Fang's Bites

NBC Airs 7 Hours of US Figure Skating Championships This Weekend

Throughout the weekend, NBC Sports will have live coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championship from HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. The main event will be the Ladies Free Skate on Saturday night. NBC will have it live at 9 p.m. ET.

Other coverage will be live including the Free Dance on Saturday afternoon and the Men’s Free Skate on Sunday.

Tom Hammond, Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, Tracy Wilson and Andrea Joyce form the NBC Sports figure skating team. They’ll be on hand for the call of the events.

Universal Sports will also have reairs of NBC’s coverage. Here’s the NBC Sports Group press release.

NBC SPORTS PRESENTS 7 HOURS OF LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2012 U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

“Competing here it is an incredible opportunity to secure your place in history.” – NBC’s Hamilton
“There should be a lot of fireworks in the men’s event.” – NBC’s Hamilton
“USA dance has never been stronger ever in its history than it is now.” – NBC’s Hamilton

NEW YORK – January 26, 2012 – NBC Sports presents seven hours of live coverage of the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships this Saturday (4-6 p.m., ET and 9-11 p.m., ET) and Sunday (3-6 p.m., ET) from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Several members of the 2011 U.S. World Team are set to compete, including reigning U.S. champion Alissa Czisny (Ladies). Richard Dornbush (Men’s) and Ross Miner (Men’s), the current U.S. silver and bronze medalists, respectively, will also compete. Defending pairs champion John Coughlin takes the ice with new partner Caydee Denney. He won last year’s event with former partner Caitlin Yankowskas, while Denney is an Olympian with previous partner Jeremy Barrett. And reigning World champions and 2010 Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White look for their fourth straight National Championship.

NBC will air seven hours of live coverage, including the senior-level competition in the ladies singles, men’s singles and pairs free skate, with two hours in primetime this Saturday. Additionally, the network will air the two-hour Smuckers Skating Spectacular, an exhibition of champions, on Saturday, Feb. 4.

NBC’s Olympic figure skating broadcast team of Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Scott Hamilton (analyst), Sandra Bezic (analyst), Tracy Wilson (analyst) and Andrea Joyce (reporter) will call the action from the HP Pavilion.

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS:

• Saturday, 4-6 p.m. ET – Ladies Short (Tape), Free Dance (Live)
• Saturday, 9-11 p.m. ET – Ladies Free (Live)
• Sunday, 3-6 p.m. ET – Pairs Free (Live), Men’s Free (Live)
• Saturday, Feb. 4, 2-4 p.m. ET – Skating Spectacular – U.S. Figure Skating Exhibition

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS (RE-AIRS OF NBC’S PROGRAMS)

• Saturday, 7-9 p.m. ET – Ladies Short and Free Dance
• Saturday, 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET – Ladies Free
• Monday, 8 -11 p.m. ET – Men’s Free and Pairs Free

HAMILTON ON WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: “For any kid skating in the U.S. it is a big deal, a huge deal, for whatever level. Being a national champion is being a champion of your country it is a gigantic honor and accomplishment. For a lot of the skaters, competing here it is an incredible opportunity to secure your place in history.”

HAMILTON ON THE COMPETITION
LADIES: “It seems like the ladies championship is always in transition with different skaters rising to the top. Alissa Czisny has established herself as the woman to beat. It will be interesting to see if she will be able to put her injury at the Grand Prix Final in December, behind her.”

MEN: “Jeremy Abbott had a really rough competition last year, coming in 4^th overall, but I think he is the skater to beat this year. There should be a lot of fireworks in the men’s event.”

PAIRS: “There is an interesting story in the pairs competition. Previous champions have retired and their partners have remained. Caydee Denney and John Coughlin are an exciting pair to see, a new pair together, but they are both veterans and U.S. champions with previous partners.”

DANCE: “World champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are amazing. USA dance has never been stronger ever in its history than it is now.”

That will do it.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades Has Its First Female Winner

The first two seasons of Battle of the Blades have carried on with male hockey players teamed with female figure skaters. For the third season, Tessa Bonhomme from the 2010 gold medal winning women’s hockey team for Canada was teamed with 2002 pairs figure skating gold medalist David Pelletier and lo and behold, they were the winning team for the third season.

Bryan Berard and Marie-France Dubreuil finished second. And Fang’s Bites fave Tanith Belbin and Boyd Devereaux were in third.

Overall, the season was a success and I do hope that this show will be aired somewhere in the States. From what I’ve heard, the ratings for CBC are quite good and most likely a 4th season will be aired.

The season was sent to a tragic start with the death of Wade Belak who was supposed to take part in this season’s series, but the show went on and paid tribute to him in the first two episodes.

The press release from CBC.

TESSA BONHOMME AND DAVID PELLETIER WIN CBC’S BATTLE OF THE BLADES SEASON 3

TORONTO – November 14, 2011 – CBC’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ first female hockey player, Tessa Bonhomme and David Pelletier, one of the best pair skaters in history, have skated into the hearts of Canadians with their powerful, gravity-defying performances featuring a variety of amazing tricks. These two Olympic Gold Medalists have been crowned as the champions of BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 3 and they have won the $100,000 first place prize donation that will be divided between their chosen charities – the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure (Sudbury Run Site) and Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta.

As a fierce hockey player who put on figure skates for the first time at BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ bootcamp in July 2011, Tessa has transformed herself into a graceful figure skater who has impressed judges with her technical ability and aesthetic presentation.

“I expected you to be good, but I did not expect that level of performance,” Head Judge Sandra Bezic commented on Tessa’s figure skating skills in the first week of live performances. “What this is about is the courage to put yourself in a vulnerable place and that is inspirational.”

Tessa Bonhomme was part of Canada’s Gold Medal-winning women’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and has been a member of the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Team since 2004. She has been skating with David Pelletier, a three-time Canadian Pairs Champion, World Champion, Grand-Prix Final Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, who in 2002, captured Canada’s first Olympic Gold medal in pairs skating in 42 years.

Marie-France Dubreuil and Bryan Berard have claimed the second place prize of $35,000 donation to Do It For Daron with the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health. Returning from Season 1, five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champion Marie-France has been skating with Bryan, who played for six NHL teams including the Toronto Maple Leafs and battled back from a severe eye injury in one of the greatest comeback stories in hockey history.

Five-time U.S. Ice Dance Champion, four-time World Medalist and 2006 Olympic Ice Dance Silver Medalist Tanith Belbin has been paired with former Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers player Boyd Devereaux, an Ontario native, who won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002. They have claimed the third place prize of $30,000 that will be divided between the Montreal Neurological Institute and Epilepsy Huron-Perth-Bruce.

Over the course of the third season of CBC’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES, the program has donated $290,000 to various Canadian charities, resulting in nearly $1,000,000 in charitable donations since the start of the series in 2009.

That will do it.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades Announces Pairings For 3rd Season

The show that combines hockey and figure skating has announced the pairings of one hockey player and one figure skater for its third season. Last night on CBC, Battle of the Blades announced the teams for this season and also gave us one more former NHL’er, the great Russ Courtnall who’s played with Toronto, Montreal and a host of other teams in his career. Courtnall will take the place of the late Wade Belak who passed before the competition was to take place. We already knew about Tessa Bonhomme, a member of the Canadian Women’s Olympic Hockey team pairing up with gold medal pairs figure skater David Pelletier, but not the other teams.

Now we have them and I can post them for you here.

CBC ANNOUNCES BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ PAIRS – INCLUDING NEW ADDITION RUSS COURTNALL

Live performance shows begin on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)

September 18, 2011 – CBC announced today the eight pairs teams that have been partnered for the anticipated third season of the smash hit live series, BATTLE OF THE BLADES. This year’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES cast will include former Toronto Maple Leaf and Montreal Canadien Russ Courtnall, who has generously stepped in to take the place of the late Wade Belak and skate for Wade’s chosen charity, Tourette’s Syndrome Neurodevelopmental Clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital, with Kim Navarro.

A native of Duncan, British Columbia, Courtnall is most well known for his electrifying play and great skating ability during his time with the Leafs, Habs and five other NHL teams. Along with his impressive 15-year NHL career, Russ was also selected to represent Canada throughout his career at the World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Games.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ live performances begin with two one-hour performance shows Sunday, September 25 at 8 p.m. and Monday, September 26 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT). Fans have asked for no elimination in the first week, but these performances will still count towards the first elimination held in week two. Subsequent weeks will feature performance shows on Sunday evenings followed by the dramatic, live “skate-off” results shows on Monday nights, until the new champions are crowned.

The season 3 pairs are:

Violetta and Cale – Russian-born Violetta Afanasieva won the first-ever Extreme Ice Skating World Championship with Canadian partner/husband Pete Dack in 2006. She returns from season 2 of BATTLE OF THE BLADES to skate with ex-Calgary Flame Cale Hulse, who also played for New Jersey, Nashville, Phoenix and Columbus. Charity: The Canadian Cancer Society.

Tanith and Boyd – Five-time U.S. Ice Dance Champion, four-time World Medalist and 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, Tanith Belbin is paired with former Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers player Boyd Devereaux, an Ontario native who won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002. Charities: The Montreal Neurological Institute (Tanith) and Epilepsy – Huron-Perth-Bruce (Boyd).

Elena and Curtis – Olympic Gold Medalist, two-time World Champion and four-time Russian National Champion Elena Berezhnaya is partnered with Curtis Leschyshyn, a Stanley Cup Champion with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 who also spent time with the Quebec Nordiques and Ottawa Senators. Following the unforgettable judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Elena, with partner Anton Sikharulidze, shares the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal with Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier. Elena and David now face each other again in BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Charity: Children’s Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan.

Tessa and David – Tessa Bonhomme, BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ first female hockey player, was part of Canada’s Gold Medal-winning women’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and a member of the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Team since 2004. She will skate with David Pelletier, a three-time Canadian Pairs Champion, World Champion, Grand-Prix Final Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, who in 2002 captured Canada’s first Olympic Gold medal in pairs skating in 42 years. Charities: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation ‘CIBC Run for the Cure’ – Sudbury Chapter (Tessa) and Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada (David).

Marie-France and Bryan – Returning from Season 1, World Silver Medalist and five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champion, Marie-France Dubreuil is paired with Bryan Berard, a first overall NHL draft pick, winner of the Calder Trophy and Bill Masterdon Memorial Trophy. Bryan battled back from a severe eye injury in one of the greatest comeback stories in hockey history. Charity: Do It For Daron (DIFD) with the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.

Marcy and Todd – Marcy Hinzmann-Harris, a U.S. World and Olympic Team member and two-time U.S. Pairs Medalist is skating with former NHL defenseman Todd Simpson, the former captain of the Calgary Flames who also played for six other NHL teams. Charities: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Marcy) and YMCA’s Y Strong Kids Campaign (Todd).

Anabelle and Brad – Returning from Season 2, World and Olympic Team Member and 2008 Canadian Pairs Champion Anabelle Langlois is skating with Brad May, who was immortalized with broadcaster Rick Jeanneret’s famous “May Day!” call after scoring a series-clinching goal for Buffalo in the 1993 playoffs against Boston. The former Toronto Maple Leaf (2008-2009) and Vancouver Canuck (1997-2000 and 2002-2004) won the Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Anaheim Ducks. Charity: Autism Speaks.

Kim and Russ - Russ Courtnall, part of last year’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES line up, will be returning to the show this season, paired with new competitor Kim Navarro, a U.S. World Team Member and two-time U.S. Ice Dance Bronze Medalist. They are both skating for Wade Belak’s charity chosen for Wade’s daughter Andie, who has Tourette’s Syndrome. Charity: Tourette’s Syndrome Neurodevelopmental Clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital.

And that will do it.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades To Move Forward; Adds Special Tribute to Wade Belak

When former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Wade Belak was found dead of an apparent suicide, there was speculation whether CBC would move forward with this season of Battle of the Blades. Belak was scheduled to take part in the CBC reality show that pairs former NHL stars with figure skaters. In its two previous seasons, the show has become quite popular in Canada and has been licensed to air worldwide including the United States.

A week before the third season of Battle of the Blades premieres on CBC on September 25, the network will air a special tribute to Belak during a one hour preview of the show. We have this announcement from CBC.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES MOVES AHEAD WITH SEASON 3

 Season Premiere Special “GAME ON” on September 18 will feature special tribute to Wade Belak

CBC’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES will go forward with its third season, premiering on Sunday, September 18 at 8 p.m. as planned.  BATTLE OF THE BLADES: GAME ON is a one-hour special featuring footage of the cast members when they first met in July and began to train for the show. The Blades cast and crew are deeply saddened by the death of former NHLer Wade Belak, however, they believe that he would want the show to go on.

“GAME ON,” the series opener, documents the cast’s career accomplishments, personal stories and how far they must come to prepare for their first live performance. This show reveals why these great athletes are taking on this challenge for their chosen charities. The show will also include a heartfelt memorial tribute to Belak by Ron MacLean, incorporating footage showing the infectious enthusiasm and humour he brought to the training sessions.

“Wade’s death has been devastating for our entire BATTLE OF THE BLADES family, and our thoughts are with all members of his own family at this time.  But we believe he would want us to move ahead, and we are looking forward to season three of BATTLE OF THE BLADES,” said Kirstine Stewart, executive vice president of CBC English Services.

“Our hearts go out to Wade’s family and friends and he is greatly missed by our cast and crew,” says John Brunton, Executive Producer and CEO of Insight Productions. “Our cast came together and told us that they felt strongly about doing the show as a tribute to Wade. BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 3 has taken on a whole new meaning for them.”

New to the BATTLE OF THE BLADES cast competitor lineup is former NHL defenseman Todd Simpson. Hailing from North Vancouver, British Columbia and then Edmonton and Lethbridge, Alberta, Todd has a special connection with Wade Belak as he played his junior hockey for the Saskatoon Blades where Wade was his defensive partner. He began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames in 1994. He played with the Flames for four years and was named team captain in 1997. Todd went on to play for six other NHL team throughout the course of his 10 year career. An eighth NHL player is hoped to be cast this week who will partner with US World Team Member, Kim Navarro, who was paired with Wade Belak.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES partners stars of hockey and figure skating to battle it out in a weekly live skating competition for a $100,000 first prize donation to the charity of their choice. Broadcast from the MasterCard Centre in Toronto, the live elimination competition series. A total of $290,000 will be donated to charities throughout the 8-week series.

