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The Daily Digest for Tuesday, October 2, 2007 |
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October 02, 2007 |
≡ Interim Report ≡
= Program Note =
We expected that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv would be up and running on Monday, September 24, but it is not. We have been told that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv site will be up soon, but no firm date has been given.
While we wait, we’ll continue posting a weekday note and sending out the Tip Sheet to keep you informed. Stay tuned, and hope for the best.
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> The worst we have ever served: 0-4 Marshall at 1-3 Memphis tonight on ESPN! The Tigers are a three-point favorite with an over-under of 61, so it’s supposed to be a 32-29 zzzzz . . .
>> The Major League Baseball Division Series start tomorrow on TBS with a tripleheader.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
>> Angel Talk: Thom Loverro of the Washington Times points out that Angel ace John Lackey, scheduled to pitch game one and perhaps game five of the American League Division Series against the Red Sox, has a 1-6 record against Boston in 11 career starts with an ERA of 6.27. At Fenway Park, it’s worse: 1-4 and a 7.46 ERA. Nevertheless, Loverro picks the Angels to win the series and face the Yankees for the American League pennant.
>> Talk of Troy: Despite their many injuries, the Trojans are favored by 38 in their game against Stanford at the Coliseum on Saturday.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: In a year which has seen press boxes moved aside for luxury and club seats, one of the upsets of the season had to be Sunday’s season finale in Boston, where Tomoyo Matsuzaka and Yuka Okajima offered sandwiches and cream puffs to Japanese and American reporters working in the press box at Fenway Park!
>> Rock of Ages: Despite yesterday’s failure in Denver, San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman will go down as one of the greatest closers of all time. But against the Rockies over the past three years, he has an ERA of 9.00 and Colorado has batted .357 against him.
>> America’s Foulest City: It was a bad weekend in San Diego, where the Padres lost out in the National League Wild Card chase, the Chargers lost to Kansas City at Qualcomm Stadium and San Diego State is now 1-3 after a 52-23 loss to Cincinnati. Ouch.
>> College Gridiron: An important element in the unforseen revival of the Illinois football program under Ron Zook is freshman receiver and returner Arrelious Benn. He was the difference against Penn State in the Illini’s 27-20 win with six receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown plus a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
>> College Cash Count: The Big Ten Network is picking up some detractors as it battles to have major cable carriers place in on basic packages. Former Minnesota football player Kenneth Foxworth wrote in The Minnesota Daily that the Big Ten Network’s line-up of football games “include mostly games against weaker, out-of-conference opponents. In addition to this bleak line-up of games, BTN will fill space with highlight reels, coverage of track and field events and conference discussion programs aimed at debating who the new team to beat is in Big Ten gymnastics.”
Foxworth also notes that the conference has demanded that “the special interest network be carried on basic cable at a price that would charge subscribers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. That would make the BTN more expensive for basic cable subscribers than the History Channel, TNT, BET, CNN or the Discovery Channel. And while many people tune in to CNN and the Discovery Channel, few people are likely to watch the BTN.”
>> College Pink Slip: In the aftermath of the Texas A&M newsletter scandal in which coach Dennis Franchione send a dozen paid subscribers confidential information about the Aggie football team that he withheld from the press, Tom Dienhart wrote in the Sporting News, “Fran is done.
“The fact that the Aggies are mired in mediocrity was enough to put Fran on the edge. This news pushes him over it.” So what happens at the end of the season? Dienhart writes, “Early word I hear is that Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville would be interested in coaching A&M, where he worked earlier in his career. He wants out of Auburn and Auburn wants him gone.”
>> NFL Ticker: Think “The Black Hole” in Oakland – also known as the McAfee Coliseum – is a tough place to play? How about the going-away presents the Raiders got after an easy win against Miami last Sunday: rocks and bottles thrown at the team’s buses outside Dolphin Stadium! One bottle reportedly broke a window, but no injuries were suffered.
>> NBA Hoopla: A New York jury found for plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders in her sexual harassment suit against Knicks president Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden. The verdict did allow for punitive damages to be assessed against the Garden, but not against Thomas.
Both Thomas and the Garden said they would appeal. According to the Associated Press, “Browne Sanders, fired from her $260,000 a year job in 2006, sued Thomas and Madison Square Garden. Her case presented the Garden as Animal House in sneakers, a place where nepotism, sexism, crude remarks and crass language were part of the culture.”
The jury came back with an $11.6 million award against the Garden.
>> More Hoopla: In China, another NBA giant was getting a big reception, but it wasn’t Yao Ming. Instead, Shaquille O’Neal needed a military escort and police in riot gear to keep adoring crowds away from him. He was christened “General of All Things Fundamental” during a public event, but spectators called him “Shark.”
>> Last add, Hoopla: The Golden State Warriors added Italian shooting guard Marco Belinelli as their first-round draft pick for this season. The only sure thing is that his nickname will soon be “Nelli” so that the Warriors’ announcers can say “Whoa, Nelli” when he makes a long three-pointer.
By the way, although former ABC college football announcer Keith Jackson is often attached to that phrase, he simply borrowed it from another television announcer who used it starting in 1946: Los Angeles-area boxing, wrestling and roller derby play-by-play man Dick Lane.
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
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