Skating: Men’s and Ladies’ Team Pursuit – The Canadian Men’s team hopes to overthrow Sven Kramer and the Netherlands while the Ladies’ team looks to improve on its silver medal at Turin 2006 (TSN, RDS, APTN – Inuktitut, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

OLYMPIC PRIME TIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE

· Hockey: Men’s Semifinal #2 – Team Canada takes on Slovakia looking for a berth in the gold medal game (CTV, V/CPAC, OMNI – Italian/Cantonese/Punjabi, APTN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Curling: Women’s Gold Medal Game – Gold is at stake as Canada takes on Sweden, the defending Olympic Games champion (CTV, TSN, V/CPAC, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Short Track Speed Skating: Men’s 500m – Charles Hamelin, 2009 World Champion, and François-Louis Tremblay, Turin 2006 silver medallist, look to hold off the Koreans on their way to the podium (CTV, Rogers Sportsnet, V/CPAC, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Short Track Speed Skating: Ladies’ 1000m – After finishing 6th in the 500m at Vancouver 2010, Kalyna Roberge fights for a medal in the 1000m race (CTV, Rogers Sportsnet, V/CPAC, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

· Short Track Speed Skating: Men’s 5000m Relay – Charles Hamelin, François Hamelin, François-Louis Tremblay and Olivier Jean look to dethrone South Korea, the reigning Olympic champions (CTV, Rogers Sportsnet, V/CPAC, RDS, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca)

DAY 15 – ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
· OLYMPIC MORNING – Jay Onrait and Ben Mulroney dive headfirst into conversation with Skeleton gold medallist Jon Montgomery, before Montgomery makes an appearance on OPRAH later in the day. Seamus O’Regan chats with King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, who are in Whistler to cheer on Norway’s Winter Games athletes.

· LE RÉVEIL OLYMPIQUE – The always engaging David Pelletier, Olympic Games gold medallist in pairs Figure Skating, appears in-studio. With more than 20 years of biathlon experience under her belt, Martine Albert offers her take on the biathlon competition.

· ETALK and FASHIONTELEVISION – Lainey delivers the latest gossip from the Games and Jeanne Beker hits the lanes to bowl with DSQUARED2’s Dean and Dan Caten, closing ceremony designers.

· MOD LIVE @ THE BASE – Shortlisted Polaris Prize artist K’Naan waves his flag on MuchMusic’s Whistler set. He talks about what to expect during his show at the Whistler Medals Plaza that night. Later, JUNO winners Wintersleep drop by for a performance and to dish on what to expect from their next release. Grand Analog also stops by the show. Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea is featured in MuchMusic’s coverage of the Vancouver Victory ceremony.

And these are the ratings for Wednesday in Canada.

Vancouver 2010 Audience Day 13 Recap: 10.5 Million Viewers Watch Team Canada Defeat Russia

• – 8.2 million watch Canada win silver and gold in Women’s Bobsleigh on CTV –
  – Men’s Hockey delivers Games-high 1.2 million viewers to V/CPAC –
  – OLYMPIC PRIME TIME averages 6.7 million viewers –
  – OLYMPIC MORNING grows day-to-day –
  – CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca surpass 155 million page views –

Nearly two-thirds of the Canadian population watched some part of Team Canada’s 7-3 win over Russia last night. Reaching 21.6 million viewers, the game was watched on average by 10.5 million viewers (peaking at 13.3 million), making it one of the most-watched sporting events in Canadian history and just shy of Sunday’s historic audience for the CAN/USA game (10.6 million). The game was watched by 9.3 million viewers on CTV alone, and also delivered the highest Vancouver 2010 audience yet for V/CPAC, with 1.2 million viewers. After Day 13, 98.5% of the population – or 32,985,000 Canadians – have engaged with Vancouver 2010 coverage, according to Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium’s CUME index.

Day 13 Average Audiences

OLYMPIC MORNING/LE RÉVEIL OLYMPIQUE 847,000
OLYMPIC DAYTIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE 2.7 million
OLYMPIC PRIME TIME/JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE 6.7 million

Additional Day 13 Highlights – Television

• Immediately following Men’s Hockey, 8.2 million viewers on CTV watched Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse win gold and Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown win silver in Women’s Bobsleigh. The full 50-minute event averaged 3.6 million viewers (including 1.1 million on Rogers Sportsnet) before peaking at 13 million viewers at 10:06 p.m. ET, when Canada’s gold and silver placements were announced. Bobsleigh also delivered 837,000 viewers for RDS.
• On TSN, Short Track Speed Skating was watched by 858,000 viewers for the Ladies’ 3000m Relay Finals and 848,000 viewers for the Men’s 500m Heats.
• Vancouverites are watching Games coverage more than any other market in the country. The average hours consumed so far by those reached in Vancouver is 32.3 hours/week, compared to 29.3/week in Calgary and 26/week in Toronto.
• Men’s Hockey pushed OLYMPIC PRIME TIME’s average audience to 6.7 million viewers, its second highest of the Games.
• OLYMPIC MORNING has seen its audience increase for two days in a row. Wednesday’s show was 8% higher than Tuesday, and 30% higher than Monday. The early morning show is averaging 1.05 million viewers through Day 13 of the Games.
• JEUX OLYMPIQUES AUX HEURES DE GRANDE ÉCOUTE delivered 727,000 viewers for V/CPAC, RDS and RIS, while JEUX OLYMPIQUES EN JOURNÉE was watched by 414,000 viewers.

Additional Day 13 Highlights – Online

• Total Games-to-date page views on CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca have now surpassed 155 million views, with Day 13 alone drawing 17.2 million views.
• At 9:45 p.m. ET last night, 125,000 people were watching video on the two sites as Team Canada defeated Russia 7-3.
• Top internal search was for news and information about figure skater Joannie Rochette, followed by Opening Ceremony, which has remained in the Top 2 search terms every day of the Games.
• Rochette was also the most-viewed athlete yesterday, followed by gold medallist Ashleigh McIvor, yesterday’s bronze medallist Clara Hughes, figure skating sensation and Brian Orser protégée Yu-Na Kim and Canadian curling skip Cheryl Bernard.
• Hockey tops the most-viewed sports, which has been in the first or second spot since the Games began. Other popular sports yesterday include Figure Skating, Long Track and Short Track Speed Skating, and Bobsleigh.

Top Five Television Events – Day 13

Total Viewers Event Time (PT) Channels
1. 10.5 million Men’s Hockey: CAN/RUS 16:35 CTV, V/CPAC, OMNI.1, OMNI.2, OMNI AB, OMNI BC, APTN
2. 3.6 million Women’s Bobsleigh 18:16 CTV, Sportsnet, RDS, RIS
3. 2.2 million Freestyle Skiing: Ladies’ Aerials Final 19:30 CTV, Sportsnet, RDS
4. 2 million Speed Skating: Ladies’ 5000m 13:00 CTV, TSN, RDS, RIS
5. 1.4 million Short Track Speed Skating: Ladies’ 3000m Finals 18:28 TSN, RDS

Sources
Television: BBM Canada
Online: Omniture unless otherwise indicated
*Conviva

That’s it for now.

NBC’s Olympic Quotage For Day 14

Just three more days for Olympic quotage. We have the stuff from NBC’s networks for the last Thursday of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

As usual, we begin with Universal Sports.

UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010 — On the fifteenth day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports at the Vancouver Games continues its five-hour programming block, starting at 10 a.m. ET and continuing daily until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 28.

Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz:

News Alerts:

· The United States currently has 30 medals.

Erben Wennemars, 2006 Olympic Speed Skating Bronze Medalist and former teammate of Sven Kramer (the Dutch speed skater who yielded a gold medal after being disqualified for an improper lane change): “There’s only one topic in The Netherlands right now, and that’s Sven Kramer. He makes such a mistake. The guy who had to win hadn’t lost in 25 races until now. This will not be forgotten anytime soon.”

Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Alpine Skiing Gold Medalist (on the controversy surrounding the women’s giant slalom event) “The first run is under scrutiny. The American team wanted the entire run thrown out, but you can’t take it (the Run 1 results) away from the people that pulled it together.”

Street (on the comments between U.S. Ski Team members Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso): “We’re seeing the negative consequences of preparing as a team and winning as an individual.”

John Coyle, 1994 Olympic Short Track Speed Skating Silver Medalist (on the South Korean team being disqualified during the women’s 3,000m short track speed skating event): “I don’t know if I would have made that call (a South Korean skater clicked skates with the Chinese skater in front of her), but I’m not a referee. The Americans definitely benefited (winning bronze as a result).

Features:

Call of the Day: A Czech Republic TV network’s call of the Women’s 5,000m speed skating race yesterday on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, marked the third time in a row that hosts Terry Gannon, Lindsey Soto, and analyst Kenan Harkin were unable to guess the correct answer. Even guest John Coyle, an Olympic Speed Skater, didn’t identify the call.

Summer Sanders, Universal Sports’ Whistler sideline reporter, speaks with Nancy Green, a Canadian Alpine skier who was named “Canadian Female Athlete of the Year.” Green mentioned that she dreamed for “many, many years” that Whistler and Blackcomb ski resorts would one day host the Winter Olympic Games.

NBC’s Peter Alexander learns that in order to speak ‘Canadian’ English, he needs to learn to ‘correctly’ pronounce the following words: ‘house,’ ‘sorry,’ ‘out and about,’ and ‘eh?’

The Arctic Games 2 premiered with much fanfare. Kenan Harkin and Jeremy Bloom faced off once again, wearing traditional men’s figure skating costumes, and received tips from Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi. Harkin was the winner of the competition, although the credibility of the judging is under scrutiny.

MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:

It was the single best day at any Winter Games for Canada: four medals were earned yesterday.

