This week in sports

Hello Friends

October is a transitional month for sports. This month is between Baseball regular season ending and Basketball season getting starting. Yes, you have Baseball’s postseason, but it is not every night like the regular season which is 162 games over 6 months.

Last time I talked about the postseason baseball announcers so I will not go there. However, Chip Caray still has a very annoying voice and is one of the worst announcers of all time. Good to hear the solid team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver calling the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series, I think it will get better ratings than most people predict. Tampa and Philadelphia are both young and have nothing to loose, in fact, four of the first starting five pitchers in this series are under the age of 30, and there are great storylines on both side. Tampa was the worst team in the America League for the first 9 years of the franchise and Philadelphia has not won the Fall Classic since 1980. My prediction (sure to go wrong) is Philadelphia in 6 Games; their big bats and the bullpen will be the edge.

Last week the Patriots were on Monday Night Football, this got me thinking about the series’ golden days. For 36 years Monday Night Football was a staple on the ABC Television network. In 2006 Monday Night Football moved to ESPN cable. Back in the 70’s and 80’s Monday Night was must see TV. People would tune in to hear what Howard Cosell would say. That would be “water cooler” talk at the office on Tuesday. This does not happen any more, Tony Kornheiser tries but he is no Howard Cosell. In 2006 the NFL moved it network prime-time weekly game to Sunday night and the package to NBC this means that the best game is not necessarily on Monday Night. ESPN just needs to let it go. It has worn out its welcome with Monday Night Football.

This weekend is the opening three rounds of the PBR bull riding world finals in Las Vegas. Bull riding is like a car crash, you watch with one eye open. It’s great when one of the cowboys ride a bull for the full 8 seconds.

The other big event is that ESPN is broadcasting a Cricket match for the first time. The match is the England National Team against a Stanford superstar team made up of some of the best players from the rest of the world. It is the shortest version of the game with about 120 balls in play and only runs count and not how many outs you may have. Should be fun, I hope to have a full report after the match on November 2 at 2p.m. on ESPN2.

Talk to you next week.

Good night and good luck

Jamie Lazaroff