Two in a row, I must be on a roll.
On Wednesday December 16th I got a call from ESPN about the next step for employment in the stats and information group. I passed a phone test by a hair and then I was sent an e-mail assessment. I had 45 minutes to complete the test and send it back. I did not complete it and was disqualified for not sending it back in time. I was nervous; as this was the first time I took a test like this. It was a hard test and I realized that I’m not a numbers guy as it had a lot of difficult math in it. My roller coaster week continued the next day (Thursday December 17th). I e-mailed my contact at ESPN about what happen and asked him if he could provide me with the contact person from the on-air talent department that was at my presentation on December 7th. This person took my information to her bosses. In a return e-mail she said that she showed my DVD resume at a meeting and “although they don’t have a particular opportunity for me at this time, both of her bosses agreed there might be a role for me in the future”. Ladies and Gentlemen the dream lives on! This story is to be continued!
On to the sports, December is a time to reflect on the year that was. It is also the time between the end of the college football regular season and the 34 bowl games. I have talked about the BCS system and the need for a playoff in the top division of college football (Football Bowl subdivision) before. I do believe the BCS got it some what correct this year as the SEC (Southeastern Conference) title game between Florida and Alabama was kind of like a semifinal, where the winner (Alabama) gets a shot at the National Championship. The problem is when you have more than two teams that go undefeated in the regular season. This year 4 teams went undefeated Alabama, Texas, TCU and Boise State. The BCS was formed by the major conferences like the SEC and the Big 12 (Texas). TCU comes from the Mountain West Conference and Boise State is from the Western Athletic Conference. This needs to change; all teams should have a chance at the National Championship not just the ones that come from the power conferences. There two schools will be playing in the Fiesta Bowl January 4 and Texas and Alabama are playing for the National Championship January 7th. The winners of these two games should play each other to find out who the National Champion really is. I think the BCS needs to be flexible when there are more then two undefeated teams. I know it cost money for an extra game but the NCAA basketball tournament does it.
We are in the home stretch of the regular season in the NFL. With three games left before the playoffs, we have two teams undefeated the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. This week’s debate is should these teams rest their players for the playoffs or play them in hopes of an undefeated season. I have been surprised that some former players including Michael Irvin of the NFL Network said he would give up his Super Bowl rings for an undefeated season.
This Weekend
Saturday is a big day and night for sports. The Ironman Triathlon World Championship from Hawaii is on NBC at 4:30P.M. The production is always an award winner. The last 15 minutes always makes me cry. Watch and find out why. Saturday night is a good night to fight as both Versus and Showtime present Mixed Martial Arts action. Versus has the World Extreme Cagefighting at 10 P.M. There are no championship fights on this card but the WEC features the lower weight classes that always have exciting fights. Should be fun the best part is that it’s on free TV.
The next event is a Strikeforce event on Showtime. It does include a championship fight; it’s a unification bout for their Lightweight Championship between Josh Thormson and Gilbert Melendez. I don’t have Showtime, so I won’t see this one.
I’M very much looking forward to the next Strikeforce event in Miami on January 30th. This show will feature the MMA debut of 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. Also on this card will be two sports star Bobby Lashley. Ok, pro wrestling is not a sport but, Bobby is attempting to do both pro wrestling and MMA at the same time. This is his first fight for a major MMA promotion. The last person I’m looking to fight on this card is one of the most exciting fighters right now, Nick Diaz. I hope to get Showtime by January 30th .
I hope each and ever one of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Will talk to you after the holidays.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
A view through my eyes
Hi folks
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
A view through my eyes
Hi folks
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
A view through my eyes
Hi folks
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.
The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.
The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.
For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.
Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A view through my eyes
Hi Fans, sorry for no update last week. Been working hard to get back into the work force and other big projects in progress. Will share with you when I have more details. As they say in the business, “stay tuned”.
This has been a very sad week on the UCONN Campus. Last Sunday around 12:30 in the morning (October 18th) after the UCONN football team beat Louisville. Some of the players went to a school-supported dance at the Student Union. After a fire alarm was pulled that forced every one out of the building, a fight broke out between students and non-students. Football player Jasper Howard was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was stabbed to death. One of the many sad parts of this story is that “Jazz” was from a tough part of Miami and was the first person in his family to go to collage, he was also about to be a father for the first time and his girlfriend was on campus for the Homecoming festivities, she was not at the dance, she was back at the dorm. The other sad part of this story, to me is that about 200 people and the police were at this event and no one saw what happened? It came out Thursday October 22nd in the Hartford Courant that the witnesses to this crime are being threatened online with violence if they come forward with evidence in this case. According to the Hartford Courant, Maj. Ronald Blicher told the student newspaper, “The Daily Campus”, that police are looking into these threats. He said authorities are still urging people to submit videos, photos or other information. I hope they do so and we can find who killed this popular player. On Tuesday October 27th three young men were changed in connection with the murder of Jasper Howard. John William Lomax, 21, of Bloomfield, was charged with the murder. Hakeem Muhammed, 20, also of Bloomfield, was charged with conspiracy to commit assault and Jamaal Todd, 21, of West Hartford, is accused of pulling the fire alarm. This information is from NBC Connecticut News, Channel 30.
One of the great things about this story is how people are coming together, even UCONN’s opponent on Saturday West Virginia honored “JAZZ” before and after the game. West Virginia students will sell arm bans with his number 6, and all money will go to Jasper’s family. His teammates from Miami, in schools around the country wore arm bans to honor “JAZZ”. Like I said just a sad story over all.
Sports Media Madness
A lot going on in Sports Media in the past few weeks, so lets get to it.
The only thing I will say about TBS coverage of baseball’s postseason is that Chip Caray is the worst play-by-play man in the business bar none. I don’t know what TBS sees in him? Just say I’M glad the Phillies are in the World Series and the National League Championship Series is over, he’s that bad. FOX is doing the World Series (staring Wednesday) with the crew of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, not great but better then Caray.
