Fang's Bites

Press Releases That Should Be Read

I have a few releases for you to read today.

First, the MLB Network has released its Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules. Overall, it will show 61 games, 45 of them live. This, I like. I do believe it will pick up the local broadcast of the games.

MLB NETWORK TO BROADCAST 61 SPRING TRAINING GAMES

Broadcast Schedule Features 45 Live Games, and Includes All 30 MLB Clubs

Highlights Include First Exhibition Game at New Yankee Stadium and Second at CitiField

Secaucus, N.J. – MLB Network today announced its Spring Training broadcast schedule, which will feature 61 games — 45 of which will be live — featuring all 30 Major League clubs and including three World Baseball Classic exhibition games. MLB Network’s Spring Training schedule begins on Wednesday, February 25 at 3:00 p.m. ET with San Francisco at Cleveland live from Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Ariz. All games will be simulcasts of local broadcasts, including local announcers. MLB Tonight will air for one hour every night, containing news, analysis and highlights.

Highlights of the broadcast schedule include:

· Feb 28, 1:00 p.m. ET: Tampa Bay Rays @ Philadelphia Phillies (2008 World Series rematch)

· March 1, 5:00 p.m. ET: Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers (first game at Camelback Ranch – Glendale, the new Spring Training home for both teams)

· March 3, 1:00 p.m. ET: Team USA @ New York Yankees (World Baseball Classic exhibition game, also Derek Jeter’s first career game played against the Yankees)

· April 3, 7:00 p.m. ET: Chicago Cubs @ New York Yankees (first ever game at new Yankee Stadium)

· April 4, 1:00 p.m. ET: Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets (second game ever at CitiField)

“We’re all excited for the start of baseball season, and we wanted to give fans as many Spring Training games as possible, featuring every single club,” said Tony Petitti, President and Chief Executive Officer of MLB Network. “We’re also happy to be able to give a national audience its first look at the new Mets and Yankees parks, as well as an early look at some of the World Baseball Classic teams through those exhibition games.”

The full MLB Network Spring Training broadcast schedule appears below.

MLB NETWORK SPRING TRAINING BROADCAST SCHEDULE

*Indicates live broadcast

All times ET and subject to change, check mlbnetwork.com for updates

Games will be blacked out in local markets only where necessary

February 25 3:00 p.m.* San Francisco Giants @ Cleveland Indians

7:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

February 26 4:00 p.m. Arizona Diamondbacks @ Cleveland Indians

February 27 1:00 p.m.* St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

5:00 p.m. San Diego Padres @ Cleveland Indians

February 28 1:00 p.m.* Tampa Bay Rays @ Philadelphia Phillies

5:00 p.m. Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees

March 1 1:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

5:00 p.m. Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers

9:00 p.m. Houston Astros @ New York Mets

March 3 1:00 p.m.* USA @ New York Yankees (WBC Exhibition)

5:00 p.m. Canada @ Toronto Blue Jays (WBC Exhibition)

March 4 9:00 p.m.* Australia @ Seattle Mariners (WBC Exhibition)

March 5 4:00 p.m.* Chicago White Sox @ Chicago Cubs

March 6 1:00 p.m.* Washington Nationals @ Baltimore Orioles

March 7 3:00 p.m.* Oakland Athletics @ San Diego Padres

March 9 1:00 p.m.* Baltimore Orioles @ New York Mets

March 14 4:00 p.m.* Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox

March 15 1:00 p.m.* St. Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies

8:30 p.m. Kansas City Royals @ San Francisco Giants

March 16 1:00 p.m.* St. Louis Cardinals @ Detroit Tigers

7:00 p.m.* Tampa Bay Rays @ Pittsburgh Pirates

March 17 1:00 p.m.* Minnesota Twins @ Boston Red Sox

March 18 1:00 p.m.* Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets

March 19 1:00 p.m.* St. Louis Cardinals @ Tampa Bay Rays

7:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ Cincinnati Reds

March 20 1:00 p.m.* Cincinnati Reds @ Houston Astros

5:00 p.m. San Diego Padres @ Chicago Cubs

9:00 p.m.* Los Angeles Dodgers @ Kansas City Royals

March 21 1:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ Florida Marlins

5:00 p.m. Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox

March 22 1:00 p.m.* New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays

5:00 p.m. Cleveland Indians @ Colorado Rockies

March 23 1:00 p.m.* Florida Marlins @ Houston Astros

5:00 p.m. Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies

March 24 1:00 p.m.* New York Mets @ Houston Astros

7:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees

March 25 1:00 p.m.* Detroit Tigers @ New York Mets

7:00 p.m.* Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals

March 26 4:00 p.m.* Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Cleveland Indians

10:30 p.m.* Chicago Cubs @ San Francisco Giants

March 27 1:00 p.m.* Detroit Tigers @ Atlanta Braves

9:00 p.m.* Milwaukee Brewers @ Texas Rangers

March 28 1:00 p.m.* Philadelphia Phillies @ Pittsburgh Pirates

5:00 p.m. Chicago Cubs @ Colorado Rockies

9:00 p.m. New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves

March 29 1:00 p.m.* Atlanta Braves @ Detroit Tigers

5:00 p.m. Kansas City Royals @ Seattle Mariners

March 30 1:00 p.m.* Tampa Bay Rays @ Minnesota Twins

7:00 p.m.* San Diego Padres @ Cleveland Indians

March 31 4:00 p.m.* Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Chicago Cubs

10:00 p.m.* Milwaukee Brewers @ San Diego Padres

April 1 1:00 p.m.* Florida Marlins @ Baltimore Orioles

5:00 p.m. Texas Rangers @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

9:00 p.m. Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers

April 2 3:00 p.m.* Chicago White Sox @ Milwaukee Brewers

10:00 p.m.* Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Los Angeles Dodgers

April 3 7:00 p.m.* Chicago Cubs @ New York Yankees

April 4 1:00 p.m.* Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets

6:00 p.m.* Baltimore Orioles @ Washington Nationals

10:00 p.m.* Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers

Next, PGA Tour.com is going to provide extensive coverage of Tiger Woods’ return tomorrow at the Match Play Championship.

PGATOUR.COM Tees Off Exclusive Coverage of Tiger Woods’ Return to the PGA TOUR Beginning on Wednesday, February 25 During Match Play Championship

Comprehensive online hole-by-hole video, audio, scoring and editorial coverage available exclusively on PGATOUR.COM

PGATOUR.COM, the online home of the PGA TOUR, will offer comprehensive live coverage of Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA TOUR this week during his first tournament in eight months at the World Golf Championships – Match Play Championship beginning on Wednesday, February 25. For the first time, the event is scheduled to feature all 64 of the world’s top-ranked players. For the benefit of fans, PGATOUR.COM will unveil a ‘Tiger Returns’ microsite to provide real-time updates and exclusive online video content highlighting Woods’ first event since the 2008 U.S. Open. The site will be the only online destination with hole-by-hole video coverage, a live scorecard, a live swing-by-swing blog from a PGATOUR.COM writer, live tournament bracket scoring, live audio streaming coverage and all of Woods’ news conferences throughout the tournament.

“Tiger Woods is one of the world’s premier athletes and his return to the PGA TOUR is newsworthy and captivating to all sports fans,” said Matthew Hong, vice president and general manager of sports digital for Turner Sports. “Fans rely on PGATOUR.COM for the most comprehensive tournament coverage and we continue in our mission to offer the best live experience, delivered in the most innovative package, for all the sport’s biggest news and events.”

Exclusive features of PGATOUR.COM’s coverage include:

Hole-by-hole video wrap-ups allows fans to watch highlights of every hole online during Woods’ opening match(es) with video posted shortly after completion of each hole.

• Live scorecard highlights Woods’ performance during the exciting match-play event and tracks all the matches.
• Live, inside the ropes blog provides up-to-the-minute coverage from PGATOUR.COM’s T.J. Auclair who will write first hand accounts of the event’s golf action as well as the atmosphere of the tournament, giving fans an inside-the-ropes experience from their computers.
• Live tournament bracket scoring tracks the winners of each round and indicates their next opponent.
• Highlights and interviews recap each day of the tournament and offer the perspective from Woods himself on his day’s performance.

And Sirius XM’s PGA Tour Radio is also going to cover Tiger’s return.

SIRIUS XM RADIO COVERS TIGER WOODS’ RETURN TO ACTION ON THE PGA TOUR NETWORK

PGA TOUR Network offers live hole-by-hole coverage of this week’s World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship in Arizona

Daily talk shows will feature analysis and discussion on Tiger’s first tournament since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last June

NEW YORK – February 23, 2009 – SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) will offer comprehensive coverage of Tiger Woods’ return to PGA TOUR action at this week’s World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship on The PGA TOUR Network, the only radio channel dedicated to covering the PGA TOUR 365 days a year. The PGA TOUR Network is available nationwide on XM channel 146 and on SIRIUS channel 209 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

Woods, who announced last week that he would return for the match play event, has not competed in a tournament since winning the U.S. Open last June. Eight days after defeating Rocco Mediate in a dramatic playoff to capture his 14^th major championship and 65^th PGA TOUR title, Woods underwent reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. His first competitive stroke after more than eight months off the TOUR will come this Wednesday when he faces Brendan Jones of Australia in the first round at the Ritz Carlton Golf Course, Dove Mountain, in Marana, Arizona.

Woods, who won this event for the third time last year, is one of a field of the top 64 ranked players in the world that includes Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and many other distinguished golfers from around the globe. Unlike the more common stroke play events on the calendar, the WGC-Match Play Championship features dramatic head-to-head match play in a five day bracket-style tournament that culminates in a two-player final on Sunday, March 1.

The PGA TOUR Network on SIRIUS XM will feature live coverage of the Match Play Championship, hosted by Brian Katrek alongside lead analyst, former PGA TOUR member John Maginnes, with hole-by-hole updates from on-course reporters Dennis Paulson, a 10-year TOUR veteran, veteran broadcaster Fred Albers and former professional caddy Michael Collins. Live coverage starts Wednesday through Friday at 12:00 pm ET and Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 am ET and runs through the conclusion of each day’s play. Each day’s live on-course coverage is immediately followed by a wrap-up of the day’s action on PGA TOUR Replay.

In addition to the live tournament coverage, The PGA TOUR Network offers a daily lineup of talk shows featuring compelling golf talk and expert analysis. In the wake of Tiger’s announcement, speculation about the state of his game is high and SIRIUS XM’s hosts will cover the discussion from every angle, monitoring Tiger’s performance in practice and on the course, interviewing players and others associated with the game, and offering a forum for fans to express their opinions on the return of the world’s #1 golfer.

Every Tuesday morning (7:30 am ET) is the premiere of a new edition of oPINionated, the weekly talk show hosted by popular PGA TOUR member Chris DiMarco and broadcaster Greg Warmoth. This week’s show, which replays several times throughout the week, will feature DiMarco’s thoughts on Tiger’s return and its impact on the game and his fellow competitors.

Every weekday morning (8:00-10:00 am ET), T.J. Rives hosts Playing Thru, which this week will feature a daily discussion on Tiger and other headlines from the world of golf, plus one-on-one interviews and e-mails from listeners around the country.

Talk of the TOUR, the weekly show hosted by John Swantek, debuts Tuesday (7:00 am ET) and re-airs several times, and will preview the Accenture Match Play Championship field and the first day’s match-ups.

Those are all of the press releases I see in my inbox. If I get more, I’ll post them.

Edited to add: Fox has just sent over a release stating its NASCAR race on Sunday was the most watched sporting event of the weekend.

AUTOCLUB 500 ON FOX IS WEEK’S HIGHEST-RATED, MOST-WATCHED SPORTS EVENT

Race Ranks with Top-Rated Prime Time Shows

New York — FOX Sports’ coverage of the AUTOCLUB 500 on Sunday evening (2/22) was the top-rated, most-watched sports event of the week and was one of the highest-rated prime time programs among several popular demographic categories, including adults 18-49.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the race posted a 6.0/10 national household rating/share, with 10.2 million viewers watching, by far the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the week. Placing a distant second was Sunday’s final round of the Northern Trust Open on CBS (3.7/7, 4.8 million viewers).

Out of 80 prime time programs televised on the four major broadcast networks last week, the AUTOCLUB 500 on FOX placed fifth among men 25-54 (5.8), seventh among men 18-49 (4.4) and 14^th in the important adults18-49 category (3.7). Among men 25-54, the AUTOCLUB 500 beat well-known shows such as Lost and Two-and-a-Half Men; among men 18-49, the race out-distanced Heroes and Survivor: Tocantins; and among adults 18-49 the race out-rated Biggest Loser and Criminal Minds.

Sunday’s AUTOCLUB 500 coverage also fared well opposite expected stiff competition from the Academy Awards. FOX’s 5.9/9 prime time household average on Sunday fared +28% better than FOX’s recent performance versus the Oscars (4.6 average from 2004 to 2007), and +13% better among adults 18-49 (3.6 vs. 3.2). Last year’s NASCAR race opposite the Academy Awards show was delayed by rain and pre-empted the planned prime time lineup, so it was excluded from this comparison. The 2009 Academy Awards on ABC averaged a 20.6/36.

Now I think we’re done.

EDITED TO ADD: We’re not done. MLB Network will have the Mets’ David Wright to talk about the World Baseball Classic tonight.

