tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41623625816794392352024-03-05T21:32:44.691-08:00Da BlogThe ONLY blog written by Morgan Wick.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-17831077363637765412008-12-12T21:06:00.000-08:002008-12-12T23:06:14.704-08:00Predictions for SportsCenter's "Top 10 Games" of 2008In case you haven't heard, this was a particularly exciting year in sports. When ESPN's "SportsCenter" does its annual "Top 10 Games" countdown, they could easily extend it to a Top 20. With so many great games, I've taken it upon myself to take my own stab at mimicking the ESPN list and what it might look like.<br />
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Between some college football playoff-related features and Da Blog's regular features, I think it's reasonable to schedule the College Football Rankings' release, as well as the bowl schedule, for Thursday.<br />
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#10: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, men's basketball gold medal match, USA v. Spain. The "Redeem Team" lives up to their name in a game <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3575385&campaign=rsssrch&source=bill_simmons">Bill Simmons called</a> "one of the 10 most dramatic basketball games of my lifetime. And nobody gave a crap or even knew. The game started at 2:30 in the morning ET and vanished into thin air. Only West Coasters and super-diehards stayed up to see it."<br />
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#9: <strong>NHL Hockey</strong>, Winter Classic, Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres. Could the NHL have asked for anything less than a shootout from the first (true) Winter Classic?<br />
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#8: <strong>College football</strong>, SEC Championship Game, Florida v. Alabama. If the regular season is a playoff, this was its semifinal - and it certainly played like one.<br />
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#7: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, ALCS Game 5, Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox. For the moment, just forget about the fact the Sox couldn't come all the way back to win the series.<br />
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#6: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, swimming, 4x100m freestyle relay OR 100m butterfly OR 4x100m medley relay. The first two were dramatic finishes on Michael Phelps' road to Mark Spitz's record. The last was the one that broke it and had an exciting finish of its own. And I only have it at #6.<br />
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#5: <strong>College football</strong>, Texas @ Texas Tech. The Red Raiders came out to an early lead, only to see Texas come storming back to take a lead of its own. In the end, Texas Tech had the play of the year, and as it turned out, the one that kept Texas out of the National Championship Game.<br />
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#4: <strong>Wimbledon</strong>, men's final, Roger Federer v. Rafael Nadal. This and the next two I could have put in any order. A five-set, record-length classic that ended with Nadal finally getting the best of Federer away from clay.<br />
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#3: <strong>Men's college basketball</strong>, NCAA Tournament Final, Kansas v. Memphis. Finally, a National Championship game that lives up to being the culmination of March Madness instead of being a complete anticlimax!<br />
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#2: <strong>US Open Golf</strong>, playoff, Tiger Woods v. Rocco Mediate. 19 holes of pure tension, as basically an unknown gives Tiger every inch of challenge he has, and brings out Tiger's best to put him on top. And Tiger was injured to the extent it's still the last event he's played!<br />
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#1: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Super Bowl XLII, New England Patriots v. New York Giants. Perhaps the greatest iteration ever of the biggest sporting event of every year? How can it <em>not</em> be #1?<br />
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Honorable Mentions: IRL racing, Indy Japan 300 (Danica wins!); Euro 2008 quarterfinal, Croatia v. Turkey (or was it the semis, where Germany beat Turkey? Basically a sop to my soccer-crazed dad anyway); MLB Home Run Derby; ArenaBowl XXII, Soul v. SaberCats (about the only thing that could make it better is if it were the last one); some NBA game I'm forgetting; some obscure game I never heard of or just didn't watch (possibly from MMA, boxing, the LLWS, Fresno State's run, the WNBA, MLS, or the like)Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-56803978515049214602008-12-05T11:45:00.000-08:002008-12-05T11:52:23.970-08:00I think I'm done with Sports Watcher for the foreseeable future...According to Wikipedia, <a href="http://www.megavideo.com/">MegaVideo</a> wants to replace YouTube as THE place to get video online. However, it restricts how much video you can view before having to wait an hour if you're not a paying member. And it does this based on people's IP addresses, not by putting a cookie on your computer or even by tracking non-paying members separately.<br />
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If you're creating a situation where people on a shared network using one IP address - say, at a school, or at a WiFi cafe - can be cut out through no fault of their own, and end up competing to get the most video out of the IP address's 72 minutes, you're going to have a hard time going after YouTube.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-31611868970790132272008-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:002008-11-27T09:00:00.511-08:00Thanksgiving Day Sports WatcherWatch Titans-Lions, Seahawks-Cowboys, and Cardinals-Eagles.<br />
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Hey, it's what you're doing anyway.<br />
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Providence @ Baylor is on ESPN2 at 8:30 PM PT for those of you who have been waiting for the debut of college basketball on the Watcher.<br />
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Not sure if I'll have a watcher for the rest of the weekend.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-7795018582429053052008-11-21T16:00:00.000-08:002008-11-21T16:00:00.147-08:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 11/22-23All times PST.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, Yale @ Harvard (VS). You know how, when a week of college football is crap all around, "College Gameday" will sometimes go to a I-AA or lower matchup? In the early time slot, this is one of those weeks.<br />
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12:30-4 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, Michigan State @ #6 Penn State (ABC/ESPN). Oh wait, everyone hates the Big Ten.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, defending Princeton-Yale titleholder #5 Texas Tech @ #4 Oklahoma (ABC). The latest Game of the Century just to come out of the Big 12. And the Title Game - which could have more impact on the BCS than any of the other Games - is still a couple weeks off.<br />
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Sunday<br />
9:30-12 PM: <strong>NBA Basketball</strong>, Celtics @ Raptors (CBC). This will probably fill our NBA quota on weekends until college football season ends, and maybe after.<br />