The story that did catch my eye this week coming out of Bristol Connecticut (ESPN) is that they have hired renowned soccer announcer Martin Tyler to call World Cup games next year in South Africa. Tyler is the best in the business. He has attended every world cup since 1978. I’m glad ESPN hired a real soccer announcer, four years ago, they assigned baseball announcer Dave O’Brien to call matches. He did a terrible job. Soccer is a difficult assignment for even a seasoned announcer, so this is a very good choice. I’M ready for South Africa, qualifying is almost over.
In Olympics news last week, Rugby 7’s and golf have been added to the 2016 Games in Rio. I’m a little split on the inclusion of these two sports into the Olympics. Rugby 7’s, I have no problem with, it’s an exciting sport and the fastest version of Rugby. It can be played in two days and is very TV friendly. On the other side is golf, don’t get me wrong, I love golf, but I just don’t think it’s an Olympic sport. First, the Olympics won’t be the pinnacle of the sport. The major championships will still be played and those tournaments are the ones the players want to win. The first Olympic event will have the worlds best like Tiger, Phil, Rory, Sergio and Y.E. just to name a few, but after the glow of the first events, than what? Take a look at Tennis in the Olympics; no one talks about it out side of the games because the Grand Slam tournaments are the be all and end all. Tennis includes the Olympic event in it’s ranking to attract the best players; hopefully golf will do the same. Golf is not a TV friendly sport compared to other Olympic sports. They are going to have a 74-hole (4 day) stroke-play tournament, and not a match play tournament that would be (I think) more TV friendly and existing to watch. We will see in 2016.
See you again soon.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, October 2, 2009
2016 Olympics host city is
Rio de Janerio Brazil will be the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics Game. Rio beat Madrid 66 to 32 in the final round of voteing after Chicago was knoted off the the frist round, Tokyo went out in the next round. I can't belive I pick Rio to win and it did. I will have a full report next week.
Have a great weekend
Jamie Lazaroff
Have a great weekend
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The view from here
This week’s major news is the countdown to the announcement of the 2016 Summer Olympic host city on Friday. The four finalists are Madrid, Rio, Chicago and Tokyo. Here are my thoughts on how each city, I think, will do in the vote.
4. Madrid: Since 1952 the Summer Games have not been held on one continent back-to-back. The next Summer Olympics in 2012 will be held in London and the Winter Olympics in 2014 will be held in Sachi, Russia. The IOC is not going to change this just for King Juan Carlos. Sorry Madrid.
3. Chicago: You can call me un-American but I never thought Chicago was fit to host the Olympics. Chicago does not have a very good political history. That could hurt them here. Crime is also a big problem for the city. This Chicago organizing committee has it all wrong; its plan is to win the bid then start building stadiums and arenas for the games. I also think economics play a big role. Chicago and the US as a whole can’t afford the games. I think President Obama and First Lady Michelle’s presence in Copenhagen will help but the long-standing dispute the US Olympic Committee has with the IOC will hurt their chances. I hope Chicago doesn’t win and repeat what happen to Denver. In 1970 Denver was granted the 1976 Winter Games: The city had to give up the Games after Colorado voters rejected a $5 Million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Don’t let history repeat it’s self.
2. Tokyo: I think Tokyo has a good plan and would be a good host; they have not held the games since 1964. Tokyo could suffer from the fact that Beijing hosted the Games last year. It will not be the first time the games have been staged on the same continent within eight years. According to the BBC, of the 34 planned venues, 23 already exist with many venues used during the 1964 Games are set to be refurbished. As Japan is one of the first countries to come through the recession, the government has already put the budget for construction and infrastructure aside. The city has also successfully staged the 2002 World Cup Final and has a ton of experience hosting other worldwide championships, including the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
1. Rio: I would love to see the Olympics for the first time in South America. Can you imagine Beach Volleyball on Copacabana Beach? Rio hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, which was called the “best in history” it will also host the World Cup in 2014. According to the bid website, they plan to stage all the competitions inside the city that will make it easy to get to for fans and media alike. I think it would be fun to go to Brazil.
Sunday was week 3 of the NFL season and was one of two weeks that the NFC played teams in the AFC teams stadiums, because of this the Patriots played on the FOX network. Usually they are televised on CBS. FOX usually shows the New York Giants. This week the Pats and Giants played at the same time and according to Doug Stewart of FOX61 in CT the network in New York decided that the station got the Giants. This meant I don’t see the Pats beat the Atlanta Falcons. As you can expect, I was furious. Doug did say that they made every attempt to satisfy the wishes of their viewers and sometimes they have been successful, but, not this time. I should have caught that FOX61 was going with the Giants game earlier in the week, the schedule come out on Wednesday, I should have made alternate plans, like going to Massachusetts to my cousin’s house. This is the only time this situation will happen this season. Thank god.
This Weekend
This weekend the event I am looking forward to is the National Rugby League Grand Final from Australia @11 A.M. Sunday October 4 on Spike. I have watched a little of the first few weeks of the playoffs and I’ve got to tell you it put football to shame. Rugby League is one of the toughest sports in the world, the players don’t wear any protection. I don’t understand all the rules yet but it is a very exciting sport. Check it out, I know I will.
See you next week, if not before
Jamie Lazaroff
4. Madrid: Since 1952 the Summer Games have not been held on one continent back-to-back. The next Summer Olympics in 2012 will be held in London and the Winter Olympics in 2014 will be held in Sachi, Russia. The IOC is not going to change this just for King Juan Carlos. Sorry Madrid.
3. Chicago: You can call me un-American but I never thought Chicago was fit to host the Olympics. Chicago does not have a very good political history. That could hurt them here. Crime is also a big problem for the city. This Chicago organizing committee has it all wrong; its plan is to win the bid then start building stadiums and arenas for the games. I also think economics play a big role. Chicago and the US as a whole can’t afford the games. I think President Obama and First Lady Michelle’s presence in Copenhagen will help but the long-standing dispute the US Olympic Committee has with the IOC will hurt their chances. I hope Chicago doesn’t win and repeat what happen to Denver. In 1970 Denver was granted the 1976 Winter Games: The city had to give up the Games after Colorado voters rejected a $5 Million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Don’t let history repeat it’s self.