Randy Starkman, Toronto Star sports reporter: “This (men’s ice hockey) gold medal is the most important medal for Canadians. People will go to their offices a lot happier – if they go to their offices. One guy told me he called his boss and said ‘I’m not coming in until Monday.’”

Starkman (on Clara Hughes, Canadian Olympian with medals in both cycling and speed skating) “She won (women’s 5,000m speed skating), even though it was a bronze. She donated $25,000 to Right to Play. She’s an incredible sportswoman and this was an incredible way for her to go out.”

Amy Shipley, Washington Post reporter: “Canada ended the ‘Own the Podium’ program and it took the pressure off (these athletes). And now it’s going to feel like a grand achievement when they do win medals.”

John Powers, Boston Globe reporter: “Canada kept saying ‘wait until week 2, that’s when you’ll see the most medals.’ They could possibly finish third in the total medal count.”

Shipley (on Julie Mancuso’s re-run in the women’s giant slalom): “Everyone’s heart went out to Julia and she had to go down much, much later, and it was extremely frustrating…but this is sports. We see this all the time. She got another run, she wasn’t disqualified. Her response of ‘woe is me!’ was not a good response.”

Jimmy Roberts, host of “Meet the Olympic Press” (on Julia Mancuso’s negative comments in Sports Illustrated about teammate Lindsey Vonn): “There’s a vast difference between thinking something and saying something.”

John Powers, Boston Globe reporter: “Lindsey is the queen, but who has the whole ‘Kiss my tiara thing?’ Julia does.”

Are Olympic venues (courses and technology) pushing athletes too far?

John Morgan, NBC Olympic Sliding Sports Analyst: “They didn’t let athletes on these new courses enough. I wish they had this ‘training’ environment one month in advance.”

Starkman: “I don’t think it’s too far. It’s the Olympics. You need to have challenging courses. You need something Olympic-worthy.”

Powers: ” ’Faster’ is the first word in the Olympic motto (‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’). We want to separate by the hundredths of a second who the best are. But if (the sliding track) is that fast, we need more access.”

Starkman (on injecting ski courses with water): “These athletes are used to it on the World Cup. Talk about equipment and what’s it’s done to push athletes too far. Again, it’s the Olympics, it’s going to be tough—if you can’t take it, then pack your skis up and leave the start gate.”

Thumbs up/Thumbs down segment:

Amy Shipley: Thumbs up to (U.S. Short Track Speed Skater) Jordan Malone (who fell a few meters before the finish line in his event). He said ‘I’ve been a positive person until now; I’m not going to start complaining. That’s the sport of short track’.”

…and the gold medal—despite Amy trying to bribe host Jimmy Roberts with $20—went to John Powers. According to Roberts, “Anyone who quotes ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ (Latin for Faster, Higher, Stronger) gets the gold medal.”

VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:

Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Figure Skating Silver Medalist (on the mission facing the top figure skaters tonight): “Forget about the podium. What they are here to do is to get through these programs and not have mistakes. The most important thing is to think, ‘Clean program.’ That is, in the end, what gets you up in the standings, not thinking about the medal.”

Carruthers: (on the popularity of ladies’ figure skating): “I think it’s because of (three-time Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist) Sonja Henie. She had a huge career as a movie star and it started a big interest in ladies’ figure skating.”

Picabo Street, 1998 Olympic Alpine Skiing Gold Medalist (on Julia Mancuso’s curtailed Giant Slalom run and second start Wednesday after the Vonn crash): “In her head, she should be thinking ‘I’ve run over the majority of the course today.’ She should be going over mistakes in her head and thinking about how to improve her line. Instead, she got emotionally involved and she was depleted when she got halfway down the run. After waiting four years to do to defend her title, which was also a little shady back in 2006 due to the weather, she was her own worst enemy in this one. “

Street: “There’s going to be a dark cloud that surrounds the Giant Slalom at the Vancouver. The jury did the best they could do, made the decisions they could make for the safety of the racers, and this is what we ended up with.”

Street (on the effects of poor conditions and visibility): “(Adverse conditions impact) skis, wax, visibility, depth perception. That’s why they have the blue lines on the snow.”

Alan Abrahamson, NBC Olympics and Universal Sports reporter (on how the U.S. performance will change winter sports and attention in the United States): “Winter sports are never going to be football which has sucked all the air out of the room. Will their performance inspire the next generation? Yes.”

Abrahamson (on Team Canada’s Own the Podium program): “(Own the Podium) was a classic blunder. Peter Ueberroth used to say that you under-promise, and over-deliver. The Canadians, in a bid to build national pride, have over promised and under delivered.”

Figure Skating Review/Preview:

Heading into the Ladies’ Long Program, South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na is in first, Japan’s Mao Asada is second, Canada’s Joannie Rochette is third, with Americans Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Peggy Fleming, 1968 Olympic Ladies’ Gold Medalist (on South Korean Kim Yu-Na’s ability to perform with Olympic Gold at stake): “I think she really knows how to keep her head and Brian Orser, her coach, has been in that position before, (skating) against Brian Boitano in Calgary (at the 1988 Winter Games).”

Fleming (On the challenge posed to Kim by Japan’s Mao Asada): “She’s wonderful but she’s got to give a little more energy, more extension, (and) she doesn’t have the speed Kim Yu-Na has.”

Michael Weiss, two-time Olympian, two-time World Championships bronze medalist and professional figure skater (on Kim Yu-Na’s short program effort): “Kim Yu-Na technically had more difficult jumps, she performed the program beautifully, and those points added up. She did what she did well and she gained points.”

Weiss (on Kim’s degree of difficulty): “Ask any guy, they’d much rather do a triple-triple combination (than a triple Axel-double toe). … A woman did a triple Axel-double toe (jump combination) in the short program in an Olympic Games! That should be valued higher. But where Yu-Na got (Asada) was she did everything. She had good skating skills, good choreography. The points added up.”

Fleming: “Rachael Flatt is a very solid competitor. She can put on a great performance. She’s well-trained, she knows how to focus and has fun out there.”

Fleming: “Mirai Nagasu is a joyful skater. She’s very free, there’s lots of flow. When she’s skating, she’s not thinking about her technique, she’s just doing it.”

Weiss (on debate about revising scoring value for the difficult triple Axel-double toe): “I think they will take a look at this. The triple Axel and quad toe (performed on the men’s side) are the most difficult jumps to do and should be rewarded.”

Weiss (on tonight’s Free Skate) “If history repeats itself somebody in the top three is not going to perform up to their ability, which leaves the door open. Rachael Flatt (now in fifth), as we know, is like a robot.”

Dick Button, 1948 & 1952 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist (on the future of skating): “The whole sport of figure skating should really sit down at this point and re-think itself. I have been involved with four or five re-thinkings of this sport. Three or four at any rate. One, right after the second World War when it became much more athletic than it was before that. And then in the ’60s, with the whole subject of television and the reportage of it, and the expansion of it. In the ’70s, with the professional world of it turning it into a professional sport, a professional competitive sport just as (other sports). Then, finally, I think it needs a new re-thinking but, you know something, I’m not going to be part of that. I don’t have the patience. You know why a camel looks like a camel—it was designed by a committee. (Skating) has got to be re-thought again, to retain what is wonderful about skating.”

On The Button (questions posed to Dick Button from the audience):

Q: Are the US skaters being counted out for medals tonight?

A: “I would like to know who it is that has counted them out. I would absolutely dismiss them from any conversation further. No one is counting them out.”

Q: What’s the best performance you’ve seen in Vancouver?

A: “I’ve seen two amazing performances: Virtue/Moir and Davis/White in the ice dancing final. Two iconic performances that rank with any I have seen over the last half century. Two different ways to approach the love story and they we absolutely gorgeous.”

Dorothy Hamill, 1976 Olympic Ladies’ Gold Medalist (on Yu-Na’s and Asada’s celebrity): “That’s insane. It’s hard to imagine how they would stay focused. But they are out there in the middle of the ice so they can stay away from it. … They hear the cameras going click-click-click-click everytime you go by. That’s got to be nerve wracking.”

Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist (on the discussion of pressure in skating): Yamaguchi revealed that in 1991, leading to the 1992 Winter Games — in which she would win the gold medal — she was disillusioned. Canadian figure skater Kurt Browning, a top skater of the era, took her aside and asked, ‘Why are you skating?’ “That simple question —’Why are you skating?’ — made me look inside.”

Carruthers (on tonight’s ladies’ Free Skate final): “I think we are going to see the top two (Yu-Na and Asada) pressure each other into two excellent programs.”

**Without warm up, Fleming sinks one of two shots in a Nerf basketball challenge with Terry Gannon and Co.**

SCHEDULE FOR UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – FRIDAY, FEB. 26, 2010:

10 –11:30 AM Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz

11:30 AM – 12 PM Behind the Games

12 – 12:30 PM Meet The Olympic Press

1: 30 – 2 PM Vancouver Review/Preview

2 – 3 PM Figure Skating Review/Preview

FUN FACTS AND QUOTES OF THE DAY:

· Before competing, Rachael Flatt makes a habit of eating a couple of M&Ms that match the colors of her dress.

· Randy Starkman: “Sorry, I’m going to disagree.”

Jimmy Roberts, host of “Meet the Olympic Press”: “No one agrees with anyone on this program.”

Starkman: “Sorry, I’m Canadian.”

And there’s the Daytime quotage.

DAY 14 DAYTIME HIGHLIGHTS OF NBC WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE

“She alone is carrying the pressure of her entire nation on her shoulders.” – NBC’s Sandra Bezic on South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na

“Both of them are going to come out swinging.” – NBC’s Scott Hamilton on USA’s Rachael Flatt & Mirai Nagasu

VANCOUVER - February 25, 2010 - Daytime coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games continued today on NBC with coverage of the women’s 4x5km relay gold medal final and a figure skating preview of tonight’s ladies’ gold medal final with NBC’s Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic and Dick Button.