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12:30-2:30 PM: <strong>MLS Soccer</strong>, MLS Cup (ABC). Sadly, the main reason I've been ignoring the MLS is because their weekend games have been on eminently-ignorable Fox Soccer Channel. My soccer-crazed dad has asked me to include this paragraph: "To borrow a theme from John McCain, David Beckham is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. He is not, however the best player in MLS. That honor will go to either the Columbus Crew's brilliant Argentinian Guillermo Schelotto - who led Boca Jumiors to several Argentine Championships between 1997 and 2007 - and The New York Red Bulls Juan Pablo Angel - who comes to MLS from Columbia. So this might not be ABC's "Marquee matchup," of say, Beckham's Galaxy against Cuahtemoc Blanco's Chicago Fire. It is, though, an intriguing matchup of two hot teams with brilliant star players. I will be watching."<br />
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5:15-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Colts @ Chargers (NBC). Because the MLS Cup knocks out both of the regular doubleheader spots. At least it's a lineal title defense.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-38776521018613571322008-11-14T16:00:00.000-08:002008-11-14T16:00:02.757-08:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 11/15-16All times PST.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, Notre Dame v. Navy from Baltimore (CBS). The only positive B Point games going on are Big 10 games against scrubs. You can partly blame the Positive B Point Contraction, but this is really a boring weekend.<br />
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1-4:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Nationwide Series Racing</strong>, Ford 300 (ESPN2). Final race of the Nationwide Series season preempts all three games between teams in positve B Points.<br />
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6:30-8:30 PM: <strong>MLS Soccer</strong>, Red Bulls @ Real Salt Lake (Fox Soccer Channel). I think you need Stephen Hawking to decode the MLS playoff system. So in the conference semifinals, you have a home-and-home with higher aggregate score moving on, then the conference championship is a single game with home field advantage, then the MLS Cup moves to a theoretically neutral site? And WHAT the HELL is NEW YORK doing in the WESTERN Conference Playoffs?<br />
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Sunday<br />
12-5 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Ford 400 (ABC). Finally, the slow, unrelenting slog known as the Chase for the Championship is over.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Cowboys @ Redskins (NBC). Obviously a game of tremendous importance. Gah, I'm so worn out by this feature.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-33404806273227963782008-11-07T16:00:00.000-08:002008-11-07T16:00:00.265-08:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 11/8-9I think I need to take another break from the Watcher in a few weeks. All times PST.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, #20 Georgia Tech @ #16 North Carolina (Raycom Sports). Wait, why didn't ABC pick this up for their ACC package? Clemson-Florida State? The Bowden Bowl is less than pointless this year!<br />
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12:30-4 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, #2 Penn State @ #19 Iowa (ABC/ESPN). There are no fewer than six games between two teams ranked in my Top 25 this week!<br />
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4-7:30 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, Kansas State @ #7 Missouri (FSN). The item below bumps out the latest Big 12 Battle of the Century.<br />
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7:30-9:30 PM: <strong>MLS Soccer</strong>, Real Salt Lake @ Chivas USA (Fox Soccer Channel). Didn't we just do this last week? Who cares about a team with a name like Real Salt Lake?<br />
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Sunday<br />
10-12:30 PM: <strong>NBA Basketball</strong>, Raptors @ Bobcats (CBC). Wait, the Raptors are on a national network that penetrates into parts of the United States???<br />
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12-4 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil (ABC). Judging by the ads, the Chase is actually getting interesting???<br />
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Honorable Mention: 1-3 PM: <strong>PBR Rodeo</strong>, Built Ford Tough World Finals (NBC). Thank God for NASCAR bumping this bleep off the Watcher.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Giants @ Eagles (NBC). Flex Scheduling Watch is probably coming later tonight, folks.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-27752228215153061492008-10-31T10:00:00.000-07:002008-10-31T13:06:24.972-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 11/1-2 (with a Halloween bonus!)All times PDT, or PST, as applicable. I briefly forgot I had set this for the morning...<br />
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Friday<br />
5-7:30 PM: NBA Basketball, Bulls @ Celtics (ESPN). Whatever.<br />
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7:30-10 PM: NBA Basketball, Spurs @ Trail Blazers (ESPN). Without Oden it's just "Spurs @ a non-playoff team that doesn't have its much-hyped superstar that's proving to be Sam Bowie 2.0".<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: College football, Miami (FL) @ Virginia (Raycom). Probably the only ACC game I'm going to spotlight all year.<br />
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12:30-4 PM: College football, defending 2008 BCS titleholder #2 Florida v. #11 Georgia (CBS). I'm going to be watching this but mostly writing my platform examinations. Speaking of which, due to rain any examinations I complete today won't be posted until after 9 PM PT.<br />
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3-5 PM: MLS Soccer, Chivas USA @ Real Salt Lake (Fox Soccer Channel). The other two MLS playoff games today would have fit in perfectly well on one tripleheader, but only this game is on TV.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: College football, defending Princeton-Yale titleholder #1 Texas @ #6 Texas Tech (ABC). Watching this while writing examinations as well.<br />
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Sunday<br />
12-4:30 PM: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing, Dickies 500 (ABC). You can tell we're in the home stretch of the Chase when the start times start moving to noon PT.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: NFL Football, Patriots @ Colts (NBC). Without Tom Brady and the Colts being any good it's just "a possible wild card contender with a nobody QB @ a total scrub team".Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-30582245251782808822008-10-24T16:00:00.000-07:002008-10-24T16:00:00.657-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/25-26All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9:30-1 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #24 Kentucky @ defending 2008 BCS titleholder #5 Florida (Raycom Sports). Raycom always seems to get unusually good games from the SEC... too bad that's about to end.<br />
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12:30-4 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, defending Princton-Yale titleholder #6 Oklahoma State @ #1 Texas (ABC). The Northeast is getting this game. The Rockies are getting this game. Parts of the South are getting this game. But seriously, you couldn't have found some way to get this better national distribution? The Pac-10 and Big 12 really need better contracts; the SEC and Big 10 are almost guaranteed to have their top game going out nationally every week. Surprised the Big 12 resigned almost an identical deal last year after the Big 10 got a reverse-mirror deal.<br />
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Alternately: 12:30-4 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #12 Georgia @ LSU (CBS) or Virginia Tech @ Florida State (ABC/ESPN2). You have to live on the West Cosat (like me) to be completely reduced to Georgia-LSU.<br />