2. Tokyo: I think Tokyo has a good plan and would be a good host; they have not held the games since 1964. Tokyo could suffer from the fact that Beijing hosted the Games last year. It will not be the first time the games have been staged on the same continent within eight years. According to the BBC, of the 34 planned venues, 23 already exist with many venues used during the 1964 Games are set to be refurbished. As Japan is one of the first countries to come through the recession, the government has already put the budget for construction and infrastructure aside. The city has also successfully staged the 2002 World Cup Final and has a ton of experience hosting other worldwide championships, including the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
1. Rio: I would love to see the Olympics for the first time in South America. Can you imagine Beach Volleyball on Copacabana Beach? Rio hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, which was called the “best in history” it will also host the World Cup in 2014. According to the bid website, they plan to stage all the competitions inside the city that will make it easy to get to for fans and media alike. I think it would be fun to go to Brazil.
Sunday was week 3 of the NFL season and was one of two weeks that the NFC played teams in the AFC teams stadiums, because of this the Patriots played on the FOX network. Usually they are televised on CBS. FOX usually shows the New York Giants. This week the Pats and Giants played at the same time and according to Doug Stewart of FOX61 in CT the network in New York decided that the station got the Giants. This meant I don’t see the Pats beat the Atlanta Falcons. As you can expect, I was furious. Doug did say that they made every attempt to satisfy the wishes of their viewers and sometimes they have been successful, but, not this time. I should have caught that FOX61 was going with the Giants game earlier in the week, the schedule come out on Wednesday, I should have made alternate plans, like going to Massachusetts to my cousin’s house. This is the only time this situation will happen this season. Thank god.
This Weekend
This weekend the event I am looking forward to is the National Rugby League Grand Final from Australia @11 A.M. Sunday October 4 on Spike. I have watched a little of the first few weeks of the playoffs and I’ve got to tell you it put football to shame. Rugby League is one of the toughest sports in the world, the players don’t wear any protection. I don’t understand all the rules yet but it is a very exciting sport. Check it out, I know I will.
See you next week, if not before
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, September 25, 2009
The view from my eyes
I’M back and better than every. I have a new computer and ready to go.
A story that caught my eye this week is a story out of St Joseph Missouri. At the end of a High School football game that was a shutout. Benton High School coach Dan McCarmy asked the opposing team to give up the shutout because he want to run a special play for an athlete with Down Syndrome.
I was out raged to see the coach say he do not what any physical contact. It’s football, that’s a physical game. I understand that Matt’s father is a high school athletic director and all his brothers and sisters play sports, but there are other sports that are not as physical. The different from this story and the Jason McElwain story,(the young basketball player with autism from NY state in 2006) the defense was called off but Jason had to shot the ball and did not have a guarantee that it would go in. This is a heart-warning story and it’s great to see the Maryville team and fans showed so much support and sportsmanship but I don’t like that the touchdown was not earned.
Last week I went to a Minor League Baseball game in Norwich CT. It was game one of the Easter League Championship series. I had a great time and Minor League Baseball is one of the most inexpensive experiences in all of sports. This week it was announced that the Defenders are officially moving to Richmond Virginia next season. Norwich has had a team for 15 years. From 1995 to 2002 the former Norwich Navigators was a double A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In 2003 the San Francisco Giants was the parent club. In 2006 there name was change to the Connecticut Defenders.
I think there are a lot of reasons for this move. When the team was with the Yankees, they did well because fans could follow the players to the Major Leagues. They can’t do that with the Giants because they’re a West Coast team and they’re in the National League. I also think that Northern Connecticut is a basketball area. I believe that attendant for baseball started to go down when the WNBA Sun came to team in 2003.
An update of a story I brought you last week. Plaxico Buress was sentenced to two years in prison for violating New York's stringent gun laws.
Media Watch
This week story is from Sports Business Journal. This years MLS Cup (Championship Game) will appear in prime time on ESPN.(Nov. 22 at 8:30 P.M.) It will be opposite “Sunday Night Football”. In previously years the game aired Sunday afternoon on ABC. The league and network decided to move the game because the game is being played on the West Coast. This is the problem with MLS; only fans of the two teams will watch the game. You are going up against the NFL. This past weekend “Sunday Night Football” beat the EMMY Awards (24.8 million vs. 12.5 million) in total viewership. MLS needs to shorten up its schedule and cut out meaningless tournaments like Superliga, so the season ends before football starts.
ESPN does do some soccer well. Like I said before there English Premier League coverage is very good. There also do International soccer well. Starting Saturday September 26, there will be again able to prove it. The ESPN family of networks will air all 52 matches of the 2009 FIFA under 20 World Cup. Most matches will be on ESPN360.com but all of the U.S. teams games will be on TV. Saturday’s game will be on ESPN Classic but the two other games in midweek will be on ESPN2. I will keep you updated on team USA. I will be watching!
This weekend
The Australian Football League’s Grand Finale (Championship Game) will be live on ESPN Classic on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 12:30 a.m. (Friday, Sept. 25 at 9:30 p.m. PT). A live simulcast will also be available on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s 24/7 online destination for live sports. I don’t get ESPN Classic or ESPN360.com. I’M bummed; I was so looking for to watching the match.
Until next time America
Jamie Lazaroff
A story that caught my eye this week is a story out of St Joseph Missouri. At the end of a High School football game that was a shutout. Benton High School coach Dan McCarmy asked the opposing team to give up the shutout because he want to run a special play for an athlete with Down Syndrome.
I was out raged to see the coach say he do not what any physical contact. It’s football, that’s a physical game. I understand that Matt’s father is a high school athletic director and all his brothers and sisters play sports, but there are other sports that are not as physical. The different from this story and the Jason McElwain story,(the young basketball player with autism from NY state in 2006) the defense was called off but Jason had to shot the ball and did not have a guarantee that it would go in. This is a heart-warning story and it’s great to see the Maryville team and fans showed so much support and sportsmanship but I don’t like that the touchdown was not earned.
