More media notes: Pour it on
And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop complaining about the rain.
Did your paper get soaked in the driveway again? Our apologies. Ours wasn't in great shape either. Dennis McCarthy even looked more washed out than usual.
Link back to the Daily News media column today, and then continue on a dry path toward more media notes as "DRIZZLE WATCH '08" continues on many of these fine Daily News affiliates:
==For those who choose not to believe, Kobe Bryant did drop "passion bucket" during the TNT post-game Monday night (only on TNT, not on FSN West, which was also carrying the game) and you can see him trying to find Reggie Miller off to the side (this clip, obviously, from some member of the Zapruder family):
==Dan Patrick, at the forefront of trying to make Rick Neuheisel's gushiness a national catchphrase, has mentioned that many folks have already secured it, as well as anything else related to it, as a website domain. That's a wise $6.95 a year investment, eh?
According to searches on both GoDaddy.com and Google apps, sitename "passionbucket" has been bought up as a dot-com, -net, -org, -info and -biz. So, too has "Mypassionbucketisfull.com" and "fullpassionbucket.com" been put in someone's shopping cart.
Somehow, Pat Riley has not jumped in to trademark it. Yet.
Before all this, the only passion bucket we were aware of was the Betmar Passion Bucket Hat, just $38 at the Village Hat Shop. Keeps the rain away. As well as all men.
==Patrick, whose syndicated radio show began playing on XM Radio this week, starts his Sports Illustrated career with the Feb. 4 issue, which hits the homes and news stands this coming Wednesday. That day, SI will also relaunch Danpatrick.com as a link through SI.com. The company will now own and produce the site.
Read on, please...
==The PGATour.com website, operated by Turner Sports, is also relaunching, no doubt because of Tiger Woods' debut this weekend in San Diego. The site's "Live@" element will continue to cover specific holes as 12 tournaments this year, including Torrey Pines' No. 3 this weekend (today, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). Use it as a gauge to see how the weather's working out for the players. "Our fans love the live coverage and the ability to watch live golf from our most dramatic holes,” said Paul Johnson, PGA TOUR senior vice president of new media. “It is an outstanding compliment to our television partners’ telecast coverage. We know that many of our fans consume PGATOUR.com at the same time as they watch the telecast, and we’re excited about continuing to enhance that experience as well as deliver incremental coverage.”
The new PGATour.com includes a blog from Tour commissioner Tim Finchem with a fan feedback application.
==Jim Nantz, who'll be in the 18th tower at Torrey Pines for the final two rounds of the Buick Invitational, will motor up to Anaheim on Saturday night to accept the honor of 2007 Sportsman of the Year at a roast hosted by the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation at the Anaheim Marriott.
==Your Onion Sports headline and story of the week:
==Follow the money: CNBC, the NBC business channel that occasionally shows curling during the Winter Olympics, breaks out an hour-long special called "Touchdown! The Patriots and The Business of Winning" (Sunday, 7 p.m.) with reporter Scott Wapner profiling New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. No doubt an angle to this is the new CBS-themed restaurant that'll be opening down the road in partnership with Kraft's company.
==The NFL wants you to know that its product is the one to watch during the writer's strike.
This list, issued by the league this week after the NFC and AFC title game, shows a distinct dominance by the league:
15 MOST-WATCHED PROGRAMS OF 2007-08 TV SEASON, 9/6/07-1/20/08
(We've boldfaced those shows that are non-NFL-related to make it easier):
1. Fox NFC Championship Game (Giants-Packers), 1/20/08, 53.9 million average viewers
2. CBS AFC Championship Game (Chargers-Patriots), 1/20/08, 44.8 million
3. Fox NFC Divisional Playoff (Giants-Cowboys), 1/13/08, 40.1 million
4. CBS/NBC/NFL Network Saturday Night Football (Patriots-Giants), 12/29/07, 34.5 million
5. CBS Sunday National (mostly Patriots-Colts), 11/4/07, 33.8 million
6. Fox American Idol (season premiere), 1/15/08, 33.4 million
7. CBS AFC Divisional Playoff (Chargers-Colts), 1/13/08, 31.6 million
8. CBS AFC Divisional Playoff (Jaguars-Patriots), 1/12/08, 30.9 million
9. Fox American Idol, 1/16/08, 30.4 million
10. CBS Sunday NFL national game (mostly Steelers-Patriots), 12/9/07, 30.3 million
11. CBS Sunday NFL national game (mostly Patriots-Cowboys), 10/14/07, 29.1 million
12. Fox NFC Divisional Playoff (Seahawks-Packers), 1/12/08, 28.2 million
13. CBS AFC Wild Card Playoff (Titans-Chargers), 1/6/08, 26.6 million
14. Fox NFC Championship pregame show, 1/20/08, 25.8 million
15. NBC AFC Wild Card Playoff (Jaguars-Steelers), 1/5/08, 25.7 million
==The L.A.-based Tennis Channel's offering for the conclusion of the Australian Open includes broadcasts of all five finals -- a first by one network. Following Thursday's coverage of the women's doubles finals (which was live), the men's doubles finals are live today (8 p.m.), with the mixed doubles finals live Saturday (9 p.m.). Sunday, the Tennis Channel replays the men's (noon) and women's (3 p.m.) singles finals that ESPN2 originally aired live (Saturday at 12:30 a.m. for the men and Friday at 6:30 p.m. for the women).