The first BATTLE OF THE BLADES live performance will be comprised of one-hour competitions on Sunday, September 25 and on Monday, September 26 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT). Fans have asked for no elimination in the first week, but these performances will still count towards the first elimination held in week two. Subsequent weeks will feature performance shows on Sunday evenings followed by the dramatic, live “skate-off” results shows on Monday nights.

That is it.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades Returns With a Female Hockey Player In Tow

The third season of CBC’s Battle of the Blades premieres next month and this time, it will have a female hockey player taking part. Tessa Bonhomme of Canada’s gold medal-winning Olympic team will be teamed with 2002 Olympics pairs figure skating gold medalist David Pelletier (who won with Jaime Salé and she took part in seasons 1 and 2 of BOTB). Rhode Islander Bryan Berard will be among the male former hockey players participating along with former Buffalo Sabres star Brad May, goon Wade Belak and Curtis Leschyshyn.

The first two seasons of Battle of the Blades were very popular for CBC. It teams former hockey stars with figure skating partners. While Jaime Salé will not be in this season, Olympic silver medal-winning Ice Dancer Tanith Belbin will be doing her first BOTB for CBC this year.

We have the cast and I hope to be able to post some videos for this season. I said that last season, but I never got around to it. I hope to this year.

NEW TWIST REVEALED AS CBC ANNOUNCES BATTLE OF THE BLADES SEASON 3 COMPETITORS

First female hockey player joins the anticipated third season premiering Sept. 18 at 8pm

Tessa Bonhomme of the 2010 Canadian Women's Hockey Team & David Pelletier of Salé & Pelletier

August 22, 2011 – For the first time ever, a female hockey player will join the ranks of the NHL veterans and world-class figure skaters to compete in CBC’s smash-hit live series, BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Team, Tessa Bonhomme, will swap her hockey blades for figure skates when the hotly-anticipated third season kicks-off on Sunday, September 18 at 8pm with BATTLE OF THE BLADES: GAME ON.

“I can’t wait to take on the NHL players and show them that Women’s hockey has come a long way,” said an excited Tessa Bonhomme. “I am honoured to be the first woman representing all those who play our great game and with a partner like David Pelletier, we will try to take it easy on the NHL guys.”

Since Season 1, the fans have been asking for a female hockey player to be part of the competition and this season BATTLE OF THE BLADES producers were able to pair two Olympic Gold Medalists with Tessa Bonhomme and David Pelletier.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES partners stars of hockey and figure skating to battle it out in a weekly live skating competition for a $100,000 first prize donation to the charity of their choice. Broadcast from the MasterCard Centre in Toronto, the live elimination competition series airs Sunday nights at 8pm. The live results show follows every Monday night at 8pm where, week after week, a pair will be eliminated until the new Champions are crowned. A total of $290,000 will be donated to charities throughout the 8-week series.

The line-up of hockey players for BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 3 include:

• Tessa Bonhomme was part of Canada’s Gold Medal-winning women’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. A member of the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Team since 2004, she has won Gold and Silver medals in world championship competitions, along with numerous awards and records in college hockey during her time with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
• Bryan Berard, the Rhode Island native was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Draft and played for six NHL teams including the Toronto Maple Leafs. On March 11, 2000, while playing for the Leafs in a game against the Senators in Ottawa, the stick of Mariàn Hossa clipped Bryan in the right eye, severely injuring it. With incredible determination and after seven eye surgeries, Bryan returned to the NHL completing one of the greatest comeback stories in hockey history.
• Brad May was immortalized with broadcaster Rick Jeanneret’s famous “May Day!” call after scoring a series-clinching goal for Buffalo in the 1993 playoffs against Boston.  The former Toronto Maple Leaf (2008-2009) and Vancouver Canuck (1997-2000 and 2002-2004) won the Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Anaheim Ducks.
• Boyd Devereaux, an Ontario native, won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002 and a World Junior Championships where he scored the winning goals in both the semi-final and gold medial games in 1997. Boyd played for four NHL teams including the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
• Wade Belak, the legendary brawler who scored memorable goals against the likes of Martin Brodeur, Robert Luongo and Chris Mason, played for the Calgary Flames (1999-2001) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (2001-2008) in addition to stints with Colorado, Nashville and the Florida Panthers.
• Defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, and also spent time with the Quebec Nordiques (1988-1995) and Ottawa Senators. Curtis is an avid cyclist and is known as one of the most fit NHL players.
• Ex-Calgary Flame (1996-2000, 2006) Cale Hulse also played for New Jersey, Nashville, Phoenix and Columbus. The 6’3” Alberta native is no stranger to television sets, as he is married to actress Gina Lee Nolin.

The figure skaters featured in BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 3 include:

• David Pelletier, a three-time Canadian Pairs Champion, World Champion, Grand-Prix Final Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, who in 2002, captured Canada’s first Olympic Gold medal in pairs skating in 42 years. David, with partner and BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 1 and 2 star Jamie Salé, has been inducted into both the Skate Canada Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Lou Marsh Trophy, awarded to outstanding Canadian athletes.
• From the legendary Russian pair skating dynasty, two-time World Champion and four–time Russian National Champion Elena Berezhnaya, with partner Anton Sikharulidze, shares the 2002 Olympic gold medal with Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, awarded amidst the historic judging scandal. Elena and David now face each other again in BATTLE OF THE BLADES.
• Canadian born Tanith Belbin is a five-time U.S. Ice Dance Champion, four-time World Medalist and 2006 Olympic Ice Dance Silver Medalist with her partner Ben Agosto. Together they won the first Olympic ice dance medal in 30 years for the United States.
• Returning from Season 1 after having her first baby is five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champion Marie-France Dubreuil.  With her husband Patrice Lauzon, she is the 2006 and 2007 World Silver Medalist.  Marie-France and BATTLE OF THE BLADES partner Stephane Richer are remembered as fan favorites.
• Returning from Season 2 is World and Olympic Team Member and 2008 Canadian Pairs Champion Anabelle Langlois. Anabelle came back from a near career-ending foot injury to compete at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver with partner Cody Hay. She skated with Georges Laraque last season.
• Also returning is Russian born Violetta Afanasieva who joined the Moscow Circus on Ice at the age of 12 and won the first-ever Extreme Ice Skating World Championship with Canadian partner/husband Peter Dack in 2006. Last season she skated with PJ Stock.
• Joining the cast for Season 3 is American Kim Navarro, a U.S. World Team Member and two-time U.S. Ice Dance Bronze Medalist with partner Brent Bommentre.
• And Marcy Hinzmann-Harris, a U.S. World and Olympic Team member and two-time U.S. Pairs Medalist with partner Aaron Parchem.

And that is all for this post. Battle of the Blades premieres on CBC, September 18 at 8 p.m. ET.

Back to the Linkage Grind Edition

Ok, now that the Olympics bidding is over until the next round sometime later this decade, I can focus on other sports media stories and there are quite a few of them now.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that embattled cyclist Lance Armstrong has taken down his anti-60 Minutes website stating its report on his alleged PED use has been debunked.

Lindsay Rubino of Broadcasting & Cable notes that Game 4 of the NBA Finals scored a primetime win for ABC on Tuesday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News talks about ESPN signing a new deal with the West Coast Conference for basketball and Olympic sports.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel says ESPN is ready to convert to a full HD format.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says Captain Blowhard is trying to save the internet from a certain type of advertising. Nice of him to appoint himself as our savoir.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life says the NBA Finals are on pace to become the most watched in seven years.

Bill Simmons’ Grantland site finally had its official launch yesterday. Already people are assessing it including Nicholas Jackson of Atlantic Monthly.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead has his first impressions.

Tim Carmody of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University wonders if Simmons’ mix of sports and pop culture will work.

Tommy Craggs at Deadspin tells us why Grantland Rice for whom Simmons’ site is named, was really overrated.

Deadspin runs an excerpt from former New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte’s new book in which he recalls an encounter with an overtalkative Bob Costas.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes that this week’s successful Olympic bid was key for the new NBC/Comcast.

The Nielsen Wire blog has a look at the top NHL players in name recognition.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser has TNT’s Charles Barkley ripping Miami Heat fans.

Cam says the Denver Post’s Woody Paige has apologized to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal for lifting quotes from an ESPN story he wrote.

Corey Nachman of the Business Insider Sports Page has his 100 Best Venues in Sports.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the video of a Brazilian writer typing away on a small laptop while showing a bit more of himself than he realized.

And Dan says Steven A. “A is for Allude” Smith hinted on ESPN Radio that something is up with LeBron James, but won’t say exactly what.

Chris Chase of Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner gives some examples from the ESPN book that he feels evidence how NBC’s Sunday Night Football is superior to Monday Night Football.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a strange endorsement story involving the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez.

ESPN PR pro Bill Hofheimer helps to unveil the new Monday Night Football logo that will be seen when the NFL starts playing again.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that NBC now has to follow through on promises to show the Olympics live.

Brian Stelter of the Times reports that UFC is in talks with Comcast to buy its G4 gaming channel.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that ESPN has added 7 more Big Ten games to its ESPN/ESPN2/ABC college football schedule.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable airs some local high school lacrosse finals this weekend.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will air 10 WNBA games this season.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that there’s something brewing between writer John Feinstein and ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.

Iliana Limon at the Orlando Sentinel writes that Central Florida along with Conference USA have announced their TV schedules.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News reports that the SEC and ESPN are ready to re-evaluate their 15 year deal which now looks antiquated when it was signed in 2009.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the NBA is gaining increased interest in the area thanks to the Thunder.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says you can design a special bowtie for Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that would benefit Dhani Jones’ Bow Tie Cause Initiative.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Sentinel notes that outgoing ESPN NBA analyst Mark Jackson cites Rick Pitino was his best coach.

Yesterday was Tom Hoffarth’s birthday. Happy Belated Birthday, Tom.

Joe Flint at the Los Angeles Times says keeping the Olympics was top priority for NBC and Comcast.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury Times has some thoughts on ESPN’s new contract with the West Coast Conference.

Lisa K. Anderson in the Sandy (OR) Post writes about a local woman who’s hosting a reality show for Comcast SportsNet Northwest.

Dan Robson of the Toronto Star says CBC has signed a five year deal with the International Skating Union for figure skating, speedskating and other events.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that TSN will air BBC’s coverage of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

Joe Caporoso of Gunaxin asks Erin Andrews or Michelle Beadle?

Cosby Sweaters looks at how Olympic viewing will change with Comcast in charge of NBC.

We have a new sports media blog, The Sports Tube, headed by Chris Hadley. He looks at the Olympic bidding.

Sports Media Watch notes the ratings for Games 2 & 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final are down from last year.

Joe Favorito wonders if any New York sports teams or events will take advantage of the Congressman Anthony Weiner mess.

That’s going to do it for now.

The Thursday Linkage All Tied Up In A Nice Red Bow

Let’s do the Thursday linkage and there are a few stories to get to.

First, this broke late last night, Joe Flint at the Los Angeles Times confirmed that the number two man at NBC Sports, Ken Schanzer is following his boss Dick Ebersol and leaving the company.

John Ourand from Sports Business Journal also writes about Schanzer’s departure from NBC Sports.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today talks with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton who will be hosting a show on MSG Network this summer.

Reid Cherner at USA Today has the first ad in the Women’s Tennis Association’s new campaign “Strong is Beautiful”.

Etan Vlessing at the Hollywood Reporter writes about CTV/TSN getting figure skating back for ten years after having it on CBC previously.

Husna Haq of the Christian Science Monitor looks at the tome, “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN.”

My podcast partner, Southern New England media mogul Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal reviews the ESPN book.

Lev Grossman of Time also reviews the book.

And Robert Siegel of NPR’s All Things Considered interviews ESPN book co-author James Andrew Miller.

For a longer interview, you can hear the latest Sports Media Weekly podcast with Jim Miller right here.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser has video of memorial services for Chicago TV sports anchor Daryl Hawks who died while covering the Bulls-Atlanta Hawks series.

Over to SportsGrid where Dan Fogarty notes that South Park skewered the NCAA in last night’s episode.

We have a press release from Hannah Storm’s production company about her new documentary that will be part of ESPN’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a report on the man who bought 49% of the Mets.

Richard Sandomir and Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times report on the new minority owner of the New York Mets.

The Buffalo News says Buffalo Sabres TV voices Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale will work a reduced schedule next season.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that KFC is now the official fried chicken of the DC NFL Team.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the three bids for the US TV rights for the 2014/16 Olympics.

Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel writes that ESPN Radio is organizing a relief drive throughout the SEC to help Alabama tornado victims.

Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the voice of the Cleveland Browns, WKYC-TV sports anchor Jim Donovan will be undergoing a procedure to battle leukemia. He’ll also take a leave of absence from his TV work for a while. Jim has been battling leukemia for ten years.

WKYC also provides video of Jim making the announcement that he’ll be leaving for the time being.

Jim has been in the Cleveland area since 1985 and became the voice of the Browns when the team returned to the NFL in 1999. He and Doug Dieken have formed a very good broadcast team and I hope he’ll be back when the NFL season gets underway, whenever that is.

The Nebraska State Paper says the Cornhuskers game against Iowa will be seen on ABC the day after Thanksgiving.

Awful Announcing has video of Dan Patrick and ESPN book author Jim Miller going back and forth on various subjects.

I’ll leave it there for now.

Handing Out The Wednesday Links

Time for the mid-week links. Lots of stuff to get to.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the ratings from some of the events held this past weekend.

Michael says networks may have to scramble to fill holes if the NFL lockout extends into October and November.

Brian Lowry at Fox Sports wonders if teams should be looking at the broadcast booth for their next coaches.

Andy Lewis of the Hollywood Reporter reviews the new book on ESPN co-authored by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Jason Gay at the Wall Street Journal also reviews the tome.

Sam Schechner of the Journal has some of Dick Ebersol’s departing thoughts as he prepares to leave NBC Sports.