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3:30-7 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Colorado @ #11 Missouri (FSN). Really just a gapfiller.<br />
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7-9:30 PM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, UFC 90 (PPV). Isn't this an awfully quick turnaround from UFC 89?<br />
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Sunday<br />
10-3 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Pep Boys Auto 500 (ABC). Does NASCAR need to move the Chase away from NFL season?<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Rays @ Phillies (FOX). Sorry, no NFL this week.<br />
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8-10 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, Gold Coast IndyCar 300 (ESPN2). Does this really count? I mean, it's so far after the end of the season...Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-77093159999600441772008-10-17T16:00:00.000-07:002008-10-17T16:00:00.644-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/18-19All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9:30-1 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, #23 Vanderbilt @ #13 Georgia (Raycom Sports, available free online from <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/jps">Yahoo Sports</a>). When you think about it, the SEC's new deal isn't much different from their old one. They even have Arkansas-Kentucky on ESPNU this week. Except their syndicator is ESPN Plus now, so it's not even available to everyone online. So they're still screwing themselves out of a good third place game getting national exposure. Maybe ESPNU will become less of the ACC Network, I don't know.<br />
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12:30-3 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, #17 Kansas @ #4 Oklahoma (ABC, not available in most markets). I'd say the Big 12 gets screwed by never getting reverse mirrored on ESPN with the Big 10 game when the craptastic ACC does, but it does have Texas-Missou in primetime going to the whole country.<br />
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Alternately: 12:30-3 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #28 Ohio State @ #11 Michigan State (ABC or ESPN). I just realized that somehow, the Week 7 rankings aren't on the web site as I thought. Either they got dropped from the backups in Freehostia's ongoing transfer, or I just forgot them. Sure enough, Sandsday is missing a strip now so it's the former. You might have wanted to make your last backup after shutting off the file manager, guys - unless you still have backups and you're sadistically torturing me with the old copy because it's fresh or something. (Man, how ill-timed is this whole voting sequence, with the cold last weekend and the backing-up this weekend?)<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Red Sox @ Rays (TBS). Well after that comeback I might actually watch and pay attention to this game. A damn shame it's not on broadcast.<br />
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9-12 AM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, UFC 89 (SpikeTV). Same on both coasts. I don't think anyone other than diehards cares about the main event match.<br />
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Sunday<br />
10-3 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, TUMS QuikPak 500 (ABC). I've dropped a lot of NASCAR Chase for the Cup races, haven't I?<br />
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5:15-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Broncos @ Patriots (NBC). Hey, remember when the Patriots had a half-decent quarterback for a couple of years?Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-86866192645984512002008-10-10T16:00:00.000-07:002008-10-10T16:00:00.300-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/11-12All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #3 Texas v. #1 Oklahoma (ABC). The loser will not play for a national championship. The winner will look good to do so but needs to not screw it up.<br />
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12-3:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #19 Nebraska @ #7 Texas Tech (FSN). Alternately, Michigan State-Northwestern on the Deuce.<br />
4-8:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Bank of America 500 (ABC). It's the midpoint of the Chase, and I gain the ability to slot in an NFL daytime game! Without help from another sport and with the ability to pick the late (or middle, depending on your point of view) game!<br />
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Sunday<br />
10-1 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, probably Rams @ Redskins (FOX). Just my luck that I finally get a chance at the usually more national late game (or middle game, depending on your point of view), and Fox throws this at me in the early game.<br />
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1-3 PM: <strong>Champions Tour Golf</strong>, Senior Players Championship (NBC). How did I not know of this until just now?!?<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Phillies @ Dodgers (FOX). NASCAR forces the NLCS to be the LCS of the weekend.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-81058977231792233172008-10-03T16:00:00.000-07:002008-10-03T16:00:00.163-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/4-5All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Iowa @ #17 Michigan State (ESPN2). Wait, my new "<a href="http://morganwick.blogspot.com/2008/09/five-weeks-in-books-in-college-football.html">mid-major lineal title</a>" just got created, and all my thoughts were on whether Oregon State had done enough to crack positive B Points next week! (It will depend a LOT on SoS... but why do I keep reading, like from ESPN.com blogger Ted Miller, "what if the Penn State game was the fluke"? Penn State's in my top 5! Didn't the Beavers lose to Stanford as well? Win that game, and their B Rating is probably over 1 even without a better performance against JoePa! And that's the only thing this entry has to do with the entire Big Ten.)<br />
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12:30-4 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #6 Kentucky @ defending 2004 Auburn-Utah titleholder #1 Alabama (CBS). Nick Saban is 1-0 this season in games against #6 teams in my C Ratings with the Auburn-Utah title at stake.<br />
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6-9:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, defending Princeton-Yale title holder #4 Missouri @ #8 Nebraska (ESPN). Preceded at 3 PM by Auburn-Vanderbilt, so games REALLY got crammed on ESPN today. Blame the Breeder's Cup, but seriously, this seems like a natural opening for one more college football contract. But the SEC just re-upped and the Big 12 signed last year.<br />
Sunday<br />
10-1 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, regional action (CBS and/or FOX). The WNBA Finals, below, cleared out space for NFL Football to <em>not</em> be restricted to SNF.<br />
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1:30-4 PM: <strong>WNBA Finals</strong>, Silver Stars @ Shock (ESPN2). Man, the WNBA Finals can't even get an ABC slot on a weekend now? Blame NASCAR, running from 11-3 today with the AMP Energy 500. In other news, <a href="http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/wnba-not-hit-among-female-basketball.html">even women's basketball players think the WNBA stinks</a>. I really wish supporters of women's equality in sports would put more chips on other sports like golf or softball. Basketball is either boring or incomprehensible no matter who plays it.<br />
