Just a heads up. I’m on Spring Break so please don’t expect many posts this week.
It may be March, the NHL and NBA playoffs are nearing next month, yet I find myself eager for the NFL. Yesterday the preseason schedule was released and here is the list of opponents for YOUR Seattle Seahawks!
Week 1: @ San Diego Chargers
Week 2: Denver Broncos
Week 3: @ Kansas City Chiefs
Week 4: Oakland Raiders
Alright! It’s the old AFC West rivalry! I look for the return of John Marshall to Seattle, where he helped ruin the Super Bowl defense Ray Rhodes built.
I also look at the possibility of Jay Cutler being a Seahawk instead of a Bronco. Okay I said it was a possibility, but I’d love the move.
The Chargers have the electrifying Darren Sproles, whom I STRONGLY suggested Seattle to sign during free agency…..but he was given the franchise tag.
The Chiefs have Matt Cassel, Todd Haley and Clancy Pendergast….and BRODIE CROYLE!!
I was eagerly anticipating how Seattle NBC affiliate KING 5 (sister channel KONG 6/16) would handle the first ever local TV broadcast of the Oklahoma City Seattle Sounders FC MLS team. They had months to prepare for this and were given basically an extra week with the Sounders playing on ESPN for their first game. This past Saturday it was their time to shine as the Sounders faced Real Salt Lake on KONG. Naturally I had pretty high expectations.
Boy did that get shattered quickly.
The broadcast was the equivalent of me getting run over by a train, then stomped on by a pack of wildebeasts, and finished off by having an 18-wheeler turn me into a pancake on the concrete. To sum it up, it really really really really sucked.
But saying something sucked should be backed up with evidence and reasoning to qualify the statement. So…….that’s what we’ll do after the jump.
Because my bracket hasn’t been killed enough. North Carolina saved me from an embarrassing 0-4 in my Final Four predictions consisting of Memphis, Louisville (I had them winning it all), North Carolina, and Pitt. Well here’s how Pitt sent my bracket to the shredder….
As you know I’m an unabashed fan of the Sky Sports Fanzone show. If you don’t like Martin Tyler and Andy Gray, you can always switch to the fanzone commentary of a football match! Don’t you wish the US had that? It’s Aston Villa against (doomed) West Brom after the jump!
With the great help of users at The506 listing which affiliates get which games, I’ve created as accurate a map as I can give you.
The first map is for the nation split between UConn/Purdue and Xavier/Pitt.
And the difficult nightcap map with the 2 games in Memphis/Missouri and Duke/Villanova.
Again, users like ReganBuffalo from The506 worked hard to collect all of the affiliate assignments, yours truly did the maps.
As you can see, with some states not voting unanimously to carry the same game you’ll see places like Tennessee not carry Missouri/Memphis on all CBS affiliates.
If I’ve made any errors please do notify me and I’ll correct them as soon as possible!
Alcoholic? Check.
Domestic violence? Check.
Violating probation? Check.
Another troubled Matt Millen bust? Check.
Another NFL player who is justifying Canada’s reasoning for not wanting an NFL team? Check.
I’m ready for some football! The NFL as usual gave us the opening weekend national TV schedule for next season as well as the 3 Thanksgiving games.
Thursday, September 10th
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers – 8:15 PM ET on NBC
Sunday, September 13th
Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers – 8:15 PM ET on NBC
Monday, September 14th
Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots – 7:00 PM ET on ESPN
San Diego Chargers @ Oakland Raiders – 10:15 PM ET on ESPN
Thanksgiving Day
Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions – 12:30 PM ET on FOX
Oakland Raiders @ Dallas Cowboys – 4:00 PM ET on CBS
New York Giants @ Denver Broncos – 8:00 PM ET on NFL Network
Why does the NFL insist on having the Raiders on twice this year? Does Al Davis have that much of a pull? A great set of games though, and Bills/Pats is probably one of ESPN’s biggest MNF games they’ve ever had.
With the Cowboys not getting a home game in week 1 (because of the Texas Rangers), you’ll see them on national TV the week after.
I think the Cardinals really should’ve had a game on here considering how fun they are to watch.
Remember when ESPN was making a serious run to get soccer into their programming? It wasn’t too long ago there were even talks of turning ESPN Poker Classic into an ESPN 3 with a big focus on covering the beautiful game. Well that seems to have been shot down emphatically. Not only did ESPN not win a single package for rights to the Barclays Premier League, they have LOST the rights to the UEFA Champions League.
Initially the report was broken from Foxsports.com writer Jamie Trecker, who used his twitter account to tell us the news. It has since been taken down (assumingly) upon the request of his employers. The Run of Play provided update after update with conflicting reports. Other blogs said FSC denied the report, they even took down a twitter post from Fox Soccer Report’s Jeremy St. Louis stating they had won the rights.
AT LONG LAST though, Unprofessional Foul came through with the confirmation that Fox Soccer Channel had snatched away Champions League rights beginning in the 2010-11 campaign.
If ESPN had made a push for soccer, then that just ended. What this means is that they can’t touch European club competition at all, because FSC retained their UEFA Europa League rights long ago.
ESPN now only has MLS, FIFA tournaments (like the upcoming Confederations Cup), and Euro 2012 in their grasp as things stand. They had a chance to get the Premier League as well as keep the UEFA CL and instead threw away both.
In all honesty, I really don’t like FSC getting the rights. When they produce any broadcast it is amateurish, the commentators suck, and most of the time they’re commentating from their Los Angeles studios.
Have you ever listened to Max Bretos commentate on a European match? Look at the tape…
Don’t mess this up, FSC. It’s bad enough that I’ll have to go to digital cable to watch most of my European footy, so do the right thing and use ANYONE but your own commentators.
As for ESPN, disappointing, but not surprising. The one event they covered well in the UEFA CL they give away to a channel that have an obsession with airing Proactive commercials. Do you want soccer or not? My impression says now you don’t.
When the basketball was done it was time for HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA!! The Canucks, having won 4 in a row, travelled to face an awful Phoenix Coyotes team. Sadly, Saturday was the day the Canucks decided to put up a crap performance and lost 5-1. The icing on this crap cake was when a delayed penalty was called on the Coyotes. Roberto Luongo was pulled from the net to bring on an extra attacker. The net is empty! Henrik Sedin decided to skate around in circles in his own zone with the net empty AND with Coyotes defender Vikhtor Tikhonov stalling him. Sedin then stupidly passed into traffic, Tikhonov got a touch on the puck, then Shane O’Brien put the puck into his own net.
Tips? Links? Comments? Notification that I've won the British lottery for the 100th time? Please e-mail me at tjxanda@gmail.com.
Sports Media Quote of the Week
"We'll be back to Landmark Stadium after this." - Dick Stockton messes up the name "Landshark Stadium" in the 10/24/09 game between the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins.
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