DAVID WRIGHT INTERVIEWED AS PART OF MLB NETWORK’S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTER SPECIAL TONIGHT AT 6:00 P.M. ET

Mets Third Baseman and World Baseball Classic USA team member David Wright was interviewed as part of MLB Network’s World Baseball Classic Roster Special, which will air at 6:00 p.m. ET tonight. Wright talked with Victor Rojas and Harold Reynolds about gearing up to play in his first World Baseball Classic, which begins March 5. MLB Network will televise 16 World Baseball Classic games along with a nightly studio show titled World Baseball Classic Tonight, dedicated to the world’s premier international baseball tournament.

Highlights of the interview include:

ON HIS FIRST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC:

“I can’t wait. I got down here to Spring Training a little bit early to try to get started a little bit earlier and try to face some live pitching to get ready because when you put that USA across your chest, to me, there is really no bigger honor as a baseball player to go represent your country. Obviously, wearing the uniform is something I am going to be very proud of and looking over to your left seeing Derek Jeter and some of those guys who are teammates just sitting around and talking baseball. I’m going to soak it up, try to learn as much as possible, and hopefully come away with a few wins.”

ON THE WBC INTERFERRING WITH 2009 PRE-SEASON PREPARATIONS:

“I think it will help with the development of getting ready for the regular season because you’re talking about playing in meaningful games, big at bats, trying to get runners over, get runners in. We were talking today with our manager Jerry Manuel and he likes the idea of a lot of us going to play in the classic because it puts us in those real life game situations where every at bat counts, being unselfish, trying to do things for the good of the team, and hopefully that will put us in a position where we are ready come first week of April.”

ON PLAYING WITH RIVAL PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES DURING THE WBC:

“Well hopefully for the few weeks together we’ll have a little truce (smiling). We’ll stop the war of words for at least a couple of weeks and as much as we obviously don’t get along with them all that well we respect them and we congratulate them obviously on their championship and I think we can learn a lot from a team like that.”

ON JOKING WITH FELLOW METS TEAMMATES AND WBC COMPETITION:

“Oh I told Jose [Reyes] ‘I’m coming in hard and you better watch out!’ (laughs and smiles) because if I get a chance to break up a double play I’m coming in hard.”

ON MENTAL PREPARATION FOR THE WBC:

“We’ve got a lot of guys on the team this year that participated in that first World Baseball Classic and obviously they are let down so we’re going to look to those guys to lead the team and prepare us for the expectations going into it because it’s a different kind of format. It’s a different style of play where obviously every game is huge and one game you could be going home so we’re going to look to those guys to kind of lead us and hopefully the young guys can provide some energy.”

ON WANTING SOMETHING MORE THAN A WBC CHAMPIONSHIP:

“Maybe a World Series. How about both of them? I’ll take that one (smiles and laughs). We’ll put both of them up there on kind of the same level.”

Ok, that’s it for the press releases. If I get more, they’ll go in a separate post.

Primetime Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Pittsburgh at Providence – Big East Network/ESPN Plus, 7 p.m.
Penn State at Ohio State – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Syracuse at St. John’s – Big East Network/ESPN Plus, 7:30 p.m.
Women’s/Pittsburgh at West Virginia – CBS College Sports, 8 p.m.
TCU at New Mexico – the mtn., 8:30 p.m.
Baylor at Iowa State – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus, 9 p.m.
Florida at LSU – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Florida State at Boston College – ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Texas A&M at Nebraska – ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.
BYU at San Diego State – the mtn., 10:30 p.m.

Golf
Golf Central Special: Tiger Returns – Golf Channel, 9 p.m.

NBA
Dallas at San Antonio – NBA TV, 8:30 pm.

MLB
World Baseball Classic Tonight Special/Roster Announcements – MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Ken Burns’ Baseball/9th inning, Home – MLB Network, 8 p.m.

NHL
Anaheim at Buffalo – Versus/TSN2, 7 p.m.
Colorado at Atlanta – Altitude/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
Florida at Boston – Fox Sports Florida/WBZ Radio, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Washington – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Ottawa – Fox Sports Carolinas/Rogers Sportsnet East, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Montreal – RDS/Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Nashville – Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles at Minnesota – Fox Sports West/KSTC, 8 p.m.
Phoenix at St. Louis – KAZT/Fox Sports Midwest, 8:30 p.m.
Columbus at Calgary – Fox Sports Ohio, 9 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Edmonton – Sun Sports/Rogers Sportsnet West, 9 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 9 p.m.

News
Presidential Address to Congress – ABC/CBS/CNBC/CNN/C-SPAN/Fox/Fox News/MSNBC/NBC/Univision, 9 p.m.

Entertainment
NCIS – CBS, 8 p.m.
Dirty Jobs – Discovery, 9 p.m.
Nip/Tuck – FX, 10 p.m.
Leverage – TNT, 10 p.m.

Tuesday’s Linkage

Time for me to give you links. Got a late start so let’s get cracking on links.

I do want to thank Peter Lukas of the Uni Watch blog for linking to my Peter Puck post yesterday. It brought me a lot of new traffic to Fang’s Bites and if you’re here due to Uni Watch, welcome aboard.

I forgot to link to Sports Business Journal stories yesterday so I’ll give you some links today.

Jon Show of the SBJ writes that LPGA Tournaments are trying to get details of the new deal wtih the Golf Channel.

Jon says NBC and Golf Digest are expanding their programming relationship.

John Ourand and Michael Smith say the ACC has brought in a consultant to help handle its media rights negotiations.

And Daniel Kaplan says the NFL still had former commissioner Paul Tagliabue on its payroll as of last year.

Newsday’s Neil Best has Tony Kornheiser’s sarcastic statements about taking drugs when he was a young and naive sportswriter. Neil says New York may have loved the Oscars, but the ratings still were not as high as the Super Bowl. Neil also did a live chat today.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman writes that Mets manager Jerry Manuel has been making news during Spring Training.

Laura Nachman writes that a Philadelphia sportscaster will appear on Sirius XM’s Catholic channel to talk about being a bone marrow donor.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says baseball is back on TV.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about Bo Jackson going into banking. Darren looks into attendance clauses that are written into certain contracts. Darren says Mickey Mantle’s infamous F-bomb ball is going on sale. Darren has found five sports teams that don’t market St. Patrick’s Day gear. Darren says the Yankees should find a way to use Phil Coke’s name to help market its deal with Coca Cola. Darren says Tiger Woods will have a different sponsor on his golf bag this week. And Darren tells us that Michael Phelps will speak at a corporate event today, but was asked not to show up at three other events.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Tiger Woods is back to save golf.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun recaps an interview with former Raven Chris McAlister.

Roger van der Horst from the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer talks with the producer of HBO’s documentary on Duke-North Carolina. Roger has the ACC TV schedule this week.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks with Stars voice Ralph Strangis about the sad story of wrestler Verne Gagne. Barry says the MLB Network will air a documentary on Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Barry writes the Cowboys have still not resolved potential conflicts with its new flagship radio station.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says NFL Network will air a program on Deion Sanders’ tutoring of college players.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Tiger Woods is returning just in a nick of time for the PGA Tour.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Sports Museuem of Los Angeles is closing for the winter.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Oakland A’s might not have 145 games on Comcast SportsNet California carried on DirecTV as the two companies are locked in what? If you guessed a money dispute, then you would be right.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN is shedding more details on its Chicago-centric web site.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NHL Network will be offering a free preview next week.

The Sports Media Watch says the PGA Tour’s ratings went up just in time for Tiger’s return. The NHL’s ratings did go up slightly from last year. The SMW says NASCAR’s ratings fell on Sunday. SMW says TNT’s Charles Barkley will serve a ten day prison sentence in March that will force him to miss work. And the SMW notes the NBA on ABC drew decent ratings on Sunday.

The Big Lead says ESPN’s Bill Simmons is still whining about not being allowed to appear on non-ESPN affiliated radio stations.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes the five best games that NBC has passed on during the the last three years.

The great Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog looks at ESPNU’s airing of the West Point Brigade Boxing Finals tonight.

And that’s going to do it.

Fang’s Bites’ Grade for 24, Season 7, Hour 10, 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Opening sequence, Hillinger at the FBI monitors what’s going on for Dubaku and Erika confronts him – D.

Agent Walker angry over being arrested and losing Marika – B.

Dubaku now has Marika – A.

Marika believes Dubaku???? What is that???? – FFFFFFFFFFF

Walker and Jack are freed – A.

Jack and Walker take off to find Dubaku – A.

Dubaku uses Ryan Burnett to get out. – A.

Chloe finds Dubaku’s car – A.

Jack turns into a park to get to Dubaku – A.

Dubaku gets away – C.

But Marika forces the SUV to crash – A.

Jack kills the driver – A++++

Jack gets Dubaku out of the car – A.

Walker and Jack save Marika before the car blows, but she dies – A (I told you last week she wasn’t long for the show).

President Taylor is distant not listening to Ethan Kanin while her husband is in the hospital – C.

Bill tells President Taylor to return to the White House – A.

Jack orders the medics to awaken Dubaku – B.

Dubaku says he has a list of names, but he goes into cardiac arrest – A.

Jack then opens up Dubaku in the street and finds the list in his chest (Jack is so cool) – A.

Jack gives the list of names to a DC police officer riding in a helcopter – A.

Sean tells Erika Jack has the names – A.

Sean says he’s going to crash the computers once Chloe tries to access the names – B.

Erika stupidly agrees – F.

Sean and Erika kiss – F.

Dubaku is in the hospital while Jack and Walker are in the hospital – B.

Walker is shaken up by Marika’s death – C.

Chloe gets Dubaku’s file – A.

Erika and Sean try to cause a crash – B.

Erika can’t format the servers – C.

Erika erases the files – B.

Sean kisses and then kills Erika – F.

Sean then shoots himself??? – F.

Chloe tries to find out what’s going on – B.

Sean lies about what happened – F.

Chloe says all the files are wiped clean – B.

Sean lies to Moss about Erika – A.

Moss now tells Hillinger about the whole situation – B.

Chloe recovers the database – A+++++.

Now Hillinger looks to get out of town – F.

Hillinger is now found out and arrested – A.

Walker is catatonic at the hospital – B.

Walker tells Rosa that Marika didn’t make it – C.

Rosa yells at Walker – F.

Rosa tells Walker she killed Marika – F.

Jack tells Walker they had a job to do – A.

Walker slaps Jack (not very convincing) – F.

Jack tells Walker she had better use her weapon the next time she pulls it on him – A.

Walker says she did – A++.

Olivia Taylor and President Taylor not getting along at the White House – F.

Bill tells President Taylor that the list is legit – A.

Bill tells President Taylor to get the Senate off his back – A.

President Taylor says she’ll have to think about it (Um… Jack saved the country!) – F.

Jack sees Tony and is informed this isn’t over yet – A.

Tony says another attack is coming and Burnett is involved from the beginning – A.

Jack tells Tony he better not be lying, and Tony is real – A++

Tony tells Jack to meet him later on – A+++++

Burnett is called by his boss, the Senator and is going to the White House – A.

Burnett is informed the attack is on schedule – A.

Final grade – B.

Next week, it’s a double episode. Get ready for the real conspiracy. Very cool.

The Amazing Race 14 – Episode 3 Extended Promo

Here’s an extended at next week’s episode.

We have the teams doing a gymnastics task, Brad & Victoria missing a flight, Cara & Jaime with a taxi driver from hell, Amanda & Kris losing their passports (what???) and Tammy & Victor fighting. An action-packed episode for sure.

The Amazing Race is on Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

World Baseball Classic Rosters Announced Tonight

The MLB Network will be announcing the rosters for the World Baseball Classic which begins next week.

MLB NETWORK TO BROADCAST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TONIGHT ROSTER SPECIALON FEBRUARY 24 AT 6:00 P.M. ET

Broadcast to Include Interviews with Team USA Member David Wright,
Team Dominican Republic Member David Ortiz, Team Venezuela Member Magglio Ordoñez and Former Team USA Manager Buck Martinez

Secaucus, NJ – MLB Network will air the WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TONIGHT ROSTER SPECIAL on Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 p.m. ET, to announce the final rosters for the 2009 tournament. The one-hour special will include interviews with special guests featuring participating players David Wright of the New York Mets, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox and Magglio Ordoñez of the Detroit Tigers as well as Buck Martinez, who managed Team USA in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. The 2009 World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, which will take place from March 5 to March 23, 2009.

MLB Network’s WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TONIGHT ROSTER SPECIAL
will reveal the final rosters for each of the participating teams, which will feature the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories. MLB Network on-air talent Victor Rojas, Barry Larkin, Harold Reynolds and special analyst, former Major League Baseball player Alex Gonzalez, will provide detailed information and commentary regarding the 2009 players, teams and brackets. Coverage will also include special footage of players and a recap of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. MLB Network will televise 16 World Baseball Classic games along with a nightly studio show titled World Baseball Classic Tonight, dedicated to the world’s premier international baseball tournament.

“We’re looking forward to the start of the World Baseball Classic, and this roster special is exactly the type of in-depth coverage this global event deserves,” said Tony Petitti, President and Chief Executive Officer of MLB Network. “Between the 16 games we’ll show plus our nightly studio show, MLB Network will capture the excitement and cover the developments of the World Baseball Classic.”

The MLB Network will have extensive coverage of the WBC as mentioned in the release.