MSNBC included live coverage of the women’s ice hockey bronze medal game between Finland and Sweden. USA Network featured live coverage of the women’s curling semifinal round between Canada and Switzerland.

NBC

HAMILTON, BEZIC AND BUTTON PREVIEW TONIGHT’S LADIES’ FIGURE SKATING GOLD MEDAL FINAL

DAYTIME HOST AL MICHAELS: “The walking encyclopedia of figure skating, Dick Button.”

BEZIC ON SOUTH KOREA’S KIM YU-NA WINNING GOLD: “She has the lead and if she skates cleanly, it will most likely be hers. For me what is most fascinating is the kind of pressure she’s under, because she alone is carrying the pressure of her entire nation on her shoulders. She lives with that everyday and trains with that everyday. I can’t imagine waking up and being her this morning, knowing what she has to do. Anything less than gold will be a failure.”

BUTTON ON KIM YU-NA: “Most of all is the fact that not only is she wonderfully athletic, but is also elegant and easy to watch. If she skates brilliantly, she’ll have the easiest route to a gold medal.”

HAMILTON ON JAPAN’S MAO ASADA SKATING AFTER KIM YU-NA: “There’s a little pay back here because Kim Yu-Na had to skate after Mao Asada in the short program and Mao just threw it down. Kim gets to put the pressure on her and Mao’s going to have to hit both of her triple axels to have any chance to get enough points to compete with her technically. Artistically is where Kim Yu-Na separates herself from the field. Mao is going to have to be absolutely flawless tonight technically to have any chance to overtake her.”

BUTTON: “Mao Asada is marvelous all-around skater. Her jumps are simply breathtakingly beautiful, but easy. She doesn’t quite have all of the sustaining parts through the rest of the program. Whether she does both triple axels or not is a question. If she does, the point system will be quite generous to her.”

BEZIC ON CANADA’S JOANNIE ROCHETTE AND HER MOTHER’S DEATH A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE SHORT PROGRAM: “It’s so compelling and so heart wrenching, because we all refer it to ourselves in some way and make it personal. We wonder where we would find that kind of strength within ourselves, or whether we even have that. For her to show that to us was an extraordinary gift.”

HAMILTON ON ROCHETTE: “Seeing Joannie and seeing her relationship with her mother and how tight that was. There’s a huge void right there for her and I think she’s filling it with her skating. I was blown away the other night by that short program.”

BEZIC ON USA’S RACHAEL FLATT AND MIRAI NAGASU: “What I love about these two American ladies is that they have simply no doubt. They obviously watched Tara Lipinski and Sara Hughes when they were growing up and they just figure, ‘why not me too?’ Why not be in the final flight and why not be in contention for a medal? That’s how they’ve been skating here and it’s just wonderful.”

HAMILTON ON FLATT AND NAGASU: “They’re so different. Rachael, she’s the rock. She’s so dependable. She punches her time clock every day and she always delivers the performance. With Mirai, you just never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. Just so charming and so endearing and she has her own perspective on everything. Underneath both of them is a fighter. Both of them are going to come out swinging. It’s going to be really fun to watch them skate.”

BUTTON ON FLATT AND NAGASU: “They’re wonderful. I really love them both. Rachel Flatt is just as solid as they come in every way. She’s a competitor through and through. It oozes out of her bones the way she can come through under pressure. Mirai Nagasu is just lovely. Mirai Nagasu is certainly someone who will challenge right to the top.”

WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY 4x5KM RELAY GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Al Trautwig (Play-By-Play), Chad Salmela (Analyst)
Gold: Norway
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Finland

TRAUTWIG ON THE EVENT: “It’s a complete test of team depth.”

SALMELA ON THE EVENT: “They have to go from the gun. These athletes are going to charge this course right from the beginning.”

“The athletes are going to try to leave everything they can on the course.”

SALMELA ON NORWAY’S MARIT BJOERGEN ON WINNING ANOTHER GOLD THIS OLYMPICS: “This would put her down in the record books as one of the greatest skiers of all time from Norway.”

“This is becoming the Games of Marit Bjoergen in cross-country skiing.”

MICHAELS ON NORWAY WINNING GOLD: “I’m not sure they can have a ticker-tape parade in Trondheim, Norway this time of year, but I’ll bet you we’re going to find out next week.”

MSNBC
WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY BRONZE MEDAL GAME: SWEDEN VS. FINLAND
Bill Patrick (Host), Cammi Granato (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), AJ Mleczko (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)
Finland: 3 Sweden: 2  

GRANATO ON FINLAND WINNING BRONZE: “First Olympic medal for Team Finland in 12 years!”

“These two teams are used to playing against each other.  A lot of times it’s been Sweden on top. This time its Finland’s turn.”

GRANATO ON THE GAME: “For those of us that are fans of women’s hockey, this is what we wanted to see.  We wanted to see a hard fought battle.  We wanted to see an emotional battle.  We saw some physical play. That’s what you want, a 3-2 overtime final for an Olympic medal.  That’s amazing hockey.”

ALBERT ON THE GAME: “It’s no surprise that these teams are playing for the bronze.  If you asked any follower of women’s hockey prior to the Olympics, you would have expected U.S. and Canada in the gold medal game, despite the upset by Sweden in 2006, and Sweden and Finland playing for the bronze.”

MLECZKO ON SWEDEN, FINLAND RIVALRY: “People talk about the rivalry between the USA and Canada, but this one is forgotten. Finland and Sweden play each other a lot through the years. With their geography, they are very close to each other. They are often battling for a bronze medal and you can see the physical nature and the intensity.”

GRANATO ON FINLAND’S MICHELLE KARVINEN: “Karvinen is showing why she’s one of the most exciting prospects for Finland these days.  She’s young, she’s 19 years old. But she’s showing tonight why she’s been so good for them.”

USA NETWORK
WOMEN’S CURLING SEMIFINAL: CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don 
Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Canada: 6 Switzerland: 5 

JONES ON CURLING IN CANADA: “In Canada, curling is next to hockey like a religion. Now team Canada will play for the gold on home ice tomorrow.”
 
ROGGIN ON THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH: “The Canadians will take on defending gold medal champion Anette Norberg and Sweden for the gold medal.”
 
CATALON ON TEAM CANADA: “Team Canada has embraced the energy in this building.  They have not run from this pressure.”

JONES ON CANADA’S CHERYL BERNARD: “She is a tough cookie.”
 
DUGUID ON BERNARD: “Give her the last rock and she’s dynamite with the draw.”

And we have the primetime quotage.

KIM YU-NA CORONATED WITH GOLD; US WINS GOLD & SILVER IN NORDIC COMBINE; SPEEDY RIDES A HURRICANE TO SILVER

“The coronation is complete. Long live the Queen.” – NBC’s Tom Hammond on Kim Yu-Na winning gold

“We’re green light for flight but there’s a hurricane in the forecast.” – NBC’s Todd Harris on Speedy Peterson

VANCOUVER - Feb. 25, 2010 - Kim Yu-Na of South Korea, the reigning world champion, won the ladies’ figure skating gold on the 14TH day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, handily defeating Mao Asada of Japan and Joannie Rochette of Canada. Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt of the US finished fourth and seventh, respectively. The program ended with the medal ceremony and the national anthem of South Korea.

The US increased its historic medal haul in Nordic combined to four. In the individual large hill/10km cross country event, Billy Demong won the first gold in the sport in US history and Johnny Spillane earned his third silver of the Games. Until Vancouver, the US had never medaled in Nordic combined. The medal ceremony and US national anthem were aired during the program.

In men’s freestyle aerials, Jeret ‘Speedy’ Peterson won silver by landing the hurricane - a risky five-twist, three-somersault maneuver. Alexei Grishin of Belarus won gold and Zhongging Liu of China earned bronze. Peterson attempted the hurricane in Torino in 2006 but did not land it cleanly, costing him a medal. Ryan St. Onge from the US finished fourth.

On MSNBC, the host nation Canada defeated the US - the reigning world champions -  in the highly anticipated women’s hockey gold medal game by a score of 2-0. It was Canada’s third consecutive Olympic gold. The medal ceremony and Canadian national anthem aired in primetime on NBC. On CNBC, Canada defeated Sweden, 6-3, in the semifinals of men’s curling. The host nation will face Norway in the gold medal final on Saturday.

FIGURE SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Tom Hammond
Analysts: Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic
Reporter: Andrea Joyce

Bezic on Flatt during her skate: “She is really doing it.”
 
Bezic: “She’s had a long season with many great performances but she has saved her best one for the Olympic Games.”
 
Hamilton: “She is a rock. She is so consistent.”
 
Hammond: “It’s called rising to the moment and Rachel Flatt has just done it.”
 
Bezic on Ando: “This is the strongest we’ve seen Miki perform in a long time as well.” 
 
Hamilton as Kim Yu-Na took the ice: “My heart just started beating a little faster.”
 
Bezic during Yu-Na’s performance: “Oh my goodness, this is glorious. This is one of the greatest Olympic performances I have ever seen.”
 
Hammond: “And the crowd mesmerized during her skate, leaping to their feet. The coronation is complete. Long live the Queen.”
 
Hamilton on the pressure: “No one can walk a mile in those shoes.”
 
Hammond on Kim Yu-Na’s record-setting score of 228.56: “That blasts the old record. That destroyed the old record.”

Hamilton on Asada: “The first woman to do three triple axels in a competition ever.”
 
Bezic on Asada: “What she has done in the wake of Yu-Na’s ovation is extraordinary.”
 
Bezic on Joannie Rochette’s performance: “A kiss for her father. A performance for her mom.”
 
Hamilton on Rochette’s performance: “I’ve never seen such a superhuman amount of courage and determination. What an inspiration.”
 
Hammond on Rochette’s performance: “It is the stuff of Olympic legend.”
 
Hammond on Nagasu: “Not intimidated at all by the stage of the Olympics.”
 