==One more thing about CBS' David Feherty, who hopped on the phone with us just minutes before he raced up to the 16th tower for the first-round coverage of the Buick Invitational for the Golf Channel: He was at a casting call in New York on Tuesday with Phil Mickelson's mother, Mary, for those who are trying to get into the next Crowe Plaza TV commercial series called "A Meeting With Phil." Those who go to the hotel's website set up for this can submit tapes with stories about how they, for example, were hit by a Phil Mickelson golf ball, look like Mickelson, or are "people whose left hand has taken them to greatness in anything."
That last one "could get us in trouble," said Feherty.
Two more casting calls remain: At the Crowne Plaza San Diego, it's today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and there's another at the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills (1150 S. Beverly Drive) set for Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Deadline for submitting a video is Saturday, Feb. 2.
==Sunday's ESPN 8 p.m. "SportsCenter" will include a story on Nick Madaras, a former Army private killed in Iraq in Sept., 2006 who succeeded in delivering soccer balls to Iraqi children during his tours. Madaras played at Wilton (Conn.) High School and wanted to help distribute balls, asking his parents to send used soccer balls. Before they could fill his request, he was killed in action. Friends and family have continued the movement in his honor. Reporter Tom Rinaldi says more than 1,500 soccer balls have been delivered so far.
==Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson are on the call for ABC during Sunday's Lakers-Cavs game (12:30 p.m.) from Staples Center, following the Celtics-Magic game (10 a.m.) with Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown.
==Pay no attention to the creepy man swinging what looks to be a mannequin around the ice. That would be Simon Shnapir and Marissa Castelli performing during the novice pairs short program at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships last weekend.
They won't be on this weekend.
After 43 years of the U.S. championships of either ABC or ESPN, NBC begins a three-year deal with the U.S. Figure Skating Association to carry the U.S. championships from St. Paul., Minn., a contract that goes through the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The seven hours of coverage on NBC this weekend are the most by a network for this event since 1998, and the five hours in prime time are more than has been shown in a decade. It helps, of course, to have a Super Bowl played up against it this weekend.
NBC’s coverage goes live in the East on Saturday (dance final and ladies free skate, 8-to-11 p.m.) and Sunday (men’s free skate, 7-9 p.m.) but it tape delayed in the Pacific. The pairs free skate and ladies short program is live Saturday from 1-to-3 p.m.
Confusion in the past over what network and what times the events would be televised are hopefully put to rest with this schedule, said producer David Michaels.
“When my mom used to go look to see where she could watch the U.S. Figure Skating Championships the last few years, she couldn’t figure it out,” Michaels said. “So, at least the moms of America will be able to tune in.”
Ratings have been taking a hit in the sport during recent years that have been devoid of any real rivalries or, outside of Michelle Kwan, anyone with star power.
ABC’s days of drawing double-digit ratings in the late ‘90s trickled to a point to where it was only doing a 1.9 rating on ABC last year (with only two hours of coverage) and another 0.5 rating on ESPN2, which showed the men’s competition overnight.
Tom Hammond, Dick Button and Bob Costas are joined by Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, Tracy Wilson, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier as analysts.
==During Saturday's "Boxing After Dark" program (10 p.m.), which sends Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Lennox Lewis to Berlin to cover a fight between Alexander Povetkin and Eddie Chambers, last Saturday's Roy Jones Jr. decision over Felix Trinidad will get the replay treatment.
==ESPN has announced a new series, "Dale Jr. -- Shifting Gears" that begins airing on ESPN2 on Feb. 8. Think Dale Earnhardt Jr.. doing a "Bonds On Bonds" for NASCAR fans, without the steroids (allegedly). The show is produced by Earnhardt Jr.’s own Hammerhead Entertainment, a division of JR Motorsports, in cooperation with Hendrick Motorsports. So consider the source.
“We were working on a new DVD about my life and the guys kept getting more and more footage, so they decided to put a whole TV show together to document the biggest career decision I’ve ever made,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a statement. “The past year of my life has been a roller coaster, and it’s pretty cool that we’re giving everyone an inside look at how everything came together.”
Oh, that picture of Dale with someone in a bikini ... taken a few years back from a "Cruise with Dale Jr." trip he sponsored. She's the supposed winner of the bikini contest during that cruise. Uh, OK...
Meanwhile, the network also says it will juggle its NASCAR coverage this year, sending Dale Jarrett to the booth with Dr. Jerry Punch and Andy Petree. Rusty Wallace will be the lead analyst for ESPN studio shows. Jarrett, who is retiring from driving after the first five races of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, was booth analyst for 10 NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN races last year and worked several NASCAR Sprint Cup races as a guest analyst on "NASCAR Countdown."