Primetime Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Louisville at Georgetown – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Morgan State at Hampton – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Kansas at Oklahoma – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Alabama State at Alcorn State – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

NBA
Boston at Denver – Comcast SportsNet New England, 9 p.m.
Atlanta at Utah – NBA TV, 9 p.m.

NHL
San Jose at Dallas – Versus/TSN2, 8 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 11 p.m.

Entertainment
House – Fox, 8 p.m.
24 – Fox, 9 p.m.
The American Experience: A Class Apart – PBS, 9 p.m.
Battle for Tobacco Road: Duke vs. Carolina – HBO, 9 p.m.
The Closer – TNT, 9 p.m.
Trust Me – TNT, 10 p.m.

Monday’s Back to Work Links

First, I’m happy to have my internet back at work. It only took three work days to solve the problem, but I have to thank the girl, Nancy from Verizon for helping me out. One of the best tech support people I have ever dealt with. The people last week who were supposed to call me back? They get an F. Nancy today? She gets A+. On the ball and knew exactly what to do. I wish every techie was like her. I don’t have to rush home to post things or e-mail out reports, I can now do it from here. Thank goodness.

OK, let’s do some links. First, if you watched the tedious Oscars telecast (Hugh Jackman singing, what the hell was that?), you might have heard one of the sports blogosphere’s greatest catchphrases last night. I have to give credit to Awful Announcing for catching Will Smith saying “Boom Goes the Dynamite”.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says with ESPN jettisoning Emmitt Smith, does it mean Brett Favre will be the network’s next hire?

Sox & Dawgs has the second installment of “The Adventures of Digger and Friends” that ran yesterday on Fox. Yesterday, I was reading Twitter and there were a whole bunch of negative comments on Digger. The little gopher is not popular from what I’ve read.

Nice to see the Daly Planet NASCAR blog back in operation. Earlier this month, it announced it was ceasing operation, but it decided after Daytona it would return due to popular demand. I’m glad to see it back. John Daly gives his critique on how Speed and especially Fox did with a rain delayed Auto Club 500. I agree with John’s assessment on Digger.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has an appreciation for an old school New York Ranger.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says NFL draft prospect Andre Smith probably cost himself $30 million for leaving the Scouting Combine. And Darren looks at some of the winners from the Scouting Combine.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says ex-Raven Chris McAlister is back on sports radio today.

This has nothing to do with sports, but it’s kind of silly. Steve Blow of the Dallas Morning News says viewers are up in arms with the way WFAA-TV anchor Cynthia Izaguirre pronounces her name. Let her pronounce the way it’s supposed to be said. Come on, people!

To Barry Horn of the Morning News who says the 2009 Texas Rangers schedule is cable heavy. Barry also wonders when the Cowboys will announce its new radio flagship station.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says Rockies TV voice Drew Goodman won a much deserved award last week.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN’s investigation into USC’s college basketball package recruiting deals turned out to be much ado about nothing.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog welcomes the SEC’s Media Relations Director to the blogosphere. Chris says NBC welcomes Tiger Woods back to the PGA Tour with plenty of media hype. Chris also has the video that was making the rounds this weekend of UConn coach Jim Calhoun clearly owning a reporter who had his own agenda besides basketball.

Joe Favorito says Tiger Woods and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are trying to control their messages.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media looks at NBC’s choices for the upcoming NHL Game of the Week and what it should pick.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says CBC found some great stories in its annual Hockey Day in Canada broadcast.

Some good stuff for you all. I have another post coming up.

Eck Gets More Work on TBS

Turner Sports has announced one of the best baseball studio analysts, Dennis Eckersley is going to get some more work on TBS this season. Eck does a great job on NESN on Red Sox broadcasts and got national exposure last season during TBS’ postseason coverage. He’ll work game broadcasts this season.

Turner Sports Inks MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley to Multi-Year Extension

Analyst returns to TBS for MLB All-Star Selection Show as well as Regular and Postseason coverage

TBS announced today that they have signed MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley to a multi-year extension to serve as an analyst for the network’s exclusive coverage of the MLB All-Star Selection Show and the MLB Postseason, including the League Division Series (LDS) and the League Championship Series (LCS). Eckersley will also appear as a game analyst for select Sunday MLB on TBS regular season match-ups. A six-time MLB All-Star, Eckersley provided his unique brand of analysis to the Inside MLB studio show alongside two-time Emmy® Award-winning studio host Ernie Johnson during the 2008 MLB Postseason.

Eckersley will appear in studio for TBS’ exclusive coverage of the 2009 MLB All-Star Selection Show, the 2009 American and National League Division Series (ALDS & NLDS) and the 2009 National League Championship Series (NLCS). He will also serve as a game analyst for select TBS’ regular season telecasts.

“We are very excited to continue our relationship with Dennis as one of our studio analysts,” said Jeff Behnke, SVP and executive producer for Turner Sports. “We look forward to his distinctive style of breaking down the game and providing fans across the country with his unique perspective and personality.”

“I’m thrilled to return to TBS for their MLB coverage,” said Eckersley. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them this past season. The show is a great fit with my personality and I’m looking forward to the start of the MLB season.”

Eckersley, the 1992 AL Cy Young award and MVP winner, enjoyed success as both a starter and reliever and is one of only two pitchers to have both a 20-win season (1978) and a 50-save season (1992) in a career. Affectionately known as “Eck,” the pitcher played 24 years in the big leagues, winning the World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1989. Eckersley also serves as a studio analyst for Red Sox games on New England Sports Network (NESN).

Good for Eck. He deserves it.

The Amazing Race 14 – Your Target Is Your Partner’s Face

We start in Stechelberg, Switzerland the pitstop for the first leg of in a race around the world.

From the open, we learn of the massive respect the other teams have for Margie & Luke. Tammy calls her “the bionic woman” and says Luke, the race’s first deaf contestant “very observant”. All of teams say Margie & Luke are a force to be reckoned with.

Margie & Luke who arrived first at 2:56 p.m. in the last leg, will leave first at 2:56 a.m. in the second leg. They discover they’re going to fly to Munich, Germany. Once there, they’ll drive themselves to Ruhpolding, take a gondola to the top of a mountain and find their next clue.

Margie makes the point that Luke is not retarded, he’s not slow, he’s very capable and wants to prove he can run the race. No need to prove it to me. I’ve already seen what the hearing impaired can do and Luke is doing very well, thank you.

Leaving the mat next are siblings Tammy & Victor at 2:57 a.m. Thanks to them, we find that each team will receive $585 in this leg of the race. Victor begins the trend of teams using their cab driver’s cell phones to book flights. And he also talks about deprogramming the 26 years of him constantly beating on his little sister. Why do I see this being another Ronald & Christina situation? Remember in TAR12 when Christina harped on being heard by her hardened Asian dad? She finally got it, but here, we’re seeing signs of Tammy wanting to be heard in this relationship. Just like Ron & Christina had to hit rock bottom in the race in Amsterdam, it appears Tammy & Victor will have to have that confrontation for their relationship to be equal, but I digress.

The team that has the best attitude in this race are brothers Mark & Michael who are also showing us that a team under 5 feet can do well. And they’re having fun. They’re not stressing over little things. I like them and I want them in the final three.

Mel & Mike leave at 3:18 a.m. Mel injured his groin climbing up the tall slope in the last leg so he’s hurting. Mel’s not giving up and says he’ll limp his way around the world. I like Mel, too.

Dating couple Amanda & Kris leave just under a half hour later at 3:47 a.m. We didn’t see much of them in the last leg, but we will in this leg. Amanda says she has anxiety and the race is too intense. I have a feeling Amanda is one of those women who have a very positive exterior, but are very nervous inside. That’s my feeling.

Married couple Brad & Victoria head out at 3:56 a.m., while ex-Dolphins cheerleaders Jaime & Cara leave the mat three minutes later. Sisters Kisha & Jen who also have their own sibling issues take off at 4:02 a.m. Kisha also admits seeing Jen in the little sister role. Jen says being in the little sister role pisses her off. This is definitely a volcano brewing here and it’s going to blow.

Steve & Linda leave at 4:04 a.m. and he vows to do things differently in this leg instead of getting mad at his wife. Steve admits he was totally wrong for treating Linda poorly and making her cry. It takes a big man to do that. I give him total props.

The teams that are using their cab driver’s cell phones are finding that there’s a Swissair flight leaving at 7:10 a.m. and arriving in Munich at 8:15 a.m. Those that did not use a cell phone will find themselves on a later flight. And Linda is hoping that since Germany is known for beer, she’s hoping there’s a beer challenge. Funny!

And the very last to depart the first pit stop at 4:12 a.m. are flight attendants Christie & Jodi. They also borrow their cab driver’s cell phone, but they might be too late to get that first flight out to Germany.

Now we get a bit of airport drama. Not a whole lot, but it was enough to make me worried. Margie & Luke and Mark & Mike who did not use a cell phone to book in advance now have arrived at the airport and hope to book tickets on the Swissair flight. Luckily, mom & son have. Now Mark & Mike hope to do so as well, but Christie & Jodi are on the phone trying to book tickets. Because other teams have booked in advance, both teams will have to wait for the next flight which is at 8:45 a.m. And that’s it for the airport drama. Whew!

Phil then comes to tell us that Jaime & Cara, Kisha & Jen, Steve & Linda, Margie & Luke, Mel & Mike, Brad & Victoria, Amanda & Kris and Tammy & Victor are all on the 7:10 a.m. flight to Munich. Mark & Mike and Christie & Jodi will be on the 8:45 a.m. flight and the brothers acknowledge that they made a mistake in not calling ahead.

At 8:10 a.m., the first flight arrives and everyone makes a mad dash for the cars they will drive on the famous Autobahn to Ruhpolding. Luke makes a signal to cheerleaders Jaime & Cara to follow him. The cheerleaders just love Luke and they appreciate the help.

The team that needs a lot of help is Kisha & Jen. They somehow got off the Autobahn are now driving in an unnamed town. Tammy & Victor, however, have made it to Ruhpolding quickly followed by Amanda & Kris. The siblings get into a gondola and notice the dating couple not far behind. But Amanda & Kris will have to wait 15 minutes for the next ride up the mountain. This gives the siblings a nice head start. Tammy & Victor get their clue first and it’s a Road Block, “Who wants to fly like an eagle?”

In this Road Block, a team member will find an instructor, then paraglide to the bottom some 6,000 feet below. The other team member will take a gondola to the bottom and wait for his/her teammate in the designated landing area. Once the teams are reunited, they’ll receive their next clue. If the wind conditions deem it too dangerous to glide, the teams do have an option to take a 60 minute walk to the bottom after a undetermined amount of time.

Tammy will do this task while Victor gets jealous.

In the meantime, Kisha & Jen are hopelessly lost in Germany, but Kisha is not acknowledging this. Kisha just tells to drive straight and Jen is just wondering what the hell is going on.

At the bottom, Margie & Luke and redheads Cara & Jaime have arrived to take their gondolas up to the peak. Mel & Mike have also gotten to the Ruhpolding meeting up with a disappointed Amanda & Kris who are still waiting for their ride to the top.

Up at the summit, Tammy is told by her instructor that the conditions are too dangerous for her to paraglide and she has to wait. The gondola carrying four teams is now coming up to the top. Tammy decides that she doesn’t want to wait and she’ll take the hour long walk to the bottom.

Now the other four teams have arrived and Kris, Margie, Cara and Mel all decide to do the Road Block. When Mel realizes that walking is the other choice, he knows with the wind, he’s stuck with gliding down. He can’t take a risk with his groin injury.

Back at Munich Airport, the last flight carrying brothers Mark & Mike and stewardesses Christie & Jodi have arrived and they know they have a lot of time to make up.

On the mountain, Brad & Victoria take a look at the Road Block clue and she decides that she will do this task. And the last of the first group is Linda & Steve and as she rides the gondola to the top, she feels she could do the task. Steve is impressed.

The line for the paragliding has now increased to five. Victoria makes the snap decision that she can’t wait for the wind to subside so she’ll walk down. Kris and Margie both join her and Mel becomes exasperated.

Luke then passes a note to Jaime which states “kick ass and don’t get eliminated.” Luke then tells us in his post-leg 1 confessional that he likes the redheads, that they’re friendly and nice and they communicate with him well. I think he’s smitten. Who can blame him? They’re hot and they’re nice to him. Don’t fall in love though, Luke.

Linda is the next to pass on paragliding leaving Mel and Cara the lone ones at the top. The wind conditions are not dying down, it leaves Mel fearing that he and Mike are going to be eliminated today.

Those walking or jogging down the marked path note the arrows clearly pointing the proper way to the landing area.

Meanwhile at the top, Kisha & Jen and Christie & Jodi have caught up. Cara has decided to walk. Mel is even more worried and Mike is fearing that with his dad’s groin injury, it’s going to leave them in last while the other teams walk or jog down the mountain. And now the last team, stuntie brothers Mark & Mike are getting ready to paraglide as well.

But with the wind not subsiding, Mark, Christie and Jen decide to walk down and it’s now Mel all alone. He correctly says he cannot ask for Devine Intervention for the wind. Mel thanks God for the beautiful area and his son, but he says God is too busy to help him with the wind. But suddenly, the wind dies down and the instructor tells Mel he can take his ride down to the bottom. Mel says, “It was … a miracle!”

Tammy is now the first to make it to the bottom and meets her brother, Victor. They open their clue and find that they’re to drive 25 miles to Schönau am Königssee where they will find their next clue.