Erin Griffith from Adweek says Lance Armstrong’s brand and Livestrong organization are being hurt by the latest doping allegations.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes HBO had decent viewership for its boxing card last Saturday.

Mohammed Rahman of SportsGrid has the Tosh.0 video from last night which teamed two sports blogosphere icons, Screamin’ Gus Johnson and Brian Collins of “Boom Goes the Dynamite” fame.

Some sad news from CNBC. Original anchor Mark Haines, host of Squawk Box and Squawk on the Street died suddenly on Tuesday. He leaves behind his wife, Cindy and a son and a daughter. He was well known in the financial world and well loved by viewers. I remember him when he co-anchored the news on WPRI-TV in Providence in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s. He was very good.

CNBC has an entire section of memories from co-workers and viewers.

Darren Rovell shares his memories of Mark Haines.

Jason Dachman at Sports Video Group writes that Sony will extend its sponsorship of ESPN 3D.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says for the first time, ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike beat WFAN’s Boomer & Carton in younger male demos, but WFAN turned the tables in the important categories.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News also writes about the ESPN Radio/WFAN ratings.

Richard Sandomir in the New York Times notes that the Mets finances are very shaky.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom blames Ronald Reagan for much of the sports labor and business troubles of today.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg finds that Tony Kornheiser still cannot forgive a former colleague for his review of Monday Night Football.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says outgoing NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol would make for a good replacement for MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig.

Bob wonders if the Green Bay Packers wouldn’t mind being on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says Turner Sports sets the standard for NBA coverage.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Windy City continues to watch the Bulls in the NBA postseason.

Phil also has a story on Dick Ebersol leaving NBC Sports.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a SoCal-based radio duo will get a tryout in Portland.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL Eastern Conference Final is performing solidly for Versus.

Steve writes that Boston is shining brightly in the NHL ratings universe.

SportsbyBrooks says a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter is now looking into the machinations with Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football program.

The Big Lead puts together its sports announcing dream teams.

And I’ll end here for now, but I’m not close to being done with the linkage. I have to leave the office so I’ll post more later.

UPDATE: 8:20 p.m. – Here are some more links.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes that ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose has pleaded guilty to DUI charges stemming from an arrest in Michigan back in March.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has Fox Sports President Eric Shanks saying the network would go live from the Olympics in 2014 and 2016.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that TNT saw received an audience of just under 10 million for Game 4 of the Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel says ESPN is changing satellite distribution system to affiliates.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says with Vancouver in the NHL Stanley Cup Final, NBC desperately needs Boston to advance to help its ratings.

Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com says the Pac-12 Conference is looking at an additional $1 billion in revenue over a 7-10 year period from a league-owned channel.

Reuters reports that actor Russell Crowe is attempting to bring Australia’s National Rugby League to the United States through Fox Sports.

Alex Weprin of SportsNewser says Fox Sports Net has purchased a weekly baseball series to be hosted by former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the audio of Dan Patrick telling “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN” co-author Jim Miller about his abusive relationship with ESPN management.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the local Time Warner Cable system will air the AHL Calder Cup Final.

Robert Cox of the New Rochelle (NY) Talk of the Sound says ESPN took over a local high school to shoot a high school prom theme for the ESPY’s.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner notes the viewership for TNT from Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Ron Higgns of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the Liberty Bowl is moving from ESPN to ABC and expanding its reach to a bigger audience in the process.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has CBS golf analyst Gary McCord picking his favorites for the upcoming Byron Nelson Championship.

Bob has Fox Soccer Channel host Eric Wynalda singing the praises of Lionel Messi of Barcelona in advance of this Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final.

Scott D. Pierce from the Salt Lake Tribune notes that despite a down year, the Utah Jazz are constantly on TV while the minor league baseball Salt Lake Bees aren’t able to get on TV.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times says the Pac-12 could move football games to Sundays or even Monday nights if the NFL lockout goes into the fall.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reports that CTV/TSN have snagged the rights to Skate Canada events from CBC.

Sports Media Watch says the final round of the PGA Tour’s Colonial Invitational saw a big jump for CBS.

SMW Sunday’s NASCAR on Fox race saw a huge ratings increase.

Joe Favorito asks if Newark, NJ could become a sports capital.

I’ll end it there. You’re up to date on links.

How A Couple of Networks Can Improve & Other Sunday Thoughts

On this first day in May, it is time to take a look at how a couple of networks could improve their presentations during postseason time. As teams raise their game, so should the networks as more people watch and focus on the action on the court or the ice. This is not where networks should skimp and give the fans the impression that they’re cheap.

Not Stepping Up in the Postseason

We’re seeing this especially in the NBA and NHL Playoffs where NBA TV and Versus are showcasing their respective sports during the most important time of the year for both leagues. However, what they doing is leaving fans with a bad taste by not giving them national broadcasts and using local feeds catered to local markets.

It’s one thing to do this during the regular season. NBA TV will tap local feeds to give fans a taste of the local announcers and that’s ok. Regular season is fine to this. But during the postseason, this is where NBA TV which is run by Turner Sports can use TNT’s announcers for the calls. There have been blatant examples where NBA TV used local feeds for national audiences and it led to some awkward moments.

Last week in the Sports Media Weekly podcast, I asked the Vice President of Content for NBA Digital, Albert “Scooter” Vertino if this policy will be reconsidered for next season and he said it will be. I certainly hope so because fans expect to hear neutral calls during the postseason.

Imagine if Major League Baseball allowed local TV feeds in the postseason (they don’t, but let’s say they do) and TBS decided to use the WGN America feed of the Chicago White Sox and fans were subjected to Hawk Harrelson’s homer announcing. It would not go over well at all. It’s the same instance where NBA TV and Versus are tapping into local feeds and dissing the fans.

Versus, which is the exclusive cable partner for the NHL, did exactly this in the first round and now into the second round of the postseason. It tapped into Comcast SportsNet local feeds in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Jose and Washington and to augment its coverage. It’s one thing when action overlapped and Versus was joining in progress, but it’s totally another to use them for an entire game as was the case with the Chicago-Vancouver and the San Jose-Los Angeles series. Yes, Versus and Comcast SportsNet are under the same corporate umbrella, but there’s no reason why we should be hearing local announcers at this juncture.

And it happened again Friday night with Game 1 of the San Jose-Detroit series. There’s no way this should occur, especially in the 2nd round. There are fewer games and more staff is available. This smacks of laziness and refusal to give fans the best product possible.

I certainly hope next season, both Turner Sports and Versus will rectify this. And with Versus promising to air every NHL playoff game nationally, it had better step up and not provide local feeds. Fans around the country deserve better.

Where Was Figure Skating Last Week?

This past week, the World Figure Skating Championships took place in Moscow, a month after it was originally scheduled for Tokyo, Japan, however, as we know, the earthquake and tsunami forced the event to move. Unless you are a big figure skating fan, you probably didn’t know that the event was taking place because none of the major networks, ESPN/ABC, CBS, NBC, Versus, Fox/FX/Fox Sports Net carried it. While NBCUniversal has the rights to the event, it chose to air the Worlds on Universal Sports, which is carried on NBC local affiliates’ secondary digital channel in several markets or on cable sports tiers which is home to networks like Tennis Channel, ESPN Classic or ESPNU.

You could have also seen the Worlds online, but for a fee. Of course, only diehard fans would shell out the money to watch the Championships, but this is not unlimited access that an over the network or even ESPN could provide.

Ever since the oversaturation of figure skating in the mid-1990′s, the sport has struggled to find an audience. After the monster ratings following the Tanya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan incident during the 1994 Olympics, networks tried to cash in by creating a plethora of figure skating programming, but the viewership bottomed out and in the 2000′s, the World Championships have struggled to find a home. ESPN had the rights, but allowed the contract to expire and NBC picked them up. Last year, Oxygen and NBC shared the event.

NBC aired the US Figure Skating Championships in conjunction with Universal this year, but at least gave the event a showcase including the ladies event live in primetime. I had originally thought NBC would do something similar with the World Championships, but was surprised to learn that Universal would carry the entire event this year.

And while I’m sure Universal treated the event well, figure skating fans had to scramble to see it. Next year’s event is scheduled for Nice, France and I’m not sure if NBC will lend the event to Universal again. If figure skating wants to gain popularity, putting the event on Universal may not be the way to go unless NBC and Comcast get more aggressive to place the channel on more cable and satellite providers.

One Last Thought

Friday was the last day for one of the nicer sports TV public relations people. Megan Bondi left Turner Sports to become a full-time mom. Now, that name is probably familiar to you unless you work in the industry. Since Fang’s Bites started receiving press releases from the networks, Megan has been one of the people who have patiently answered my silly questions and requests without sending back an angry reply. Actually, no one at the sports networks has sent back an angry reply, but I’m sure some people at ESPN would like to.

Megan has worked tirelessly providing press releases for the NBA, Open Championship, PGA Championship, MLB and this year for the first time, the NCAA Championship.

You may think writing press releases is easy, but having done them, it’s not. You have to make sure quotes are correct, ratings information is accurate, ensure that the message is not being altered and make sure that the network is being promoted all at the same time. Public relations also deals with suggesting interviews, e-mailing or calling reporters or bloggers at all times of the day and it’s not really a 9-5 job.

Through it all, Megan did it wonderfully and treated me with kindness. The old saying goes you treat people like you want to be treated and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and the others at Turner Sports. Megan will be missed and I wish her nothing but the best of luck in the next phase of her life.

And those are your Sunday thoughts for today.

Universal Sports Airs World Figure Skating Championships

This event was to be held in Tokyo last month, but the earthquake in Japan forced the International Skating Union to delay the World Figure Skating Championships and eventually move it to Moscow after receiving assurances and hotel rooms in Russia. So a month later, the event will be held this week. Universal Sports will carry the event on TV and online. The online viewing is available for a fee, but if you have Universal Sports as part of your over the air NBC station or on your cable provider sports tier, then you’re in luck and you’ll be able to watch the figure skating. However, if you don’t have Universal Sports, then online may be for you.

We have the details of Universal Sports’ coverage which will be led by Andrea Joyce.

Universal Sports Presents Unprecedented Multi-Platform Coverage of the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

Universalsports.com and Icenetwork.com Partner to Stream Competition LIVE
Television Broadcast Includes Over 14 Hours of Coverage

Los Angeles, CA—April 11, 2011—Universal Sports presents unprecedented multi-platform coverage of the 2011 International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships, in Moscow, Russia. The championships, originally scheduled for mid-March in Tokyo, Japan, were relocated to Moscow after the unfortunate and devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. The event is now set for April 27-May 1.

The network will broadcast over 14 hours of coverage and will air every event. Primetime coverage will begin April 27 at 6 p.m. ET with the men’s and pairs short programs and continue throughout the week with the rest of the competition. The Universal Sports broadcast team includes Andrea Joyce (play-by-play), 1984 Olympic silver medalist Peter Carruthers (the men’s and pairs analyst), 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski (ladies analyst) and  Judy Blumberg (ice dancing analyst).

Universal Sports’ digital platform, Universalsports.com has partnered up with icenetwork.com to deliver LIVE on-line coverage, on a subscription basis, of the 2011 World Championships, beginning with the men’s short program on April 27 at 5:30 a.m. ET. Universalsports.com will also feature full replays, highlights and analysis.

“While we all keep the people of Japan in our hearts, we are glad the athletes will be able to compete in the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships,” said Perkins Miller, COO of Universal Sports. “With 14 hours on-air and another 30 hours online in partnership with icenetwork.com, we know our fans will be able to celebrate this great event whenever and wherever they want.”

“We look forward to our athletes competing in Moscow,” said David Raith, Executive Director of U.S. Figure Skating. “We are excited our fans will be able to watch all of the action on Universal Sports and icenetwork.com.”

The ladies competition features reigning Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim of South Korea, who seeks to reclaim her 2009 World title. Kim has not competed since finishing second at the 2010 World Championships. Challenging her will be Mao Asada of Japan, the 2010 defending World champion. Reigning U.S. champion Alissa Czisny and 2010 Olympian Rachael Flatt will compete for a spot on the podium.

On the men’s side, defending World champion Daisuke Takahashi leads a talented group of men from Japan against last year’s World silver medalist Patrick Chan of Canada. Ryan Bradley leads the contingent of U.S. men hoping to reach the podium.

In the pairs competition, 2010 World champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China look to defend their title against Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy. While in the ice dancing event, reigning Olympic and World champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada will square-off against chief rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States. For Davis and White, a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships would mean a first-ever World title for a U.S. ice dancing team.

2011 World Figure Skating Championships Broadcast/Web Schedule
All times ET

April 27
Men’s Short Program - 5:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Opening Ceremonies - 10:45 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Pairs Short Program - 11:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Shorts: Men’s & Pairs - 6:00 PM, Universal Sports TV

April 28
Men’s Free - 5:00 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Pairs Free - 10:00 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Men’s Free - 6:00 PM, Universal Sports TV
Pairs Free - 8:00 PM, Universal Sports TV

April 29
Ladies Short Program - 5:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Dance Short Program – 10:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Shorts: Ladies & Dance - 6:00 PM, Universal Sports TV

April 30
Ladies Free - 5:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Dance Free – 10:30 AM, universalsports.com/icenetwork.com
Ladies Free - 6:00 PM, Universal Sports TV
Dance Free - 8:00 PM, Universal Sports TV

And that will do it.

The Monday Back to Work Linkage

Let’s do some links on this back to work Monday. Many of the links will focus on the NCAA Tournament so let’s get cracking.

Starting with John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal, they report that Fox is about to sign a new cable rights deal with the Big 12 Conference that would include football and basketball and possibly start a new channel.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today says ESPN’s analysts did a lot of yelling about the NCAA Tournament selections.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch does a Q&A on our viewing the NCAA Tournament.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, wonders if the new NCAA Tournament on CBS and Turner is an exercise in excess.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporters says the controlling stake in Canada’s top TV sports property is up for sale.

Also from Hollywood Reporter, Kimberly Nordyke writes that Dish Network and LIN TV have resolved their differences and 17 markets have their local stations back.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says MSG Network will air its first live concert in its history tonight.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that media analysts feel the NFL lockout won’t last very long.