Last week I went to a Minor League Baseball game in Norwich CT. It was game one of the Easter League Championship series. I had a great time and Minor League Baseball is one of the most inexpensive experiences in all of sports. This week it was announced that the Defenders are officially moving to Richmond Virginia next season. Norwich has had a team for 15 years. From 1995 to 2002 the former Norwich Navigators was a double A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In 2003 the San Francisco Giants was the parent club. In 2006 there name was change to the Connecticut Defenders.
I think there are a lot of reasons for this move. When the team was with the Yankees, they did well because fans could follow the players to the Major Leagues. They can’t do that with the Giants because they’re a West Coast team and they’re in the National League. I also think that Northern Connecticut is a basketball area. I believe that attendant for baseball started to go down when the WNBA Sun came to team in 2003.
An update of a story I brought you last week. Plaxico Buress was sentenced to two years in prison for violating New York's stringent gun laws.
Media Watch
This week story is from Sports Business Journal. This years MLS Cup (Championship Game) will appear in prime time on ESPN.(Nov. 22 at 8:30 P.M.) It will be opposite “Sunday Night Football”. In previously years the game aired Sunday afternoon on ABC. The league and network decided to move the game because the game is being played on the West Coast. This is the problem with MLS; only fans of the two teams will watch the game. You are going up against the NFL. This past weekend “Sunday Night Football” beat the EMMY Awards (24.8 million vs. 12.5 million) in total viewership. MLS needs to shorten up its schedule and cut out meaningless tournaments like Superliga, so the season ends before football starts.
ESPN does do some soccer well. Like I said before there English Premier League coverage is very good. There also do International soccer well. Starting Saturday September 26, there will be again able to prove it. The ESPN family of networks will air all 52 matches of the 2009 FIFA under 20 World Cup. Most matches will be on ESPN360.com but all of the U.S. teams games will be on TV. Saturday’s game will be on ESPN Classic but the two other games in midweek will be on ESPN2. I will keep you updated on team USA. I will be watching!
This weekend
The Australian Football League’s Grand Finale (Championship Game) will be live on ESPN Classic on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 12:30 a.m. (Friday, Sept. 25 at 9:30 p.m. PT). A live simulcast will also be available on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s 24/7 online destination for live sports. I don’t get ESPN Classic or ESPN360.com. I’M bummed; I was so looking for to watching the match.
Until next time America
Jamie Lazaroff
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The view from jamie's eyes
Sorry I have not written in a while, I have had a few computer problems. I hope to be back on a regular schedule soon. I would like to update a few stories that are back in the news. “He’s back”, weeks after saying he would not come out of retirement Brett Favre decided to come back and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Why Brett? You have every thing, a Super Bowl title and named league MVP 3 times. What do you need to accomplish next to leave the stage? The only reason I can see is he came back because he loves the spotlight. After last year with the Jets he wants the opportunity to go out on a winning note. Also, the Vikings are a divisional rival of Brett’s old team, the Green Bay Packers and I think he wants to stick it to them for forcing him to retire back in 2008.
An update on the Michael Vick story, he did sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. After some thought I think this is a good move for Michael. The Eagles have a veteran quarterback in Donovan McNabb who will be able to help Michael get his life back in order. The Eagles have already talked about using both QBs at the same time. The team has already had meetings with animal rights groups about having Vick as a spokesman for their organization. Last week, Michael was fully reinstated to play in week 3 of the season by commissioner Roger Goodell.
I would like to comment about the Plaxico Burress story. On Tuesday August 25th, Plaxico gave his first interveiw since that night, and I have a few thoughts about the whole incident. Plaxico came off as the victim of the incident in the intervew. He said “I shot myself but now I’M the one going to jail” I think that before you decide to take a gun with you, you should know the laws of the state or city you are in. By the way because of the incident Plaxico was fired from the Giants and he is not playing this season for any club.
I have been watching ESPN’s coverage of the US Open Tennis Championship which started Monday Aug 31st. This is ESPN’s first year of covering the Open after it was on the USA network for many years. ESPN did there expected great job on tennis. I do like that they have added Mike Tirico to the teleacast. He was one of the hosts and has also called some of the matches. He is a much better than host Chris Fowler who also calls some of the matches. Chris should stick to hosting College Football Gameday. ESPN has also hired John and Patrick McEnroe along with Mary Carillo, this group gives them the best announcers in the business.
A few weeks back, I told you ESPN is bringing back Australian Rules Football. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Spike TV announced it is also bringing back the Australian Rugby League to US TV. Most games will be taped for air at 11 P.M., but the Grand Final (championship game) will be aired October 4th at 11 A.M. I will be watching. By the way I did watch a little of the frist week, I like that Spike used the Australian game announcers. ESPN does the same thing with the English Premier League, I like that as well. I also like that ESPN seems to have dropped the bottom line scoring/news scroll during the English Premier League games. I find the scroll distracting.
Until next time America.
Jamie Lazaroff
An update on the Michael Vick story, he did sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. After some thought I think this is a good move for Michael. The Eagles have a veteran quarterback in Donovan McNabb who will be able to help Michael get his life back in order. The Eagles have already talked about using both QBs at the same time. The team has already had meetings with animal rights groups about having Vick as a spokesman for their organization. Last week, Michael was fully reinstated to play in week 3 of the season by commissioner Roger Goodell.
I would like to comment about the Plaxico Burress story. On Tuesday August 25th, Plaxico gave his first interveiw since that night, and I have a few thoughts about the whole incident. Plaxico came off as the victim of the incident in the intervew. He said “I shot myself but now I’M the one going to jail” I think that before you decide to take a gun with you, you should know the laws of the state or city you are in. By the way because of the incident Plaxico was fired from the Giants and he is not playing this season for any club.
I have been watching ESPN’s coverage of the US Open Tennis Championship which started Monday Aug 31st. This is ESPN’s first year of covering the Open after it was on the USA network for many years. ESPN did there expected great job on tennis. I do like that they have added Mike Tirico to the teleacast. He was one of the hosts and has also called some of the matches. He is a much better than host Chris Fowler who also calls some of the matches. Chris should stick to hosting College Football Gameday. ESPN has also hired John and Patrick McEnroe along with Mary Carillo, this group gives them the best announcers in the business.