At the top, Mel finally pushes off and takes his paraglide down. At the bottom, Margie has made it and reunites with Luke. Kris is the next to finish the walk/jog to the bottom and he gets the clue so he and Amanda can leave. Victoria is the fourth to finish her descent.

Mel is peacefully gliding down in his parachute and he loved the ride down. Mike felt they went from having no shot to having a sliver of hope.

Now Linda is walking down and gets to a fork in the path. She does not see the arrow telling her to go left and she goes right instead. LINDA!!!! GO LEFT!!!! Oh, it’s too late. She goes right. Cara sees the marker and goes left as do Mark, Jen and Christie. They all see the marker. How can you not see the marker, Linda? Glove to the ground! Boom goes the dynamite! Oh my goodness!

Mel is now landing as Jaime and Steve watch. Mel says he’d love to have a beer and a sandwich if he could stay all day, but he has to leave. Mark informs Jaime that the rest are hoofing it down the mountain which makes her angry. Steve says if it’s a footrace, he knows they’re going to be last.

Over to Tammy & Victor who have arrived in Schönau am Königssee. They get their next clue and find that they’ve reached the first Detour in the race. As we all know, a Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this Detour, teams will choose among tasks that require precision. The choices, Bouncing Dolly or Austrian Folly.

In Balancing Dolly, teams must ride a Segway personal transporter over a two mile obstacle course. When they finish, they’ll receive their next clue. Riding a Segway over obstacles requires balance and skill, but teams who master the controls could find themselves pulling ahead.

In Austrian Folly, teams must go into a party tent and throw pies made of traditional Austrian schlog at a target.

That target will be their partner’s face. They have to keep throwing pies until they find one with a cherry filling. Teams will then present themselves to the bandleader who will provide them their next clue. The task depends on how long it will take the teams to find the cherry filling. Teams that don’t move quick enough could take a long time.

So Tammy & Victor decide to throw pies and find that they have hit each others faces. They throw pies. Tammy gets schlog up her nose and eye. Victor gets the cherry filling. And they can get their next clue.

Once they rip open the black and yellow envelope, Tammy & Victor discover that they’ll walk on foot to a woodcutter who will manually cut a small piece of wood. That piece will be stamped with their next destination, the pit stop.

So the siblings get some directions, find the woodcutters and they get their piece of wood. It’s stamped with their next destination.

They find that they’re to drive themselves across the border into Austria of Salzburg and find a German castle in the southern district of the city known as Schloss Hellbrunn.

Schloss Hellbrunn is the pit stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in may be eliminated. Victor is so happy to going to the pit stop that he annoys Tammy with his singing. He’s just giddy with excitement.

Over to Linda, she’s walking down the mountain, but in the wrong direction. She’s way off course. Back at the landing area, Steve says Linda is bad with directions. Mark & Cara have now finished their walk from the top of the mountain and can now head to Schönau am Königssee for the Detour.

Linda can hear traffic from the path, but then again, you’re not supposed to hear traffic from the landing area. Jen now makes it to the bottom, leaving Jodi and Steve waiting for their partners.

Linda has now made it to the bottom, but she’s just puzzled, looking at the highway. She feels Steve is going to kill her for walking the wrong way. She starts to cry. Oh my.

Christie has now finished her run down the mountain leaving Steve all alone. He knows a wrong turn could kill their chances to remain in the race.

Somehow, Linda finds a private vehicle to take her to the landing area (against the rules, but somehow, this is not addressed).

Siblings Tammy & Victor arrive at Schloss Hellbrunn and they’re greeted as the first team to arrive. They both win a hybrid go-kart. In their post-race confessional, Tammy says she hates to admit it, but their 26 year relationship is an advantage over the other teams. I love you, Tammy and I understand the Asian older brother relationship being an Asian older brother of two sisters, but I think that relationship is going to change. Just a hunch.

Well, Amanda & Kris reach the detour and they choose Folly. Kris reads the sign and you have the title of the episode. And they keep throwing pies while Germans inside the tent continue to get drunk on beer. When Amanda gets hit with the cherry filling, they get their next clue. As they walk to the woodcutters, Amanda takes a piece of cake off Kris’ shoulder and eats it while Kris says it’s delicious. That’s funny!

Linda finally makes it to the right path thanks to her ride and meets Steve. She thanks him for not getting mad, but he says he can’t imagine doing the race with anyone else. He’s eased up and realizes how much he loves Linda. I can’t kill him for that. And he shows he’s a different man from last week’s episode. Good on ya, Steve!

Amanda & Steve get their piece of wood and head off for Schloss Hellbrunn. He notes the schlog in his hair is “Something About Mary” times ten which is what the title of the episode should have been, but I digress.

Mel & Mike are the first to choose segways. Margie & Luke decide to do the pies over his objection. He didn’t want to do it knowing it take a long time. But he says, “What can I do? She’s my mom.” He’s funny as well. I’m really liking Luke thus far. So he gets his frustrations out by throwing the pies quite hard at his mother. Wow. He’s got issues as well.

While Margie & Luke are throwing schlog at each other, Mel & Mike are running their Segways over the obstacle course and unbeknownst to them, are making up some great time. They finish, get their clue and head to the woodcutters.

Luke now wants to switch tasks, but Margie says no. He’s covered all over with schlog and there’s no cherry in sight. This is going to take a while.

Brad & Victoria now have arrived at the Detour and they choose folly. Kisha & Jen are lost again and Jen is showing her frustration with her older sister. Christie & Jodi also appear lost as they don’t seem to be improving on their 10th place finish in the first leg. And bringing up the rear are Steve & Linda.

Over to the party tent, the Germans are getting drunk and really enjoying the show between Margie & Luke. Piles of schlog are lying on the floor as they keep throwing pies at each others faces. Luke has plenty of icing in his hair. When he throws a pie at his mother, it has the cherry filling they’re looking for so they can finally leave the tent.

Just as they leave, Brad & Victoria are entering. They don’t seem to be taking as much time as Margie & Luke and they indeed find the cherry filling faster. Brad takes a lick from her forehead and says Victoria tastes pretty good. This is a pretty funny episode.

So the two aforementioned teams get their piece of wood and can finally head to the pit stop.

Cara & Jaime have decided to do the segways. Kisha & Jen finally find the clue box followed by Mark & Mike. Both choose the segways. Christie & Jodi have arrived, but park in a different spot and need help from Kisha & Jen to find the clue box.

Amanda & Kris are lost heading to the pit stop allowing Mel & Mike to arrive ahead of them.

But they reach a gate that appears to be locked so Mike tries to climb it leaving Phil amused.

Amanda & Kris have finally arrived at the pit stop, but Mel & Mike find someone to open the gate and they’re able to check in as team number 2! This leaves Amanda & Kris in 3rd.

Cara & Jaime finish the segways next and are able to get wood next. Over to the pit stop, Phil signs to Margie & Luke that they’re in 4th place. Brad & Victoria hit the mat in 5th.

Next, Mark & Mike and Kisha & Jen finish their Segway task and go to get their pieces of wood.

Christie & Jodi are in the tent and know they have to hurry to find the cherry filling.

Then, we’re informed it’s been 14 hours since the start of this leg. This means the teams checking in after Brad & Victoria are really going to be behind the 8 ball when next week’s leg starts.

Cara & Jaime check in 6th, still happy to be in the race.

Christie & Jodi have finally popped their cherry filling and can now go to the woodcutters. Not easy in the dark.

Steve & Linda arrive at the Detour and notice the stewardesses so they know they still have a shot to remain. And they start to throw pies at each other in a tent that is practically empty at this point.

Christie & Jodi get lost again, looking in a farm for their piece of wood. Not even close, girls. And while Linda & Steve were relieving some frustration by chucking pies at each other, the stewardesses just could not find the woodcutters. Christie was getting worried and indeed, Linda & Steve found the cherry and they’re heading to the woodcutter.

Christie & Jodi continue to wander aimlessly while Linda & Steve charge out of the tent seeing that they’re still in the race.

Over to Mark & Michael and Kisha & Jen who are lost on the way to the pit stop. Jen says Kisha is pissing her off with her navigating.

Christie & Jodi finally get help in finding the woodcutters and they get their clue for the pit stop. They’re followed by Linda & Steve who are now on their way to the castle.

So we have four teams struggling to get to the pit stop. One team will be put of its misery while the others have to hope for a massive bunching in the next leg. Kisha & Jen hit the mat in 7th, but Jen is just not happy and she’s about to burst.

Mark & Mike hit the mat in 8th so it’s now between Christie & Jodi and Linda & Steve for the last spot to remain in the race. This is like a broken record for Christie & Jodi who barely won a footrace over Preston & Jen last week. And they arrive within seconds of each other. And Christie & Jodi come in 9th, surviving again by the skin of their teeth.

So it’s Linda & Steve who get eliminated. They should have been out last week, but they stayed in a leg longer than expected and that is definitely good for them.

So our final order of finish for tonight.

1. Tammy & Victor – winners of hybrid go-karts.
2. Mel & Mike
3. Amanda & Kris
4. Margie & Luke
5. Brad & Victoria
6. Cara & Jaime
7. Kisha & Jen
8. Mark & Mike
9. Christie & Jodi
10. Steve & Linda

Overall, not a bad episode. Not as good as last week’s but still, Emmy-worthy.

Now, a preview of next week’s episode thanks to my sweetheart, puddin over at Reality Fan Forum.

See you next week.

Fang’s Bites Musical Interlude – Live

This is one of my favorite 1990′s bands. Their CD, Throwing Copper, is one of the best I have ever listened to from beginning to end.

So I’ll give you three or four songs from Live. Great songs. And when DirecTV played one of their recent concerts in Amsterdam, I was reminded how much I loved this band.

Here’s I Alone.

Lightning Crashes

Selling The Drama

Lakini’s Juice

The great song, Turn My Head

And this is Heaven performed live by Live

That’s certainly more than three or four. I just kept finding good videos to post.

Links on a Rainy Sunday

It may not be raining where you are, but it is in Southern New England. Such a drab day, but it’s time for linkage so let’s get to it.

Newsday’s Neil Best goes over his week in blogging.

Over to the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick who says Bruce Springsteen handled a ticket reselling scheme better than MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig (yeah, it’s a stretch, be patient).

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels Charles Barkley’s apology last Thursday did not carry much weight.

Camille Powell of the Washington Post writes about Maryland’s Marissa Coleman and Duke’s Abby Waner who want to have their own “Pardon The Interruption”-type show when they’re done with basketball.

From the DC Examiner, Jim Williams talks with MLB Network’s Barry Larkin about Alex Rodriguez.

Art Davidson of the Milford (MA) Daily News talks with former Red Sox utilityman Sean Casey who has joined the MLB Network.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Cecil Fielder’s comments about his son, Prince, on the MLB Network.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the Spring Training TV schedule.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Chronicle says Comcast SportsNet is ramping up its coverge of the Giants and the A’s.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced their regular season TV schedule on FSN Pittsburgh.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Michael Irvin stirred the pot on his sports radio show. Barry has a great story on the late public relations guru Joey Goldstein.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a picture that is so wrong.

The Sports Media Watch says ratings for the NHL on NBC cooled off last week. The SMW tells us that the NASCAR Nationwide Series drew a mixed bag for ESPN2. And the SMW has its weekend ratings predictions.

Chuck McKinney of Electronic House says CBS will stream its March Madness coverage in HD using Microsoft Silverlight technology.

Darren Ennis of Reuters reports that all of the major US TV networks are interested in bidding for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that the CTV-Rogers consortium is planning for every single moment at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics to be televised or streamed online.

That’s going to do it for now.

Videos of the Week – Peter Puck

Since last week was the debut of “The Adventures of Digger and Friends” on Fox’s NASCAR coverage, let’s go to one of the cartoons that probably started this whole Fox trend of using animated characters to help promote its sports properties. As a kid, I got to watch Peter Puck when NBC had the NHL in the 1970′s. CBC also used Peter Puck and the little guy actually became popular. Only 9 episodes of Peter Puck were produced by cartoon powerhouse Hanna-Barbera, but as you can imagine, they left a mark.

So let’s take a look at the episodes.

In Episode 1, Peter explains how to play the game by going over the offsides and icing rules.

In the 2nd installment of Peter Puck, he talks about epuipment, officials and players.

In episode 3, Peter discusses pucks, stakes and sticks.

In the 4th episode, Peter explains penalties, signs and fines.

Here’s a quick :30 vignette about the Stanley Cup.

That seems to be all of the episodes that are available for now. If I find more, I’ll put them up. If you’re interested, you can buy the complete series on DVD.

It’s A Saturday Link Thing

Let’s give you some links on this Saturday. I have some work to do, but I’ll get the linkage out of the way first.

Rarely do I start the links with Barry Horn, but I’m going to today. He writes in his weekly column that the NFL is back with the Scouting Combine, all of it on NFL Network. Late yesterday, Barry broke the news that Emmitt Smith would not be returning to ESPN.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also writes about Smith’s departure. Ray reviews the HBO documentary on Duke-North Carolina.

The Star-Telegram has the TV schedule for the Texas Rangers.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman wonders if the lovely Stacey Dales pulled the wrong move like Trev Alberts did (remember him?).

Patricia Babcock-McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald says Stacey’s leaving ESPN smacks of a diva. Ok.