Bezic on Nagasu: “She just made herself her own Olympic moment.”
 
Hamilton on the final results: “Everybody’s happy.”

NORDIC COMBINED:
CROSS COUNTRY
Play-by-Play: Al Trautwig
Analyst: Chad Salmela

Trautwig on Demong: “And now Billy Demong is having his own little miracle.”
 
Trautwig on Demong and Spillane: “For the first time in Nordic combined, the United States wins a gold and they’re going to add a silver as well.”
 
Trautwig on Spillane’s three silver medals: “Let future generations chase that.”
 
Salmela: “The United States has been waiting for that moment for so long.”
 
Spillane on strategy: “Bill and I just kept trading off and kept taking turns pushing the pace and relaxing. We knew that eventually he’d break and Bill had a very strong finish on that last hill. I also felt really good and we were able to get clear. To finish 1-2 is awesome.”
 
Demong on the future: “I know we’re both planning on skiing next year in the world championships. And I don’t think anyone’s thought that far ahead. Right now our commitment is to enjoy these weeks here and do our best. And we’re also going to start laying the groundwork for the next generation.”

FREESTYLE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Todd Harris
Analyst: Jonny Moseley
Reporter: Tina Dixon
 
Moseley on Canada’s Warren Shouldice: “He looks like a two-by-four getting flung through the air and the judges love that.”
 
Harris on Japan’s skiers: “They’re so young, but with so much poise.”
 
Harris on the hurricane: “We’re green light for flight but there’s a hurricane in the forecast.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a category five hurricane, but that was pretty nice.”
 
Moseley: “You don’t get extra points for originality but he does it anyway.”
 
“One of the best I’ve seen him do.”
 
Harris on Peterson: “And the hurricane is good for silver.”

ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino
 
Cooper on gold medalist Victoria Rebensburg of Germany: “That was a hard fight from top to bottom. She never gave up.”
 
Ryan: “And now she’s showing the world she’s a gold medalist in the giant slalom.”

Cooper on the technique of silver medalist Tina Maze of Slovakia: “It’s just a thing of beauty.”

Cooper on the Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso relationship: “These are two characters with polar opposite personalities. They approach their personal lives and their ski careers differently. They have different goals. That’s just the realities of life on the national team. Rivals are not always your best friends. The point is to put that aside and make it work.”
 
Cooper on Mancuso: “What a fighter she’s been.”

Mancuso on her race: “I’m psyched I was able to lay down a pretty good second run today. It wasn’t enough but I really went out and did my best so I’m really proud of that.”
 
On her alleged feud with Lindsey Vonn: “It’s been taken out of proportion. It’s really about both of us going out and skiing. I respect her. I said earlier in some interviews that of course she deserved the attention. She really is the greatest female American skier that we’ve had -- two overall titles, numerous Globe. That’s really a huge accomplishment. We’re both very different. We both have gotten here to these Games and gotten our medals in completely opposite ways. I’m sure that fuels the fire even more. But of course it’s always good to see your fellow American on the podium.”
 
On the death of her friend: “I found out yesterday after my race that my friend C.R. Johnson passed away skiing in Squaw [Valley]. It just really reminds me that skiing is so much fun and I love it. It’s all about the skiing and nothing else.”

MSNBC, Women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game:
Canada 2 vs. United States 0
Bill Patrick (Host), Cammi Granato (Studio Analyst), Mike Emrick (Play-By-Play), AJ Mleczko (Analyst), Pierre McGuire (Analyst), Joe Micheletti (Reporter)

Patrick: “What we saw today was really unique. Before today, no women’s hockey team had ever won Olympic gold on home ice.”

“The party has just begun here at Canada hockey place.”

Patrick on Canada: “Their 15th straight Olympic victory. Their third straight gold medal.”

Granato on Canada: “They have the crowd here supporting them. It can’t be more special.”

“They had a flawless game.”

Mleczko: “It was a battle as expected.”

Emrick on Canada: “What a wonderful feeling it is for them, to not only win, but to win at home.”

McGuire on Canada’s Szabados: “She is the most consistent goaltender Canada has right now.”

Patrick: “The Canadian team has this building behind it and that’s a big factor.”

Canada’s Gillian Apps on playing well under pressure: “It is something that we have worked on all year just making sure that we have a strong, solid penalty kill. Our defense and our goalie are playing great, so it’s a huge help.”

Mleczko on USA and Canada: “These two teams are ‘it’ in terms of rivalries.”

Granato: “This is four years of work coming down to one game.”

McGuire on USA and Canada: “A lot of tension on both benches.”

Granato on USA: “They’re the most together I have seen a team since the 1998 team.”

Granato On USA Head Coach Mark Johnson: “They absolutely love playing for him. This guy is so well decorated. He was the leading scorer of the 1980 Olympic team that won the gold medal. His father was a legendary coach. He just has loads of experience. He has won three NCAA championships with Wisconsin. He knows how to win. He knows how to coach and they follow him.”

Granato: “For the U.S., you can sense the disappointment. You can see the disappointment. Lots of tears. I have been there. I know what that feels like. In time, they will come to appreciate the silver medal. It is hard for them right now, but they will.”

USA’s Natalie Darwitz on the game: “We played hard, but we just didn’t execute.”

“We have a young team and at times I feel we played that way.”

CNBC, Men’s Curling Semifinal: 
Canada 6 vs. Sweden 3
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-By-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Don Duguid (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
 
Jones: “What a moment for this Canadian team to now be able to play for the gold medal in front of this crowd.”
 
“This place is going to be absolutely electric.”
 
Canada’s John Morris: “I think it’s a good energy in the building. We have had that pressure on us for the last couple of years. The Olympics is a whole new ball game.”
 
“Curling and hockey to Canada is kind of like baseball and basketball to the States. Where the pressure is on to win the gold. We knew that pressure coming in, and we definitely expected it for ourselves. So we are definitely going for that gold.”  
 
On playing Norway in the gold medal final: “We know we will have our hands full, so we expect a good battle on Saturday that’s for sure.”
  
Duguid: “There’s nobody that knows the angles more than Kevin Martin.”
  
Jones on Sweden: “Coming in, they thought if they finished middle of the pack that would be good. They have been awesome.”

And we have a bonus press release. This one says NBCOlympics.com is attracting visitors, but I keep hearing Yahoo! and ESPN.com are giving it a run for its money.

“NBCOLYMPICS.COM ON MSN” LEADS ALL COMPETITION

More Than 706 Million Page Views is 600 Million More Than That of the Nearest Competitor

Engagement Time on NBCOlympics.com is 63% Higher Than Nearest Competitor

VANCOUVER -February 25, 2010 - “NBCOlympics.com on MSN” has generated more than 706 million page views, 600 million more and 587 percent more than the nearest competitor Yahoo’s Olympic site (103 million page views) from Feb. 15-21 according to comScore data released today. And, visitors to NBCOlympics.com spend more time on the site and view more pages than visitors to Yahoo’s Olympics site.
 
On average, visitors to NBCOlympics.com spend 11.4 minutes per visit, 63 percent more than the seven minutes on average for Yahoo users, and visitors to NBC’s Olympics website average 72.2 pages per visitor, more than 12 times Yahoo’s 5.7 average pages per visitor.
 
Additional digital highlights include:

• Through 13 days, NBCOlympics.com has seen 28.9 million video streams serving more than 2.5 million hours of video, 20 million more than the total number of video streams from the 2006 Winter Games (8.4 million), according to Omniture Data.
• The USA-Switzerland men’s quarterfinal hockey game on Wednesday, Feb 24, delivered nearly 500,000 live streams on NBCOlympics.com, the most live streams of any event to date. The USA-Finland men’s semifinal hockey game will be streamed live Friday starting at 3 p.m. ET.
• NBCOlympics.com has delivered more than 1,100 highlights through 13 days of the Vancouver Games.
• There have been 9.8 million unique visitors to NBCOlympics.com from Feb. 15 – 21, 2010, according to data released today by comScore.

*NOTE: NBCOlympics.com is an Olympics specific website.

That’s it.

The Olympics Prevent People From Washing Clothes – NBC

I don’t know how NBC determines these statistics, but yesterday, the network claimed 35% of those watching cried while watching Joannie Rochette’s performance on Tuesday. Now, it says 34% of households with the Olympics on now procrastinate doing various chores including washing laundry. I don’t know how this is determined, but it’s in the latest press release. I think this is a way to distract us from noticing that the ratings for last night again fell below American Idol on Fox. NBC does acknowledge this, but it’s not in the press release’s headline.

177 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE WATCHED THE OLYMPICS ON THE NETWORKS OF NBC UNIVERSAL THROUGH 13 DAYS

24.9 Million Average Audience; More Than 4 Million More and 20% Higher Than 2006 Winter Games Through 13 Nights

67 Million People Watched the Olympics Wednesday on the Networks of NBC Universal, 9 Million More Than the Comparable Day at the 2006 Winter Games.

VANCOUVER - February 25, 2010 - 177 million Americans have watched the Vancouver Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal through 13 days of the Games; four million more than watched the first 13 days of the 2006 Winter Games (173 million), according to data available today from The Nielsen Company.

NBCU’s Wednesday broadcasts were seen by 67 million total viewers on a night that faced a two-hour American Idol. The 67 million is nine million more than the comparable day from the 2006 Games (58 million).

13-DAY AVERAGE IS 4 MILLION MORE THAN 2006: The 24.9 million average viewers through 13 nights of the Vancouver Games is more than four million more and 20 percent higher than the average viewership of the 2006 Winter Games through 13 nights (20.7 million).  