A few weeks back, I told you ESPN is bringing back Australian Rules Football. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Spike TV announced it is also bringing back the Australian Rugby League to US TV. Most games will be taped for air at 11 P.M., but the Grand Final (championship game) will be aired October 4th at 11 A.M. I will be watching. By the way I did watch a little of the frist week, I like that Spike used the Australian game announcers. ESPN does the same thing with the English Premier League, I like that as well. I also like that ESPN seems to have dropped the bottom line scoring/news scroll during the English Premier League games. I find the scroll distracting.
Until next time America.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The view from here
There’s was no sun on Cape Cod Bay, August 12th , so everyone went to
P-town and I’m in the cottage writing this. I told you I would have big news, and I have. The Founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shiver died Tuesday, August 11th in Hyannis at the age of 88. I met and interviewed Eunice many times; she had great energy and a spirit that was infectious. I would not be writing a blog on the Internet if it weren’t for the confidence I developed because of her organization. As long as her son Tim is at the helm of Special Olympics, Eunice’s dream will live on. Thank you Eunice for all you have done for me and making this a better world for all of us. It’s sad that the Founder of Special Olympics had to die for the organization to get media coverage. Just a thought.
Monday I found a new sport, fishing. I went out fishing in the Bay with my Uncle, my cousins Dave, Payton and Jeff as well as our friend Alec. As an athlete, my definition of sports is the feeling of the excitement of competition whether you are taking part in it being a spectator and the sense of accomplishment win or loose. Before this fishing trip I did not consider fishing a sport but simply a pastime. I have changed my mind. I was sweating as I was fighting that bluefish, I felt proud as that fish came into the boat and then a great since of accomplishment while eating it that night. Besides bluefish we also caught striped bass. Thanks to Captain Buddy and first mate Dennis for a great first vogue that was most enjoyable. The big winner of the day was my 8-year old cousin Peyton who caught the biggest fish of the day. Good job little guy.
Media Watch
The only media story I saw this week was that ESPN is going to present live match coverage of England’s Barclay’s Premier League (BPL) in the U.S. for the 2009-10 Season. ESPN2 will offer fans up to 48 live BPL matches this season, including live presentation of the 12 Monday afternoon (U.S. ET) matches. ESPN2 will feature one match each Saturday at 7:45 a.m. and select Saturday matches at 10 a.m. (when there are no matches at 7:45 a.m.). Very good news, my Saturday mornings are now a lot happier. It’s the little things like this that make me happy.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is the Bristol (TN) night race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Bristol Motor Speedway is a ½ mile of fun and has a lot of crashes. There are also two races after this, the chase, (NASCAR’s version of a playoff). The top 12 drivers can change positions and that makes it interesting. The race is Saturday night at 7:30 P.M. on ESPN.
Have a great week.
And that the way it is.
Jamie Lazaroff
P-town and I’m in the cottage writing this. I told you I would have big news, and I have. The Founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shiver died Tuesday, August 11th in Hyannis at the age of 88. I met and interviewed Eunice many times; she had great energy and a spirit that was infectious. I would not be writing a blog on the Internet if it weren’t for the confidence I developed because of her organization. As long as her son Tim is at the helm of Special Olympics, Eunice’s dream will live on. Thank you Eunice for all you have done for me and making this a better world for all of us. It’s sad that the Founder of Special Olympics had to die for the organization to get media coverage. Just a thought.
Monday I found a new sport, fishing. I went out fishing in the Bay with my Uncle, my cousins Dave, Payton and Jeff as well as our friend Alec. As an athlete, my definition of sports is the feeling of the excitement of competition whether you are taking part in it being a spectator and the sense of accomplishment win or loose. Before this fishing trip I did not consider fishing a sport but simply a pastime. I have changed my mind. I was sweating as I was fighting that bluefish, I felt proud as that fish came into the boat and then a great since of accomplishment while eating it that night. Besides bluefish we also caught striped bass. Thanks to Captain Buddy and first mate Dennis for a great first vogue that was most enjoyable. The big winner of the day was my 8-year old cousin Peyton who caught the biggest fish of the day. Good job little guy.
Media Watch
The only media story I saw this week was that ESPN is going to present live match coverage of England’s Barclay’s Premier League (BPL) in the U.S. for the 2009-10 Season. ESPN2 will offer fans up to 48 live BPL matches this season, including live presentation of the 12 Monday afternoon (U.S. ET) matches. ESPN2 will feature one match each Saturday at 7:45 a.m. and select Saturday matches at 10 a.m. (when there are no matches at 7:45 a.m.). Very good news, my Saturday mornings are now a lot happier. It’s the little things like this that make me happy.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is the Bristol (TN) night race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Bristol Motor Speedway is a ½ mile of fun and has a lot of crashes. There are also two races after this, the chase, (NASCAR’s version of a playoff). The top 12 drivers can change positions and that makes it interesting. The race is Saturday night at 7:30 P.M. on ESPN.
Have a great week.
And that the way it is.
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A view for the chair
Are you ready for some football! It is the end of July and football season is starting with the opening of training camp. There are two major football stories in the news this week. On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally reinstates Michael Vick following the end of his prison sentence for running a dog fighting operation. Vick will be allowed to play in preseason games and practice, provided he can find a team that will sign him, and Goodell will decide on Vick's full reinstatement no later than Week 6 of the 2009 season. Vick did say this week that he is close to signing with a team. But of all the 32 teams in the NFL, only 6 teams have interest in the troubled QB. I hope he doesn’t sign with an NFL team but goes to the new UFL that starts play this fall. I think Vick needs a year or so to mature while playing in a minor league.
The other big football story this week is that Brett Favre, who was considering coming out of retirement for the second consecutive season and playing for the Minnesota Vikings, announces that he will remain retired, saying that he does not feel physically able to play for a full season. I’M glad Brett is not coming back this season because I want to remember him as a great QB and not the one that came back last year with the Jets. Unfortunately as Peter King of Sports Illustated said, “We will probably have to revist this after the season.” Please just leave the stage Brett.