Mike Stern of Media Life says radio would be hurt by an extended NFL lockout.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid notes that Charles Barkley and old bastard curmudgeony analyst Billy Packer are continuing their feud.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff of espnW, says watching a baseball game in the press box is extremely different than watching from the stands.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the numbers of the NCAA Tournament.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post doesn’t care about eating at the game, he just wants to watch it.

Neil Best from Newsday says it’s time for truTV’s big moment.

Neil says ESPN thumped the desk the loudest over the NCAA Tournament selections.

Neil writes that MLB Network will air some rare footage tonight.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the NIT TV tip times.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says WWOR-TV will air a handful of Yankees games this season.

Ken says the NIT will be aired exclusively on the networks of ESPN.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that a Capitals-centric NHL ad will debut tonight.

To Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner who writes that viewers finally have control of their NCAA Tournament viewing.

Jim talks with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Capitals studio analyst Alan May.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle makes a long answer to a reader’s question.

David says Comcast in Houston will add truTV HD starting today.

And David has the early TV lineup for the NCAA Tournament.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer explains what having four networks airing NCAA Tournament games means for local viewers.

A story that’s being picked up across the country in blogs and newspapers, Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch says ESPN’s and Ohio State alumnus Kirk Herbstreit is moving away from the area because Buckeye fans don’t understand that he has to be objective.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews the credentials of TNT’s Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Bob says ESPN’s Jay Bilas came out railing against the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

And Bob has CBS’ Uncle Verne Lundquist recalling a story on the late Al McGuire.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business talks about the new world of NCAA Tournament viewing this year.

Philip Hersh from the Chicago Tribune reports that the International Skating Union has postponed the World Figure Skating Championships originally scheduled for Tokyo this month due to the Japan earthquake. This affects NBC’s plans as it is the rightsholder for the event.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says having Turner Sports involved in the NCAA Tournament is a plus for fans.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with CBS/TNT’s Steve Kerr.

Tom also has your Southern California sports calendar for the week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says it appears CBC’s Mike Milbury is the Voice of Reason in the NHL violence debate.

The Toronto Star has entertainment reporter Raju Mudhar taking over the sports media beat for Chris Zelkovich. Raju looks at the battle between TSN and Rogers Sportsnet.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore has the transcript of the discussion of fighting between NBC’s Mike Milbury and Pierre McGuire.

And we’ll end it there for now.

NBC To Air U.S. Figure Skating Championships

This weekend, NBC gets back into Olympic sports mode by airing figure skating. NBC has weekend coverage with the pair’s, men’s and women’s competitions. As usual, the women will be seen in primetime on Saturday. The U.S. Nationals are being held this week in Greensboro, NC.

NBC SPORTS PRESENTS 7 HOURS OF LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2011 U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

NBC to Broadcast 7 Hours Live Including Saturday Primetime Coverage of Ladies Free Skate

Universal Sports To Reair NBC Sports Programs

NEW YORK – January 26, 2011 – NBC Sports presents seven hours of live coverage of the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships this Saturday (3-6 p.m., ET and 9-11 p.m., ET) and Sunday (4-6 p.m., ET) from Greensboro, N.C. All of the defending U.S. champions – Rachel Flatt (Ladies), Jeremy Abbott (Men’s), Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (Pairs) and Meryl Davis and Charlie White (Dance) – are among nine athletes from the 2010 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team that will compete.

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held annually since 1914, is the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event. Coverage of the event will include seven live hours of senior-level competition in the ladies and men’s singles, pairs and ice dancing, with two hours in primetime plus the two-hour Smuckers Skating Spectacular, an exhibition of champions on Saturday, Feb. 5. The championships will in part serve to select the 2011 U.S. team for the World Championships taking place in March, 2011 in Nagano, Japan.

NBC’s Olympic figure skating broadcast team of Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Scott Hamilton (analyst), Sandra Bezic (analyst), Tracy Wilson (analyst) and Andrea Joyce (reporter) will call the action from the Greensboro Coliseum.

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS:

• Saturday, 3-6 p.m. ET – Pairs Free Skate (Live), Free Dance (Live), Ladies Short (Tape)
• Saturday, 9-11 p.m. ET – Ladies Free Skate (Live)
• Sunday, 4-6 p.m. ET – Men’s Free Skate (Live), Men’s Short (Tape)
• Saturday, Feb. 5, 2:30-4:30 p.m. ET – Smuckers Skating Spectacular – U.S. Figure Skating Exhibition

UNIVERSAL SPORTS COVERAGE: Universal Sports, will rebroadcast the NBC Sports programs (all times ET):

• Saturday, 6-9 p.m. ET – Pairs Free Skate, Ladies Short, Free Dance
• Saturday, 11 p.m.-1:00 a.m. ET- Ladies Free Skate
• Sunday, 6-8 p.m. ET – Men’s Free Skate

HAMILTON ON WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: “To win your national championship is gigantic. You are the representative of your country and No. 1 in your field. The only thing that compares is winning a World Championship or an Olympic gold medal.”

HAMILTON ON THE COMPETITION

LADIES: “My goodness, the ladies competition is going to be fun to watch. The last three national champions are going head-to-head with Rachel Flatt defending her title, Alissa Czisny, the 2009 champion who is having an outstanding season, and Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 champion who finished second last year.”

MEN: “The men’s event will be cool to see who will line up and challenge two-time defending champion Jeremy Abbott. There are a lot of up-and-coming skaters like Brandon Mroz, who took second last year, Adam Rippon and Ryan Bradley.”

PAIRS: “Caydee and Jeremy have switched pros. They are with (former U.S. champion) John Zimmerman now so it will be very interesting to see how different they are skating in defending their title.”

DANCE: “The veterans are coming back. Two-time champions Charlie and Meryl are going to have a great year. They should win here and go into the World Championships as a heavy favorite.”
That’s all.

CBC’s Battle of the Blades Has A New Champion

Two-time Olympic gold-medal winning pairs figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva and former NHL’er Valeri Bure are the champions of the 2nd season of Battle of the Blades. We have the details from CBC Television in Canada.

FROM CANADA WITH LOVE:

RUSSIAN DREAM TEAM EKATERINA GORDEEVA AND VALERI BURE WIN BATTLE OF THE BLADES

TORONTO – November 22, 2010 – After eight weeks of incredible performances, tremendous showmanship and the promised blood, sweat and tears – the final decision came from Canadian voters who declared that Ekaterina “Katia” Gordeeva and Valeri Bure are this season’s winners on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Despite their Russian heritage and American residency, Canadians set any patriotic biases aside and voted for the pair they believed to be the most deserving of the Crystal Trophy and the $100,000 charity donation.

After a challenging journey that saw Katia and Valeri in the bottom two on three separate occasions – including week three where they received the highest score from the judges, but the lowest amount of audience votes – this victory is an indication of just how far this pair has come in winning over the hearts of Canadian viewers. 

The $100,000 donation will be split evenly between Cardiac Kids and Compassion Canada, with both charities receiving a $50,000 cheque in Katia and Val’s honour. The good work and positive influence of this season’s charities has proven to be a motivating force in the competition and a shared connection amongst the 16 skaters. 

Runners-up Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois and Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner wowed audiences with their final performances and were extremely gracious in their praise given to Katia and Valeri. A $25,000 donation will be given to the Heart And Stroke Foundation in Brasseur and Warriner’s honour, while $12,500 will be given to Make-A-Wish Canada and Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation in Bourne and Brisebois’ name.

Don’t want the battle to end? All 16 competitors will come together once again in BATTLE OF THE BLADES: AFTER THE ICE MELTS. This one hour special will air Sunday, December 5 at 8 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC TV and will feature exclusive, never before seen footage and surprising revelations with this season’s skaters that Canada has grown to love. 

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal or the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

Thanks to the CBC for sending the press releases every week throughout the season. They’re much appreciated. Now if only TSN would comply.

CBC Announces Plans For Battle of the Blades Finale

The finale of the second season of Battle of the Blades is this Sunday and Monday and there’s plenty of speculation on who will win as the final three pairs square off. We have CBC’s press release.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES UNVEILS ITS FINALE WEEKEND PROGRAM

- Winning Pair Awarded $100,000 Charity Donation –

- Guest Judge: Christopher Dean –

- All Eight Pairs Reunite For Group Ensemble Number –

- Special Performances By Kurt Browning and Ron MacLean  –

- “Extreme” Performance By Violetta Afanasieva and Pete Dack -

TORONTO – November 17, 2010 – As BATTLE OF THE BLADES enters its final week, the remaining three skating pairs are preparing for their most important performance yet; the one that will determine their fate in this exhilarating competition series. Last week, a whopping 1.769 million* Canadians tuned in to see the final four fight for a spot in the top three. Contenders for the winning title are: “The Actors” Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois; “The Sleepers” Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner; and “The Russians” Ekaterina Gordeeva and Valeri Bure. Both Sunday’s performance show and Monday’s finale air 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) to 9 p.m. (9:30 NT), local time on CBC Television.

Joining the judging panel this week is British Olympic Gold Medalist and four-time World Champion, Christopher Dean. He and his partner Jayne Torvill are arguably the greatest ice dancers in the history of figure skating.  He is looking forward to lending his expertise while sitting alongside head judge Sandra Bezic and permanent judge Jeremy Roenick as they comment on each of the performances but do not assign a score. Only Canada can declare the winning pair, as determined by the highest number of votes.

The final battle begins on Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT), when the top three pairs are given two last opportunities to impress Canadians and the judging panel. The first performance is “Skaters’ Choice” where the music and direction of the routine is selected by the pair. The second skate is the pair’s favourite performance of the season – the one they feel best highlights their skill and personality.

The BATTLE OF THE BLADES finale airs Monday, November 22 from 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) to 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)local time with an action-packed show featuring familiar faces, incredible performances and, of course, the announcement of this season’s winning pair. Kicking things off is an ensemble piece by all eight pairs of the competition, followed by the “Men of Blades” with co-hosts Ron MacLean and Kurt Browning performing alongside the eight ex-NHLers. Next, Kurt joins the “Women of Blades” for a figure skating spectacle and the action continues as Violetta Afanasieva and her husband Pete Dack treat audiences to their “extreme” skating style – hula-hoop’s and all!

After the winning pair has been awarded the Crystal Trophy and performed one last time together, they will ceremoniously hand over the $100,000 donation to their chosen charity, or $50,000 each if the pair is splitting their support. The charities are: Shae-Lynn Bourne for Make-A-Wish Canada and Patrice Brisebois for Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation; Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner for Heart And Stroke Foundation; Ekaterina Gordeeva for Cardiac Kids and Valeri Bure for Compassion Canada.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal or the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

That is it.

Another Team Is "Iced" From Battle of the Blades

We have the latest pair that’s been eliminated from CBC’s “Battle of the Blades”.

KYOKO INA AND KELLY CHASE ARE THE SIXTH ICED PAIR ONBATTLE OF THE BLADES

- Ekaterina Gordeeva And Valeri Bure Avoid Elimination To Secure Their Spot In The Top Three –

TORONTO – November 15, 2010 – Proving just how quickly things can change when skating on thin ice, Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase were the sixth eliminated pair on BATTLE OF THE BLADES.  Ekaterina Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, who also found themselves in the bottom two, will remain in the game for their chance to take home the Crystal trophy and $100,000 donation to their charities of choice in next week’s finale.

After a challenging performance on Sunday night that had Kelly and Kyoko skating to “I Love Your Smile” by Charlie Winston, they received a total judging score of 17.3. Though tonight’s performance improved in technical elements, it was not enough to keep them in the game. This week’s judging panel: Sandra Bezic, Jeremy Roenick and guest judge Don Cherry were faced with an extremely difficult decision; but after Katia and Val’s near-flawless skate they were left with no choice. For their efforts, the Saskatchewan Children’s Hospital Foundation will receive a $25,000 donation in Kyoko and Kelly’s honour.

On Sunday, November 21 at 8 p.m. there will be one final performance show with the Top Three pairs skating. The BATTLE OF THE BLADES finale will air Monday, November 22 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time, during which time all eight pairs will return to the ice for the winning pair will be announced, awarded the Crystal trophy and given the $100,000 donation to their favourite charity.

The Top Three pairs are: Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal or the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

Not bad at all.

NBC and Universal Sports Team Up For Skate America

Not many of you are into figure skating, I’m aware of that, but maybe there’s the viewer who wants an occasional peak at various competitions and I’m willing to keep you informed on the sport.

This weekend, NBC Sports and its sister network, Universal Sports, continue their commitment to figure skating by airing 14 live hours of Skate America which is being held in the lovely city of Portland, OR this weekend. Coverage begins Friday and will last through Sunday. Universal airs the bulk of the coverage, Friday and Saturday. NBC steps in with the ladies free skate on Sunday afternoon, right opposite the Fox NFL late game, Cowboys-Giants for most of the country. Anyway, for those wanting a break from the traditional fall sports of college football and the NFL, maybe this is for you.

NBC SPORTS AND UNIVERSAL SPORTS TO AIR 14 HOURS OF LIVE “SKATE AMERICA” COVERAGE THIS WEEKEND

18 U.S. figure skaters, five 2010 Olympians set to compete

November 11, 2010 – New York and Westlake Village, Calif.: NBC Sports and Universal Sports will highlight 18 U.S figure skaters this weekend, with 14 hours of LIVE television coverage of the 2010 Skate America in Portland, Ore. The event starts tomorrow (Friday) and runs through Sunday, and serves as stage four of six in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Universal Sports will kick-off the LIVE coverage tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET with the men’s and pairs short program and NBC Sports will wrap up the coverage on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET with the ladies free skate. Calling the action from the Rose Garden Arena for NBC Sports and Universal Sports will be Terry Gannon, Andrea Joyce, Scott Hamilton and Tracy Wilson, with Peter Carruthers joining the Universal Sports broadcasts.

Vancouver 2010 Olympians Rachael Flatt, Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett will lead the U.S. team as they compete against skaters from 14 different countries for points and prize money in the series. Along with Denney and Barrett, the pairs’ competition will feature the young Chinese duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who fell just short of the gold at Cup of China, and Russian duo Lubov Iliushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze who were the gold medalists at Skate Canada.