==OK, another Onion Sports headline/story:
==The NFL Network's weekend programming includes a replay of the Patriots-Giants regular-season finale (Saturday, 7 a.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m.) as well as every Super Bowl NFL Films produced half-hour highlight show, starting with Super Bowl I (Saturday, 8:30 a.m.) through Super Bowl XLI (Sunday, 9 a.m.)
Interrupting that marathon is live coverage of the Senior Bowl (Saturday, 1 p.m., pregame as 12:30 p.m.) with Rich Eisen, Mike Maylor, Charles Davis and Trent Dilfer on the call. USC's John David Booty, Sam Baker, Fred Davis, Sedrick Ellis, Lawrence Jackson, Drew Radovich, Keith Rivers, Terrell Thomas and Chauncy Washington, as well as UCLA's Bruce Davis , are scheduled to compete for the North team in Mobile, Ala.
The NFL Network will also reair the entire Super Bowl broadcast of particular games under the series name "Super Bowl Classics." They include:
Sunday at 1 p.m.: Super Bowl XXXI
Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots
With Fox's Pat Summerall and John Madden
Sunday at 5 p.m: Super Bowl XXXVIII
New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers
With CBS' Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms
Monday at 5:30 p.m.: Super Bowl XXI
New York Giants vs. Denver Broncos
With CBS' Pat Summerall and John Madden
Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.: Super Bowl XXXVI
New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams (and U2 at halftime)
With Fox's Pat Summerall and John Madden
Wednesday at 6 p.m.: Super Bowl XXV
New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills
With ABC's Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf
Thursday at 6 p.m.: Super Bowl XXXIX
New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles (with Paul McCartney at halftime)
With Fox's Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth
Saturday, February 2 at 6:30 pm.: Super Bowl VII
Miami Dolphins vs. Washington Redskins
With NBC's Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis
==One final Onion Sports headline/story:
==(Very) Lowlights from some of the more recent Pete Arbogast WeAreSC.com blog ramblings:
Making note of the reaction after the USC women's basketball team defeated UCLA at Galen Center last Saturday (a game that Arbogast called to an audience of about three on TrojanTV.com):
"When it was over, Conquest was played the Bruins fans who had remained skulked out in to the harsh glare of the Trojan sun."
And on UCLA's hiring on former USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow:
"I never once heard of any acrimony from Pete from Norm or anyone else on the staff. I don’t think it’s very true, or if so, has been, as usual, blown out of proportion to make it look like the reason Norm left SC. It’s a bunch of BS as far as I’m concerned and until one of the men involved admits to something other than what they have always said, I’m not buying it.
"You believe what you want to believe, but don’t believe it just cuz some writer tells you it’s so."
Not to repeat himself, but more likely to try to convince himself, he also blogged Thursday with this information:
"And please take this word of advice. No matter what you might read from guys trying to make a name for themselves by making stories much larger than they really are—-Pete Carroll and Norm Chow never had a problem, and still don’t. There are personality conflicts in any office place (how about yours for instance?) and these things get so overblown that it becomes comical. Those who know the truth just laugh and all of the guesswork that goes on. What you read about these two fine men and coaches is about 10% truth."
That comes after this gem:
"The OJ Mayo thing with the tickets: another instance of news starved writers making something about nothing."
And one last thing about the stuff swirling around about Reggie Bush:
"I watched some news magazine show with interviews of the guys who reportedly have iron clad information to take down Reggie Bush. They look and sound like thugs. I thought someone told me they have a criminal past. If they have admissible tapes, or documents without the phony signature that I saw, or some other “goods” they’d best get themselves in a court of law and present their case, or take a big helping of shut the heck up."
File that one away for sometime down the road.
==And finally:
A documentary entitled "Kicking It," about the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament, was bought by ESPN in a deal where the network gets exclusive TV rights and digital distribution as well as working with filmaker Ted Leonsis as finding distribution in theatres and DVD.
Leonsis calls the project a "filmanthropy," trying to incorporate online and on-air public discussions about the issue of homelessness,such as a link to help support the cause through globalgiving.com.
The film, narrated by Colin Farrell, follows the stories of seven players who competed in the fourth annual Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. More than 500 competitors representing 48 nations compete in the event.
Leonsis, a vice chairman at AOL and owner of the NHL's Washington Capitals, said of ESPN's involvement in "Kicking It": "Good films entertain, and the best of them also challenge and engage their audiences. It takes a true ‘worldwide leader’ to spotlight both great sports action and the triumph of the spirit over hardship through the redemptive power of sports – so we are thrilled to be teaming up with ESPN to bring 'Kicking It' to the broadest global audience on all media.”
For more background, find the book: "Goal! The Story of the Homeless World Cup" by Mel Young, published in 2005.
The 2008 Homeless World Cup takes place in early December in Melbourne, Australia.
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