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4-7:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Angels @ Red Sox (TBS) and 7-10 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Cubs @ Dodgers (TBS). I suspect some game time changes may occur if the Phillies-Brewers series ends early. Hey, by getting football out of the way earlier in the day we could fit baseball in here (SNF is 5:15-8:30) and have a whole day of college football! Thanks, WNBA, for bumping out the Chase for the Cup! (Baseball would have bumped out a primetime game, not an afternoon game as in past weeks.)Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-39191064247437557502008-09-26T16:00:00.000-07:002008-09-26T16:00:01.390-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 9/27-28All times PDT. All college football rankings reflect my C Ratings for teams in positive B Points.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Northwestern @ Iowa (ESPN Classic). Three teams in my top 25 and a team not in the top 25 but ranked ahead of either one of these two <em>could</em> conceivably go in this spot. But none of them are playing teams in positive B Points, and this might be a game to take that leap into the top 25, especially for Northwestern. Wait... Northwestern's actually good?!?<br />
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12-2 PM: <strong>WNBA Basketball</strong>, Los Angeles @ San Antonio (NBA TV). Wait... a conference finals game on NBA TV? And it might be the deciding game?!?<br />
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Honorable Mention: 12:30-4 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, regional action (FOX). All the hot playoff chase action! Too bad everything's probably already determined.<br />
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4:45-8 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, #1 Alabama @ defending 2004 Auburn-Utah title holder #6 Georgia (ESPN). Boy, how about my prediction on last week's Watcher that Alabama would be "surprisingly strong"? Isn't this two straight weeks CBS has screwed up the best SEC game? Not that Tennessee-Auburn is <em>bad</em>, per se...<br />
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Sunday<br />
10:30-3 PM: <strong>PGA Tour Golf</strong>, THE TOUR Championship (NBC). The end of the playoff system that's nothing like a playoff that no one cares about.<br />
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Honorable Mention: 11-3 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Kansas race (ABC).<br />
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5:15-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Philadelphia @ Chicago (NBC). A mediocre team and a team that was mediocre last year. But at least you got the big time markets!Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-66165037193737060042008-09-19T16:00:00.000-07:002008-09-19T16:00:00.658-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 9/20-21All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9:30-12:45 PM: <strong>College football</strong>, Alabama @ Arkansas (Raycom Sports). Look for Alabama to be surprisingly strong when the new ratings come out on Monday.<br />
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12:45-4 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, regional action (FOX). As usual, this is the only place baseball can fit.<br />
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4-6 PM: <strong>WNBA Basketball</strong>, New York @ Connecticut (NBATV). <em>Now</em> the playoffs are in full swing.<br />
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6-8 PM: <strong>WNBA Basketball</strong>, Sacramento @ San Antonio (NBATV). Man, the schedule really gets cramped this week and next with all the stuff I have to squeeze in.<br />
Sunday<br />
9-3 PM: <strong>Ryder Cup</strong>, final round (NBC). Is it just me, or does it seem like only sports journalists and groups that cover sports (ie ESPN) care about the Ryder Cup? And gee, it seems a lot bigger now that ESPN is covering the final round...<br />
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Honorable Mention: 10-3 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Dover race (ABC). When I looked, both this race and the next one were identified as the "Camping World 400", but with different "presented by" sponsors.<br />
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5-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Dallas @ Green Bay (NBC). Obligatory NFL game that has to be SNF.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-8351897275983327282008-09-12T16:00:00.000-07:002008-09-12T16:00:00.798-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 9/13-14All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, California @ Maryland (ESPN). A bit of a minimalist Watcher this week, folks. And probably for most of October as well.<br />
<br />
12:30-4 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, regional action (FOX). To put at least SOME baseball on the Watcher.<br />
<br />
5-8:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Ohio State @ defending 2007 Boise State title holder USC (ABC). Because all the endless hype can't be for nothing, can it?<br />
Sunday<br />
11-3 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire (ABC). Yes, it's time for the annual pseudo-playoff structure no one cares about!<br />
<br />
5:15-8:30 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Pittsburgh @ Cleveland (NBC). To put at least SOME football on the Watcher.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-52537440564091496442008-09-05T16:00:00.000-07:002008-09-05T16:33:16.040-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 9/6-7All times PDT.<br />
<br />
Saturday<br />
10-1 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, New Hampshire @ Army (ESPN Classic). I chose this game almost completely at random. (Hey, Troy-LSU got postponed due to Gustav and would have interfered with tennis anyway, Missouri would also interfere with tennis, and all three lineal title games aren't even on regional television. FSN South and SunSports for the Central Michigan-Georgia game doesn't count.)<br />
<br />
1:30-5 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, West Virginia @ East Carolina (ESPN). Yes, Fox baseball will probably fall off the face of the earth with college football season in full swing.<br />
<br />
5-7 PM: <strong>US Open Tennis</strong>, Women's Final, S. Williams v. Jankovic (CBS). Rather than the all Williams final YOU demand, you get Williams versus a nobody!<br />
<br />
7-10 PM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, UFC 88 (PPV). Eighty-eight, eighty-eight, eight eighty eighty-eight... why isn't this being held in China? Okay, I'm in an odd mood this week, you can tell because I didn't even mention Couture v. Lesnar...<br />
<br />
Sunday<br />
10-1 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, NY Jets @ Miami (CBS). OMG it's the debut of Brett Favre! Let's watch every single Jets game with such rapt attention our eyes come out of our sockets! (NASCAR or WNBA also possible.)<br />
<br />
1-4 PM: <strong>US Open Tennis</strong>, Men's Final (CBS). I know nothing about this! NOTING!<br />
<br />
Honorable Mention: 12:30-3 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 (ABC). It's the last race of the season! The championship all comes down to this! (Er... ignore that little Australian race in the corner coming in a month and a half...)<br />
<br />
Second Honorable Mention: 11-3 PM: <strong>PGA Tour Golf</strong>, <strike>The Barclays</strike> BMW Championship, final round (NBC). More of the playoff that's nothing like a playoff! Why is this even on here?<br />
<br />
5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Philadelphia @ NY Mets (ESPN). I like cookies.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-83114484765593331762008-08-29T16:00:00.000-07:002008-08-29T16:00:00.710-07:00Sports Watcher Labor Day 3-day Weekend Special for the Weekend of 8/30-9/1All times PDT.<br />