UniversalSports.com will also provide event coverage, including highlights, interviews, news, photos and analysis.

NBC SPORTS & UNIVERSAL SPORTS LIVE BROADCAST SCHEUDULE

2010 SKATE AMERICA

Date	Network	Discipline	Time
Friday, November 12	Universal Sports	Pairs short program, men’s short program	10:00 p.m.–1:30 a.m. ET
Saturday, November 13	Universal Sports	Ladies short program, short dance	5:00 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, November 13	Universal Sports	Men’s free skate	10:00 p.m.–12 Midnight ET
Saturday, November 13	Universal Sports	Pairs free skate	12:30 a.m.–2:00 a.m. ET
Sunday, November 14	Universal Sports	Free dance	2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, November 14	NBC Sports	Ladies free skate	4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. ET

The Grand Prix Series consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Approximately 300 athletes from 30 countries are expected to participate in the series, and each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each the disciplines qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China, from December 9-12. Athletes will compete for a total of more than $1.35 million in prize money throughout the series.

There you have it.

The Latest Pair Is "Iced On CBC’s Battle of the Blades

Last night, Canadian sweetheart Jamie Sale and hockey great Theo Fleury were eliminated on CBC’s Battle of the Blades. Let’s check out the press release from the CBC.

JAMIE SALÉ AND THEO FLEURY ARE THE FIFTH ICED PAIR ON BATTLE OF THE BLADES

 - Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner return for another week –

TORONTO – November 8, 2010 – Though they skated to the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive, it just wasn’t enough to keep Jamie Salé and Theo Fleury safe this week, as they became the fifth eliminated pair on BATTLE OF THE BLADES.  Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, who also found themselves in the bottom two, will remain in the game for another week maintaining their chance to win a $100,000 donation to their charity of choice.

Wowing the crowds and completely getting into the character of their chosen film, Saturday Night Fever, Jamie and Theo’s routine earned them a total score of 17.1 from the judges after Sunday’s performance. This week’s judging panel: Sandra Bezic, Jeremy Roenick and guest judge Toller Cranston were clearly distraught with their decision to eliminate this pair who were obviously crowd favourites; but after two falls and a technically flawed performance, they were left with no choice. For their efforts, The Men’s Project will receive a $25,000 donation in Jamie and Theo’s honour.

With just two weeks left in the competition, the final four pairs will compete on Sunday, November 14: Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal for the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

I have a couple of more releases to give you before doing the links this morning.

Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Bribois Remain In Battle of the Blades

On CBC’s Battle of the Blades, the four “iced” pairs, or those previously eliminated, skated for a chance to return to the show to join the five remaining teams as the competition resumes next week. So figure skater Shae-Lynn Brisbois and her partner, former NHL’er Patrice Brisbois were voted to return. We have the recap for you.

SHAE-LYNN BOURNE AND PATRICE BRISEBOIS ARE BACK IN THE BATTLE!

TORONTO – November 1, 2010 – Sunday night’s Halloween horror-themed performance had the four “iced” pairs competing for the coveted spot of getting a second chance to rejoin the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock and Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois were announced as the top two and took the ice for an emotional skate-off on Monday night. After skating to Monster Mash dressed as a pair of zombies, it was announced that Shae-Lynn and Patrice will be rejoining the regular competition next week.

The judging panel, including guest judge Curtis Joseph, explained that it was an extremely difficult decision as both pairs gave incredible performances. Overall it was Shae-Lynn and Patrice’s choreography that earned them a spot back in the competition. Judge Sandra Bezic said that their “performance will go down in BATTLE OF THE BLADES history as being a really great piece.”

The five pairs performing next week in regular competition are: Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, Jamie Salé and Theo Fleury, and Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase. 

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal for the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

We need to see this in the US.

Battle of the Blades Announces "Second Chance Week"

The four eliminated pairs in CBC’s Battle of the Blades will vie in a mini-competition to see who can return next week. We get the details from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES ANNOUNCES ‘SECOND CHANCE WEEK’

 - All four eliminated pairs will perform next Sunday for a second chance to return to the competition –

TORONTO – October 25, 2010 – Trick or treat indeed! It was announced during tonight’s BATTLE OF THE BLADES results show that all four eliminated pairs will be given a second chance to return to the competition. This was a surprise relief for this week’s iced pair, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois who still have a chance to win the competition and a $100,000 donation to their chosen charity.

Next Sunday, October 31, at 8 p.m., the four iced pairs: Christine “Tuffy” Hough-Sweeney and Russ Courtnall, Anabelle Langlois and Georges Laraque, Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois will return to the ice for a Halloween-themed performance. The two pairs receiving the highest scores from the judges and the most audience votes will move on to Monday’s show where they will skate for the opportunity to get back in the battle. The judges will then decide which pair returns to the competition the following week.

The top four pairs will not be performing next week and will watch the show from the stands next week. They are: Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase, Jamie Salé and Theo Fleury.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal for the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

We’re not even close to being done.

CBC’s Own PJ Stock Iced Out of Battle Of The Blades

Just received this release from CBC regarding the latest team to be ousted from The Battle Of The Blades. Take a look.

VIOLETTA AFANASIEVA AND P.J. STOCK ARE THE THIRD ICED PAIR ON BATTLE OF THE BLADES

 - Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure return for another week –

TORONTO – October 18, 2010 – Despite bringing a sizzling chemistry to each of their performances, Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock were eliminated tonight on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Valeri Bure and Katia Gordeeva, who also found themselves in the bottom two for the second time in the competition, will remain in the game for another week maintaining their chance to win a $100,000 donation to their charities of choice.

Skating to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai, Violetta and P.J.’s dance routine earned them a total score of 16.9 from the judges. This week’s judging panel: Sandra Bezic, Jeremy Roenick and guest judge Ken Daneyko praised tonight’s performances and were amazed by both pairs’ improvement from Sunday’s show. For their efforts, One x One will receive a $25,000 donation in Violetta and P.J.’s honour.

Tonight’s special guest performer American figure skater Johnny Weir delivered on his promise to “bring it” to Canada when he skated to Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance’ in a costume he designed himself.

The five pairs returning to compete on Sunday, October 24 are: Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase, Jamie Salé and Theo Fleury.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal for the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

We’re done.

The 2nd Pair on Battle Of The Blades Is Out

We need this to come to the US very soon. The second pair on CBC’s Battle of the Blades has been “iced” and we have the names right here.

ANABELLE LANGLOIS AND GEORGES LARAQUE ARE THE SECOND ICED PAIR ON BATTLE OF THE BLADES

 - Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner return for another week –

TORONTO – October 11, 2010 – Despite their best efforts in bringing sexy back, Anabelle Langlois and Georges Laraque were eliminated tonight on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, who also found themselves in the bottom two, will remain in the game for another week maintaining their chance to win a $100,000 donation to their charity of choice.

Skating to Seal’s ‘Kiss From a Rose,’ Anabelle and Georges’ romantic performance earned them a total score of 17.0 from the judges. This week’s judging panel: Sandra Bezic, Jeremy Roenick and guest judge Marie-France Dubreuil praised tonight’s performances and were amazed by both pairs’ improvement from Sunday’s show. For their efforts, Hockey for Haiti – a charity that pairs the National Hockey League Players’ Association with World Vision Canada to help rebuild the Grace Children’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti – will receive a $25,000 donation in Anabelle and Georges’ honour.

The six pairs returning to compete on Sunday, October 17 are: Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, Isabelle Brasseur and Todd Warriner, Katia Gordeeva and Valeri Bure, Kyoko Ina and Kelly Chase, Jamie Salé and Theo Fleury.

Viewers can learn more about the competitors at www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal for the BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos, blogs and behind-the-scene photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activity as they strive to be the final pair remaining at the end of the series.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht and show producers are Sandra Bezic and Sue Brophey. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television airing Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

There you have it.

Jeremy Roenick Joins Battle of the Blades As A Judge

This just seems like a natural fit for Jeremy Roenick. The man who did a great job during the Olympics and Stanley Cup Final for NBC now becomes a permanent judge joining the very lovely choreographer Sandra Bezic as a fixture on the show. Battle of the Blades pairs former hockey players with current and past figure skaters to become a figure skating team. The show became a big hit on CBC last year and I feel Jeremy is perfect to be a judge.

Here’s the announcement from CBC.

NHL ALL- STAR JEREMY ROENICK JOINS BATTLE OF THE BLADES CAST AS A PERMANENT JUDGE

Announced today at CBC’S BATTLE OF THE BLADES press event held at Pinewood Studios in Toronto, NHL fan favourite Jeremy Roenick joins the hugely popular hit series as a permanent judge. Starting this Sunday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. Roenick will join head judge Sandra Bezic as the critical voice, judging the eight formidable pairs of female figure skaters and ex-NHL hockey players competing to win the hearts and votes of Canadians nationwide.

Throughout Roenick’s 20 year professional hockey career he scored 1216 points in 1,363 games playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. A favourite of hockey fans and teammates alike, Roenick was awarded the Bobby Clarke Trophy (MVP) and Yanick Dupre Memorial (Class Guy) team awards. His brash and honest assessment and reputation for speaking from the heart as well as his experience as an analyst for NBC during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and 2010 Stanley Cup Finals are sure to result in a season full of entertaining and controversial sound bites from the judging booth.

Bezic and Roenick, joined by a rotation of celebrity guest judges, will score the pairs using the 6.0 system. Following the live performance show viewers nationwide have the opportunity to vote. The two pairs with the lowest number of votes will compete the following evening in the official Skate Off during the live BATTLE OF THE BLADES results show on Monday nights at 8 p.m. The judges then determine which pair deserves a second chance to continue on in the intense competition and which pair will hit the bench.

Canadians nationwide can vote by mobile phone text message, web or phone after each Sunday performance show until 2 a.m. ET on Monday mornings. Text voting costs 15¢ per text message. Proceeds (after carrier costs) from text message votes will go to the voted for pair’s charity. For more vote information, please visit http://www.cbc.ca/battle. In addition to videos and behind-the-scenes photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activities as they strive to win the competition.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht, with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television. BATTLE OF THE BLADES airs live on Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.

Now with Jeremy on the show, I’m now screaming for an American outlet to pick this up to show it in the States.

CBC Announces Pairings For Battle of the Blades

The surprise Canadian TV hit returns this season with the pairings of retired hockey players and figure skaters. Last year, you had interesting teams. That is no different this season. We have the official announcement from CBC and we hope to see Battle of the Blades in the States this year.

READY FOR BATTLE, CBC ANNOUNCES THE BATTLE OF THE BLADES PAIRS

CBC’s hugely popular hit series BATTLE OF THE BLADES kicks-off the live portion of its dramatic second season on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. with eight formidable pairs of female figure skaters and ex-NHL hockey players competing to win a $100,000 prize donation towards their charity of choice. The live performance show airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. followed by the live results show Monday nights at 8 p.m., where, week after week, a duo will be eliminated until the new championship pair is crowned.

The live performance competition series is a test of incredible skill and showmanship, and the pairs have been chosen to maximize the best in athleticism and on-ice entertainment. The pairs, and their chosen charities, are:

Afanasieva and Stock — Violetta Afanasieva, who won the first-ever Extreme Ice Skating World Championship with her Canadian partner/husband Peter Dack, is paired with P.J. Stock, who played 235 games in the NHL and is currently part of the CBC HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA team. Charity: One x One.

Brasseur and Warriner — Isabelle Brasseur, one of four returning skaters, is a five-time Canadian pairs champion and winner of two Olympic bronze medals with partner Lloyd Eisler. She teams up with Todd Warriner, a hard-working NHL winger who scored the Maple Leafs’ very first goal at the Air Canada centre in Toronto. Charity: The Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Bourne and Brisebois — A 10-time Canadian Dance Champion with partner Victor Kratz, with whom she captured the World Figure Skating Championship, Shae-Lynn Bourne returns for her second season on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. This time, she is paired with Patrice Brisebois, who played 15 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens before becoming a NASCAR driver. Charities: Make-A-Wish Foundation (Bourne) and Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation (Brisebois).

Gordeeva and Bure — A two-time Olympic Gold medalist and four-time World Champion, Russian native Ekaterina Gordeeva is considered by many to be the world’s best pairs figure skater. Her partner is “Russian Pocket Rocket” Valeri Bure, who scored 400 points during his 11-year NHL career. Charities: Cardiac Kids/Hospital For Sick Children (Gordeeva) and Compassion Canada (Bure).

Hough-Sweeney and Courtnall — Christine Hough-Sweeney, another return performer, represented Canada with her partner, Doug Ladret, at two Olympic Games. This season she teams up with Russ Courtnall, a former Olympian and speedy right winger who played 17 seasons with the NHL. Charity: The Archie Courtnall Center –Victoria Hospital Foundation

Ina and Chase — A Japanese-American pairs skater, Kyoko Ina competed at three Olympics and won the U.S. championships five times with two different partners. This time she joins forces with Kelly Chase, a hardnosed former NHLer who earned the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1998 for his work helping developmentally disabled people participate in hockey. Charity: Children’s Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan.

Langlois and Laraque — Anabelle Langlois, who came back from a near career-ending foot injury to compete at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, is paired with Georges Laraque, one of the toughest players in the NHL and known for his charitable work, notably for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Charity: Hockey for Haiti.

Salé and Fleury — Jamie Salé, the reigning BATTLE OF THE BLADES champion, won a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics with partner David Pelletier and the World Championships in 2001. She teams up this year with Theo Fleury, a gritty forward who collected more than 1,000 points during his 15-year NHL career and twice represented Canada at the Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002. Charity: The Men’s Project.

“Last year’s pairs took a huge leap of faith, and together they ventured into the unknown. Their legacy has given this year’s pairs the benefit of knowing what is achievable. Each of our new pairs has attacked the challenge with veracity and an almost child-like enthusiasm,” says Sandra Bezic, Co-Creator and Judge and Kevin Albrecht, Co-Creator and Executive Producer of BATTLE OF THE BLADES. “Their work ethic, strength and a youthful competitiveness will guarantee a new level of technical risk and danger that will be sure to keep Canadians on the edge of their seats.”