THE OLYMPICS IS A HUGE CULTURAL EVENT

• 46% of Olympic viewers changed their typical routine to watch the Olympics.
• 34% delayed doing laundry or other household chores – including paying bills – in order to watch the Olympics.
• 59% said they didn’t watch some of their “regular shows” in order to watch the Olympics
• 35% of viewers cried or became teary-eyed while watching (25% among men)
• 66% of viewers cheered aloud while watching the Olympics
• 63% stayed up longer than usual to watch, resulting in 42% being “more tired than normal.”
• 42% of viewers said the Olympic sport they would most like to try is bobsled

(Source: Research Results)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT UP 24 PERCENT FROM COMPARABLE NIGHT IN 2006: On a night that faced a two-hour episode of the juggernaut, American Idol on Fox, Wednesday night’s coverage drew 19.8 million viewers nearly four million more than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (16.0 million, up 24%). 

OLYMPICS VS. IDOL - CUT DEFICIT BY 13 MILLION VS. 4 YEARS AGO: 

• Last night, going head-to-head from 8-10 p.m., American Idol only out-drew the Olympics by 3.8 million viewers (19.0 million for Olympics vs. 22.8 million for American Idol) 13 million less than on the comparable night during the last Winter Olympics in 2006 when Idol had an advantage of 16.9 million viewers, more than doubling the viewership of the Olympics (31.7 – 14.8 million viewers from 8-10 p.m.).

OLYMPICS VS. COMPETITION: 

• To date in Vancouver, only the cultural phenomenon American Idol has delivered more audience than the Olympics. At this point at the 2006 Winter Games, five programs had delivered more viewers than the Olympics: American Idol, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, House and Lost.

224-1:

• For nearly six years since May 2004, American Idol is now 224-1 against all competition. The one show that beat Idol head-to-head over that span was last Wednesday’s Olympics on NBC.

37 MILLION MORE WATCH OLYMPICS THAN LAST SEASON’S IDOL:

• The Olympics in 13 days (thru Wednesday) reached 177 million viewers 37 million more than the entire last season of American Idol delivered (140 million over 39 telecasts).

The 14.1/23 average household rating-to-date is 14 percent higher than 2006 (12.4/20).  The national household rating of 11.9/19 for Wednesday night is up nearly two full ratings points and 19 percent higher than the comparable night at the 2006 Winter Games (10.0/15).  

NBC OLYMPICS MOBILE: 67 MILLION PAGE VIEWS: NBC’s Olympics Mobile platforms (Mobile Web Site and iTunes App), through 13 days have amassed 67 million page views nearly doubling the total number of page views for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (34.7 million).

• There have been 1.6 million mobile video streams in 13 days, more than five times the total number for the entire 17-day Beijing Games (301k).
• By the time the Opening Ceremony broadcast started at 7:30 p.m. on Feb 12, NBC’s Olympics Mobile had already generated more page views than the entire 2006 Winter Games (1.07 million).

*NBCOlympics.com data will be available later today
NOTE: All data for NBC Olympics Mobile is provided by Omniture.

METERED MARKET RATINGS BY TIME ZONE (12-Day Average):
Mountain Time Zone 19.1/31
Central Time Zone  15.7/24
Pacific Time Zone  15.5/28
Eastern Time Zone  15.0/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS (13-Day Average):
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 22.1/37
2. DENVER, 21.9/36
3. MILWAUKEE, 21.6/33
4. SEATTLE, 19.9/37
5. MINNEAPOLIS, 19.8/34
6. ST. LOUIS, 18.8/29
7. COLUMBUS, 18.4/29
T8. SAN DIEGO, 18.1/30
T8. WEST PALM BEACH, 18.1/26
10. PORTLAND, 18.0/33
11. KANSAS CITY, 17.8/27
T12. NASHVILLE, 17.3/25
T12. OKLAHOMA CITY, 17.3/26
14. CLEVELAND, 17.1/27
15. TULSA, 17.0/25
16. FT.MYERS, 16.9/27
T17. PHOENIX, 16.7/27
T17. AUSTIN, 16.7/27
T19. BOSTON, 16.6/29
T19. PROVIDENCE, 16.6/28
21. CINCINNATI, 16.4/25
22. INDIANAPOLIS, 16.2/26
T23. CHICAGO, 16.0/25
T23. WASHINGTON D.C., 16.0/26
T23. DETROIT, 16.0/26
T23. SACRAMENTO, 16.0/28
T23. RICHMOND, 16.0/24

TOP 25 METERED MARKETS FOR WEDNESDAY, FEB. 24:
1. SALT LAKE CITY, 20.3/32
2. MILWAUKEE, 18.7/27
3. DENVER, 17.9/29
4. SEATTLE, 17.6/31
5. MINNEAPOLIS, 17.1/28
6. PORTLAND, 17.0/29
7. KANSAS CITY, 16.7/25
8. FT. MYERS, 16.1/24
9. OKLAHOMA CITY, 15.8/23
10. TULSA, 15.6/21
11. NASHVILLE, 15.4/22
12. AUSTIN, 15.3/24
13. COLUMBUS, 15.1/22
14. WEST PALM BEACH, 15.0/21
15. CINCINNATI, 14.9/23
16. RICHMOND, 14.5/22
17. PROVIDENCE, 14.4/22
18. ST. LOUIS, 14.1/22
T19. ORLANDO, 13.8/21
T19. DAYTON, 13.8/20
21. DETROIT, 13.6/21
22. INDIANAPOLIS, 13.5/21
T23. PHOENIX, 13.4/21
T23. CLEVELAND, 13.4/21
T25. CHICAGO, 13.3/21
T25. WASHINGTON D.C., 13.3/22
T25. LOUISVILLE, 13.3/20

I do notice that Providence is again back in the middle of the pack for the ratings.

2010 New York Sports Emmy Nominations

I have the nominations for this year’s New York Emmy Awards and you have some heavy hitting networks which have received nods. These are just for sports. Take a look.

SPORTS COVERAGE: Single Story

• Dirt Dixie. December 2, 2008. (News 12 Connecticut). Matthew Cyr, Photographer/Editor.
• The Godfather’s Got Game. March 9, 2009. (News 12 Connecticut). Matthew Cyr, Photographer/Editor.
• Mike Pelfrey Profile. February 5, 2009. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.
• No Small Wonder. May 6, 2009. (News 12 Long Island). Virginia Huie, Reporter.

SPORTS COVERAGE: Series

• The End Zone. October 10, 2008. (News 12 New Jersey). George Falkowski, Reporter.
• Ironman Inspiration. July 29, 2009. (News 12 Long Island). Erin Colton, Reporter/Producer; David Garden, Photographer/Producer.
• New Jersey to the NFL. April 19, 2009. (News 12 New Jersey). Bryan DeNovellis, Reporter.
• Sports Subcultures. April 27, 2009. (News 12 Connecticut). Joe Connors, Photographer/Editor.

SPORTS PROGRAMMING: Program Feature/Segment

• ALS 4th of July Feature. July 4, 2009. (YES Network). Jared Boshnack, Producer; Blayke Scheer, Feature Producer; Joe Calo, Editor.
• Jets 24/7: Kenyon’s Dream. November 23, 2008. (WCBS-TV). William P. Zagger, Executive Producer; Cameron Gordon, Producer; Dominic Savio, Assistant Producer.
• NY Knicks Teases. October 29, 2008. (MSG Network). Spender Julien, Producer.
• Shaun White Profile from Red Bull Snowscrapers. February 5, 2009. (MSG Plus). Jeffrey Regis, Executive Producer.
• Thurman Munson: 30 Years. August 2, 2009. (YES Network). Bill Boland, Jared Boshnack, Producers; David Alfreds, Feature Producer; Allen Greene, Editor.
• Yankeeography: Dave Winfield, Act 6. June 1, 2009. (MLB Productions for YES Network). Jim O’Hara, Lead Producer; John J. Filippelli, David Gavant, David Check, Executive Producers; Woody Freiman, Supervising Producer; John Sterling, Talent; Jeff Spaulding, Adam Schlackman, Coordinating Producers; Jeff Scott, Chang Choi, Producers.

SPORTS PROGRAMMING: Regularly Scheduled Program

• 2008 Mets Pre Game Live: Last Day at Shea. September 28, 2008. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.
• EBC Live at Rucker Park, Episode 4. July 29, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• Jets Nation: Inside Camp (Show Composite). August 9, 2009. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.
• MSG’s Fight Night Classics. July 23, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• MSG Vault: Brian Leetch, From Amateur to All-Star. June 3, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• Rangers Profiles: #22 Nick Fotiu. February 26, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.

SPORTS PROGRAMMING: Program Series

• Beer Money (Episode 2). May 24, 2009. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.
• EBC Live At Rucker Park. June 30, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• Inside Rutgers Football. August 28, 2009. (SNY). George Pisanti, Anthony Ingrassia, Producers/Editors; Joseph Violone, Executive Producer; Steve Sevilla, Ron Reggio, Editors; Joe Oliveri, Production Assistant.
• Knicks Profiles: #2 Larry Johnson. April 10, 2009. (MSG Network). Marc Mondry, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• MSG Vault. May 27, 2009. (MSG Network). Matt Fineman, Producer.
• Yankeeography. June 10, 2009. (MLB Productions for YES Network). John J. Filippelli, David Gavant, David Check, Executive Producers; Woody Freiman, Supervising Producer; John Sterling, Talent; Jeff Spaulding, Adam Schlackman, Coordinating Producers; Jeff Scott, Brian Barrow, Bob Bodziner, Chang Choi, Steve Kaczmarczyk, Tareq Naouri, Damien Rodriguez, Dana Rubin, Daniel Martins, Meredith Eckert, Ryan McDonald, Producers; Jim O’Hara, Lead Producer.