The major baseball steroids story of the week is that in 2003 former Red Sox Manny Ramirez and team mate and current star, David Ortiz had tested positive for performance-enhancing drug. 2003 was the year to test to see if Major League Baseball had a steroid problem. The positive tests should have been private. There were supposedly about 100 ballplayers that tested positive that year and only about a quarter of the names have come out, so, why not publish the whole list so we can know and just end this drama. Some people think the Red Sox and any other team that won the World Series in the steroid era ( I would say 1995 to 2005) needs to give back their Championship. Let me know how you feel about it. In the record book I would just have a section called Steroid Era and have all records from that time peroid listed. As far as the Hall of Fame goes, no player from that era should be allowed in.
Media Watch
ESPN became the story last week on two occasions. Frist, Erin Andrews was the victim of a “peeping tom” who took a nude video of her in her hotel room. ESPN made the decision to ban all New York Post sportswriters from it’s shows because the paper printed photos of Erin from the video. This decision was reversed because the Editor of the Post decided not to print the photos. That was the good news for ESPN.
The bad news was the way they handled the Ben Roethlisberger civil lawsuit story. ESPN in the initial days of the story, issued a “Do not report” order to its jouranlist. Why? When a lawsuit is filed in a courtroom in the United States of America and the person being sued is the current Super Bowl winning QB it needs to be report. If it was any other football player in this situation, it would be reported and be the first thing on SportCenter. ESPN needs to look at their policies and procedures to make sure this does not happen again. Oh wait, ESPN doesn’t have any policies or procedures, only when it comes to social networking sites like twitter or myspace. Just last night (Tuesday August 4) ESPN sent a memo to all employees for using Twitter unless it was for ESPN purposes. This could be a good thing I guess. I will keep my eye on this story.
This just in to the laznet news room. Aussie Rules Football is back on ESPN. The network reached an agreement with the Australian Football League to cover up to three live games each weekend for the remainder of this season and the next two after that. Most of the games will be online at ESPN360.com but a select number of games will be televised on ESPN2. This includes this year’s championship game (the Grand Final) in September. I’M so exticed, I grew up watching Aussie Rules Football on ESPN back when we were both growing up and I have miss it since. Can’t wait for the fall!
This Weekend
Next week I will be on Cape Cod for our family vacation, Don’t worry I will have TV and will be bringing my laptop, so if there is any breaking news I will be on it.
The major sports events this weekend is another round of the Red Sox against the Yankees. After a shakey month of July for Boston, the Yankees lead in the American League East is 2 and a half games (entering Thursday). It is a 4 game series that starts Thursday at Yankee stadium. It is always fun when these two teams get together.
There are two big MMA events this weekend. UFC 101 from Philadelphia Saturday on Pay-per-view. The main event of the night is a bout for the UFC Lightweight Championship, Champion B.J Penn will take on Kenny Florian. This should be a great fight as both guys have a ton of experience and are both Jiu-Jitsu specialist. I wish I could see it or better yet I wish I could be there live.
Sunday night in Las Vegas is WEC 42 live on Versus. The main event on this card is a fight for the WEC Bantamweight Championship. The champion Miguel Torres taking on Brian Bowles. The lighter weights are always exciting and this fight should be more of the same. One of the great things that makes MMA so exciting is that it is so unpredictable and anyone can win on any given day. I hope to catch this fight.
And that is the way it is.
Jamie Lazaroff
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The view from here
The big sports story of last weekend was Tom Watson leading the Open Championship (British Open) at 59 years young for most of the weekend. It was very inspiring to see a man, 2-months shy of his 60 birthday, contenting in the world’s oldest major championship. But as Dom Amore wrote in Sunday’s Hartford Courant ”To be really good when you’re old, you have to have been great when you were young”: Tom is a 5-time Open Championship winner, 1977 at Turnberry (site of this year’s championship) 3 Senior British Open tittles including the 2003 Senior Open at Turnberry. So he knows this course and how to play in windy conditions, which you need to play links golf. I don’t think Tom chocked in the end, Stewart Cink won the tournament in a 4-hole playoff. I think Tom got tired in the end, his par putt on the 72nd green to win came up just short and in the playoff he don’t drive it into the fairway like he did the whole week. Tom’s motivation was not just to win his sixth Open Championship but also make the cut and play late on the weekend because if he didn’t he would have been working for ABC.
Let’s talk about the TV coverage, like I said last week; this was TNT’s last year of Thursday and Friday coverage of the Open. For visuals ABC and TNT were limited to the BBC feed. Let’s talk about the announcers, TNT was not bad but not good, Ernie Johnson is great as host of TNT’s NBA coverage but golf is not his game. Ian Baker-Finch and Terry Gannon were the best of the bunch, they both had the enthusiasm that I like and made the telecast enjoyable. ABC weekend coverage was good in spots. Mike Tirco is the best play-by-play man in the business in any sport, bar none. Curtis Strange was very annoying and talked way too much. Tom Weiskopf was the new kid on the block and my first impression was that he was no good, he could not talk very well, but once he we got to golf he gave very good insight to what was going on. Tirco’s partner in the booth was Paul Azinger, who I did not like at all, was just bad. On the golf course walking with the players were Andy North and Judy Rankin. I think they are the two best on the course commentators in the business. Most media critics love BBC’s Peter Alliss, who showed up for an hour or so each day. Don’t get me wrong I love the British, but Mr. Alliss is 78 years old and he mumbled a lot. I could not understand a word he was saying. I also think Rich Reilly was excellent; I liked it when he sat in with Gannon on Saturday and just his obvious joy while watching Watson.
The non-sports story of the weekend was the death of newsman Walter Cronkite at the age of 92. “Uncle” Walter was the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. I don’t remember Mr. Cronkite but from what I saw in the last few days, I was very impressed. He was a newsman’s newsman; I mean he was a reporter first who happened to be an anchor. CNN’s Larry King Live replayed an interview with Walter from many years ago. We can lean a lot about covering the news from Mr. Cronkite. Goodbye “Uncle” Walter, there will never be any one like you.