For more information about the competitors, please visit www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal of BATTLE OF THE BLADES.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht, with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television. BATTLE OF THE BLADES airs live on Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.

That is all. Waiting for the Football Night in America quotage.

NBC and Universal Sports Combine to Air Every Figure Skating Competition in 2010-11

Let’s clarify here. NBC and Universal Sports will air or webcast the entire International Skating Union’s figure skating schedule leading up to the World Figure Skating Championships. NBC will carry six Grand Prix events. We have your press release below.

NBC Sports, Universal Sports, U.S. Figure Skating Announce 2010 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series Broadcast, Digital Schedule

Networks to cover entire Grand Prix season for the first time in history

(New York and Los Angeles – September 21, 2010) -  NBC Sports and Universal Sports, along with U.S. Figure Skating, today announced the broadcast schedule for the 2010 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. NBC Sports will broadcast 12 hours of live and taped coverage of five Grand Prix events, including Skate America, and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final on Dec. 12, in Beijing, China. Universal Sports will show more than 34 hours of original programming from five events, as well as re-broadcasts of the featured programming that appears on NBC Sports.

“The Grand Prix events will be a cornerstone of Universal Sports’ programming lineup during the upcoming winter season,” said David Sternberg, CEO of Universal Sports. “We are excited to team with U.S. Figure Skating to enable figure skating fans nationwide to watch all of their favorite athletes in world-class competition both on TV and online.”

In addition, UniversalSports.com and icenetwork.com will combine to deliver an unprecedented amount of online video coverage, with 90-plus hours of live streaming – every session of every event – plus on-demand replays, highlights, interviews and analysis. UniversalSports.com will offer live and on-demand coverage of six Grand Prix events (including the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating – China and excluding Skate America) for a one-time subscription fee of $14.95; icenetwork.com will provide live streams and on-demand replays from all seven stops on the Grand Prix circuit as part of the annual icenetwork.com subscription package. Both sites will also deliver news, blogs, photos, standings and more.

The deal was made possible after Universal Sports acquired the rights to the Grand Prix Series from the ISU last summer. This marks the second straight year that coverage of the Grand Prix Series events will appear on NBC and Universal Sports, and third consecutive year coverage will appear on icenetwork.com. 

“U.S. Figure Skating is pleased to again team with NBC, Universal Sports and icentetwork.com to offer exceptional coverage of the Grand Prix Series,” said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating. “Figure skating fans will now have the opportunity to follow our elite athletes throughout the entire Grand Prix season, competing against the best figure skaters in the world.”

2010 ISU Grand Prix Series Schedule on NBC Sports
(all times ET, check your local listings for times in your area):

Broadcast Date	Event	Time
Sunday, Oct. 31	NHK Trophy (Japan)	4-6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 6	Skate Canada International	4-6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 14	Skate America – ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating	4-6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 21	Cup of Russia	2-4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 28	Trophée Eric Bompard (France)	2-4 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 12	ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating  Final (China)	12-2 p.m.

A detailed broadcast schedule for Universal Sports will be released at a later date.

NBC Sports and Universal Sports will both televise coverage from the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and Universal Sports will have coverage of the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, which take place March 21-27, in Nagano, Japan.

If you’re a figure skating fan, you have plenty of events to watch this fall.

CBC Announces The New Cast of Battle Of The Blades

In what was a surprise TV hit in Canada, Battle of the Blades returns for an all-new season with a new cast of former hockey stars partnered with various figure skaters. CBC saw good ratings for the show and will most likely see them again this season. Here’s the release complete with cast description.

CBC REVEALS STAR-STUDDED BATTLE OF THE BLADES CAST

NHL veterans and champion figure skaters pair up for a hot new season premiering Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.

The hit series BATTLE OF THE BLADES is back on CBC Television for another season that promises more drama, blood, sweat, tears and, for the first time, world-class international competitors from Russia and the United States. With a fresh crop of eight ex-NHL hockey players including Theo Fleury and Patrice Brisebois, as well as four returning and four new champion figure skaters including the legendary Ekaterina Gordeeva, the competition will be fierce for the top prize of $100,000, donated to the winners’ charity of choice.

The season begins Sunday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. local with BATTLE OF THE BLADES: GAME ON, a one-hour, behind-the-scenes training camp episode that follows the contestants as they prepare for the fierce competition ahead and reveals the eight pairs. The pressure-packed live competition begins the following Sunday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. local.

More than 1.7 million viewers on average watched BATTLE OF THE BLADES last season, making the series one of CBC’s most successful shows. “We could not be happier with Canada’s response to this truly homegrown series,” said Kirstine Stewart, Interim Executive Vice-President, English Services and General Manager of CBC Television. “This year’s amazing lineup of world class athletes will ensure BATTLE OF THE BLADES is bigger and better than ever as CBC continues to deliver successful and relevant top-tier programming and feeds the nation’s love for all things hockey.”

“We are thrilled going into our second season of BATTLE OF THE BLADES with such an incredible cast of competitors,” says John Brunton, President and Executive Producer, Insight Productions.  “Fans can expect to see the competition taken to an entirely new level with this year’s participation of Russian and American skaters who are bringing an international twist to this ground-breaking Canadian series.”  

This season, fans can expect to see additional behind-the-scenes footage, candid interviews and an in-depth look at the skaters’ journeys – from learning to collaborate with their partners to overcoming obstacles as they face possible elimination. Each week, the pairs perform a new routine on a live Sunday night telecast. Viewers vote for their favourite pairs and the bottom two return the following night (Monday) for a skate-off. The judging panel decides which of the pairs gets to continue. The eliminated team gets $25,000 to give to their charity of choice.

This year’s cast includes:

Hockey Players

• Patrice Brisebois: Brisebois played defense for the Montreal Canadiens for 15 years in a 17-year NHL career, winning one Stanley Cup and later becoming a NASCAR Canada racecar driver.

• Valeri Bure: Known as the Russian Pocket Rocket for his world-class speed, Valeri played for five teams and collected over 400 points throughout his 10-year NHL career.
• Kelly Chase: A hardnosed NHLer, Chase in 1998 earned the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for helping those with developmental disabilities participate in organized hockey.

• Russ Courtnall: A former Olympian, the speedy right winger is known as much for his style and flair as for the 300 goals he scored in 15 NHL seasons.
• Theo Fleury: A gritty forward who collected more than 1,000 points during a 15-year career in the NHL, Fleury also twice represented Canada at the Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002.
• Georges Laraque: One of the toughest players in the NHL, Laraque is also known for his charitable efforts, notably for the victims of the Haiti earthquake earlier this year.

• PJ Stock: Never one to shy away from the rough stuff, Stock played 235 games in the NHL and is currently a sports broadcaster on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA.
• Todd Warriner: A first-round draft choice in 1992 by the Quebec Nordiques, Warriner was a hard-working NHL winger who scored the Leaf’s first goal at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Figure Skaters

• Violetta Afanasieva: Afanasieva joined the Bolshoi Moscow Circus on Ice at the age of 14 and won the first-ever Extreme Ice Skating World Championship with Canadian partner/husband Peter Dack.
• Shae-Lynn Bourne: The 10-time Canadian Dance Champion returns for her second season on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. Bourne and her partner Victor Kraatz were the first North American ice dance team to capture the World Figure Skating Championship.

• Isabelle Brasseur: Another of four returning skaters, she won five Canadian pairs championships and the World Title with partner Lloyd Eisler, as well as bronze medals at the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Games.
• Ekaterina Gordeeva: Two-time Olympic Gold medalist and four-time World Champion, this internationally renowned Russian native is considered by many to be the world’s best pairs figure skater.
• Christine Hough-Sweeney: Another return performer, she represented Canada, along with her partner Doug Ladret, at two Olympic Games and enjoyed a prolific professional career.
• Kyoko Ina: A Japanese-American pairs skater, she competed in three Olympic Games and won the U.S. Championships five times with two different partners.
• Anabelle Langlois: Competed at her second Olympic Games in Vancouver, making a remarkable comeback from a near-career-ending foot injury during the 2008-09 season. 

• Jamie Salé: This reigning BATTLE OF THE BLADES champion won a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics with partner David Pelletier and the World Championships in 2001.

For more information about the competitors, visit www.cbc.ca/battle, the official online portal of BATTLE OF THE BLADES. In addition to videos and behind-the-scenes photos, the site offers viewers the opportunity to become fans of their favourite pair and track each participant’s activities as they strive to win the competition.

BATTLE OF THE BLADES is the brainchild of Kevin Albrecht, with development by Sandra Bezic. BATTLE OF THE BLADES executive producers are John Brunton, Barbara Bowlby and Kevin Albrecht. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television. BATTLE OF THE BLADES airs live on Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.

I’ll be posting releases on this throughout the fall.

Universal Sports Quotage From The World Figure Skating Championships

Another day of quotage from the World Figure Skating Championships on Universal Sports. By the way, none of this is being covered on NBC Sports if you notice. Talk about low viewership here.

Anyway, here’s your notes and quotes from Friday.

Universal Sports PRESENTS COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2010 World Figure Skating Championships

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR MARCH 26, 2010:

Weir likes Japan’s Asada pushing ‘technical boundaries’, predicts she’ll win;

 Olympian Belbin says ice dancing changed for the better, here to stay

Saturday Alert: Ladies’ Free Program Live at 10 A.M. ET

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 26, 2010: Universal Sports’ coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships from Turin, Italy, delivers with figure skating insight, spirited humor and behind-the-scenes intelligence. Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinski and legendary U.S. ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto joined live studio host Peter Carruthers in “The Loft” to break down Friday’s Ladies’ short program, in which American Mirai Nagasu sits on top of the standings, while Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-Na of South Korea faces a comeback from a surprising seventh-place result.

Weir, Belbin and Agosto joined a team consisting of play-by-play announcer Andrea Joyce, plus analysts Carruthers, Paul Wylie and Tara Lipinski. Former NBC Olympic researcher Lee Ann Gschwind was on hand with interviews and in-rink updates.

NEWS UPDATES

LADIES: Mirai Nagasu is currently in first place after the short program, with 2010 Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na 10 points behind the lead and in seventh place, and more than 18 points off her world record score, set at the Vancouver Olympics. Japanese skater Mao Asada is just behind Nagasu, with Finnish skater Laura Lepisto in third. American Rachael Flatt is in sixth place heading into Saturday’s free program. No American woman has been on the podium in the last three Worlds.

ICE DANCING: Canadian couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir followed up their gold medal performance with a World Championship title. American duo Merle Davis and Charlie White won the Free Dance program over Virtue and Moir, but finished second overall to win their first medal at a World Championships.  The bronze medal was awarded to French dancers Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat.

TODAY (MARCH 26) ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: LADIES’ SHORT PROGRAM (11 A.M. – 1 P.M. ET)

QUOTES FROM OUR COVERAGE:

On today’s competitions:

Weir:  “At the Ladies’ Senior World Championships, a double-loop is not acceptable.”

Lipinski: “My biggest problem with the footwork sequence is that everyone is trying to get so many steps in and so many changes of directions, they look really slow, and the skaters almost come to a stop. If you watch Mao (Asada), Miki (Ando) or Yu-Na (Kim), they really flow across the ice. They’ve really mastered it.”

Lipinski: “Every season is different for a figure skater. Either you’re the newcomer or the pro, and you have to handle both with poise.”

On Japanese skater Mao Asada, currently in second place:

Lipinski: “She has beautiful lines and great positions and great technique.  But she’s missing a bit of her personality and a connection to her music and the audience. Where as with Kim Yu-Na, you feel every movement that she makes when she’s on the ice. Yu-Na is unbeatable at this point and Mao is just trying to catch up.”

Mao Asada, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind: “Yes, my triple Axel was downgraded. I was sad, but tomorrow I will be stronger.”

QUOTES FROM THE STUDIO SHOW (HOSTED BY PETER CARRUTHERS)

*With special guests Johnny Weir, three-time U.S. Men’s Figure Skating Champion and 2008 World Bronze Medalist; and Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist; Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the most decorated U.S. ice dancing team of all time.

Weir: (on Russian skater Ksenia Makarova): “She’s like a queen on ice. There’s a very regal quality to her, a purpose to every movement. Today, I don’t understand how she’s behind (Italian skater) Carolina (Kostner) and (Finnish skater) Laura (Lepisto). For me, reputation shouldn’t be as important as it is in figure skating. Her skating was superior to both of their skating.”

Weir (on the judges’ downgrade of Mao’s triple Axel jump): “There’s something with her ankles, I think they are double-jointed. Even if her body isn’t all the way around, she can smudge it a little bit. Her technique — the swing she gets heading into the jump — helps her get so high into the air and it’s a great take-off. I think she gets downgraded when it’s actually a clean jump.”

On Mirai Nagasu:

Weir: “I want her to have that ‘look at me’ expression that she had at the Olympics. There’s a lot of buzz going on around her. It’s important that she skates clean to keep herself legitimate. Not winning Nationals lit a fire, but a lot of people in that building thought she should have won.”

Lipinski: “She’s a tough competitor. The focus she has right before she skates is amazing. She can be laughing and smiling, and then once the music starts, she’s ready to compete. It’s nice to watch her on the ice, she’s enjoying herself and she’s attacking on the ice.”

Weir: “She had the sparkle in her eyes today. Her technique has improved. Her skills rival Kim Yu-Na and Mao Asada, and she’s a skater that has grown-up in this new system. She knows how to work every point.”

Mirai Nagasu, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind : “It was important to try the triple-triple, at the Olympics I wasn’t able to do it and I think that took me out of medal contention. After the Olympics, I’ve been really tired and not in the mood to train, so I’m glad I stuck to it and did the best I could here.”

On Kim Yu-Na’s disappointing performance in the short program:

Joyce: “It’s been an intense year of expectations and pressure since last year’s World Championship and her performance stunned the crowd in Torino. The podium is up for grabs right now.”

Weir: “It was simple things. This was a shock, but when you train so much for the Olympics, and the Olympics are your main focus, to come to the World Championships and give that same kind of performance, it’s a difficult thing to do. But don’t count her out of the free program.”