SPORTS PROGRAMMING: Special

• 2008 New York City Marathon. November 2, 2008. (WNBC-TV). Steve Mayer, Producer.
• Amazin’ Memories: 45 Years at Shea. September 29, 2008. (WPIX-TV). John Houseman, Executive Producer.
• Broadway Joe Marching On. October 23, 2008. (SNY). William P. Zagger, Executive Producer; Dominic Savio, Producer.
• Greatest Days: Hockey. November 30, 2008. (MSG Network). Mary-Liz McDonald, Executive Producer.
• Summer Of ’77. April 5, 2009. (MSG Network). Roman Gackowski, Executive Producer.
• That Super Season with Joe Namath. October 25, 2008. (WCBS-TV). Richard Gentile, Bob Parente, Executive Producers.

LIVE SPORTS EVENT: Program/Special

• Adam Graves Night. February 3, 2009. (MSG Network). Kevin Meininger, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• A Canadian Classic: Nets at Toronto. November 21, 2008. (YES Network). Frank DiGraci, Producer; Jon Wilson, Director; Lee Lipschutz, Associate Director; Michael Medvin, Graphics Coordinator; Ian Eagle, Play-by-Play; Jim Spanarkel, Color Analysis; John J. Filippelli, Tracy Dolgin, Executive Producers; Woody Freiman, Supervising Producer.
• Martin Broduer’s 552nd Career Win. March 17, 2009. (MSG Plus). Bob de Poto, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• NY Knicks vs. LA Lakers: Kobe Scores 61. February 2, 2009. (MSG Network). Kevin Meininger, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge. June 28, 2009. (MSG Network). Larry Roth, Executive Producer.
• Shea Goodbye: The Closing of Shea Stadium. September 28, 2008. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.

LIVE SPORTS EVENT: Series

• 2008-’09 NY Knicks Basketball. October 29, 2008. (MSG Network). Kevin Meininger, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• 2008-’09 NY Rangers. October 4, 2008. (MSG Network). Kevin Meininger, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• 2009 Mets: The Inaugural Year of Citi Field. April 6, 2009. (SNY). Curt Gowdy, Jr., Executive Producer.
• High School Football Game of the Week. September 12, 2008. (MSG Plus). Jackie Lyons, Senior Coordinating Producer.
• Nets Basketball. October 16, 2008. (YES Network). Frank DiGraci, Coordinating Producer; Jon Wilson, Michael Cooney, Director; Lee Lipschutz, Associate Director; Michael Medvin, Graphics Coordinator; John J. Filippelli, Tracy Dolgin, Executive Producers; Woody Freiman, Supervising Producer.
• New York Yankees Baseball. March 1, 2009. (YES Network). John J. Filippelli, Tracy Dolgin, Executive Producers; Woody Freiman, Supervising Producer; Kevin Smollon, Senior Producer; Bill Boland, Producer; John Moore, Jon Wilson, Michael Cooney, Directors; Troy Benjamin, Associate Director; Josh Isaac, Associate Producer; Michael Kay, Play-by-Play; Ken Singleton, David Cone, John Flaherty, Al Leiter, Paul O’Neill, Analysts; Kimberly Jones, Reporter; Bob Lorenz, Nancy Newman, Studio Hosts; Ed Delaney, Vice President, Operations; Michael Webb, Director, Operations; Robin Damian, Field Producer; Agnes Roache, Operations Supervisor; Ashley Fugazy, Talent & Production Supervisor; Joe Schiavo, Senior Technical Manager; Leonard Cherson, Director, Stadium Operations.

PROMOTION: Sports Promo

• Adam Graves Night Tune-in. January 28, 2009. (MSG Network). Doug Field, Vice President, On-Air Promotions.
• Martin Brodeur: Celebrating 552. March 10, 2009. (MSG Plus). Doug Field, Vice President, On-Air Promotions.
• Nets Basketball 2008-2009. October 8, 2008. (YES Network). John Brueckner, Creative Director; Todd Moulen, Producer; John J. Filippelli, Executive Producer; Nth Degree, Design/Animation.
• NFL Epic: The Jets vs. The Patriots. November 12, 2008. (WPIX-TV). Ari Pitchenik, Writer/Producer/Editor; Shalendra Singh, Graphic Designer/Animator; John Zeigler, Creative Services Director.
• Summer Block Party: Labor Day Knockouts. August 25, 2009. (MSG Network). Doug Field, Vice President, On-Air Promotions.
• Yankees 2009. March 2, 2009. (YES Network). John Brueckner, Creative Director; Daniel Guernsey, Supervising Producer; John J. Filippelli, Executive Producer; Blue Room, Design/Animation.

ON-CAMERA TALENT: Sports Anchor

• Bob Lorenz. January 1, 2009. (YES Network).
• Steve Cangialosi. October 10, 2008. (MSG Plus).

ON-CAMERA TALENT: Sports Reporter

• Damian Andrew. March 9, 2009. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• Kevin Burkhardt. January 8, 2009. (SNY).
• Scott Stanford. November 23, 2008. (My9 WWOR-TV). Compilation.
• Tina Cervasio. November 3, 2008. (MSG Network).

ON-CAMERA TALENT: Program Host/Moderator

• Al Trautwig. May 27, 2009. (MSG Network). “MSG Vault.”
• Boomer Esiason. September 10, 2008. (MSG Network).
• Brian Custer. February 19, 2009. (SNY). “The WheelHouse.”
• George Oliphant. July 19, 2009. (WNBC-TV). “LXTV Open House to the Rescue.”
• Kelly Choi. October 1, 2008. (NYCTV). “Eat Out NY.”
• Philippe de Montebello. September 8, 2008. (Thirteen/WNET). “SundayArts.”

ON-CAMERA TALENT: Sports Play-by-Play

• Gary Cohen. April 13, 2009. (SNY).
• Ian Eagle. October 16, 2008. (YES Network). “Nets Basketball.”
• Marv Albert. October 16, 2008. (YES Network). “Nets Basketball.”
• Michael Kay. April 1, 2009. (YES Network). “New York Yankees Baseball.”
• Mike Emrick. October 10, 2008. (MSG Plus).
• Sam Rosen. October 4, 2008. (MSG Network). “Rangers.”

ON-CAMERA TALENT: Sports Analyst

• Glenn Resch. October 10, 2008. (MSG Plus).
• Jim Spanarkel. October 16, 2008. (YES Network). “Nets Basketball.”
• Keith Hernandez. May 7, 2009. (SNY).
• Mary Murphy. June 7, 2009. (MSG Network).
• Stan Fischler. October 8, 2008. (MSG Network).

DIRECTOR: Live or Live to Tape

• Anthony Di Giacomo. April 12, 2009. (WPIX-TV). “WPIX Presents the New York International Auto Show.”
• John Moore. April 1, 2009. (YES Network). “New York Yankees Baseball.”
• Larry Roth. October 10, 2008. (MSG Network).

WRITER: Sports

• Al Trautwig. May 27, 2009. (MSG Network).
• Jeff Scott. June 10, 2009. (MLB Productions for YES Network). “Yankeeography: Dave Winfield, Act 5.”
• Kevin Everett. November 20, 2008. (WGRZ-TV). “Minute by Minute.”
• Virginia Huie. May 6, 2009. (News 12 Long Island). “No Small Wonder.”

PHOTOGRAPHER: Sports

• Dom Orlando. July 20, 2009. (MLB Productions for YES Network). “Yankeeography: Mike Mussina, Act 8.”
• Joe Connors. April 27, 2009. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• Matthew Cyr. December 2, 2008. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• Tom Rome and Brian Schulz. June 10, 2009. (MLB Productions for YES Network). “Yankeeography: Dave Winfield, Act 8.”

EDITOR: Sports

• Brian Weber. April 3, 2009. (YES Network).
• Dan Williams. October 4, 2008. (MSG Network). “NY Rangers.”
• Doug Safchik. September 1, 2008. (WNBC-TV). “Mike’d Up: Giants Pre-Season.”
• Gary Fall. August 7, 2009. (YES Network).
• Joe Connors. April 27, 2009. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• Matthew Cyr. December 2, 2008. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.

AUDIO

• Bill Ikin. July 21, 2009. (MSG Network).
• Christopher Wood. November 14, 2008. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• John Wiggins. June 25, 2009. (SNY). “Miracle in New York: The Story of the ’69 Mets.”
• Matthew Cyr. December 2, 2008. (News 12 Connecticut). Composite.
• Mike Guarino. July 14, 2009. (MSG Network).
• Whelan Power. April 9, 2009. (MSG Network).

SET DESIGN

• Matt Fineman. May 27, 2009. (MSG Network). “MSG Vault.”
• Mina Albergo. September 10, 2008. (MSG Network).

LIGHTING

• Casey McGrath. April 9, 2009. (MSG Network).
• Wiener Milien. January 29, 2009. (NYCTV). Composite.

The New York Emmys will be handed out on April 18. The full list of nominations can be found here.

Nice to see some familiar names such as Ian Eagle, Al Trautwig, Marv Albert, Gary Cohen, Glen Resch, Keith Hernandez and Tina Cervasio getting nominations.

MLB Network’s 2010 Spring Training Schedule

This just in to the Fang’s Bites e-mail inbox, we have the extensive Spring Training schedule for MLB Network. Almost 80 games will be aired, 45 live on the network. In addition, each team will be seen at least three times which is good. Here’s the MLB Network press release.

MLB NETWORK TO AIR 78 SPRING TRAINING GAMES

Spring Training Schedule Features 45 Live Games, Includes All 30 MLB Clubs

Secaucus, N.J. – MLB Network today announced its Spring Training game schedule, which will include 78 games featuring 45 live games and all 30 Major League clubs at least three times. MLB Network’s Spring Training game schedule begins on Tuesday, March 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET with the Atlanta Braves at New York Mets live from Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, FL. On March 4 at 7:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network will air a rematch of the 2009 World Series as the defending champion New York Yankees face the Philadelphia Phillies. All games will be carriage of local telecasts, including local announcers. MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s signature studio show during the regular season, returns live every weekday on Monday, March 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET.