Can Inman of the Contra Costa (CA) Times says Jon Gruden has become must see TV on the NFL Network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reviews the week in blogging and includes a link to Fang’s Bites! Thanks, Tom.

Christopher Bryne in the Eye on Sports Media blog has part 3 of a guest column written by a WWE techie who helped to put on a road show for our fine men and women serving in Iraq.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla who will be in town to call the BracketBusters game between Northern Iowa and Siena on ESPN2.

Dave Zaleski of the Muncie (IN) Star-Press says some are questioning the value of ESPN’s BracketBusters.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week writes that Infiniti has signed on to be the exclusive sponsor of Big Ten and SEC basketball.

The always lovely Lisa Guerrero writes for the Los Angeles Times that Alex Rodriguez not only cheated on baseball, but on all of us.

Laura Nachman writes that a Philly sports radio personality named his son after Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.

Patricia Sheridan from the Toledo Blade talks with NBC/MLB Network’s Bob Costas.

Joe Lemire of Sports Illustrated says MLB Network is off to a great start.

The Inside Track girls of the Boston Herald catch up with one of their favorite subjects, former NESN hottie Hazel Mae now of the MLB Network.

KTAR.com says the Arizona Diamondbacks will have 150 games carried on Fox Sports Arizona this season.

Joe Favorito says the next generation of virtual signage could be right on the back or front of a shaven head. Really! Joe says College Baseball Opening Day missed a big branding opportunity.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon’s money is locked in Stanford Financial. Darren wonders if there’s a Stanford Financial jinx. Darren has a clarification on where Damon and teammate Xavier Nady have their money invested in Stanford Financial. Darren says New Jersey Nets guard Eduardo Najera is happy to have taken his money out of Stanford Financial several months ago.

Dave Hughes of the great DCRTV website writes for the Baltimore Press Box site on some local sports media news and notes.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner writes that college basketball, hockey, NASCAR and lacrosse dominate the weekend viewing.

Russell Adams of the Wall Street Journal writes about ESPN launching various local sports websites to provide what local newspapers can’t.

Eric Benderoff and Eric Gwynn of the Chicago Tribune say the new ESPN Chicago site will be staffed mostly by freelance writers.

Dave Davies of the Chico (CA) Enterprise-Record talks with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Mindi Bach who hails from the Chico area.

Lois Weinert of the Green Valley (AZ) News & Sun talks with former ABC and CBS Sports and current Fox Sports Arizona broadcaster Gary Bender.

Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun says Flames voice Peter Maher looks fondly toward his home of Campbellton which is where today’s Hockey Day in Canada broadcast is based for CBC.

Daniel McHardie of CBC.ca says Don Cherry made a surprise visit to the Campbellton Middle School.

And there you have it. Plenty of links for today.

David Ortiz Addresses Relationship with Banned Trainer

On Comcast SportsNet New England’s Sports Tonight program from Fort Myers, FL, Red Sox Designated Hitter David Ortiz talked with hosts Gary Tanguay and Michael “Tootsie” Felger. He addressed a New York Daily News report that he was linked to Alex Rodriguez trainer Angel Presinal who has been banned from all MLB clubhouses.

As you can see, Ortiz called him “a good trainer.” I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of this story.

There’s Even a Wipeout Australia!

I guess it’s a Wipeout World and we just live in it. Channel 9 in Australia has picked up the show which premiered this month Down Under. Take a look.

You can’t avoid Wipeout. I wonder if Canada is next.

Wipeout on the Beeb?

To show you that some of the best TV programming goes overseas, well, in this case, maybe not so best, Wipeout which has had decent ratings on ABC is on the BBC. There are a lot of the same tasks, the punching wall, the big rubber balls, the sarcastic commentary. Here’s a preview of the program which is in the midst of its first season.

Interesting.

The Amazing Race 14 – Phil’s Video Diary #2

CBS has posted the second installment of Phil’s Video Diary and the production crew is in Germany (not Austria as the video and crew state), but Phil is a bit giddy after non-stop travel for four days so as you can see, he’s forgotten where he is. Understandable. This is for the second episode of The Amazing Race 14 which heads to Rauschberg.

Great stuff.

Sports Using a Dry Erase Board

In one of the strangest videos I’ve ever seen, TV station WECT in Wilmington, NC had to resort to using a dry erase board during its 11 p.m. sportscast on Thursday. The newscast apparently lost its graphics and tape so the sports anchor read scores from a high school basketball tournament while the news anchor held the board with the scores written in scratch. I can’t embed it, but I can link you to the sports report.

Thanks to the Sports Crackle Pop blog.

A Friday Megalinks Thing

We’re here with the Friday megalinks and plenty of stuff to go over today. Let’s start it off with the Weekend Viewing Picks.

College Basketball is in the midst of some great matchups with conference action, but starting tonight, the mid-major conferences take precedence as the ESPN family of networks will air a total of 13 games involving mid-major teams jockeying for position for the NCAA Tournament. One of the marquee matchups will be Butler at Davidson at noon on ESPN. But ESPN’s feature game will be Oklahoma at Texas Saturday night at 9. For a full schedule of games, check out the College Basketball Viewing Picks.

For the first time, CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada will be widely available in the United States via the NHL Network. It begins at noon on Saturday and all six Canadian teams will be involved in three games, Ottawa at Montreal at 3 p.m., Vancouver at Toronto at 7 p.m. then Calgary at Edmonton at 10 p.m. CBC will be live mostly from New Campbellton, New Brunswick and from various sites all over Canada to celebrate the country’s national pastime.

NBC’s NHL Game of the Week will have Pittsburgh taking on the Washington Capitals, Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

The NBA will have one feature game on Sunday on ABC with the defending champions Boston Celtics taking on Phoenix at 2:30 p.m., then ESPN has a doubleheader with Miami at Orlando and Detroit at Cleveland starting at 5 p.m.

The PGA Tour’s last event before Tiger Woods’ return is the Northern Trust Open and CBS has coverage starting at 3 p.m. Saturday.

NASCAR’s second race of the season is the Auto Club 500 on Fox, Sunday at 5 p.m.

NBC has coverage of the American Cup gymnastics event at 4 p.m.

Spike will have taped coverage of UFC 95 from London, Saturday night at 9.

And Tour of California featuring Lance Armstrong concludes Sunday on Versus at 5 p.m.

The full Weekend Viewing Picks can be seen here.

Now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ESPN2′s Bassmaster Classic which airs this weekend.

The Big Lead has an interview with ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Rob King who has some interesting comments about Bill Simmons.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell thinks Amgen’s sponsorship of the Tour of California is a misguided idea. Darren says TNT’s Charles Barkley made the right kind of apology and should be a role model for Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriguez. Darren has Sports Illustrated’s explanation as to why it airbrushed Danica Patrick’s tattoo in this year’s Swimsuit issue, when it left it on last year. And Darren has some of the best Alex Rodriguez nicknames to date.

Playboy has some of the sexiest international sportscasters. Very hot.

Ed Meza of Variety writes that Swiss-based Sportfive has won the bid for European media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, taking over for long-time Olympics partner, the European Broadcasting Union.

Daniel Frankel of Variety says the NBA All-Star Game on TNT saw a 20% rise in the ratings from last year.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News looks at ESPN’s new rights deal with the Sun Belt Conference.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says Golf Channel is all over Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA Tour.

I have an article at Digital Sports Daily on the PGA being very, very happy over Tiger’s return.

The Sports Media Watch says Tiger’s announcement that he was coming back made the PGA extremely happy.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC actually made a decent choice for its flex NHL game on March 22.

Awful Announcing says Mike Florio’s Pro Football Talk site got hacked. And AA has the video of Charles Barkleys apology on TNT.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes that NESN/NBC/CBC’s Mike Milbury is not shy behind the mike.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette profiles NESN’s SportsDesk anchor (and charlatan) Cole Wright and his big head.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the Sports Museum of America is closing after less than a year of operation.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says Bud Selig is the true shame of baseball, not Alex Rodriguez. I actually see Mushnick’s point.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla about the Big East conference. And Justin has five questions for SNY’s Mets analyst Ron Darling.

The bitter and bombastic Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Brian Cashman has become the spokesman for the New York Yankees.

Neil Best of Newsday says “The Wrestler” got a rave review from WWE wrestler Mick Foley. Neil says Foley and Kevin “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” James were high school classmates. Neil talks with Tennis Channel head honcho Ken Solomon about his desire to get picked up by Cablevision.

Phil Januck of the Schenectady Gazette talks with Albany River Rats analyst John Hennessy about the bus accident yesterday that injured five players. Thanks to Ken Schott of the Gazette for updating me on the story.

Laura Nachman says Reading Phillies radio voice Steve Degler is moving to the TV side.

Stacy Brown of the Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune notes the trend of the shrinking sportcast on local TV news.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says Jim Rome ranks tops in the sports category among a survey of the top 250 radio talk show hosts. Ray talks a little more about that list in his blog.

South

Roger van der Horst of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at college basketball recruiting package deals.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley showed true remorse in his return last night.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the best sports scenes in non-sports movies.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle discusses the cancellation of a local sports TV show.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says one sports radio show is not moving from its current home. Barry has a preview of his Saturday column.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with Dick Vitale who with Dan Shulman will call Saturday’s Oklahoma-Texas game for ESPN. Mel has more with Dick on the Sooners.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News has a story on a former college basketball coach who presevered to get a shot on ESPN.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Charles Barkley did not shy away from his DUI arrest on TNT last night.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business talks about ESPN launching a Chicago-centric sports website. And Ed says the Cubs are turning up the screws on ticket sales.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald isn’t too enthralled about watching HBO’s documentary on the Duke-North Carolina rivalry.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin cannot believe the amount of coverage that will be devoted to the NFL Scouting Combine on NFL Network this weekend.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the high amount of sports programming doesn’t necessarily translate to high ratings. Dan also has the ratings for sports in the Gateway City last week.

West

Scott Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says the mtn’s basketball coverage has improved over last year.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says NASCAR on Fox is set to take on the Oscars this year.

John Maffei in the North County Times talks with MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds.

Jim Carlisle writes in the Ventura County Star about ESPN’s upcoming Los Angeles-produced 1 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter premiering in April.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says Charles Barkley’s apology on TNT was typical Charles.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has preliminary results of his reader’s Best Sportscaster poll. In his weekly column, Tom looks at the Best and Worst of Los Angeles sports analysts (best line in Tom’s column is from Tony Reavis… scroll to the bottom… unbelievable). In his blog, Tom has a bit more on his column and of course, has extensive news and notes. Tom asks for readers’ votes in the analyst category. And Tom says Jim Rome has a streak of Rex’s going.

John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News writes that the San Francisco 49ers will unveil their new uniforms on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area in April.

That does it for the megalinks today.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, February 22

Cycling
Tour of California, stage 7 – Versus, 5 p.m.

English Premier League
Aston Villa vs. Chelsea – Setanta Sports, 7:40 a.m.
Arsenal vs. Sunderland – Setanta Sports, 9:40 a.m.
Bolton vs. West Ham United – Fox Soccer Channel, 10 a.m.
Blackburn vs. Manchester United – Fox Soccer Channel, 12:30 p.m.
Middlesbrough vs. Wigan – Setanta Sports, 5 p.m. (same day coverage)
Stoke City vs. Portsmouth – Fox Soccer Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
PGA Tour/Northern Trust Open, 3rd round – CBS, 3 p.m.

Gymnastics
American Cup – Universal Sports, 2:30 p.m./NBC, 4 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 95 – Spike, 9 p.m. (same day coverage)

NASCAR
Nationwide Series/Stater Bros. 300 – ESPN2, 7:45 p.m.

NBA
New Orleans at Utah – NBA TV, 9 p.m.

NHL
Hockey Day in Canada live from Campbellton, New Brunswick – CBC/NHL Network (US), noon
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia – FSN Pittsburgh/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Dallas – WGN/Fox Sports Southwest, 2 p.m.
Hockey Day in Canada: Ottawa at Montreal – CBC/RDS/NHL Network (US), 3 p.m.
Atlanta at San Jose – SportSouth/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 4 p.m.
Phoenix at Los Angeles – Fox Sports West, 4 p.m.
Hockey Day in Canada: Vancouver at Toronto – CBC/NHL Network (US), 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Columbus – Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
Boston at Florida – WBZ Radio/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at New York Islanders- MSG Plus/MSG Plus 2, 7 p.m.
New York Rangers at Buffalo – MSG Network/MSG Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Minnesota – RDS/Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Nashville at St. Louis – Fox Sports Tennessee/Fox Sports Midwest, 8:30 p.m.
Hockey Day in Canada: Calgary at Edmonton – CBC/NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 1:30 a.m.

Entertainment
Ask Aida – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
Legend of the Seeker – WGN America, 5 p.m. or check your local listings
Cops – Fox, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back – Fox, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery – CBS, 10 p.m.
Film Independent Spirit Awards – AMC, 10 p.m.

Sunday, February 23

Cycling
Tour of California, final stage – Versus, 5 p.m.

English Premier League
Fulham vs. West Bromwich Albion – Setanta Sports, 8:25 a.m.
Manchester City vs. Liverpool – Fox Soccer Channel, 10 a.m.
Everton vs. Newcastle – Fox Soccer Channel, 3 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
PGA Tour/Northern Trust Open, final round – CBS, 3 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup/Auto Club 500 – Fox, 5 p.m.