This Weekend
The big event Saturday is the WNBA All-Star at the Morgan Sun at 3:30 on ABC. This is the best of the best of women’s basketball and all the big names will be there like Bird and Taurasi. The best part is that I will be there as well.
Sunday’s big event is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Brickyard 400 at Indy. I still can’t believe this is the 16th running of this event. It really has become one of NASCAR’s biggest races.
As Uncle Water would say,” That’s the way it is.”
Talk to you all next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Let’s talk about the TV coverage, like I said last week; this was TNT’s last year of Thursday and Friday coverage of the Open. For visuals ABC and TNT were limited to the BBC feed. Let’s talk about the announcers, TNT was not bad but not good, Ernie Johnson is great as host of TNT’s NBA coverage but golf is not his game. Ian Baker-Finch and Terry Gannon were the best of the bunch, they both had the enthusiasm that I like and made the telecast enjoyable. ABC weekend coverage was good in spots. Mike Tirco is the best play-by-play man in the business in any sport, bar none. Curtis Strange was very annoying and talked way too much. Tom Weiskopf was the new kid on the block and my first impression was that he was no good, he could not talk very well, but once he we got to golf he gave very good insight to what was going on. Tirco’s partner in the booth was Paul Azinger, who I did not like at all, was just bad. On the golf course walking with the players were Andy North and Judy Rankin. I think they are the two best on the course commentators in the business. Most media critics love BBC’s Peter Alliss, who showed up for an hour or so each day. Don’t get me wrong I love the British, but Mr. Alliss is 78 years old and he mumbled a lot. I could not understand a word he was saying. I also think Rich Reilly was excellent; I liked it when he sat in with Gannon on Saturday and just his obvious joy while watching Watson.
The non-sports story of the weekend was the death of newsman Walter Cronkite at the age of 92. “Uncle” Walter was the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. I don’t remember Mr. Cronkite but from what I saw in the last few days, I was very impressed. He was a newsman’s newsman; I mean he was a reporter first who happened to be an anchor. CNN’s Larry King Live replayed an interview with Walter from many years ago. We can lean a lot about covering the news from Mr. Cronkite. Goodbye “Uncle” Walter, there will never be any one like you.
This Weekend
The big event Saturday is the WNBA All-Star at the Morgan Sun at 3:30 on ABC. This is the best of the best of women’s basketball and all the big names will be there like Bird and Taurasi. The best part is that I will be there as well.
Sunday’s big event is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Brickyard 400 at Indy. I still can’t believe this is the 16th running of this event. It really has become one of NASCAR’s biggest races.
As Uncle Water would say,” That’s the way it is.”
Talk to you all next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The view from here
Good day folks,
The top story this week is the shocking death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. It turned out that he died in a murder-suicide by his 20-year-old girlfriend. Steve played a 13-year career, most with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. Steve will be remembered for being one of the toughest QBs ever to play in the NFL. In the Super Bowl in 2000 Steve led Tennessee within a foot of a game-winning touchdown. I hope people remember Steve as a great QB and not the strange way he died. This is the same I hope for all celebrities, like Michael Jackson as well.
My comment this week is on Manny Ramirez. As you may know, Manny was suspended 50 games for using a women's fertility drug. My questions are, why was Manny allowed during his suspention to workout at the Dodgers' spring training facilities with Dodger coach Manny Mota? He was also allowed a short rehab stint in the minor leagues to get back into playing shape. He played two games with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. He also played several games with the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers. I don’t remember any player who was suspended getting this kind of preferincial treatment before! As of this week the Commissioner is looking this kind of treatment in the future. Manny came back during the July 4th holiday. During his suspension there was a movement by Dodgers’ fans to get him voted into the All-Star Game. I’m glad to report this was not allowed and he is not in St. Louis this week. During the Press Conference to anounce his suspension, Manny stated that he had seen a physician who unknowingly prescribed medication that is banned under the MLB drug policy. He is a professional athletle, he should know what the doctor is prescribeing him, its not the doctor’s fault that he gave him a banned drug. Since he came back Manny has been cheered every place he has been, WHY? He is a drug cheat and he should be treated as such. Barry Bonds was a drug cheat who was never caught, but was a hated figure. Manny should be in the same boat.
Media Notes
The big sports media story is that the US Olympics Committee is setting up it’s own TV network next year. I have three questions about this: How are they going to compete with NBC’s Universal Sports Network? How are they going to get live programming? Universal Sports has most of the Olympic sports rights to broadcast these events. How will this development affect Chicago’s hopes to get the 2016 Summer Games? The International Olympic Committee is objecting to the network and said that the USOC had not authorized the use of the Olympic name or television footage. I will monitor this developing story.
The week’s ESPN watch is that the “Worldwide Leader” is truly becoming the worldwide leader in sports after getting a piece of the English Premier League package of games and thus a foot hold in the UK. On this side of the pond we are getting converge of some soccer with Spain’s La Liga League this fall. This is good news; after ESPN lost the Champions League rights to FOX, I thought there would be no soccer on the ESPN family of networks.
Speaking of ESPN, I was glad to see they have coverage of Indoor Volleyball’s World League. I enjoy Indoor volleyball much more than beach volleyball, there is more action and the ball is in the air with six players each side to two per side for beach volleyball. I hope they do more volleyball in the future.
In other ESPN news, they have hired a new Ombudsman in legendary TV Exec Don Ohlmeyer. This is a controversial choice because the first two Ombudsmen for ESPN were newspaper people and respected journalist but Ohlmeyer is the best producer, not just in sports but also TV sitcoms. Don will start in August, we will see then.
What to watch for
Tuesday July 14th was the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on FOX. This will be the seventh year in which the All-Star Game determines home field advantage in the World Series. By the way the American League win 4 to 3 over the National League. It was the 12th straight win ( one tie) for the American League in the Mid Summer Classic. I enjoy the All-Star Game because it’s the best of the best in baseball. I think interleague play should determine the home field in the World Series. I think this is a great way to update the interleague play which is getting boring the way it is now.