Kim Yu-Na, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind: “I felt my left foot shaking, maybe that’s why (I made mistakes).  After the Olympics I wasn’t able to train, I felt really tired and I wasn’t ready.”

On Rachael Flatt:

Lipinski: “She’s a technician. She’s a tough competitor and she’s consistent. Those jumps come so easy to her. The triple combinations are like doubles for her, but she needs to show her personality, have a little bit more fun.”

Weir: “I wish she expressed herself on the ice. Shoulders back, chest up. They keep talking about how smart she is, but I want them to talk about the artistry and the stylist she is.”

Weir: “Figure skating is a political sport. Mirai was already in first place representing the same country, and the skater that skates afterward will be judged harsher.  Rachael came across – I’m not trying to be funny – but ‘flat’.”

TODAY (MARCH 26) ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: FREE DANCE (4 P.M. – 6 P.M. ET)

QUOTES FROM OUR COVERAGE:

Belbin (on Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates): “The look of being a junior team to a senior team always comes down to maturity and the connection between yourself and your partner and your comfort level on the ice. In the beginning, they looked very cautious, thinking a bit too much and a slight baubles on the transitional steps, the program developed as they went on. They just need more chances (on the senior world level) to get experience and improve.”

Emily Samuelson (with partner Evan Bates), to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind (on what they will take away from the Worlds): “The Olympic experience was amazing, it’s good to have that under our belt as we prepare for 2014. We’ll take everything we learned this season and apply it to next year.”

QUOTES FROM THE STUDIO SHOW (HOSTED BY PETER CARRUTHERS)

Belbin (on where ice dancing is today): “The style and the strength of the top two teams will change the face of ice dancing. It’s a different sport entirely. Never again will ice dancing be questioned as to whether it has a place in the Olympics. That has been thrown out the window, never to return. This is an incredible sport and people will be watching for years to come.”

SATURDAY’S COVERAGE: LADIES’ FREE PROGRAM (MARCH 27, LIVE AT 10 A.M.)

On the forecast for the Ladies’ free program:

Weir: “I say Mao Asada. I think the two triple Axels and her (level of) experience will help her at the World Championships. I want her to skate without abandon. There’s no other woman pushing the technical boundaries like Mao.”

Weir: Kim Yu-Na beat the ladies by a giant margin (in Vancouver). It is possible for her to make up this deficit by skating clean. Mirai has a lot of pressure; she has to be as perfect as possible.  If she gets nervous, the first thing that happens is you revert back to your comfort zone, and that might include mistakes.”

Lipinski: “Mirai had a great Olympics performance and a great Nationals performance. If she can sustain that energy and … show the world, ‘I’m here to stay, I’m going to be with the top ladies in the world and I’m going to compete for that podium.’ But now there’s a lot of pressure being in first place.”

World Championships Coverage on Universal Sports TV (All times are EDT):

Saturday, March 27 – Ladies’ Free Program (live at 10 a.m., re-airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.)

Visit UniversalSports.com/tvschedule for additional times and re-airs.

I’ll have one more day of quotage and that will be posted tomorrow.

Universal Sports’ Notes and Quotes From The World Figure Skating Championships

Many of us can’t see Universal Sports’ comprehensive coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships from Turin this week, but I still get press releases and I post them out of service to you.

Universal Sports PRESENTS COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2010 World Figure Skating Championships

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR MARCH 25, 2010:
Olympic Games Suitemates Johnny Weir and Tanith Belbin dish on Vancouver Games;

Belbin and Partner Ben Agosto ‘leaving American ice dancing in very capable hands’

Friday Alert: Ladies’ Short Program Live at 11 A.M. ET

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 25, 2010:  Fan-favorite Johnny Weir continues to deliver timely analysis and deadpan humor as Universal Sports’ coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships from Torino, Italy, rolls on. Weir and U.S. ice dancing duo Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto joined live studio host Peter Carruthers upstairs in “The Loft”, where Weir and Belbin dished on being roommates (they shared a two-bedroom suite) in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (see quotes below).

Also Thursday, Agosto and Belbin reflected on their final Olympic performances and the next chapter in their career. Universal Sports’ extensive coverage continues with the ladies’ short program at 11 a.m. ET Friday, and the ladies’ free program at 10 a.m. ET Saturday.

Weir, Belbin and Agosto joined a team consisting of play-by-play announcer Andrea Joyce, plus analysts Carruthers, Paul Wylie, Michael Weiss and Tara Lipinski. Former NBC Olympic researcher Lee Ann Gschwind was on hand with interviews and in-rink updates.

On American ice dancers Merle Davis and Charlie White’s ‘Bollywood-on-Ice’ performance

Weir: “Their Original Dance is my favorite figure skating performance I have seen in four years, from any gender, any ethnicity…anything! Their OD rocks my world!”

On Daisuke Takahashi considering a quad toe or flip jump in the Free skate

Weir: “That’s insanity. My groin hurts just thinking about it.”

On random subjects

Weir: (after Carruthers’ asked Weir if he was ‘chill-axing’ on the couch): “What’s with you and the lingo?” Carruthers: I know, I know. My kids are going to tell me ‘Dad, stop trying to act young.’

Weir (on his pledge at the Vancouver Games to ride a yak in 2010): “I absolutely rode a yak. I was on the George Lopez Show last night, and it has always been my dream to ride a yak, so he rented a yak for the day and I mounted it on national television — well, I got on it, but that sounds worse than ‘mounted.’ I rode this yak, and … the yak charged at the American flag. I was terrified!”

NEWS UPDATES

MEN’S: The U.S. is guaranteed three spots for the men’s competition in the World Championships next year, the result of Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon placing 5th and 6th, respectively. Daisuke Takahashi clinched the World title, with Canadian skater Patrick Chan securing silver and French skater Brian Joubert achieving the bronze. This is the first World Championship captured by a Japanese male figure skater in history.

ICE DANCING: The top two scores recorded in the Original Dance in International Skating Union history were bestowed today. Canadian couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir head into Friday’s Free Dance with 114.40 points, with the American duo of Merle Davis and Charlie White close behind (112.54 points), after both received season-best scores in the OD.

TODAY (MARCH 25) ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: ORIGINAL DANCE (11 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. ET)

QUOTES FROM OUR COVERAGE:

Belbin (on Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir): “The intensity and passion that they put into this program is captivating. When doing the Flamenco, if you don’t have the personality infused into it, then it can fall flat. But Tessa and Scott have taken it and made it their own, and it’s really improved throughout the year. It’s a great program to demonstrate their connection to each other while skating.”

Belbin (on Davis and White’s ‘Bollywood-inspired’ Original Dance): “They did it so well, coming off the Olympics. There’s a huge outpouring from the Indian community, people were so honored and pleased with the way they represented their culture in this folk dance. After a season of controversy with some programs about whether or not they were respectful in their delivery, I think Merle and Charlie exemplified how to (represent) so well…”

Merle Davis, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind (on their season and personal-best OD score): “We’re hoping to end things with another personal best. We’ve really been improving and we’re hoping to do the best again tomorrow. We’re aiming high.”

Belbin (On the young American Ice Dancing Team of Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates): “Performances like their Original Dance proves that we’re leaving American ice dancing into very capable hands. There’s room to grow, they are younger, they have a lot of rough edges to smooth out, but that will come with time. They are hard workers and on the right track.”

QUOTES FROM THE STUDIO SHOW (HOSTED BY PETER CARRUTHERS)

*With special guests Johnny Weir, three-time U.S. Men’s Figure Skating Champion and 2008 World Bronze Medalist; and Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the most decorated U.S. ice dancing team of all time.

On their Olympic performance and retirement from the sport:

Agosto: “It’s difficult to put in perspective.  We were so happy with our skate. When you dream about your Olympic performance, and it comes true, it’s such a high. We’re still trying to come down and decompress.  It’s nerve-wracking watching all our friends compete in the World Championships though!”

Belbin: “It’s nice to sit on the sidelines, but we’re looking forward to a new experiences in the future, but we’ll never forget our time in ice dancing…”

TODAY (MARCH 25) ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: MEN’S FREE PROGRAM (4 P.M. – 6 P.M. ET)

QUOTES FROM OUR COVERAGE:

Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist (on American Jeremy Abbott): “He missed the hardest jump and the easiest jump in this program and it was a bit of a struggle. He concentrated on the second half of the program, but overall he’s probably disappointed.”

Andrea Joyce, NBC Figure Skating Reporter: “There’s relief on his face that this season is over.”

Brian Joubert, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind: “I just want to be more confident. My goal is not to win a medal, but to do my best, like I did today. I feel more ready than I did before Vancouver. I learned a lot, not only about figure skating, but about my life.”

Wylie (on Daisuke Takahasi’s gold medal performance): “He went for it from the beginning with the point of view, the perspective and the quad flip. It’s huge for him to put all of this content, to put everything into the program, to not simplify it, and skate with all the energy through the footwork sequences and spins. This is a performance he can be proud of for the rest of his life.”

QUOTES FROM THE STUDIO SHOW (HOSTED BY PETER CARRUTHERS)

Weir (on Jeremy Abbott): “He was punished a bit (in his Torino short program scores) for not doing well at the Olympics Games. Politics do play a big part in this sport, and, if you aren’t good in the competition just before, you’re going to be judged on a different scale than you normally would. To me, as an athlete, it was a slap in the face.”

On American Adam Rippon and his Senior World Championships debut

Weir: “He was beautiful tonight. He’s my favorite for carrying on the future of men’s figure skating in the U.S. He’s very superior to a lot of the younger skaters coming up as far as artistry is concerned.”

Lipinski: “You’re learning a different jump when you put both your arms in the air. He’s the only one that can do it and it’s incredibly difficult.”

On Daisuke Takahashi

Lipinski: “To go out there and to put in the quad flip, knowing that there’s some skaters that skated clean right behind him, it was gutsy. But that’s what great athletes are all about.”

Weir (on what sets Takahashi apart from the rest of the field): “No comparison: he can land anything.”

FRIDAY’S COVERAGE: LADIES’ SHORT PROGRAM (MARCH 26, LIVE AT 11 A.M.)

Lipinski (on Mirai Nagasu): “I’m so excited to see what she does here. Watching her at Nationals and at the Olympics, she just improved before your eyes.”

Wylie (on Rachael Flatt): “She wants to deliver here and not get the downgrades that we so costly in Vancouver.”

Weir (on Kim Yu-Na): “The ladies’ are scored on a slightly lower scale than the men, but her score was only six points less than my score in Vancouver, so that just tells you how strong she is.”

FRIDAY’S COVERAGE: ICE DANCING FREE PROGRAM (March 26, Live at 4 p.m.)

Belbin: “Merle and Charlie have proved that they can beat Tessa and Scott before – they did it at the Grand Prix final this year – I’m really looking forward to the free program. They have very contrasting programs: Tessa and Scott have a very romantic, soft program and Merle and Charlie have a free dance package that puts together their strength, power and raw energy.”

World Championships Coverage on Universal Sports TV (All times are EDT):

Friday, March 26 – Ladies’ Short Program  (live at 11 a.m. and re-air at 8 p.m.) / Free Dance Program  (live at 4 p.m. and re-air at 11 p.m.)

Saturday, March 27 – Ladies’ Free Program (live at 10 a.m., re-airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.)

Visit UniversalSports.com/tvschedule for additional times and re-airs.

One more press release post coming up.

Universal Sports To Air Coverage of 2010 World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships get underway Wednesday in Turin, the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. As NBC has the rights to the event, it can also show spillover coverage on Universal Sports and that’s exactly what it will do starting on Wednesday.

Universal Sports PRESENTS THE World Figure Skating Championships

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES FOR MARCH 23, 2010

Men’s Short Program Live at 11 A.M. ET on Wednesday

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 23, 2010: Universal Sports’ live coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships from Torino, Italy, began today, March 23, with coverage of the Pairs Short Program, and will continue for the next four days. Olympian Johnny Weir will offer his perspectives from the Universal Sports live studio, joining a team consisting of play-by-play announcer Andrea Joyce, plus analysts Peter Carruthers, Michael Weiss, Tara Lipinski and the ice dancing duo of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Former NBC Olympic researcher Lee Ann Gschwind will handle interviews and in-rink updates.

Below are highlights from today’s coverage.

TODAY ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: PAIRS SHORT PROGRAM (4 – 5:30 P.M. ET):

NEWS UPDATE:

2010 Vancouver Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada scored 44.13 points during the compulsory dance and lead on the first day of Figure Skating Worlds. Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States are in second place with 43.25 points, while Italian pair Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy are in third with 40.85 points. This could be the last compulsory segment in international ice dance competitions, as the International Skating Union will vote in June whether to eliminate the event, leaving just the original dance and free dance.

QUOTES FROM OUR COVERAGE:

On competing less than a month after the Olympic Winter Games:

Andrea Joyce, NBC Figure Skating Reporter: “I would imagine it would be a problem with a lot of the skaters at the World Championships, coming off the high of the Olympics and then, less than a month later, competing at the Worlds.”

Peter Carruthers, 1984 Olympic Pairs Figure Skating Silver Medalist: “You can look at it two ways: For those that nailed it at the Olympics and had their ‘moment,’ that’s great, but then they have to come here and get themselves back to that level. But, it can be redemption for those that had mistakes in their program at the Olympic Games.“

Joyce: “This is a tough field – the only team missing are the gold medalists from Vancouver are Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.  You have both Russian teams skating much better than they did at the Olympic Games, as well as the American teams. The first World Championships after the Olympics are always so interesting, to see what people come with – either bringing it all, or if they are exhausted.”

 

Carruthers (on Chinese pair Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang): “Very solid, very athletic. Nothing has really come together for them at the most important times. When they skate their best, they are phenomenal to watch, because of the explosive power they have and the way they can sync up to the music.   They are looking for redemption for their Olympic performance (where they ended up fifth).”

Joyce (on the lack of a Russian Figure Skating Pair on the podium in Vancouver): “After the demise of the Soviet Union, all that state-funded sponsorship and development went away. Not just for figure skating, but all winter sports.”

