Tag: ESPN (Page 13 of 18)

      Bill Simmons’ retroactively blogs the last 18 minutes of Super Bowl XLIII

      February 2, 2009 /

      The Sports Guy elected to go to a party instead of doing one of his running diaries of the Super Bowl. So since the game ended in spectacular fashion, he watched the last 18:32 again and gives us his patented blow-by-blow. Here’s an excerpt.

      9:37 — Another holding penalty for Mike Gandy, his third. Win or lose, he has as good of a chance of being Arizona’s left tackle next year as Michael Vick does of winning his Atlanta job back. That’s followed by an incompletion to Boldin, our 20th “Wait, is that Kurt Warner’s wife? She looks great!” shot of the evening, then another incompletion. Third and 20 from Pitt’s 33. Big play.

      (Note: I didn’t realize the significance when watching the game live — I was too busy arguing with Ace over the age of the youngest person in America named “Dick.” I said that there’s no way anyone under 35 is named “Dick.” Ace said that there might be some preppy kid out there who’s called “Dick” as a family name. Sadly, there’s no way to settle this.)

      The piece is long, but not horribly so. As always, it has that classic Sports Guy humor.

      NFL, Super Bowl, Television

      Couch Potato Alert: 1/30

      January 30, 2009 /

      It’s finally here.

      After months of preparation and endless promotion, Super Bowl XLIII will be played this Sunday. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6:28 PM, but the pregame show festivities will begin at 10 AM with NFL Countdown on ESPN. If that is too early to begin your tailgating day, then tune into the NFL Network at 11:30 AM for their six and half hour NFL GameDay show. For those who are late arrivals to the party, NBC will begin their coverage of Super Sunday at 1 PM with Bob Costas hosting The Super Bowl Pregame Show that features a cast of thousands breaking down the premier matchup of the season.

      All times ET…

      NFL
      Sunday, 6:28 PM: Super Bowl XLIII — Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. (NBC)

      NBA
      Friday, 7 PM: Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
      Friday, 9:30 PM: Golden State Warriors @ New Orleans Hornets (ESPN)
      Saturday, 7:30 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Miami Heat (NBA TV)
      Sunday, 2:30 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons (ABC)

      NHL
      Friday, 7 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ New Jersey Devils
      Saturday, 1 PM: New York Rangers @ Boston Bruins
      Saturday, 10:30 PM: Chicago Black Hawks @ San Jose Sharks

      College Basketball
      Saturday, 12 PM: #22 Notre Dame @ #3 Pittsburgh (ESPN)
      Saturday, 1 PM: Michigan @ #17 Purdue (CBS)
      Saturday, 2 PM: #23 Georgetown @ #8 Marquette (ESPN Full Court)
      Saturday, 6 PM: San Diego @ #25 Gonzaga (ESPN2)

      Tennis: Australian Open
      Friday, 3:30 AM: Men’s Semi-Final (ESPN2)
      Saturday, 3:30 AM: Women’s Final (ESPN2)
      Sunday, 3:30 AM: Men’s Final (ESPN2)

      College Basketball, Couch Potato Alert, NBA, NFL, NHL, Super Bowl, Television, Tennis

      No Love?

      January 29, 2009 /

      The rosters for the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge have been announced and there are a few surprises.

      The rookie roster consists of Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon, Rudy Fernandez, Michael Beasley, Brook Lopez, Greg Oden and Marc Gasol.

      The sophomore roster includes Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Brooks, Kevin Durant, Wilson Chandler, Jeff Green, Al Thornton, Luis Scola, Al Horford and Thaddeus Young.

      Kevin Love isn’t on the nine-man roster for the Rookie Challenge, and it’s a big, glaring snub. ESPN’s John Hollinger agrees.

      For starters, the decision to select Eric Gordon ahead of Kevin Love for the rookies was completely inexcusable.

      Don’t get me wrong; Gordon is going to have a fine career, it seems, and in almost any other year he’d be a shoo-in for the team. But he made this squad mainly because the forlorn Clippers have no choice but to play him extensive minutes.

      As good as he’s looked, Gordon is the only rookie team member with a Player Efficiency Rating below the league average, while Love has a better PER than every player on the rookie team except Greg Oden. Love leads the league in offensive rebound rate, as I mentioned the other day, but his prodigious work on the boards has gone largely unnoticed because he plays only 23.2 minutes a game, far less than Gordon’s 32.2.

      Love’s absence is especially surprising considering how the rookie roster is loaded with four guards (Rose, Westbrook, Mayo, Gordon), one G/F (Fernandez) and only one true forward (Beasley). You’d think that if it were a tossup between Gordon and Love (which it isn’t) that they’d at least want to get another true forward on the roster to balance things out.