<br />
Saturday<br />
8-11 AM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Appalachian State @ defending 2008 BCS title holder LSU (ESPN Classic). Yes, it's college football season again! Can lightning strike twice for App State?<br />
<br />
12:30-3:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, defending 2007 Boise State title holder USC v. Virginia (ABC/ESPN2). The move of the App State/LSU game could have opened things up for baseball, but this isn't change, this is more of the same!<br />
<br />
5:30-8:30 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Illinois v. defending Princeton-Yale title holder Missouri (ESPN). Once my C Ratings come out, everything is based on relative rating. Until then, you get this.<br />
<br />
Sunday<br />
10-12:30 PM: <strong>WNBA Basketball</strong>, Seattle @ Connecticut (ABC). I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know whether this is a regular season game or an early-round postseason game.<br />
<br />
12:30-3 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, IndyCar Grand Prix at Detroit (ABC). Normally road course races are a bit of a slog, but I was glued to my TV last weekend rooting for Helio Castroneves to break a lengthy winless streak at Infineon. Too bad it was relegated to ESPN2.<br />
<br />
5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, LA Dodgers @ Arizona (ESPN2). Bumped to the Deuce by NASCAR.<br />
<br />
Monday<br />
11-3 PM: <strong>PGA Tour Golf</strong>, Deutsche Bank Championship (NBC). I didn't realize until this week that the PGA Tour "playoffs" no one cares about had started. I had been thinking this was an important weekend for Sports Watcher with no real big events...<br />
<br />
4-6 PM (potentially 4-9 PM on the West Coast): <strong>US Open Tennis</strong>, octofinal-round action (USA). The Labor Day college football game is mediocre v. mediocre in Tennessee v. UCLA, only of interest to masturbating "my c0nf3rence is teh rulz" spewers, and otherwise I couldn't get tennis on here.<br />
<br />
5-8 PM: <strong>College Football</strong>, Tennessee v. UCLA (ESPN). Mediocre v. mediocre. How exciting.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-15024454434636167802008-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:002008-08-22T16:00:07.095-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 8/23-24All times PDT.<br /><br />Saturday<br />11-9 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, baseball bronze medal game, women's handball gold medal game, baseball gold medal game, water polo semifinal, table tennis semifinals, men's field hockey gold medal game (USA). Yes, that's TONIGHT, in just one hour on the East Coast. If I were keeping track of any of this I'd give you pithy analysis, but all I can offer is: Can the Americans avenge their softball cousins? (I heard they lost to Japan in the gold medal game, is that right?) Oh, and pretend 6-7:30 AM isn't part of this, that's when the water polo semifinal is on.<br /><br />9-5 PM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, medal finals in women's basketball, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, boxing, canoe/kayak, and women's volleyball (NBC).<br /><br />5-8:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Bristol race (ESPN). We just don't have NASCAR on here enough.<br /><br />9-11 PM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, men's basketball bronze medal game (CNBC). Why the hell is Lithuania so good with no players I've heard of?<br /><br />Sunday<br />12:30-2:30 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, medal finals in table tennis, mountain biking, boxing, and track and field (NBC). Alternately, there's a women's volleyball match at midnight on Telemundo.<br /><br />2:30-5 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, men's basketball gold medal game (NBC). Warning: West Coast viewers get screwed again, because this is same on both coasts! In fact the semifinal game this morning was delayed even in the Central time zone, at least in Chicago! It seems the Olympics are indeed more popular on the West Coast than on the East, though that may just be because they always HAVE gotten delayed broadcasts. Some commenters on Awful Announcing suggested putting either the live broadcast or the delay on one of NBC's cable networks, to get around the problem of people not being home at the right times. I have a better idea: We've been talking about digital TV and subchannels all week, why not stick the live feed on there? It's likely to take away "Weather Plus" time, but it's better than insulting a wide swath of your audience by telling them New York really is the center of the universe and actually making people beg for ESPN to save them, even people who are normally ESPN haters. I'm watching this, the Closing Ceremony on CBC, and then I'm done with the Olympics. (ESPN is on record as saying they would never think of delaying events for the West Coast.)<br /><br />5-9 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, Closing Ceremony (CBC). I do have to say, NBC seems to treat the Olympics as more of a special event. They play the Olympic Song and CBC just has this weird, almost-offensive, almost-more-appropriate-in-India opener. And CBC uses their own regular sports graphics instead of coming up with something unique.<br /><br />10-12 PM: <strong>Major League Lacrosse</strong>, NB ZIP Championship Game (ESPN2). The worst part? This isn't even the only lacrosse league in North America. And you probably haven't heard of the National Lacrosse League either. Apparently it's semi-big in Canada. Who knew? (Just barely interferes with the Olympics on USA on the West Coast.)<br /><br />12:30-3 PM: <strong>Little League Baseball</strong>, Little League World Series (ABC). Does it seem a little odd that we pay so much attention to the LLWS for basically no reason? I mean, other than to be reminded about "sportsmanship" that's basically a no-thing anyway? And why do the other three divisions have their World Series on Saturdays while neither Little League WS ends on that day?<br /><br />Honorable Mention: 12:45-5 PM: <strong>National Pro Fastpitch</strong>, Championship Series (MLB.TV, second game if needed). It's a league with a grand total of six teams. One look at their <a href="http://profastpitch.com/">website</a> shows how far behind they are. They don't even have TV for their championship series, even, by all appearances, on tape delay. And this coming from one of the more popular non-football-or-basketball NCAA sports. What's going on here?<br /><br />(Oh, and perfect timing. Aren't all your good players in the Olympics?)<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, LA Dodgers @ Philadelphia (ESPN). I've banned NBC's Olympic coverage from this space!<br /><br />Next week, the first weekend of the US Open, and can you feel the football start?Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-64855690321596329482008-08-15T16:00:00.000-07:002008-08-15T16:00:01.053-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 8/16-17All times PDT.<br />
<br />
Saturday<br />
12:30-6 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, diving and the medal final in the women's 10km track race (12:30-2 AM), plus primetime replay (2-6 AM) (NBC). Same on both coasts. You could watch USA on the East Coast to get closer to the start time of the next item.<br />
<br />
10-6 PM: <strong>Little League Baseball</strong>, Junior League, Senior League, Junior League Softball, and Big League Softball World Series...es (ESPNU). Not necessarily in that order. The Little League Softball World Series ended back on Wednesday. That's the only LLWS that doesn't end on the weekend. Get with the program! Is it just me, or does the marquee age division of the LLWS seem arbitrary considering it's the youngest group? We completely lose sight of these kids as they move up through Junior, Senior, and maybe Big League, then we regain sight in the College World Series, then we lose sight of them again until they get called up to the bigs because we pay no attention to AAA whatsoever.<br />
