Tag Archives: ESPN

Get a TO, Baby!

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Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Dick Vitale, legendary color man on ESPN’s NCAA Men’s Basketball telecasts. He underwent successful throat surgery today, and is expected to be out of the broadcast booth until February.

I love people who are enthusiastic about their work, and back that up with being skilled at what they do. Dick Vitale is such a person. He is to the NCAA telecasts what Darrell Waltrip is to NASCAR’s.

Get well, soon, Dickie V!

-k-
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NASCAR HotPass Lineup

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The Channel/Driver/Car grid for tonight’s running of the Sharp AQUOS 5001 shakes out like this:

795 – Tony Stewart, #20
796 – Clint Bowyer, #07
797 – Jeff Gordon, #24
798 – Juan Pablo Montoya, #42
799 – Dale Earnhardt JR, #8

I must head off to my fantasy racing site, hopefully to improve my team. Kurt Busch is peaking at the right time, and he’s on the pole; if the price is right, he’ll be on my team this week.

In the meantime, the race doesn’t start until 8PM EDT, the better for NASCAR to vie for prime-time ratings points. The business of NASCAR is business, after all. And there’s NHRA qualifying for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals right now, on ESPN2. With six big hours of finals to be telecast tomorrow.

Good stuff.

-k-
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1 I’ll be following the action on my Sharp AQUOS.

Whatever Moves the Product

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It’s no secret that Michael Waltrip has had an abysmal season on the Nextel Cup circuit. I have mulled over how his sponsors must feel about his performance. And, today. during ESPN’s coverage of the Pennsylvania 500, a NAPA ad that went something like this:
Scene: Michael Waltrip Racing, Cornelius NC.
Michael is on camera, and acknowledges that his season has been sub par. He then reads and answers mail from fans; the answers follow:

  • Yes, I’ve checked; the parking brake is not on.
  • No, I’m not saving tires during qualifying.
  • My head is still on my shoulders, but thanks for your concern.

Lemons, lemonade, anyone?

-k-

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Daytona 500 Pre-Race Hype

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NASCAR and the NFL are a lot alike. I wrote here about the pre-game hypage for SB XLI. Not to be outdone, here’s the pre-Daytona 500 coverage, all times EST:

  • 10:00 – 11:00 ESPN2 – NASCAR Now
  • 11:00 – 12:00 ESPN2 – Michael Waltrip Racing: A New Era
  • 11:00 – 2:00 SPEEDtv – NASCAR RaceDay
  • 2:00 – 7:30 FOX – The 49th Daytona 500

    • The FOX coverage also includes about an hour of pre-race hype; the green flag flies around 3:15. Also not included was ESPN2′s airing of the movie 3 at 8:00 this morning, as well as SPEEDtv’s marathon 70+ hours of broadcasting from Speed Weeks.

    I plan to ass up and watch all the action on the new big teevee, and tune to one of the NASCAR HotPass channels (794 – 799 on DirecTV), to see a race as never before.

    And, on this date in 2001, Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 500. Another reason the racing’s not the same.

    -k-

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    Super Bowl Hypin’

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    Holy Moley, there is lots of airtime devoted to pre-Super Bowl conversation, analysis, and hype: my digital teevee guide reveals the following; all times Eastern, use the TiVO to catch overlapping events, if you’re so inclined:

  • ESPN 11AM – 2PM Sunday NFL Countdown, with Chris Berman and the usual cast.
  • CBS 12PM – 1PM Road to the Super Bowl
  • CBS 1PM – 2PM Phil Simms All-Iron Team
  • CBS 2PM – 6PM Super Bowl Today
  • CBS 6PM – 6:25PM Kickoff Show
  • CBS 6:25PM – 10PM Super Bowl XLI

    • One may only surmise that the ad rates increase as one traverses the list from top to bottom. And note the 9.5 hours of pre-game stuff for a 3.5 hour game.1

    Oh, and don’t forget NFL Prime Time on ESPN after the game. And I’d also guess that QVC will have Championship paraphernalia for sale right after the game as well. No event is complete, no championship officially sealed without its own hat and t-shirt.2

    Have Fun!

    -k-

    1 – I’m not complaining, mind you; I once watched 4.5 hours of NASCAR pre-race hype, before a 3 hour race at Homestead Miami. So this is not pot, kettle, black.

    2 – NASCAR folks love them some hats and tees. So no gripes here, either.

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    Full Court Press Squeezes Me Yet Again

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    I had a schedule which erroneously listed the Kansas vs. Winston-Salem State mens basketball game as being scheduled for last night. OK, the schedule was free, downloaded from an iCal sharing place, and imported into iCal, synced to the Palm, and noted during yesterday’s pre-work GTD daily review. I’m not upset, this was doubtless an honest mistake on the calendar creator’s part.

    I couldn’t find the game last night, checked the KU Athletics website, and found the game is on tonight. No problem. A keyword search for “Kansas” on the TiVo reveals nothing. I’m still OK; pre-season games are sometimes not broadcast; I don’t like that, but such is life.

    So tonight, after Emeril Live, I’m trolling through the ESPN Pay Channels, only to find the game early in the start of the second half, the fact that the guide for that channel failed to show the game at all to the contrary notwithstanding.

    Now, I don’t mind the hundred bucks we pay for this, but I’d think for that, I wouldn’t have to scour every channel where it might be just to find what I paid for. And, I also don’t know whom to blame, ESPN for not providing schedule data, or DirecTV/TiVo for failing to get the schedule updated. I do know that it’s not worth my time to find out. I also know I’ll remember this incident when the ESPN’s Full Court Press comes up for renewal next year. It could then be time to vote … with the remote. And listen to the games on the internets.

    -k-

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    To Whom Do I Complain?1

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    I sat down a couple of hours ago, all primed to watch Kansas Jayhawks basketball. They played the DePaul Blue Demons in Chicago this afternoon.

    SWMBO and I buy the ESPN Full Court package each year, at a cost of $100.00 or so for the season. That usually gets us our games of interest. Today, ESPN saw fit to broadcast the game on something called ESPN/U, also one of their channels. DirecTV wants another $12 per month to get ESPN/U, which is part of something they call their “Sports Package.” This package includes 24 or so Fox Sports Channels, any 8 of which are broadcasting the same game simultaneously at any given point in the day.

    Not willing to extend our DirecTV plan, we listened to the game on XM Radio, and cringed as the Jayhawks went down to defeat today.

    I don’t know if it’s ESPN’s or DirecTV’s policies that resulted in our not seeing the game on TV. It’s not even worth the effort to call either network. What I will say is that I’d be all for kicking TV out of my life entirely, if there were a way to view the following:

  • Prison Break
  • CSI Miami
  • Jericho
  • Friday Night Lights

    • In addition, I’d like to be able to see a few sporting events throughout the year. I’m even willing to buy a Mac Mini, or something comparable, and dedicate it to teevee watching. I’d lash up any kind of gear necessary to make that happen, and pull the plug on the whole bunch. For what we pay DirecTV in a year’s time, we have a good down payment on an alternative.

    -k-

    1 – That headline, proper English and all, is in memory of all the long-suffering English teachers in my life.

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    Oddsbeater

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    How about that Barbaro!? He’s made a slow, steady recovery from injuries that would have been fatal to 90% or so of the horse population. He still has a way to go, and even though he won’t be on-track for the Breeder’s Cup this weekend, we can all salute this great competitor.

    Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be watching the Son of Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby a few years hence.

    Read the linked article; Barbaro was not the only one with heart and spirit in his recovery to date. Even though it’s sad, there’s still much to be thankful for.

    -k-

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