      Hollinger goes on to rail against the sophomore roster snubs, which included Wilson Chandler over Jamario Moon, Al Thornton over Carl Landry and the worst of all (he says) — Aaron Brooks over Ramon Sessions.

      Interestingly, seven of the top 11 picks of the 2007 draft — Mike Conley, Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Joakim Noah, Spencer Hawes and Acie Law — did NOT make the sophomore roster. (I counted Greg Oden amongst the four since he made the rookie roster.) Conversely, six of the top 11 picks in the 2008 draft did make the rookie team.

      NBA

      Why can’t readers comment on columns by Bill Simmons or Rick Reilly?

      January 29, 2009 /

      Regular readers know that there are times when Anthony Stalter and I get hammered for our opinions here at The Scores Report. And that’s fine. It’s the nature of the sports blog and online writing in general. But over at ESPN, there are two writers that are held above the fray — Bill Simmons and Rick Reilly. Want to comment on something Bill or Rick said? Tough luck.

      This (justifiably) irks CBS SPiN columnist Cameron Martin, so he asked an ESPN spokesperson, Paul Melvin, why ESPN treats these two differently than any of its other writers.

      At CBSSports.com and FoxSports.com, readers can comment directly on every article without exception. Consequently, writers like Gregg Doyel and Jason Whitlock cannot present a false image of universal public adoration.

      At ESPN.com, readers can comment on every columnist except two — Bill Simmons and Rick Reilly, two front-page columnists. So, what makes these humps so special? I couldn’t think of a good reason, so I decided to ask Paul Melvin, ESPN spokesman. Here’s our e-mail exchange:

      Me: “Paul, I had a question about ESPN columnists that I was going to address in my CBS column on Monday: Why can’t readers comment on Rick Reilly and Bill Simmons columns? And why is it only them? Is it to protect the idea that these two columnists are universally loved? Jemele Hill and DJ Gallo and Scoop Jackson and Gene W get hammered by some readers. Why isn’t that same courtesy extended to Bill and Rick? Seems disingenuous. Thanks, Cameron Martin.”

      ESPN: “Cameron, Bill and Rick’s accessibility to fans has always been part of their style, and they both have developed long-standing practices of engaging their fans. Bill has a history of using his interaction with his readers as part of his voice and has, through the years, developed a regular, robust ‘mailbag’ style column that is a favorite of readers. Rick’s connection to the personal stories of people in all walks of life has helped give him his signature voice. With respect to those traditions, we’ve chosen to continue to present their interaction with readers through those avenues.”

      (As non-answers go, that’s pretty good. Unfortunately I wasn’t looking for a non-answer.)

      Me: “Paul, thanks for the reply. Quick follow-up: In this new era of change, transparency and accountability, isn’t it a bit antiquated and un-American to try to control feedback from the public? What if President Obama wanted to comment directly on one of Rick Reilly’s stories? Shouldn’t he be able to announce to the world, ‘Rick, you’re an inspiration to millions everywhere’?”

      ESPN: “Hi Cameron. Appreciate the follow up, but I think our earlier comment is all we’re going to have to offer here. Paul Melvin.”

      Got that, sports fans? If you want to tell me I suck, you can go to the bottom of this article. If you want to tell Rick Reilly he sucks, you can go to hell.

      So there you have it, folks. ESPN has said all that it will on this matter, at least for now.

      Humor, Rumors & Gossip

      Pay attention! #1 Duke visits #4 Wake Forest tonight on ESPN

      January 28, 2009 /

      In one of those easy-to-miss-if-you’re-not-paying-attention weekday games, #1 Duke travels to Winston-Salem to face #4 Wake Forest in a big-time ACC showdown. The Blue Devils need to contain dynamic guard Jeff Teague and do their best to battle the Demon Deacons’ big men — James Johnson, Al-Farouq Aminu and Chas McFarland — in the paint. With improved play from 7’1″ center Brian Zoubek, Duke now has some extra beef down low.

      The Demon Deacons have the home court advantage, but Duke is still a slight favorite, at least according to the Las Vegas oddsmakers. Wake Forest lost last week at home to Virginia Tech, but looked great in a Jan. 11 home win against North Carolina. Kyle Singler leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.5 ppg), but lately it has been Gerald Henderson leading the way. He has averaged 21.0 points on 64% shooting over the last five games, so the Demon Deacons would be wise to account for him.

      The game is on ESPN tonight at 7 PM.

      College Basketball, Television, Video

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