<br />
7:30-12 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, track and field and swimming and the awarding of medals in both (NBC). Same on both coasts, so there's interference with Little League on the East Coast. I had been thinking about writing a post about the rising tide of discontent on the West Coast at being told events are "live" when they're still tape-delayed. Then I saw that <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20080815-9999-1s15mediacol.html">more than half of the top five highest-rated major markets, and almost half of the top 17</a>, are in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, and <a href="http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2008/08/nbc-sticks-to-its-guns-will-air-phelps.html">almost all the largest markets in those two time zones</a> (eight of the top nine, with Seattle's ratings depressed by being able to see events truly live on CBC) are averaging at least a 21 rating for the Olympics, which I believe is higher than NBC's nationwide average. Which means one of two things: people on the West Coast are more into the Olympics than people back East, and I see no reason why that should be so, especially in Mountain time; or NBC's decision to tape delay events is HELPING ratings in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. I have a feeling NBC may decide they're never pulling strings to get events live in primetime for a non-American Olympics again (starting in 2012, that is). On another note, this is the last medal Michael Phelps needs to pass Mark Spitz, and it's also women's marathon day.<br />
<br />
Sunday<br />
12:30-6 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, beach volleyball, track and field, and the primetime replay (NBC). Same on both coasts. I'd put USA here but it interferes with NBC's primetime coverage.<br />
<br />
11-2:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, Michigan race (ESPN). Because the Sprint Cup Series isn't on here often enough.<br />
<br />
3-5 PM: <strong>Little League Baseball</strong>, Venezuela v. "Saudia Arabia" (ESPN2). Yes, that's how it actually appears on ESPN's own web site.<br />
<br />
5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Philadelphia @ San Diego (ESPN). The Phillies may be in NL East contention, but you can tell this game was decided on before the season started.<br />
<br />
9-11 PM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Softball</strong>, United States v. China (CNBC). Looking back over what I said last week about CNBC's coverage, I'm not sure what they think their audience is. I accused them of misreading their audience last week, yet that was for a time slot that included tennis, which fits right in with the rich-snob demographic. I was focusing on boxing, yet that so often gets called the "sweet science" and seen as so much superior to the supposed bloodlust and chaos of MMA, as though boxing was as tame as golf. And then there's softball, and the only way I see this fitting in with CNBC's "male demographic" is if they're thinking "Ooh! Boobs!" Yet at the same time, the fact that it's softball and not some other female sport tells me it's an <em>old</em> male demographic that remembers when baseball was the national pasttime (AS IT SHOULD BE!) and isn't into all this football stuff the whippersnappers are into. Which... adds up to a pretty disturbing demographic.<br />
<br />
11-11 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, water polo, synchronized swimming, canoeing, kayaking, field hockey, basketball, and table tennis, including the table tennis gold medal match (USA). Prepare to march back into work on Monday and fall right asleep, stay there till quitting time, sleep all the way home, and sleep the rest of the day.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-75432712904153969562008-08-08T16:00:00.000-07:002008-08-08T16:00:19.399-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 8/9-10All times PDT.<br /><br />Saturday<br />2-1 PM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games</strong>, soccer, shooting, badminton, fencing, equestrian, beach volleyball, basketball, and weightlifting, including the awarding of shooting and weightlifting medals (USA). Same on both coasts. According to NBC's olympic site, "the first gold medal awarded at the Beijing Games could come in" either the shooting or weightlifting events. Aren't they both scheduled for a certain time? Could you not just look at the schedule?<br /><br />1-3 PM: <strong>Little League Baseball</strong>, Senior League Softball World Series (ESPN2). No, they're not just making random shit up to tide people over for the big shebang.<br /><br />3-5:30 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, IndyCar 300 at Kentucky (ESPN2). A moment of silence for the IRL's impending move to Versus.<br /><br />7-10 PM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, UFC 87 (PPV). So it turns out the UFC does space out its PPVs after all. I apologize for suggesting otherwise. Interferes with Olympic primetime coverage on the West Coast.<br /><br />Sunday<br />11-11 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics</strong>, basketball, tennis, soccer, archery, and weightlifting, including the awarding of medals in archery and two in weightlifting (USA). Same on both coasts (if that causes a problem, coverage is on NBC from 12:30 to 6 AM). Because real men stay up all night watching the Olympics!<br /><br />11-4 PM: <strong>PGA Golf</strong>, PGA Championship, final round (CBS). If golf were to become part of the Olympics, what would happen to the PGA Championship?<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, St. Louis @ Chicago Cubs (ESPN). Hey, I need to get baseball in somewhere. I should have NBC's primetime coverage next week.<br /><br />11-1:30 AM: <strong>Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics</strong>, boxing and tennis (CNBC). NBC has said that they're putting stuff on CNBC that fits with its male demographic. Um... not the UFC, bloodlust-filled male demographic... more like the wimpy, pass-the-caviar, rich-snob demographic...Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-15660694023192670182008-08-01T16:00:00.000-07:002008-08-01T16:00:01.201-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 8/2-3All times PDT.<br /><br />Saturday<br />11-1:30 PM: <strong>Little League Baseball</strong>, Big League World Series (ESPN). Yep, it's Little League World Series season again! And August is only now starting...<br /><br />3-6 PM: <strong>NFL Football</strong>, Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (ESPN/NFL Network). Art Monk is the only interesting guy in the class and he should have gone in a few years ago. <a href="http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/Commentary/Columns/2004/holbrook021804.htm">Wasn't Cris Carter supposed to be a lock this year back in 2004?</a> And now, a brief acknowledgement of the X Games...<br /><br />6-8 PM: <strong>Action Sports</strong>, X Games 14 (ESPN). ...that was it.<br /><br />Sunday<br />10-12 PM: <strong>LPGA Golf</strong>, Women's British Open, final round (ABC). Gets the nod over the PGA event below because it's a major and the Bridgestone isn't (ditto for valuing the US Senior Open over the Bridgestone). Would get the nod over the US Senior Open, if there were an actual conflict, because I actually consider the LPGA the top level of competion for its gender-sport combination. Golf Channel covering the final round of the McDonald's LPGA notwithstanding. Grr. (Incidentially, I was amazed to find out this only became a major in 2001. What was the fourth major before then? The event now known as the Canadian Women's Open. Canada was once important enough to hold a major? And back then it had the rather dense name of "du Maurier Classic"...)