“Spring Training games are the first chance to see how the Clubs revamped during the offseason,” said Tony Petitti, president and CEO of MLB Network. “With 78 Spring Training games on our schedule this year, in addition to our 30 Clubs in 30 Days series, MLB Network will provide the most comprehensive coverage for fans to catch up on their teams before Opening Day.”

The full MLB Network Spring Training broadcast schedule appears below.

MLB NETWORK SPRING TRAINING BROADCAST SCHEDULE

*Indicates live broadcast

All times ET and subject to change, check MLBNetwork.com for updates

Unless otherwise announced, games will be blacked out in each club’s home television territory

March 2, 1:00 p.m.* – Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets

March 3, 1:00 p.m.* – Pittsburgh Pirates @ New York Yankees

March 4, 1:00 p.m.* – St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

March 4, 7:00 p.m. – New York Yankees @ Philadelphia Phillies

March 4, 11:00 p.m. – Chicago White Sox @ Anaheim Angels

March 5, 1:00 p.m.* – Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees

March 5, 7:00 p.m. – Cleveland Indians @ Cincinnati Reds

March 6, 1:00 p.m.* – Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees

March 6, 7:00 p.m. – Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers

March 7, 1:00 p.m.* – Boston Red Sox @ Baltimore Orioles

March 7, 7:00 p.m. - Oakland Athletics @ Anaheim Angels

March 8, 1:00 p.m.* – Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees

March 8, 7:00 p.m. – Seattle Mariners @ Milwaukee Brewers

March 9, 1:00 p.m.* – Houston Astros @ New York Mets

March 9, 7:00 p.m.* – Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves

March 9, 11:00 p.m. – Colorado Rockies @ Los Angeles Dodgers

March 10, 3:00 p.m.* – Arizona Diamondbacks @ Los Angeles Dodgers

March 10, 7:00 p.m.* – Baltimore Orioles @ Pittsburgh Pirates

March 11, 1:00 p.m.* – Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets

March 11, 7:00 p.m.* – Atlanta Braves @ New York Yankees

March 12, 1:00 p.m.* – New York Yankees @ Washington Nationals

March 12, 7:00 p.m. – Anaheim Angels @ Cleveland Indians

March 13, 1:00 p.m.* – Minnesota Twins at Philadelphia Phillies

March 13, 7:00 p.m. – Pittsburgh Pirates @ Boston Red Sox

March 14, 1:00 p.m.* – Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

March 14, 5:00 p.m. – Cleveland Indians @ San Diego Padres

March 14, 9:00 p.m. – New York Yankees @ Pittsburgh Pirates

March 15, 1:00 p.m.* – Toronto Blue Jays @ Detroit Tigers

March 15, 5:00 p.m. – Cleveland Indians @ Milwaukee Brewers

March 15, 10:00 p.m.* - Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox

March 16, 1:00 p.m.* – Florida Marlins @ Atlanta Braves

March 16, 5:00 p.m. – San Francisco Giants @ Cleveland Indians

March 16, 10:00 p.m. – Detroit Tigers @ Philadelphia Phillies

March 17, 1:00 p.m.* – Atlanta Braves @ Florida Marlins

March 17, 5:00 p.m. – Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers

March 17, 10:00 p.m.* – Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners

March 18, 1:00 p.m.* – Houston Astros @ Detroit Tigers

March 18, 7:00 p.m.* – Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees

March 18, 11:00 p.m. – Milwaukee Brewers @ Texas Rangers

March 19, 1:00 p.m.* – St. Louis Cardinals @ Florida Marlins

March 19, 7:00 p.m.* – New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays

March 19, 11:00 p.m. – Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox

March 20, 1:00 p.m.* – Philadelphia Phillies @ Detroit Tigers

March 20, 5:00 p.m. – Cincinnati Reds @ San Francisco Giants

March 20, 10:00 p.m. – Arizona Diamondbacks @ Seattle Mariners

March 21, 1:00 p.m.* – Baltimore Orioles @ Philadelphia Phillies

March 21, 5:00 p.m. – Texas Rangers @ San Diego Padres

March 21, 10:00 p.m. – Colorado Rockies @ Kansas City Royals

March 22, 4:00 p.m.* – Colorado Rockies @ Cincinnati Reds

March 22, 9:00 p.m. – Cleveland Indians @ Chicago Cubs

March 23, 4:00 p.m.* – Chicago Cubs @ Kansas City Royals

March 23, 9:00 p.m. – Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

March 24, 4:00 p.m.* – Arizona Diamondbacks @ Chicago White Sox

March 24, 10:00 p.m.* – Seattle Mariners @ San Diego Padres

March 25, 4:00 p.m.* – Texas Rangers @ Anaheim Angels

March 25, 10:00 p.m.* - Oakland Athletics @ San Francisco Giants

March 26, 4:00 p.m.* – Oakland Athletics @ Chicago Cubs

March 26, 9:00 p.m. – Kansas City Royals @ Los Angeles Dodgers

March 27, 1:00 p.m.* – Washington Nationals @ New York Mets

March 27, 5:00 p.m. – San Francisco Giants @ Anaheim Angels

March 27, 10:00 p.m. – Texas Rangers @ Milwaukee Brewers

March 28, 1:00 p.m.* – Minnesota Twins @ Boston Red Sox

March 28, 5:00 p.m. – Cleveland Indians @ Anaheim Angels

March 28, 9:00 p.m. – Chicago Cubs @ Seattle Mariners

March 29, 7:00 p.m.* – Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox

March 29, 11:00 p.m. – Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Diego Padres

March 30, 4:00 p.m.* – Los Angeles Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies

March 30, 9:00 p.m. – St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

March 31, 4:00 p.m.* – Arizona Diamondbacks @ Colorado Rockies

March 31, 9:00 p.m. – Houston Astros @ Atlanta Braves

April 1, 4:00 p.m.* – Colorado Rockies @ Chicago Cubs

April 1, 10:00 p.m.* – Oakland Athletics @ San Francisco Giants

April 2, 6:00 p.m.* – St. Louis Cardinals @ Minnesota Twins

April 2, 10:00 p.m.* – Oakland Athletics @ San Francisco Giants

April 3, 2:00 p.m.* – Toronto Blue Jays @ Houston Astros

April 3, 6:00 p.m. – Boston Red Sox @ Washington Nationals

April 3, 10:00 p.m. – Anaheim Angels @ Los Angeles Dodgers

April 4, 3:00 p.m.* – Seattle Mariners @ San Francisco Giants

Plenty of games to watch in March. I like it.

Versus Ramps Up Its NHL Coverage After the Olympics

On March 1 when the NHL returns from its Olympic break, Versus brings back the game in a big way with a slew of games over a span of four nights. This is something I would watch if Versus was on DirecTV, but you know, the two sides are locked in a dispute. But for NHL fans, it brings some good national attention to the sport following the Olympics.

VERSUS’ FIRST WEEK OF POST-OLYMPIC NHL COVERAGE FEATURES SEVEN GAMES ACROSS FOUR NIGHTS

NEW YORK, N.Y. (February 25, 2010)-VERSUS, the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, returns to the ice right after the two-week Olympic break with NHL action Monday through Thursday night the week of March 1. To build on the excitement generated by the 2010 Winter Games, the network added five bonus games to the week's schedule that already included the Detroit Red Wings/Colorado Avalanche game on March 1 and the Philadelphia Flyers/Tampa Bay Lightning match-up on March 2. Beginning on Tuesday, March 2, and continuing through the end of the regular season, VERSUS will also air Drive to the Playoffs; a 30-minute pre-game Hockey Central prior to each Tuesday night NHL telecast. The network will also air full half-hour pre-game shows on March 1 and 3.  

VERSUS' first bonus game of the week, on March 2, features two of the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences with the San Jose Sharks hosting the New Jersey Devils at 10:30 p.m. ET. The game will not air on VERSUS in the team markets due to local blackout restrictions. On Wednesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. ET, VERSUS will televise the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres game; local blackouts apply so home team markets will see the Philadelphia Flyers/Florida Panthers game at 7:30 p.m. ET.  

VERSUS' week of bonus game coverage concludes on Thursday, March 4, when the New York Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be blacked out in team markets and viewers in Pittsburgh and New York will have access to the Toronto Maple Leafs/Boston Bruins game.  

The network's regular season coverage continues on Monday, March 8, at 7 p.m. ET when the Dallas Stars visit the Washington Capitals and on Tuesday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Philadelphia Flyers hosting the New York Islanders.

You’ll have plenty of games to watch for the first week following the Olympic break.

Baseball Tonight Hires Another Analyst

Earlier this week, ESPN announced the hiring of former Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone as a analyst for Baseball Tonight. Today, another analyst was hired and it’s former Toronto Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Ricciardi.

J.P. Ricciardi, a 30-year professional baseball veteran – including roles as a Major League Baseball front office executive, scout, and Minor League Baseball manager and player – has joined ESPN as a Baseball Tonight analyst. Ricciardi will debut in March.

“I’m really excited about joining the ESPN Baseball Tonight family,” said Ricciardi. “I look forward to sharing my perspective of the game, which has many layers and has been built over the years through my various roles.”

Jay Levy, ESPN senior coordinating producer, said, “J.P. will bring diverse, compelling perspectives to Baseball Tonight. He knows the current landscape of the game and has seen it evolve through all levels, as a player, coach, scout and front office executive.”

Ricciardi most recently spent eight seasons as general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays (2001-09). Prior to joining the Blue Jays, Ricciardi held a wide variety of positions during 16 years with the Oakland Athletics including director of player personnel, special assistant to the GM, and roles in scouting and instruction.

Before joining the Oakland organization, Ricciardi held a coaching position in the New York Yankees’ farm system. He played professionally for two minor league seasons with the New York Mets.

Ricciardi was a member of the baseball selection committees for the Pan Am Games and the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 2000.