NBA
Chicago at Indiana – WGN, noon
Boston at Phoenix – ABC, 2:30 p.m.
Miami at Orlando – ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Detroit at Cleveland – ESPN, 8 p.m.

NHL
Pittsburgh at Washington – NBC, 12:30 p.m.
Colorado at Carolina – Altitude, 3 p.m.
Boston at Tampa Bay – WBZ Radio/Sun Sports, 5 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago – NHL Network (Canada)/Fox Sports North/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 7 p.m.
Toronto at New York Rangers – Rogers Sportsnet Ontario/MSG Network, 8 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Race 14 – CBS, 8 p.m.
The 81st Annual Academy Awards – ABC, 8:30 p.m.
The L Word – Showtime, 9 p.m.
United States of Tara – Showtime, 10 p.m.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl – Showtime, 10:30 p.m.
Jimmy Kimmel Live – ABC, 12:06 a.m. (or 36 minutes after the Academy Awards finish)

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Illinois State at Niagra – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
VCU at Nevada – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

Cycling
Tour of California, stage 6 – Versus, 4 p.m.

Golf
PGA Tour/Northern Trust Open, 2nd round – Golf Channel, 3 p.m.

NBA
Dallas at Houston – ESPN, 8 p.m.
New Orleans at Los Angeles Lakers – ESPN, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Colorado at Washington – Altitude2/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Carolina – Sun Sports/Fox Sports Carolinas, 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Detroit – Fox Sports Prime Ticket/FSN Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 10:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Fox, 8 p.m.
Flashpoint – CBS, 9 p.m.
Monk – USA Network, 9 p.m.
Dollhouse – Fox, 9:01 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 10 p.m.
Dateline NBC – NBC, 10 p.m.
Battlestar Galactica – SciFi, 10 p.m.
Psych – USA Network, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Forbidden Science – Cinemax, midnight
Late Night with Conan O’Brien (series finale) – NBC, 12:37 a.m.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 02/21/09 and 02/22/09, All Times Eastern

Saturday, February 21 (BracketBuster Saturday)

11 a.m.
College Gameday live from Austin, TX – ESPN

Northeastern at Wright State – ESPN2
Liberty at Old Dominion – ESPNU

noon
Notre Dame at Providence – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Butler at Davidson – ESPN

Women’s/Texas at Texas A&M – FSN

1 p.m.
Army at Navy – CBS
Tennessee at Kentucky – CBS

Buffalo at Vermont – ESPN2

Virginia at NC State – Raycom

1:30 p.m.
Baylor at Colorado State – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus
Missouri at Colorado – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus

2 p.m.
Louisville at Cincinnati – Big East Network/ESPN Plus
South Florida at UConn – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Indiana at Purdue – Big Ten Network

Southern Mississippi at UAB – CBS College Sports

Marquette at Georgetown – ESPN

3 p.m.
Northern Iowa at Siena – ESPN2

Washington State at UCLA – FSN

Vanderbilt at Florida – Raycom

San Diego State at New Mexico – Versus

3:30 p.m.
North Carolina at Maryland – ABC

Miami (OH) at Evansville – ESPNU

TCU at Wyoming – the mtn.

4 p.m.
Nebraska at Kansas – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus

Memphis at UTEP – ESPN

5 p.m.
Utah State at St. Mary’s – ESPN

5:30 p.m.
Wisconsin-Green Bay at Long Beach State – ESPNU

6 p.m.
Charlotte at Richmond – CBS College Sports

Colorado State at Air Force – the mtn.

7:30 p.m.
DePaul at Pittsburgh – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Boise State at Portland State – ESPNU

8 p.m.
College Gameday live from Austin, TX – ESPN

9 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas – ESPN

Women’s/Oregon State at Cal – FSN

Women’s/Air Force at Colorado State – the mtn.

9:30 p.m.
George Mason at Creighton – ESPNU

11 p.m.
BYU at Utah – CBS College Sports

11:30 p.m.
Pepperdine at Gonzaga – ESPNU

Sunday, February 22

noon
Lafayette at Lehigh – ESPNU

1 p.m.
Illinois at Ohio State – CBS
Villanova at Syracuse – CBS

Women’s/Iowa State at Kansas – FSN

Clemson at Georgia Tech – Raycom

2 p.m.
Women’s/Notre Dame at UConn – ESPNU

3 p.m.
West Virginia at Rutgers – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Wisconsin at Michigan State – ESPN

Women’s/Georgia at Auburn – FSN

4 p.m.
Women’s/Ohio State at Indiana – ESPN2

5 p.m.
Seton Hall at St. John’s – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Michigan at Iowa – Big Ten Network

Women’s/Duke at Maryland – FSN

7 p.m.
Northwestern at Minnesota – Big Ten Network

7:30 p.m.
Wake Forest at Duke – FSN

10 p.m.
Arizona at Arizona State – FSN

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, February 14

Boxing
Boxing After Dark – HBO, 10 p.m.

Cycling
Tour of California, prologue – Versus, 5 p.m.

English Premier League
Portsmouth vs. Manchester City – Setanta Sports, 9:15 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
LPGA Tour/SBS Open, final round – Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.
PGA Tour/Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, third round – CBS, 3 p.m.

NBA
Inside the NBA – TNT, 5 p.m.
NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Theater – TNT, 7 p.m.
NBA Tip-Off – TNT, 8 p.m.
NBA All-Star Saturday Night – TNT, 8:30 p.m.

NHL
New York Islanders at Philadelphia – MSG Plus/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles – Rogers Sportsnet West/Fox Sports West, 4 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Toronto – CBC/RDS/NHL Network (US)/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Carolina – Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Carolinas, 7 p.m.
Washington at Tampa Bay – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Sun Sports, 7:30 p.m.
Boston at Nashville – WBZ Radio, 8 p.m.
Ottawa at Minnesota – KSTC, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Chicago – Fox Sports Southwest/WGN, 8:30 p.m.
Calgary at Phoenix – CBC/NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 1:30 a.m.

Entertainment
Ask Aida – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
Giada at Home – Food Network, 1 p.m.
Legend of the Seeker – WGN America, 5 p.m. or check your local listings
Cops – Fox, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back – Fox, 9 p.m.
The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre – History Channel, 9:30 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery – CBS, 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Live with Alec Baldwin and the Jonas Brothers – NBC, 11:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 15

Cycling
Tour of California, Stage 1 – Versus, 5 p.m.

Golf
PGA Tour/Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, final round – CBS, 3 p.m.

NBA
NBA Tip-Off – TNT, 8 p.m.
NBA All-Star Game – TNT, 8:30 p.m.

NHL
Philadelphia at New York Rangers – NBC, 12:30 p.m.
San Jose at New Jersey – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/MSG Plus, 3 p.m.
Colorado at Detroit – Altitude/Fox Sports Detroit, 5 p.m.
Washington at Florida – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Florida, 5 p.m.
Atlanta at Anaheim – SportSouth/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 8 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network, 9 p.m.
Montreal at Vancouver – RDS, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Race 14 (season premiere) – CBS, 8 p.m.
The L Word – Showtime, 9 p.m.
Iron Chef America: Symon vs. Trabocchi – Food Network, 10 p.m.
United States of Tara – Showtime, 10 p.m.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl – Showtime, 10:30 p.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Illinois-Chicago at Butler – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Villanova at West Virginia – ESPN, 9 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour/SBS Open, second round – Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.
PGA Tour/Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, second round – Golf Channel, 3 p.m.

NBA
Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam – TNT, 9 p.m.

NHL
Boston at New Jersey – WBZ Radio/MSG Plus, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Columbus – Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
New York Rangers at Florida – MSG Network/Fox Sports Florida, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Buffalo – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/MSG Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at St. Louis – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 8:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Dallas – Rogers Sportsnet Pacific/Fox Sports Southwest, 8:30 p.m.
Montreal at Colorado – TSN/RDS/Altitude, 9 p.m.
NHL On The Fly – NHL Network

Entertainment
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Fox, 8 p.m.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Cartoon Network, 9 p.m.
Monk – USA Network
Dollhouse (series premiere) – Fox, 9:01 p.m.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Cartoon Network, 9:30 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 10 p.m.
Dateline NBC – NBC, 10 p.m.
Psych – USA Network, 10 p.m.
Forbidden Science – Cinemax, 11:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Forbidden Science – Cinemax, midnight

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 02/14/09 and 02/15/09, All Times Eastern

I put together this list every week and I must give credit to the tremendous College Sports on TV site for doing the heavy lifting. The site has every game that’s on national, regional and local TV. I take the list and cull it down to the major networks and syndicators, but give credit to the site for compiling the list.

Saturday, February 14

College Gameday, live from Madison, WI – ESPN, 11 a.m.

noon
UConn at Seton Hall – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Georgetown at Syracuse – ESPN

1 p.m.
Kentucky at Arkansas – CBS
UCLA at Arizona – CBS

Colgate at American – ESPNU

Women’s/Texas Tech at Nebraska – FSN

1:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Penn State – Big Ten Network

Nebraska at Missouri – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus
Texas Tech at Oklahoma – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus

NC State at Georgia Tech – Raycom

2 p.m.
St. Louis at URI – Cox 3

Texas at Colorado – ESPN

3 p.m.
Oregon at Washington – FSN

South Carolina at Alabama – Raycom
Vanderbilt at Tennessee – Raycom

3:30 p.m.
Florida at Georgia – ABC
Kansas at Kansas State – ABC

4 p.m.
Purdue at Iowa – Big Ten Network

Iowa State at Oklahoma State – Big 12 Network/ESPN Plus

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh – ESPN

Florida State at Wake Forest – Raycom
Virginia Tech at Maryland – Raycom

Air Force at Utah – the mtn.

5 p.m.
Memphis at Southern Mississippi – CBS College Sports

Creighton at Southern Illinois – ESPN2

Stanford at Cal – FSN

7 p.m.
Rutgers at Providence – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Tennessee State at Austin Peay – ESPN2
Western Michigan at Miami (OH) – ESPNU

7:30 p.m.
BYU at TCU – the mtn.

8 p.m.
College Gameday, live from Madison, WI – ESPN

9 p.m.
St. John’s at Marquette – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Ohio State at Wisconsin – ESPN
Niagra at Fairfield – ESPN2
Texas State at Lamar – ESPNU

10 p.m.
Wyoming at San Diego State – the mtn.

11 p.m.
Gonzaga at San Francisco – ESPNU

Women’s/Cal at Stanford – FSN

Sunday, February 15

11 a.m.
Women’s/Northwestern at Ohio State – Big Ten Network

1 p.m.
Illinois at Indiana – CBS

Women’s/Georgia at Vanderbilt – ESPN2
Women’s/Illinois at Purdue – ESPN2
Women’s/Marist at Hartford – ESPN2
Women’s/Rutgers at Maryland – ESPN2

Clemson at Virginia – Raycom

2 p.m.
South Florida at Notre Dame – Big East Network/ESPN Plus

Women’s/West Virginia at Marquette – ESPNU

3 p.m.
Michigan at Northwestern – Big Ten Network

Temple at Duquense – CBS College Sports

Women’s/Arizona at USC – FSN

3:30 p.m.
Women’s/Pittsburgh at UConn – ESPN2
Women’s/Southern Mississippi at Marshall – ESPN2
Women’s/Texas at Iowa State – ESPN2
Women’s/Virginia at NC State – ESPN2

4 p.m.
DePaul at Louisvile – ESPNU

Women’s/San Diego State at Wyoming – the mtn.

5 p.m.
Women’s/Minnesota at Michigan – Big Ten Network

5:30 p.m.
Duke at Boston College – FSN

7 p.m.
Illinois State at Drake – ESPNU

7:45 p.m.
North Carolina at Miami (FL) – FSN

10 p.m.
USC at Arizona State – FSN

Another Amazing Race 14 Episode 1 Preview

CBS continues to post previews and again, I thank the lovely puddin at Reality Fan Forum for finding this.

In this preview, we see the teams leave Southern California and head for Switzerland. While there, Preston & Jennifer fight, the teams bungee jump off a very high dam, they have to carry 200 pounds of cheese down a steep hill, and try not to come in last. Very stressful.

The Amazing Race kicks off its 14th season on Sunday at 8 p.m. on …. CBS.

Two Bay Area Press Releases

I would like to note the first press releases from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and California here. I have been posting releases from Comcast SportsNet New England and it’s nice to get these from the West Coast. And these releases deal with the broadcast plans for both Bay Area baseball teams.

First, the Oakland A’s are moving from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area to Comcast SportsNet California and it gives them their own regional sports network without having to worry about conflicts with the San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks or Golden State Warriors.

The A’s and Comcast SportsNet California announce a full schedule of regular season games this season.

COMCAST SPORTSNET CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL OAKLAND ATHLETICS TELECAST SCHEDULE

147-Game Schedule on Comcast SportsNet California is Most Comprehensive Telecast Season in Team History

Schedule Includes 75 Games in HDTV and Expanded A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live Coverage

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Comcast SportsNet California, the new exclusive cable television home of the Oakland Athletics, today announced the most comprehensive Athletics television schedule in the team’s history. Comcast SportsNet California will exclusively present 147 Athletics games (145 regular season, 2 exhibition) for the 2009 Major League Baseball season, an increase of 37 games from the Athletics’ overall telecast schedule last year.

Comcast SportsNet California’s coverage also includes 75 HDTV telecasts, a 75% increase from the previous season and the most HDTV Athletics telecasts ever offered, as well as comprehensive A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live coverage. Today’s announcement was made by Larry Eldridge, Vice President and General Manager, Comcast SportsNet California.