Carruthers (on Chinese pair Qing Pang and Jian Tong, currently in first place): “The longer you are together as a pairs team, every single detail is recognized, and you can work and dissect every part.  When you haven’t had that mileage or the time, [the details] are not going to be in place. These two know each other really well, and they know their dynamic movement across the ice and it’s what makes them so solid.”

On the Compulsory Dance earlier today:

Carruthers:  “One of the challenging aspects of the compulsory dance is to maintain a consistent flow across the ice and not slow down, while performing complicated changes of position and addressing the waltz itself, with good posture and carriage.”

Carruthers (on Canadian Ice Dance Pair Virtue and Moir): “They’ve kept the momentum from Vancouver, through to this golden waltz. Impressive speed, with very deep patterns – going in and out from the boards.  It’s hard to cover so much ice like they do. To be able to convey the true feeling of the waltz – brilliant!”

Tessa Virtue, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind (on taking the ice for the first time after winning the Ice Dancing Gold Medal at the Vancouver Olympics):  “We certainly had some confidence with the Olympic title under our belts, but we quickly forgot about that as soon as we returned to Michigan and got into our normal training routine.  It’s a new dance for us, and it felt good.”

Scott Moir (on why it was important to skate at the World Championships):  “It’s a huge event. It caps off the year. We’ve never been World Champions, and that’s a goal of ours’. It was always in the plan since Day 1, there was no question after the Olympics that we were be here.”

Joyce (on American Ice Dancers Merle Davis and Charlie White): “[The compulsory dance] is the part of the competition that Davis and White have really focused on, and made improvements. At the 2009 World Championships, it was the deficit in the compulsory dance that really cost them a spot on the podium. They came so close to the bronze medal, but it was the compulsory score that kept them off.”

Charlie White, to Universal Sports’ Lee Ann Gschwind (on whether a World Champion title was a motivator in Torino):  “Absolutely. We were just off the podium last year, we have an Olympic medal but not a World medal and it’s something we want to add to our repertoire.”

TOMORROW’S COVERAGE: MEN’S SHORT PROGRAM (11 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. ET), PAIRS FREE PROGRAM (3:30 – 5 P.M. ET):

World Championships Coverage on Universal Sports TV (All times are EDT):

Tuesday, March 23 – Pairs Short Program (re-air at 9 p.m.)

Wednesday, March 24 – Men’s Short Program (live at 11 a.m. and re-air at 8 p.m.) / Pairs Free Program (live at 3:30 p.m. and re-air at 11 p.m.)

Thursday, March 25 – Original Dance (live at 10 a.m. and re-air at 8 p.m.) / Men’s Free Program  (live at 4 p.m. and re-air at 11 p.m.)

Friday, March 26 – Ladies’ Short Program  (live at 11 a.m. and re-air at 8 p.m.) / Free Dance Program  (live at 4 p.m. and re-air at 11 p.m.)

Saturday, March 27 – Ladies’ Free Program (live at 10 a.m., re-airs at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.)

Visit UniversalSports.com/tvschedule for additional times and re-airs.

I’ll post other press releases as we go along tonight.

A Saturday Link Thing

Let’s give you links on this very cold morning on the East Coast. I’m cold as the boiler in my house is malfunctioning again, but hopefully, it’ll get warm later.

Brad Adgate of Advertising Age says the ratings for the NFL defy the problems currently surrounding network TV.

Also from Ad Age, Brian Steinberg writes that NBC Universal is expanding its viewer research for the Winter Olympics.

One more from Advertising Age, Jeremy Mullman says it appears that the Clydesdales will make an appearance in the Super Bowl after all.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that a Super Bowl advertiser found some spots at a bargain price. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says a new Nike ad is bringing the NBA handgun issue to the forefront again.

Alan Pergament from the Buffalo News says Bills running back Marshawn Lynch will take part in ESPN’s Sport Science special next week.

From the Wilmington (DE) News Journal, we learn of the passing of former Philadelphia Eagles defensive back and CBS NFL analyst Tom Brookshier. Before Pat Summerall and John Madden became the “A” broadcasting team for CBS, Brookie and Summerall were the most popular broadcasting duo in the late 1970′s. Brookie was the comedian and Pat was the straightman. Both were very good friends and Brookie was there for Summerall when Pat was sent to rehab for alcohol abuse. Brookie was also a morning host on Philadelphia sports radio station, WIP.

In Press Box, Larry Harris discusses the passing of a Pro Football Hall of Fame sportswriter who covered the Baltimore Colts in their heyday.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner looks forward to seeing the Australian Open men’s final on ESPN2 early Sunday morning.

Writing in the Daily Caller, Jim says the Super Bowl hype machine is about to begin.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times talks with Jon Gruden about his first season on Monday Night Football. 

Tim Lemke says ESPN360 is hoping for big growth this year. 

In his Saturday column in the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn talks with Michael Irvin about his local sports radio show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks back at the week in blogging. And thanks to Tom for the two links to Fang’s Bites!

William Houston of Truth & Rumours wishes Hockey Day in Canada would tackle some serious hockey issues instead of being all syrupy.

The Sports Media Watch has some ratings news for us.

First, the NHL on NBC saw a ratings uptick last Sunday.

Figure skating drew solid ratings for NBC last weekend.

College basketball did well for CBS.

People tuned out the ESPN gimmick of Dick Vitale calling an NBA game.

And we have some ratings news and notes from the SMW.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media looks at CBS’ rejection of a gay-themed Super Bowl ad.

Joe Favorito looks at how the New Jersey Nets try to get fans in the arena while undergoing a huge losing season.

We’ll end it for now. Back later.

Weekend Programming and More

I hate how I haven’t been able to do the Friday megalinks for most of this month. Work has gotten in the way and while it’s good to get paid, I feel I’ve been behind for most of January. And knowing what’s coming next week, it appears I won’t be able to do them next week either. I hope to get to them the week after next. We’ll see.

In the meantime, we have some releases to post and they have to do with weekend programming. First, CBS has what’s on tap for college basketball.

DUKE-GEORGETOWN HIGHLIGHT CBS SPORTS’ COLLEGE BASKETBALL LINE-UP ON SATURDAY, JAN. 30 AND SUNDAY, JAN. 31

CBS Sports’ college basketball schedule continues on Saturday, Jan. 30 (1:00-3:00 PM, ET) with national coverage of *No. 8-ranked Duke taking on No. 7-ranked Georgetown. On Sunday, Jan. 31 coverage features regional action as Minnesota plays *No. 20-ranked Ohio State and Florida battles *No. 14-ranked Tennessee.

Verne Lundquist joins CBS Sports’ lead college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg to call the action from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. for the Duke-Georgetown game. Bob Dekas, CBS Sports’ coordinating producer for college basketball, produces and Suzanne Smith directs.

Sunday, Kevin Harlan is joined courtside by both Bill Raftery and Kellogg at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio for the Minnesota-Ohio State contest. Vic Frank produces and Mark Grant directs. For the Florida-Tennessee match-up Gus Johnson and Greg Anthony handle the call from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.

AT THE HALF, CBS Sports’ halftime studio show, hosted by Ian Eagle along with Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis, provides all the day’s news, scores and highlights live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Vin DeVito produces and Jim Cornell directs. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

*AP Poll as of 1/25/10

CBS News gets a jump on the Olympics with a profile of gold medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White.

GOLD MEDALIST SNOWBOARDER SHAUN WHITE, PREPARING FOR THE VANCOUVER OLYMPICS, TELLS “60 MINUTES” IT’S SOMETIMES LONELY AT THE TOP

 

Snowboarding champion Shaun White acknowledges how lonely it can be when you’re the best in a 60 MINUTES profile before he competes for more gold in the Winter Olympics next month.   The 23-year-old Olympian spent time with Bob Simon – including a moment hanging over the correspondent’s head – for the profile to be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 31 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT).

Simon’s report traces the life of the flame-haired snowboarder, from his infancy when he needed heart surgery, to his boyhood skateboarding collision that nearly ended his career to the lofty heights he currently occupies as snowboarding’s grand trickster and richest endorser.  He’s gotten so good, so successful, he realizes it’s hard to really be a part of the snowboarding fraternity anymore.   His competitors have said he’s off on his own doing his own thing apart from them.

  “I definitely found it a bit lonely sometimes,” he tells Simon.  “I don’t think you can have really good friends that you go and compete…with…beat them at the hill…I totally understand [his competitors’ attitude about him],” he says.  “If you and I were competing on the hill I don’t think I’d want to hang out with you afterward while you’re shining your medal…that would be a bummer,” says White.  

The segment contains lots of footage of White at work, including him practicing his tricks at his own private half pipe in Colorado’s backcountry.  Viewers will learn how White got started on a snowboard, what his predictions are for his upcoming Olympic performance and get a look at his ride when he takes Simon out on the road for a short but fast spin in his Lamborghini.

White likes the view from the top; he’s gotten comfortable there – like when he was able to fly over Simon’s head on cue. “There’s just this amazing moment when you’re not going up anymore, but you’re not coming down…you’re just flying. Yeah, it’s just the best feeling,” he tells Simon.

NBC will air the Detroit-Pittsburgh matchup as part of its NHL Game of the Week on Sunday.

STANLEY CUP FINAL REMATCH THIS SUNDAY ON NBC SPORTS WHEN DEFENDING CHAMPION PENGUINS HOST RED WINGS

“It would not surprise me to see both of these teams back in the Stanley Cup Finals.” – NBC’s Olyczyk

Tampa Tribune (1/18): NBC Sports’ hockey coverage “picked up where it left off last season – among the best sports coverage on television.”

NEW YORK - Jan. 25, 2010 -Pittsburgh and Detroit will meet for the first time since the Penguins defeated the Red Wings, 2-1, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on the NHL “Game of the Week” this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports. 

Mike “Doc” Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (inside-the-glass reporter) call the action. McGuire will pull double duty, hosting NBC’s studio show alongside analyst Mike Milbury on site at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. 

Pittsburgh and Detroit have met for the last two Stanley Cup Finals with the Red Wings winning in 2008 and the Penguins capturing the Cup in 2009. The Penguins are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, while the Red Wings (58), who have suffered through a number of injuries, are tied for eighth in the Western Conference.

OLCZYK ON DETROIT AFTER THEY REGAIN THEIR INJURED PLAYERS: “They will be a dangerous team, tough medicine for any team that might take them on in the Western Conference. It would not surprise me to see both of these teams back in the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive year.”

EMRICK: “Because they have reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous two seasons, these have been two of the busiest teams in the history of the sport, playing so many games. But it doesn’t show in their performances. Both teams leave it all out there.”

TAMPA TRIBUNE (1/18) ON NBC SPORTS’ HOCKEY COVERAGE: “[It] picked up where it left off last season - among the best sports coverage on television.”

CLOSE GAMES: All of NBC Sports’ NHL games this season have been decided by one goal and two needed extra time to determine a winner. Yesterday, the Penguins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, on a power-play goal by Matt Cooke with 1:47 remaining. In NBC’s inaugural “Game of the Week” on Jan. 17, the Chicago Blackhawks needed a shootout to beat the Red Wings, 4-3, in Detroit. The Boston Bruins needed overtime to defeat the Flyers, 2-1, at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic. 

OLYMPIANS IN THE GAME: Sunday’s game features 12 players who will compete for their respective Olympic teams in Vancouver in February.

USA
Pittsburgh, D Brooks Orpik
Detroit, D Brian Rafalski

CANADA
Pittsburgh, F Sidney Crosby
Pittsburgh, G Marc-Andre Fleury

FINLAND
Detroit, F Valtteri Filppula

RUSSIA
Pittsburgh, D Sergei Gonchar
Pittsburgh, F Evgeni Malkin
Detroit, F Pavel Datsyuk

SWEDEN
Detroit, F Henrik Zetterberg
Detroit, F Tomas Holmstrom
Detroit, D Nicklas Lidstrom
Detroit, D Nicklas Kronwall

Here’s what else NBC Sports is airing this weekend.

U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM MEMBERS LYSACEK, WEIR, NAGASU, BELBIN & AGOSTO THIS SUNDAY IN SKATE FOR THE HEART ON NBC

Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White Featured In World of Adventures Sports

NEW YORK- Jan. 28, 2010 - NBC Sports presents taped coverage of the Silk Soy Milk Skate for the Heart  this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. 
  
This event is packed with skating powerhouses and current U.S. Olympic Team members including 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, reigning World Champion Evan Lysacek, three-time National Champion Johnny Weir and current U.S. silver medalist and 2008 National Champion Mirai Nagasu.

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks headlines an evening of contemporary music with Olympic and world-class skaters in a show that provides awareness for the prevention of heart disease. Also providing music is 16-year-old singing sensation Charice Pempengco and pop groups Honor Society and KSM.

WORLD OF ADVENTURE SPORTS, SATURDAY, 2 PM ETThe new season of the World of Adventure Sports will kick off this Saturday on NBC Sports with Red Bull Project X, one of the most progressive snowboard sessions in history. In preparation for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White teamed up with Red Bull to create a private halfpipe nestled in the backcountry of Silverton Mountain, Colo. It was there that Shaun would create a series of new tricks that would change the sport forever.     

Pat Parnell hosts.

PBR, SATURDAY, 4:30 PM ETNBC Sports presents taped coverage of the Professional Bull Riders’ Tecate Light Invitational on Saturday from Anaheim, Calif. The event will feature experienced riders including  reigning World Champion Kody Lostroh (Longmont,Colo.), Guilherme Marchi (Leme, SP, Brazil), LJ Jenkins (Texico, N.M.), and Josh Koschel (Greely, Colo.). 

NBC’s Craig Hummer, Justin McKee, Ty Murray, Donna Brothers and Justin McBride call the action.

INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, SUNDAY, 3 PM ETNBC Sports will present a one-hour broadcast of the International Auto Show this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The show will give you a look at some of the most intriguing new vehicles that were on display at the NAIAS 2010 in Detroit. Coverage features the finest production and concept vehicles with a focus on smaller fuel efficient vehicles and automotive design, as well as technical advancements for vehicles of the future. 

NBC Sports Commentators Bill Weber, Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, and Phil LeBeau will give you a close up look at some of the world’s most incredible vehicles.

And that’s going to do it for the weekend programming releases. I have stuff for next week coming up.