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The Daily Digest for Thursday, December 27, 2007 |
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December 27, 2007 |
≡ Interim Report ≡
 Bevo: getting tired of San Diego for the holidays! |
= Program Note =
We expected that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv would be up and running on September 24, but the site is still not live. We have been told that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv site will be up in November, but it is now December.
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 =
>> Tonight’s Holiday Bowl from San Diego has 10-2 Arizona State facing 9-3 Texas in what should be an entertaining game. The Longhorns average 36.0 points per game and the Sun Devils allows only 20.1; that's why Arizona State was conference co-champion and was the only other school in the Pac-10 other than USC to win 10 games. It’s the first meeting between the schools and Texas is a 2 1/2-point favorite with an over-under of 62. Thus, the sharpies have the final as Longhorns 32, Sun Devils 30.
>> The 9-17 Clippers will entertain the 19-9 Phoenix Suns tonight at Staples Center with the home team suffering through a 5-17 stretch. Tim Thomas is questionable and Corey Maggette probable for the Clippers, but with the Suns averaging a109.7 points a game to Los Angeles’s 93.3, it’s easy to see why the Suns are an eight-point choice. The over-under is 210, so the final is projected at 109-101.
>> On the ice, the Ducks, now 18-15-5, visit 16-18-3 Edmonton tonight. Although the Oilers have lost three straight games and the Ducks are on a three-game win streak, remember that Edmonton has defeated Anaheim the last three times they have met. On the money line, however, the Ducks are favored: it takes $115 to try to win $100 on the Ducks, but $100 wagered on Edmonton could return $115.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
= Panorama =
>> College Bowling: Tonight’s Holiday Bowl match-up pits a team that some think is an underachiever (Texas) against a team that wants to be like Texas (Arizona State). Consider these comments from the East Valley Tribune about the Devils:
What would you say about a college football program that’s won at least nine games every year since 1997, has won or shared four national championships and has played in 46 bowl games, second only to Alabama’s 54? You’d say that’s what Arizona State should strive to be.
However, these numbers actually don’t sit well with Longhorns fans. How about this view from the Austin American-Statesman:
The slippage since the national championship in 2005 is noticeable. The Longhorns have blown late BCS bids back-to-back, have lost consecutive games to Texas A&M and have won only one Big 12 title in [Mack] Brown’s 10 seasons.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
>> College Cash Count: Don’t look now, but Fox may become a player in college football.
The network, which owns the BCS rights excepting the Rose Bowl, has sold out its commercial inventory for all of the games: Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and the championship game. And at rates considerably higher than last season.
Commercial time for the championship game went for $950,000 per spot this season, almost 19% higher than the $800,000 rate from January’s game. That has whetted the network’s appetite for more college football.
“We would love to get a regular-season package,” said Fox Sports president Ed Goren, in an interview with TV Week. “We talked about having a regular season for years, but unfortunately a lot of those deals don’t come on the market very often. That a hell of a testament to the health of college football in the country.” The SEC’s current package with CBS will conclude at the end of the 2008 season and Fox could be a player.
>> NFL Ticker: Things are pretty rough in Atlanta, where the Falcons have faded into near oblivion. According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jeff Schultz, “Atlanta is the most fickle of sports cities. As a rule, fans pay attention to only two things: 1) The football team in Athens; 2) Something else.
“The second is forever written in pencil. The Braves had their extended buzz moment in the early to mid 1990s. The Thrashers had their moment for about five minutes last season. The Hawks certainly have had their moments but locating somebody with a memory is the tricky part.”
And for the Falcons, Schultz thinks it’s even worse. “The only franchise considered in worse shape is the 1-14 Miami Dolphins – and they just convinced Bill Parcells that was a better job.”
>> NFL TV Jubilee: For the first time since the 1967 AFC-NFC Championship Game, more than one network with offer a national broadcast of an NFL game, in this case the Patriots visiting the Giants on Saturday evening. New England, now 15-0, is a 14-point choice against New York (10-5), which has clinched a playoff spot and does not want anyone to get hurt. With the over-under at 46, the oddsmakers have the final at Patriots 30, Giants 16.
>> NFL Upset: Hall of Famer Mike Ditka told Chicago radio station WMVP AM 1000 that he turned down an offer to appear as a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Too bad; everyone loves dancing Bears.
>> The Black Hole: No one gets outraged like a Raider, so it’s no surprise that defensive tackle Warren Sapp is livid. He was thrown out of Sunday’s game against Jacksonville after being assessed three straight penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct in a single argument, all coming after the same play!
Sapp says he didn’t touch any of the officials. “It was all just words,’ he told David White of the San Francisco Chronicle. Both Sapp and the Raiders expect the league office to say it was more than that, but no word of further penalties has been sent to the club thus far.
>> NBA Hoopla: Madison Square Garden reached a settlement with a former Rangers cheerleader on Wednesday who sued the facility for sexual discrimination. The deal averts a trial and more embarrassment for the Garden’s management, which recently lost a sexual harassment suit to former Vice President Anucha Browne Sanders, who was awarded $11.6 million. That matter was settled for $11.5 million in total prior to a hearing about punitive damages.
In the meantime, the Knicks lost again as noted by Marc Berman of the New York Post: “With [Isiah] Thomas taking another page from the ‘how-to-get-fired’ handbook, the Knicks (8-20) notched their 20th loss last night, folding in the fourth quarter in a 110-95 defeat to the Magic at Amway Arena.” Thomas’ substitution pattern was questioned as star front court players Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry weren’t ever on the court together during the entire game.
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
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