Prior to most home and away games, A’s Pregame Live will present keys to the game, exclusive pregame interviews, feature stories on Athletic players and the latest team news. Immediately following the final out, A’s Postgame Live will feature expert analysis, highlights, clubhouse interviews and player reaction, and a preview of the next game. The reporting for A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live will be based at the stadium and anchored from the network’s new state-of-the art studio, 24-hour newsroom and HD production facilities at 370 3^rd Street (South of Market) in San Francisco. On-air personnel for A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live will be announced at a later date. Calling all the A’s games will be the veteran announcing team of Glen Kuiper and Ray Fosse.

For approximately 24 hours following each game, Comcast SportsNet California’s Athletics telecasts will be available on Comcast Digital Cable’s ON DEMAND Channel 1 at no additional cost. Select Athletics HDTV games will also be available ON DEMAND Channel 1.

Prior to the start of the regular season, Comcast SportsNet California will present Cactus League action from Phoenix Municipal Stadium, when the Athletics take on the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. In addition, the telecast schedule features a contest from the annual Bay Bridge Series as the Athletics play on the road against the Giants on Thursday, April 2 at 7:00 p.m.

The first of 145 regular season games will be seen on Monday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. as the Athletics begin the 2009 season on the road against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Athletics take on the 2008 A.L. West Champion Angels eighteen times on Comcast SportsNet California (April 6, 7, 8, 9; May 4, 5; July 16, 17, 18, 19; August 28, 29, 30; September 25, 26, 27; October 2, 4). The Athletics return to Oakland for their home opener on Friday, April 10 against the Seattle Mariners with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. with A’s Pregame Live and the game telecast at 7:00 p.m.

Extensive Athletics coverage includes games against two-time World Series Champion Boston Red Sox (April 13, 14, 15; July 6, 7, 8, 27, 28, 29, 30), the 26-time World Series Champion New York Yankees (April 20, 21, 22; July 24, 25, 26; August 17, 18, 19), the 2008 A.L. Champion Tampa Bay Rays (April 24, 26; May 18, 19, 20; July 10, 12) and the 2008 A.L. Central Champion Chicago White Sox (June 1, 2, 3; August 14, 16; September 8, 9).

Interleague action includes games against their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants (June 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 24), the 2008 N.L. West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (June 16, 17, 18), the Arizona Diamondbacks (May 22, 23, 24), the San Diego Padres (June 19, 20, 21) and the Colorado Rockies (June 26, 27, 28).

“We are delighted to be the new home of the Oakland Athletics,” said Eldridge. “For the first time A’s fans have a dedicated and exclusive destination where they can follow their favorite team, and fans will get now more games, more insider coverage and more HD with this change. Our 2009 telecast schedule of a record 147 games includes 75 HD telecasts, expanded live pregame and postgame shows, and some innovative programming ‘twists’ that will make Comcast SportsNet California A’s coverage unlike anything that has ever come before.”

And this one is unveils the broadcast plans for the Giants on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

COMCAST SPORTS NET BAY AREA ANNOUNCES

2009 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS COVERAGE ENHANCEMENTS AND TELECAST SCHEDULE

Schedule Features 137 Games – 134 Regular Season Telecasts

and Three Exhibition Games

Network Expands Live Pregame and Postgame Coverage and Increases HDTV Coverage

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the home of “Authentic Bay Area Sports,” announced today its 2009 San Francisco Giants coverage plans, including additional live pre- and post-game coverage and more games in HD than ever before. Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will offer viewers 137 Giants games (134 regular season, 3 exhibition), of which 75 telecasts will be presented in HDTV. The announcement was made by Ted Griggs, Vice President and General Manager, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area begins its coverage on Sunday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m. when the Giants host the Kansas City Royals in Cactus League action from Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona. Additional spring training contests include Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. against the Chicago Cubs and Sunday, April 5 at 1:00 p.m. versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will present the Giants home opener at AT&T Park against the 2008 N.L. Wild Card Winner, the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, April 7. Extensive Giants coverage on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area against playoff contenders include nine contests with the 2008 N.L. West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (April 13, 16, 27, 29; May 10; August 11, 12; September 13, 20), six games against the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies (July 30; August 1, 2; September 1, 2, 3), five matchups with the 2008 N.L. Central Champion Chicago Cubs (May 4, 5; September 24, 25, 27) and six games versus N.L. East contenders the New York Mets (May 14, 15; August 14, 15, 16, 17).

Interleague action includes games against their cross-bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics (June 12, 14, 22, 24), the 2008 A.L. West Champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (June 15, 16, 17), the Seattle Mariners (May 23, 24) and the Texas Rangers (June 19, 21).

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will present 75 Giants games in HDTV, a 25% increase from the previous season and the most HDTV Giants telecasts the network has offered in a single season. For approximately 24 hours following each game, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Giants telecasts will be available on Comcast Digital Cable’s ON DEMAND Channel 1 at no additional cost. Select Giants HDTV games will also be available ON DEMAND Channel 1.

Prior to most home and away games, Giants Pregame Live will present a preview of the upcoming game, exclusive pregame interviews, feature stories on Giants players and the latest team news. Immediately following the final out, Giants Postgame Live will feature in-depth game analysis, highlights, clubhouse interviews and player reaction, and a preview of the next game. All the reporting for Giants Pregame Live and Giants Postgame Live will be from the stadium and anchored from the network’s new state-of-the art studio, 24-hour newsroom and HD production facilities at 370 3^rd Street (South of Market) in San Francisco. On-air personnel for Giants Pregame Live and Giants Postgame Live will be announced at a later date.

“We’re pleased to offer our viewers the most comprehensive coverage ever in the history of Giants baseball,” said Griggs. “Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s coverage of the Giants continues to improve and gets stronger every season as part of our commitment to give Giants fans inside, in-depth coverage. With a 2009 baseball telecast schedule of 137 Giants games, 75 HDTV telecasts, along with expanded Giants Pregame Live and Giants Postgame Live, Giants fans can look forward to exciting baseball on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area all season long.”

And that does it for now. Again, thanks to the people at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and California for sending these releases over.

The L Word, Episode 5 Previews

This week, I have two clips for Episode 5 (just four more episodes!) of The L Word.

In this first clip, Alice finds out that Jenny has stolen her idea for her new movie script.

So you have another suspect in Jenny’s death. This next clip is Crazy Jenny forbidding Shane to see Nikki.

The next episode is on Showtime Sunday night at 9.

More Press Release Data

I have more press releases to pass along for you. Let’s start with the two biggest sports attractions of the weekend, the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game.

I’ll start with the Daytona 500 since it’s scheduled first on Sunday. Here are highlights of a Fox Sports media conference call with the announcing crew of Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond.

NASCAR on FOX’s broadcasters Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Mike Joy joined FOX Sports Chairman David Hill and President Ed Goren to preview this weekend’s Daytona 500 action and FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2009 season today during a media conference call.

Darrell Waltrip on Jimmie Johnson’s chances of making NASCAR history and winning a fourth straight Points Championship: “Three in a row is pretty special because only one other person, Cale Yarborough, has ever done it in the history of NASCAR. If you win four championships in a row, you have put yourself in a class by yourself. Until somebody proves to me they have what it takes to do what he and Chad Knaus can do, which is make no mistakes in the last ten races, I’m going to bet on Jimmie Johnson.”

David Hill on the economic state of NASCAR : “We have been very gratified that advertisers are stepping up to the plate. It’s like every year – sponsors come and sponsors go. We’re very, very comfortable about where we are. Any sports’ popularity is going to be related to the number of people who sit and watch it. NASCAR’s popularity remains strong. We had an increase in ratings last year and we’re hoping that we get an increase in ratings this year.”

Larry McReynolds on how Jimmie Johnson uses the regular season to prepare for the Chase for the Championship: “Before the Chase format, you used to win the championship one race at a time. That’s not true anymore. You win the championship now in 10 races. You have the luxury in those first 26 races to get yourself in only the top-12. When the final 10 get there, you want to have done all of your homework, preparation and be ready to attack.”

Mike Joy on how NASCAR’s drivers make opportunities for themselves: “There are several start-up teams, like Joe Nemechek’s and Jeremy Mayfield’s, that didn’t exist 30 days ago. In Mayfield’s case, he didn’t arrive with an established team for the Daytona 500, so he put a team together. Every person working on his car now was laid off last fall by a team. Every problem creates an opportunity somewhere else.”

Jeff Hammond on the unique relationship between Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus: “When it comes to Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, they have the most one-dimensional team. They’re all thinking alike, they all react as one. They don’t beat themselves. They are about as perfect a race team you could draw on paper.”

Onto to Sirius XM which provides its complete schedule of coverage for the Daytona 500.

SIRIUS XM RADIO ANNOUNCES DAYTONA 500 BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR will provide listeners with the live race call plus access to in-car audio on additional Driver2Crew Chatter™ channels

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio channel 128 to broadcast live daily from Daytona Int’l Speedway

On race day, listeners will hear 15 hours of live coverage of the 51^st running of the Daytona 500

NEW YORK – February 12, 2009 – SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR, announced today that it will provide comprehensive coverage of the 2009 Daytona 500 on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, the only radio channel dedicated to NASCAR 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, available nationwide on SIRIUS channel 128 and now on XM channel 128 with the “Best of SIRIUS” programming package, will broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway throughout NASCAR Speedweeks offering every race, including the Daytona 500, plus live talk, news, analysis and interviews every day.

On Sunday, February 15, SIRIUS XM will provide listeners with 15 hours of live coverage of the 51^st running of the Daytona 500 starting at 9:00 am ET. SIRIUS NASCAR Radio will present live play-by-play of all the action on the track from the moment the green flag drops to the waving of the checkered flag, plus full pre- and post-race coverage that will include expert analysis, reports from pit road and the garages, driver introductions and interviews with the race winner and other competitors.

SIRIUS XM will also offer additional Driver2Crew Chatter™ channels that will carry the in-car audio of NASCAR’s top drivers as they compete in The Great American Race. Driver2Crew Chatter™ channels combine the race broadcast with the pit crew communications, allowing fans to follow the overall race call and the in-car audio of a driver on a single channel. The “Fan’s Choice” channel will feature the in-car audio of a driver determined by fans who log on to www.sirius.com/nascar and vote from a selection of competitors.

For this weekend’s Daytona 500, SIRIUS subscribers and XM subscribers with the “Best of SIRIUS” programming package can hear the following:

• Live race call provided by MRN – SIRIUS 128 / XM 128
• Jimmie Johnson in-car audio – SIRIUS 121 / XM 102
• Tony Stewart in-car audio – SIRIUS 125 / XM 103
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. in-car audio – SIRIUS 126 / XM 104
• Jeff Gordon in-car audio – SIRIUS 127 / XM 105
• Fan’s Choice (Driver TBD) – SIRIUS 113 / XM 106

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio will also provide live coverage of both Gatorade Duels, the 150 mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying races, on Thursday, Feb. 12 (1:15 pm ET), the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, Feb. 13 (7:30 pm ET), and the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Feb. 14 (12:45 pm ET).

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio hosts will broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway throughout Speedweeks with shows that will air live from the “Fan Deck” atop the Cup garage, providing NASCAR fans with exclusive interviews, news and expert analysis.

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio’s daily weekday lineup begins at 7:00 am ET with The Morning Drive (7:00 – 11:00 am ET), hosted by Mike Bagley and David Poole, followed by Tradin’ Paint (11:00am – 3:00pm ET), hosted by Steve Post, Rick Benjamin, Danny “Chocolate” Myers, and Hall of Famer Buddy Baker, then SIRIUS Speedway (3:00 – 7:00 pm ET), hosted by Dave Moody. Late Shift, hosted by Alex Hayden and Buddy Baker, airs Mondays and Tuesdays (7:00 – 10:00 pm ET), followed on Monday night by Mojo Nixon’s Manifold Destiny (10:00 pm – midnight ET).

Wednesday through Friday (7:00 – 10:00 pm ET), Claire B. Lang hosts Dialed In. Lang has hosted Dialed In on XM Radio since 2001 and has been a fixture in the NASCAR garage every weekend, providing her listeners with up-to-the-moment news and interviews.

Lang, Steve Post and Alex Hayden, three of the best reporters covering NASCAR today, will team up for SIRIUS NASCAR Radio’s pre- and post race shows to give NASCAR fans a comprehensive view of everything on, inside and around the track every weekend.

On Monday, February 16, The Morning Drive will broadcast live from the Daytona 500 Experience at the speedway where hosts Mike Bagley and David Poole will conduct live in-person interviews with the 2009 Daytona 500 Champion driver, crew chief and team owner.