<br /><br />12-3 PM: <strong>Champions Tour Golf</strong>, US Senior Open (NBC). Wait, the senior tour has two majors in a row?<br /><br />Honorable Mention: 11-3 PM: <strong>PGA Golf</strong>, WGC Bridgestone Invitational, final round (CBS). Jesus Christ, all three original major networks have huge golf tournaments on this weekend! They have an event this big right before a major? Well, at least it's not two majors in a row like the senior tour. And the PGA Championship isn't the only big event next week, even with the Olympics starting...<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Philadelphia @ St. Louis (ESPN). Because I haven't had my Recommended Daily Allowance of major sports yet. And I'm not even mentioning the NFL Hall of Fame Game. I have a moratorium on NFL preseason games.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-57789344584041353172008-07-25T16:00:00.000-07:002008-07-26T13:23:20.514-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 7/26-27All times PDT.<br /><br />Saturday<br />10:30-12 PM: <strong>Champions Tour Golf</strong>, Senior British Open, third round (ABC). If we're putting up the third round of a golf tournament - of a SENIOR TOUR golf tournament - we are scraping the bottom of the barrel to put up something, ANYTHING.<br /><br />1:30-3 PM: <strong>AVP Volleyball</strong>, Men's final from Long Beach (NBC). Yes, we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.<br /><br />9-11 PM (both coasts): <strong>EliteXC Mixed Martial Arts</strong>, Saturday Night Fights (CBS). I'm still waiting to see what the ratings are for Saturday Night Fights Mark II, but hey, there's nothing else on, other than a re-air of UFC 84 on Spike.<br /><br />Sunday<br />10-11 AM: <strong>Cycling</strong>, Tour de France (CBS). See a bunch of doped-up freaks motor their way to the finish line! Er... on second thought...<br /><br />10-12 PM: <strong>Champions Tour Golf</strong>, Senior British Open, final round (ABC). It's your chance to see Greg Norman all over again!<br /><br /><em>Honorable Mention</em>: 10:30-1:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (ESPN Classic). Goose Gossage and a bunch of people who never played a game.<br /><br />12-3 PM: <strong>Arena Football League</strong>, ArenaBowl XXII (ABC). Down in the dumps because there's no football? Get yourself revved up for the new season! (Who says the NFL season is short? I think the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and associated Game is next week, which means the NFL plays from August into February. The NFL shoves football down our throat for half a year and keeps at it the rest of the time! If you go from the HoF to the Draft, we have nine months where we obsess about football!)<br /><br />In all seriousness, I'm actually going to be watching the Arena Bowl - try and get myself into it.<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, NY Yankees @ Boston (ESPN). GAA-GAA IT'S THE SOX AND THE YANKEES GAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!11!111!!111!!!!!!111!1!!eleven!Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-63616828299025508402008-07-18T16:00:00.000-07:002008-07-19T14:15:14.147-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 7/19-20 (UPDATED)All times PDT.<br /><br />Saurday<br />11:30-1 PM: <strong>AVP Crocs Tour</strong>, AVP Crocs Slam Brooklyn, men's final (NBC). Yes, despite the British Open we're scraping the bottom of the barrel this week.<br /><br />1-4 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, regional action (FOX). Tune in immediately upon the end of volleyball. Because it didn't end in a tie I originally wasn't going to comment on the All-Star Game, until people on TV started commenting on it anyway. The "this time it counts" era was supposed to prevent this sort of thing, and it's obvious that it didn't. Now there's a lot of hand-wringing about adding more pitchers to the roster, but how about tackling the problem at its source? Here are the problems with the ASG and their sources:<br /><br /><ul><li>The players and managers treat it like an exhibition, instead of as a source of pride for their league. "This time it counts" was supposed to fix that problem, and strangely, it's being credited for fixing that problem. We may be able to attribute to "this time it counts" the fact we could have gone into the 16th whereas 2002 ended after 12, and the managers were prepared to use position players to pitch instead of ending the game in a tie.</li><li>The managers feel obligated to use every player that's willing, to mollify them but even more to mollify their fans. In the old days, it wasn't uncommon for position players to play the whole game.</li><li>Teams' concerns about overworking pitchers.</li><li>The rise of middle relievers and closers. Have a look at the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NLS/NLS196807090.shtml">1968 All Star Game</a>, the year before saves became an official stat. You see the same pitching carousel we see now, with a few more multi-inning pitchers - but every last pitcher was a starter, in an age where it was rare for pitchers to fail to go seven innings. The <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS196707110.shtml">1967 All-Star Game</a> went 15 innings with no problem; Catfish Hunter pitched the final five innings for the AL (and ultimately lost), a feat that seems inconceivable today. Now teams protect pitchers more and gobble up large chunks of their rosters with relievers. Now pitching is not a position where players are interchangable at will - replacement pitchers have specific roles in theory - and thus is not a position well suited for all-star games. The NBA All-Star Game may well be the best all-star game, followed by the NHL, because their games actually feel like real games, unusually strong offense notwithstanding.</li></ul>I'm not sure if anything can be done about any of that at this point, but if anything can, it's worth thinking about.<br /><br />6:30-9:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Nationwide Series racing</strong>, Gateway (ESPN2). Because I rarely get a chance to put up a Nationwide Series race and there's no Sprint Cup action this week.<br /><br />UPDATED 7/19: ALTERNATE: 6-9 PM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, Fight Night (Spike TV). Not sure how highly to rate this since it's not what would normally be considered a PPV, but I don't want it to go unmentioned. Live on both coasts, so 9-12 on the East Coast.<br /><br />Sunday<br />5-10:30 AM: <strong>PGA Golf</strong>, British Open, final round (ABC). If there's a golf tournament, and Tiger isn't playing in it, does it make a sound?<br /><br />10:30-1 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, Honda Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio (ABC). Last year ratings were inflated by the British Open. Look for history to repeat itself.<br /><br />12-2 PM: <strong>LPGA Golf</strong>, State Farm Classic, final round (ESPN2). Girl Power Sunday again!<br /><br />2-4 PM: <strong>US Open Series</strong>, Bank of the West Classic, women's singles final (ESPN2). Girl Power Sunday and Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel Weekend again!<br /><br />6-8 PM: <strong>The ESPY Awards</strong> (ESPN). Because there can exist nothing for which there is not an awards show of some kind. And no network should have to go without an awards show.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-37034958128452126742008-07-11T16:00:00.000-07:002008-07-11T16:00:00.251-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 7/12-13All times PDT.