In addition to his diversified baseball experiences, Ricciardi coached basketball for 11 years (1990-2001) at Holy Name High School in Worcester, Mass.

Ricciardi currently resides in West Boylston, Mass., with his wife of 25 years, Diane, and their two sons.

It’s an interesting hire.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
men’s
Iowa at Northwestern – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Duke – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Georgia at Vanderbilt – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Wisconsin at Indiana – Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
Arizona at Cal – ESPN, 9 p.m.
South Carolina at Kentucky – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Santa Clara at Gonzaga – ESPN2, 11 p.m.
Loyola Marymount at San Diego – ESPNU, 11 p.m.
Oregon State at UCLA – Fox Sports Net, 11 p.m.

women’s
Northwestern at Ohio State – Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour/HSBC Women’s Champions, 1st round – Golf Channel, 12:30 p.m.
PGA Tour/Phoenix Open, 1st round – Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

NBA
Cleveland at Boston – TNT, 8 p.m.
Denver at Golden State – TNT, 10:30 p.m.

Inside the NBA – TNT, 1 a.m.

Olympics
Women’s Curling: Semifinal, Canada vs. Switzerland – USA, noon – 3 p.m.
Women’s Hockey: Bronze Medal Game, Finland vs. Sweden – MSNBC, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Cross Country Skiing: Women’s 4 x 5K relay – NBC, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Men’s Curling: Semifinal, Canada vs. Sweden – CNBC, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Women’s Hockey: Gold Medal Game, USA vs. Canada – MSNBC, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Figure Skating: Women’s Free Skate, Freestyle Skiing – NBC, 8 p.m. – midnight
Figure Skating wrap up plus Medal Ceremonies – NBC, 12:35 a.m. – 2 a.m.

Entertainment
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains – CBS, 8 p.m.
Fight Science: Super Cops – National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Archer – FX, 10 p.m.
Burn Notice – USA Network, 10 p.m.
The Sarah Silverman Program – Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.

NBC’s Olympic Quotage For Day 13

Let’s provide the notes and quotes from NBC’s networks from the last Wednesday of the Winter Olympics. Just glad to see this coming to an end. Here is Universal Sports’ quotage from yesterday.

UNIVERSAL SPORTS AT THE VANCOUVER GAMES:

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 — On the fourteenth day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Universal Sports at the Vancouver Games continues its five-hour programming block, starting at 10 a.m. ET and continuing daily until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 28.

Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz:

News Alerts:

· The United States has 26 medals, a record for total medals won by Team USA on foreign soil. Team USA collected 25 medals at the 2006 Torino (Italy) Games.

Tom Steitz, former U.S. Nordic Combined Team Coach (on the U.S. Ski Team’s silver medal in Nordic combined): “This is absolutely a breakthrough Olympics for the ski jumpers and Nordic combined teams. We’re watching history unfold in front of us.”

Steitz: “There are a lot of kids jumping off their couches saying ‘Mom, I want to be a ski jumper—watch me fly.’”

Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist: (on the Ladies’ Short Program): “I thought (Mirai) Nagasu was under-marked, her program components were excellent.”

Wylie: “Kim Yu-Na looks unbeatable for the long program…It’s going to be really tough to beat her. She has the triple-triples (in her program). She just looks masterful.”

Wylie (on Rachael Flatt): “She looked like she was having a lot of fun, which is hard to do at your first Olympics.”

Features:

Call of the Day: A Korean TV network’s call of the Men’s 10,000m speed skating race yesterday on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010, marked the second time in a row that hosts Terry Gannon, Lindsey Soto, and guest Jeremy Bloom were unable to guess the correct answer.

Summer Sanders, Universal Sports’ Whistler sideline reporter, speaks with Dow Travers, the lone athlete representing the Cayman Islands and a competitor in Alpine skiing events. Travers hopes to be back for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Vancouver sideline reporter Stacey Dales investigates the extremely popular Olympic-time hobby of pin trading and etiquette behind proper pin-trading behavior.

NBC’s Alex Flannigan looks at the medals awarded at the 21^st Winter Games, which draw on a design based on nature and traditions of the native tribes, with nearly $200 million spent creating the medals.

MEET THE OLYMPIC PRESS:

Phil Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter (on Sven Kramer’s lane mistake costing him the gold medal): “They told us you can’t be in an Olympic lane without a permit or you’ll get fined, and he did.”

John Powers, Boston Globe reporter (on Flatt and Nagasu): ”I think for these two, 5^th and 6^th place wouldn’t be bad.”

Powers: “Hearing the Austrians say ‘watch out for the Americans in the Nordic combined’ is really something.”

Powers (on ‘novelty’ athletes like Eddie the Eagle (1988 Calgary Ski Jumper from Great Britain) being allowed in the Olympics:

“As fun as these novelty athletes are, these sports can kill you if you don’t know what you’re doing. Winter

Olympic sports are more dangerous than Summer Olympic sports.”

Steitz (on the U.S. Ski Team’s two Nordic combined medals): “One of the longest and hardest-fought battles in the Olympics that I’ve ever witnessed.”

Thumbs up/Thumbs down segment:

Hersh: “Thumbs up to Joannie Rochette, the Canadian figure skater who’s mother died Sunday. Not only to do it (perform), but to do it so brilliantly in honor of her mother was just inspiring.”

… and, the gold medal for the day goes to John Powers, so that Alan Abrahamson won’t be the only journalist with a medal from Universal Sports.

Powers (on being awarded the daily MTOP gold medal): “I’m going to give it to (Dutch long distance skater) Sven Kramer (who was disqualified from his gold medal for an illegal lane change).

VANCOUVER REVIEW/PREVIEW:

Lindsey Soto talks with U.S. Ski Team Aerials Coach Brian Currutt.

Currutt (on the prowess of the Chinese aerial team): “Unlike a lot of others countries, they have a transfer pool where they take kids from gymnastics schools and teach them to be comfortable in the air (jumping). They have a large number of acrobat schools, and they get the (kids) comfortable skiing and they advance quickly.”

Figure Skating Review/Preview:

After the Ladies’ Short Program, South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na is in first, Japan’s Mao Asada is second, Canada’s Joannie Rochette is third, with Americans Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu in fifth and sixth, respectively.

On the dramatic conclusion of the Ice Dancing Event:

Tracy Wilson, 1988 Olympic Ice Dancing Bronze Medalist for Canada, with the late Rob McCall (on U.S. silver medal ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White): “Their power pushes you back in your seat, and then they connect so emotionally with the music it takes everyone onto the ice with them.”

Wlison: “Nobody wanted to breathe. Nobody wanted to interrupt. I fully expected, having watched a number of Olympics over the years, the skaters to pull in, play it safe and skate not to lose. But none of the skaters out there did that.”

Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Figure Skating Silver Medalist (on Canadian gold medal ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir): “Their performance took me to another place.”

On Tuesday’s Ladies’ short program competition:

Wilson (on the technical evolution of ladies skating with more trying triple jumps in combination): “There were two tried in the last Olympics, and here there will be 10 tried.”

Carruthers (on South Korea’s dominant Kim Yu-Na): “She’s just the fastest lady on the ice, and that helps with her scores.”

Guests Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, U.S. ice dancers, who placed fourth in Vancouver after earning silver medals in Torino in 2006:

Belbin (on the progress in Olympic and international competition by U.S. ice dancers): “If we can take credit for at least keeping the ball rolling, that’s a great compliment in itself.”

Agosto (on their Vancouver experience): “We were able to skate all three events the way we always hoped we would. That feeling is so rare. In Torino (despite a higher finish), there were things we weren’t personally satisfied with about how we skated.”

Belbin (on the emergence of the U.S. as an ice dancing power): “It’s insane. And, the fact that we’ve gone through how many version of this scoring system? To see where this has come, and the value placed on the intricacies and athleticism. There is no way anyone would have the guts in this day to say its not a sport.”

Belbin (on their future as a dance couple): “We’re not going anywhere. (But) we’re definitely closing the book on the Olympic competitive experience.”

Belbin (On her description of the experience of rooming with flamboyant U.S. men’s skater Johnny Weir): “That is the ultimate question, isn’t it? You know what, it was fantastic and believe it or not we mostly kept to ourselves, which was the whole point of taking the (two-bedroom) suite. I haven’t’ seen very much of him, to be honest.”

Guests Meryl Davis and Charlie White, 2010 Olympic ice dancing silver medalists:

Davis (on their long partnership): “I have tremendous trust in (Charlie). We’ve been together 13 years. And he’s never let me down yet. He is a very reliable partner in so many ways.”

White (on how they deliver passion on ice by becoming the Phantom of the Opera characters): “When we are choreographing, we are thinking, ‘What would the Phantom and Christine do were they to twizzle’?”

White (On their training partners and fellow Vancouver medalists Virtue and Moir): “We have such a great relationship. We’ve grown up together and have been training with the same coaches for five years now. We’ve had each other’s backs. We’ve been able to talk through tough times and good times.”

Tenley Albright, 1956 U.S Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist in Ladies Skating:

(On her memories after winning the gold medal): “The American flag went up and they played ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee’, not the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’”

(On skating on an outdoor rink in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 1956): “I remember taking off for a double Axel in sunlight and landing in a shadow. The things we were doing were just as hard for us (in 1956) as the things the girls are doing today.”

SCHEDULE FOR UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK – THURSDAY, FEB. 25, 2010:

10 –11:30 AM Vancouver Olympic News Center and Morning Buzz

11:30 AM – 12 PM Behind the Games

12 – 12:30 PM Meet The Olympic Press

1: 30 – 2 PM Vancouver Review/Preview

2 – 3 PM Figure Skating Review/Preview

FUN FACTS OF THE DAY:

· There are only three qualified ski jumping hills for training in the United States: Lake Placid, N.Y.; Park City, Utah; and Steamboat Springs, Colo.

· Whistler Mountain is named for the shrill sound made by marmots (native to the area).