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio / ch. 128 – Daytona 500 Week Schedule: (All times ET)

Thursday–Friday:

· 7:00 am – 11:00 am: “The Morning Drive,” hosted by Mike Bagley and David Poole

· 11:00 am – 3:00 pm: “Tradin’ Paint,” hosted by Steve Post/Rick Benjamin/Chocolate Myers/Buddy Baker

· 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm: “SIRIUS Speedway,” hosted by Dave Moody

· 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: “Dialed In” hosted by Claire B. Lang

Thursday:

· 1:15 pm: NASCAR Sprint Cup Gatorade Duels (race broadcasts preempt regularly scheduled programming

Friday:

· 7:30 pm: NextEra Energy Resources 250 Camping World Truck Series Race (race broadcast preempts regularly scheduled programming

Saturday

· 9:00 am – 12:45 pm: “The Front Stretch” hosted by Pat Patterson

· 12:45 pm – 4:00 pm: Camping World 300 Presented by Chevrolet NASCAR Nationwide Series Race

· 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: “Press Pass” hosted by Alex Hayden and Steve Post

· 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: “Dialed In” hosted by Claire B. Lang

Sunday

· 9:00 am – 11:30 am: “The Front Stretch” hosted by Pat Patterson

· 11:30 am – 1:30 pm: “SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre-Race Show” hosted by Claire B. Lang and Steve Post

· 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm (approx): Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race

· 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: “SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post-Race Show” hosted by Steve Post, Alex Hayden and Claire B. Lang

· 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm: “The Back Stretch” hosted by Pat Patterson and Claire B. Lang

Monday:

· 7:00 am – 11:00 am: “The Morning Drive,” hosted by Mike Bagley and David Poole live from the Daytona 500 Experience at the speedway.

(Schedule subject to change.)

Next, NBA TV says it’s going to provide extensive coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend.

MEDIA ADVISORY

NBA All-Star 2009 Tips Off on NBA TV Airwaves with Extensive Live Coverage of Weekend Festivities

NBA D-League All-Star Game airs live on Sat., Feb. 14; Free Preview continues until Wed., Feb. 18

NBA TV takes center court for coverage of NBA All-Star 2009 in Phoenix, AZ, as the network offers comprehensive coverage and behind-the-scenes access of the weekend’s events. The network’s stable of announcers will be on-hand throughout the weekend with hosts Ahmad Rashad, Rick Kamla, Andre Aldridge and Marc Fein, analysts Chris Webber, Gary Payton, Steve Smith and Eric Snow and NBA.com correspondents Kyle Montgomery and Melanie Collins all making on-air appearances throughout the weekend. TNT announcers will also make appearances on NBA TV’s All-Star coverage.

Highlights of NBA TV coverage include the Hall of Fame Press Conference (Feb. 13, 1 p.m. ET) and NBA D-League All-Star Game (Feb. 14, 4 p.m. ET) along with exclusive interviews with players throughout the weekend.

On Fri., Feb. 13, NBA TV will tip off coverage at 11:30 a.m. ET with the 2009 NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge Practice, followed by the Hall of Fame Press Conference. The network will give viewers inside access during media availability where players participating in the challenge will share their thoughts about the weekend. At 6 p.m. ET, NBA TV will air the first of two special editions of The Beat, a roundtable show hosted by Fein and David Aldridge featuring NBA beat writers from media outlets across the country.

On Sat., Feb. 14 at 12:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV will provide live coverage of the 2009 NBA All-Star East/West Practice, catching up with the All-Stars who will compete in the star-studded NBA All-Star Game. At 4 p.m. ET, the NBA D-League All-Star Game tips off live as Kamla, Smith and Fein provide coverage. NBA GameTime gets underway at 6:30 p.m. ET and will include footage from NBA Commissioner David Stern’s press conference as well as reports from NBA Jam Session. Following TNT’s coverage of NBA All-Star Saturday Night, NBA GameTime Live will air on NBA TV at 11 p.m. ET.

The NBA Legends Brunch will be featured on the network on Sun., Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. ET. An hour-long NBA All-Star Sunday edition of The Beat will air at 5 p.m. ET, followed at 6 p.m. ET by NBA GameTime featuring the red carpet entrances of celebrities, players and entertainers who are attending the highly anticipated event. Following the NBA All-Star Game, NBA TV will feature Inside the NBA on NBA TV at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Fans across the country will have access to the extensive All-Star coverage on NBA TV with the network’s free preview that will continue until Wed., Feb. 18, allowing cable and satellite distribution partners the opportunity to showcase the 24-hour network to all of their viewers.

The network’s Fan Night voting will remain open until Sun., Feb. 15, allowing fans the opportunity to vote on the matchup they most want to see throughout NBA All-Star Weekend, with the selected game airing on Tues., Feb. 17. On Tues., Feb. 17 and Wed., Feb. 18, Fan Night voting will reopen for the fans to select the game that will air on Tues., Feb. 24. All selections are available on NBA.com.

NBA TV’s weekly programming will feature its three signature nights, including:

Fan Night (Tues. Feb. 17): The Beat is a weekly roundtable show featuring NBA beat writers from newspapers across the country who will join host Marc Fein and TNT Insider David Aldridge to cover hot topics and NBA news.

Fan Night voting opens on NBA.com on Tues., Feb. 17 for fans to decide the next NBA matchup they most want to see televised on NBA TV on Tues., Feb. 24. Voting will remain open until Wed., Feb. 18 with the fans’ selection being announced that night on NBA TV.

Premiere Night (Wed., Feb. 18): A one-hour special of NBA All-Star 2009 with Ahmad Rashad will air on Wed. Feb. 18. As the NBA takes its show to Phoenix for All-Star Weekend, NBA TV will take a look back and recap the events from the entire weekend. The show will show highlights from the Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam., Shooting Stars, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk. In addition, Rashad will recap the main event, the 58th NBA All-Star Game. The show will also feature some of the other stories surrounding the weekend, including the Latin flavor of this year’s festivities, the history of the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, and some of the memorable All-Star moments from a hometown favorite, Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal, as he makes his 15th NBA All-Star appearance.

Legends Night (Thurs. Feb. 19): Thursday nights on NBA TV will continue to showcase the rich heritage of the NBA during Legends Night with a showcase of NBA legend Michael Jordan’s greatest moments, including NBA Home Video: Come Fly with Me, Hardwood Classic: Jordan’s 55 points against the New York Knicks in 1995, NBA Home Video: His Airness, and Hardwood Classic: Bulls @ Jazz, Game #5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

Over to NBC Sports which talks about Sunday’s Flyers-Rangers NHL Game of the Week pick.

RANGERS HOST ARCHRIVAL FLYERS IN NHL GAME OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY ON NBC

“There are no two ways about it, these teams hate each other and always will. — NBC’s Milbury on Flyers-Rangers

Ovechkin Faces Malkin & Crosby as Penguins at Capitals Flexed Into Feb. 22 Game of the Week

NEW YORK – Feb. 12, 2009 – The New York Rangers will host their fierce rival the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL Game of the Week, Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC, presented in high definition. 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 Madison Square Garden. NBC's NHL coverage is produced by Sam Flood, the son of a hockey coach and former captain of the Williams College hockey team.

With a win last night, the Ranger pulled even with the Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings with the Flyers holding three games in hand. The Rangers, losers of five of their last six, seek to rebound against a Philly team that has won its last two on the road. Jeff Carter leads the Flyers with 34 goals and 58 points, both career bests. His 34 goals rank second in the NHL. The Rangers are led by their stellar netminder Henrik Lundqvist, a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist.

MCGUIRE ON THE RANGERS TROUBLES: "Everybody's in a funk for the Rangers at the same time. They need to find a way to score goals, that's obvious. Even earlier in the season, when they were winning, it was with team defense and goaltending. Their puck movement from their defense, supposedly a strength, has been a glaring weakness. And they miss Jaromir Jagr. He and Marty Straka opened up so much room for everyone else on the ice." 

MILBURY ON THE RIVALRY: "There are no two ways about it, these teams hate each other and always will."

PENGUINS AT CAPITALS FLEXED INTO FEB. 22 "GAME OF THE WEEK": The Sunday, Feb. 22 contest between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals has been selected for the "NHL Game of the Week" on NBC. Puck drop is at 12:30 p.m. ET. The game features some of the game's brightest young stars including Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins, and Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals, who rank 1-3 respectively in the NHL in points.

MCGUIRE ON OVECHKIN: "He's the best player in the world. You have to go all the way back to 'Rocket' Richard to find a player like him."

NBCSPORTS.COM & NHL.COM PRESENT "STAR-CAM": NBCSports.com and NHL.com will offer a "Star-cam" in conjunction with NBC broadcasts, which will follow one player on each team throughout each of his shifts. Following the game, NBCSports.com will present a post-game show with game highlights and highlights from "Star-cam" and "Net-cam," along with analysis from McGuire and Milbury.

FLEX SCHEDULING & CONSISTENT 12:30 PM ET START TIME: For the first time, "Game of the Week" broadcasts have a consistent start time – 12:30 p.m. ET on Sundays (except for April 12, 2 p.m. start time). For the second straight season, the NHL and NBC will utilize flex scheduling and will be able to select from up to four games on Sunday afternoons. Thirteen days prior to the scheduled games (on Mondays), NBC, in conjunction with the NHL, will select one of those games as the "Game of the Week" to be broadcast during the NBC window. The other games will remain available to the teams' regional carrier but will not be televised during NBC's broadcast window.

NBC will also broadcast weekend games throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and up to five Stanley Cup Final games.

REMAINING 2009 NHL GAME OF THE WEEK REGULAR SEASON FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE
(All Games Announced At Least 13 Days Prior)

Sunday, Feb. 15, 12:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia @ New York Rangers

Sunday, Feb. 22, 12:30 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh @ Washington

Sunday, March 8, 12:30 p.m. ET
Boston @ New York Rangers
Pittsburgh @ Washington
Phoenix @ New York Islanders
Colorado @ Chicago

Sunday, March 15, 12:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia @ New York Rangers
Detroit @ Columbus
Boston @ Pittsburgh

Sunday, March 22, 12:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh
New Jersey @ Boston
Los Angeles @ Chicago

Sunday, April 5, 12:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota @ Detroit
Pittsburgh @ Florida
Atlanta @ Washington

Sunday, April 12, 2 p.m. ET
New York Rangers @ Philadelphia
Detroit @ Chicago
Boston @ New York Islanders
St. Louis @ Columbus

And it’s never too early to talk college football. ESPN has already made its pick for Labor Day primetime as well as various Thursday night games.

Labor Day and Thursday Primetime Matchups Highlight Early College Football Selections for 2009

Miami at Florida State Returns to Labor Day; 12 Thursday Night Matchups Determined

A top rivalry on Labor Day and marquee matchups on Thursday nights are among the telecasts slated for ESPN’s 2009 college football schedule. Additional games will be announced in the coming months. Highlights include:

• ESPN will televise Miami at Florida State on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. ET. It will mark the first time the intrastate ACC rivals have played on Labor Day since 2006, which was ESPN’s most-viewed college football game ever with 6,330,000 households (based on a 6.9 rating). ABC also televised the matchup on Labor Day in 2005.

• ESPN’s popular Thursday night series — ESPN College Football Primetime – will kick off September 3 at 7 p.m. with South Carolina at N.C. State. ACC teams will be involved in six of ESPN’s Thursday night telecasts in 2009, including the first-ever game from North Carolina. Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and North Carolina will play in two Thursday games while Florida State, Miami, Clemson and N.C. State will play one each.

• In addition to the opening Thursday game, South Carolina will host SEC foe Mississippi Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m.

• A Big 12 institution will be the home team on three of ESPN’s Thursday night games, including Texas playing Texas A&M in primetime on Thanksgiving for the second consecutive year (ESPN previously televised the in-state rivalry between the Aggies and Longhorns from 1984-89 and 1991-93). Last year was the first time a Big 12 Conference school was the host on an ESPN Thursday telecast.

In addition, Nebraska will play at Missouri in the first Thursday game from Columbia. Mo. since 1992 and Oklahoma State will host Colorado in the first Thursday game ever from Boone Pickens Stadium.

• ESPN will televise the annual Civil War rivalry game pitting Oregon State at intrastate Pac-10 Conference rival Oregon Thursday, Dec. 3, at 9 p.m., marking the first-ever Thursday game from Oregon.

• Two Saturday night telecasts will include:

• Saturday Night Football on ABC, the first and only weekly college football primetime series on broadcast television, will include Texas Tech at Texas September 19 at 8 p.m. Last season’s thrilling matchup featured Texas Tech defeating then-#1 Texas on a last-second touchdown pass, giving Texas their only loss of the season.

• ESPN will televise USC at Ohio State in primetime Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. USC defeated Ohio State 35-3 last year in the first meeting between the traditional powers since 1990. USC has not lost to Ohio State since 1974.

The 2009 schedule through February 12, 2009 (additional selections will be announced):

Thu., Sept. 3	7 p.m.	ESPN	South Carolina at N.C. State
Mon., Sept. 7	8 p.m.	ESPN	Miami at Florida State
Thu., Sept. 10	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Clemson at Georgia Tech
Sat., Sept. 12	8 p.m.	ESPN	USC at Ohio State
Thu., Sept. 17	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Georgia Tech at Miami
Sat., Sept. 19	8 p.m.	ABC	Texas Tech at Texas
Thu., Sept. 24	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Mississippi at South Carolina
Thu., Oct. 1	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Colorado at West Virginia
Thu., Oct. 8	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Nebraska at Missouri
Thu., Oct. 22	8 p.m.	ESPN	Florida State at North Carolina
Thu., Oct. 29	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	North Carolina at Virginia Tech
Thu., Nov. 5	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Virginia Tech at East Carolina
Thu., Nov. 19	7:30 p.m.	ESPN	Colorado at Oklahoma State
Thu., Nov. 26	8 p.m.	ESPN	Texas at Texas A&M
Thu., Dec. 3	9 p.m.	ESPN	Oregon State at Oregon

That’s going to do it.