<br /><br />Saturday<br />9-11:30 AM: <strong>Arena Football</strong>, Cleveland @ Philadelphia (ESPN). No real championships this week, so the Arenaball conference championships will make up the difference.<br /><br />12-2:30 PM: <strong>Arena Football</strong>, Grand Rapids @ San Jose (ESPN). Um... see above. Yeah. Can you tell I'm not an Arenaball man?<br /><br />5-8:30 PM: <strong>NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing</strong>, LifeLock 400 (TNT). I'm not sure NASCAR really wants to have a race sponsored by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeLock">these guys</a>.<br /><br />Sunday<br />9:30-12:30 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, All-Star Futures Game (ESPN2). Wait, the All-Star Break has two all-star games involving top prospects (counting the AAA All-Star Game)?<br /><br />12:30-2:30 PM: <strong>WNBA Basketball</strong>, Connecticut @ Washington (ABC). There are two golf tournaments going on but both start at noon, when the Futures Game is on, so...<br /><br />3-5 PM: <strong>LPGA Golf</strong>, Owens Corning Classic (ESPN2). ...it's Girl Power Sunday on the Watcher!<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Colorado @ NY Mets (ESPN). Ha, the Rockies and Mets players will suck at the All-Star festivities.<br /><br />Championships return next week, but no ArenaBowl yet - hot British Open action instead!Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-80980174831861109942008-07-03T16:00:00.000-07:002008-07-03T16:00:01.837-07:00Sports Watcher Independence Day 3-day Weekend Special for the Weekend of 7/4-6From now on, Sports Watcher will put out a 3-day Weekend Special for all Friday and Monday federal holidays. All times PDT.<br /><br />Friday<br />9-10 or 11 AM: <strong>Competitive eating</strong>, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (ESPN). Let's just move on.<br /><br />12-5 PM: <strong>Tennis</strong>, Wimbledon, includes men's semifinals, Roger Federer v. Marat Safin and Rainier Schuettler v. Rafael Nadal (NBC). Same on both coasts, so you lucky East Coasters can skip the hot-dog eating contest. Wait, NBC covers the second week of Wimbledon and CBS doesn't do the same with the US Open... and the US Open is more popular in the States. NBC even covers the last Friday of the French Open and CBS doesn't even do that with the US Open - the closest it comes is Labor Day. It's the same CBS cheapskateness that caused them to leave their studio team in the studio for the Final Four.<br /><br />Saturday<br />6-11 AM: <strong>Tennis</strong>, Wimbledon, includes women's final, Serena Williams v. Venus Williams, and men's and women's doubles finals (NBC). Wow, it's just like 2003!<br /><br />12:30-4 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Boston @ NY Yankees in most markets (FOX). OMG OMG OMG IT'S THE SOX AND THE YANKEES OMG!!!!!!!!!!1!!111111!!!1!!!1!!eleven! There's an Arena League game on ESPN if you're not interested. Speaking of which...<br /><br />4-6:30 PM: <strong>Arena Football</strong>, New York @ Philadelphia (ESPN). The weekly look into the Arena League playoffs.<br /><br />7-10 PM: <strong>Ultimate Fighting Championship</strong>, UFC 86 (PPV). I'll just say this: UFC may have popularized MMA, but as monolithic as it may have seemed even six months ago, it may not be the organization that defines it in the mainstream when all is said and done.<br /><br />Sunday<br />6-12 PM: <strong>Tennis</strong>, Wimbledon, includes men's final and mixed doubles final (NBC). We were predicting a Williams Sisters final when the third round was barely ended. We were predicting a Federer-Nadal when the fourth round was barely ended. The raft of upsets is only making tennis too predictable.<br /><br />12:30-3 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, Grand Prix at the Glen (ABC). Because I can't put <em>every</em> Arena League quarterfinal on here. Alternately, AVP volleyball is on NBC starting at 1:30.<br /><br />5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Boston @ NY Yankees (ESPN). OMG OMG OMG IT'S THE SOX AND THE YANKEES AGAIN OMG!!!!!!!!!!1!!111111!!!1!!!1!!eleven!Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162362581679439235.post-64503131163092082432008-06-27T16:00:00.000-07:002008-06-27T16:03:45.670-07:00Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 6/28-29All times PDT.<br />
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Saturday<br />
9-12 PM: <strong>Tennis</strong>, Wimbledon, 3rd round action (NBC). The reason why the 3rd round gets this spot and the 4th round doesn't is because I actually have something to fill this spot tomorrow.<br />
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1-3:30 PM: <strong>Arena Football</strong>, Colorado @ Utah (ESPN). The playoffs are in full swing so the Arena League appears every week through ArenaBowl.<br />
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5-7 PM: <strong>IndyCar Racing</strong>, IndyCar 300 at Richmond (ESPN). Hey, NASCAR causes interference too often and this is the one sport I watch every time it's on. If you think NASCAR is just a bunch of cars going around in circles, maybe the real problem is it's too slow.<br />
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8-9 PM: <strong>US Olympic Trials</strong>, Track and Field (NBC). Same on both coasts so it interferes with the IndyCar on the East Coast.<br />
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9-2 AM: <strong>Boxing</strong>, Manny Pacquito v. David Diaz (PPV). Same on both coasts again, so it interferes with the IndyCar - just barely - on the East Coast.<br />
Sunday<br />
9-11 AM: <strong>MLS Soccer</strong>, Los Angeles @ DC United (ABC). "Soccer is so boring, it's just a bunch of passing a ball back and -- OMG IT'S BECKHAM OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!11!!11!111!1!!!!eleven!"<br />
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12-3 PM: <strong>LPGA Golf</strong>, US Women's Open, final round (NBC). It's the Annika Sorenstam farewell tour! Those other golfers expected to pick up the slack? Who cares about them? No one cares about the <em>male</em> golfers not named Tiger.<br />
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Honorable Mention: 11:30-1:30 PM: <strong>UEFA Soccer</strong>, Euro 2008, final (ABC). Because Dad will kill me if I don't mention this at least once. You could watch the soccer and switch to golf at 1:30, but then you only catch an hour and a half of golf. Wasn't Euro 2004 mostly on pay-per-view? Now the final is airing on broadcast television and the US doesn't even have a horse in the race anywhere! And last month the Champions League final was made into a fairly big deal on ESPN2!<br />
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(The really odd part? The only other game in the tournament on ABC was a quarterfinal last week. And ESPN2 showed one of the semifinals Thursday because of the US Women's Open, whereas all the non-ABC quarterfinals are on regular ESPN. Huh?)<br />
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5-8 PM: <strong>MLB Baseball</strong>, Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox (ESPN). This is "ESPN Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell Part of AL/NL Showdown presented by State Farm". No further comment needed.<br />
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8-9 PM: <strong>US Olympic Trials</strong>, Swimming (NBC). Same on both coasts again, but ironically, that means the Track and Field trials the previous hour interferes with baseball on the West Coast but not on the East Coast!<br />
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One last thing... Sports Watcher just might continue past August. I'm starting to get into a bit more of a groove. Stay tuned.Morgan Wickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09816659818434590943noreply@blogger.com0