This weekend is the third Major of the golf year, The Open Championship (British Open). The Open is played on links course that are right on the sea, so the wind will be a factor. It is also the oldest major championship which was started in 1860. All of these factors are why it’s my favorite golf major. TNT will have Thurday’s and Friday’s coverage for the last time, ESPN takes oover next year. Coverage is live starting at 7 A.M. each day. TNT has some weekend coverage before ABC takes over 7 to 9 A.M Saturday and 6 to 8 A.M. on Sunday. ABC takes over Saturday 9 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. and Championship Sunday 8 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Enjoy, I know I will.
Talk to you all soon
Jamie Lazaroff
The top story this week is the shocking death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. It turned out that he died in a murder-suicide by his 20-year-old girlfriend. Steve played a 13-year career, most with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. Steve will be remembered for being one of the toughest QBs ever to play in the NFL. In the Super Bowl in 2000 Steve led Tennessee within a foot of a game-winning touchdown. I hope people remember Steve as a great QB and not the strange way he died. This is the same I hope for all celebrities, like Michael Jackson as well.
My comment this week is on Manny Ramirez. As you may know, Manny was suspended 50 games for using a women's fertility drug. My questions are, why was Manny allowed during his suspention to workout at the Dodgers' spring training facilities with Dodger coach Manny Mota? He was also allowed a short rehab stint in the minor leagues to get back into playing shape. He played two games with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. He also played several games with the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers. I don’t remember any player who was suspended getting this kind of preferincial treatment before! As of this week the Commissioner is looking this kind of treatment in the future. Manny came back during the July 4th holiday. During his suspension there was a movement by Dodgers’ fans to get him voted into the All-Star Game. I’m glad to report this was not allowed and he is not in St. Louis this week. During the Press Conference to anounce his suspension, Manny stated that he had seen a physician who unknowingly prescribed medication that is banned under the MLB drug policy. He is a professional athletle, he should know what the doctor is prescribeing him, its not the doctor’s fault that he gave him a banned drug. Since he came back Manny has been cheered every place he has been, WHY? He is a drug cheat and he should be treated as such. Barry Bonds was a drug cheat who was never caught, but was a hated figure. Manny should be in the same boat.
Media Notes
The big sports media story is that the US Olympics Committee is setting up it’s own TV network next year. I have three questions about this: How are they going to compete with NBC’s Universal Sports Network? How are they going to get live programming? Universal Sports has most of the Olympic sports rights to broadcast these events. How will this development affect Chicago’s hopes to get the 2016 Summer Games? The International Olympic Committee is objecting to the network and said that the USOC had not authorized the use of the Olympic name or television footage. I will monitor this developing story.
The week’s ESPN watch is that the “Worldwide Leader” is truly becoming the worldwide leader in sports after getting a piece of the English Premier League package of games and thus a foot hold in the UK. On this side of the pond we are getting converge of some soccer with Spain’s La Liga League this fall. This is good news; after ESPN lost the Champions League rights to FOX, I thought there would be no soccer on the ESPN family of networks.
Speaking of ESPN, I was glad to see they have coverage of Indoor Volleyball’s World League. I enjoy Indoor volleyball much more than beach volleyball, there is more action and the ball is in the air with six players each side to two per side for beach volleyball. I hope they do more volleyball in the future.
In other ESPN news, they have hired a new Ombudsman in legendary TV Exec Don Ohlmeyer. This is a controversial choice because the first two Ombudsmen for ESPN were newspaper people and respected journalist but Ohlmeyer is the best producer, not just in sports but also TV sitcoms. Don will start in August, we will see then.
What to watch for
Tuesday July 14th was the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on FOX. This will be the seventh year in which the All-Star Game determines home field advantage in the World Series. By the way the American League win 4 to 3 over the National League. It was the 12th straight win ( one tie) for the American League in the Mid Summer Classic. I enjoy the All-Star Game because it’s the best of the best in baseball. I think interleague play should determine the home field in the World Series. I think this is a great way to update the interleague play which is getting boring the way it is now.
This weekend is the third Major of the golf year, The Open Championship (British Open). The Open is played on links course that are right on the sea, so the wind will be a factor. It is also the oldest major championship which was started in 1860. All of these factors are why it’s my favorite golf major. TNT will have Thurday’s and Friday’s coverage for the last time, ESPN takes oover next year. Coverage is live starting at 7 A.M. each day. TNT has some weekend coverage before ABC takes over 7 to 9 A.M Saturday and 6 to 8 A.M. on Sunday. ABC takes over Saturday 9 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. and Championship Sunday 8 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Enjoy, I know I will.
Talk to you all soon
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The view from here
Oh my! Last week was a huge sports and news week. So lets get to it.
Sunday June 21st was Father’s Day and the last group game for the U.S. National Soccer Team in the Confederations Cup Tournament. The U.S. played Egypt and needed a miracle to advance to the semifinals. If you remember, we were out scored 6 goals to one, in their first two-group games, by Italy and Brazil. They beat Egypt 3 to 0 and needed Brazil to beat Italy by more than 2 goals, they beat them 3 to 0 for the U.S. to advance. I will have the semifinal game later in this report.
Monday was the final round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park on Long Island New York. The Championship usually ends on Father’s Day but with all the rain on Long Island it played the final round on Monday for only the 4th time in the tournaments 109-year history. It was full of stories, Phil Mickelson trying to win one for Amy, his wife who is battling cancer. Phil came up just short this year but in the process he set a record for the most runner-up finishes in his career. I can’t imagine the pressure and the emotions Phil was feeling that week. Great show Phil!
Ricky Barnes was another story at the US Open; he was the 2002 US Amateur Champion but struggled as a pro. This was his first year on the PGA Tour but his season was not going well and he came out of nowhere to set a record for the lowest half way total in this tournament. Hopefully this performance will lead to bigger and better things. Another great story was the resurgence of David Duval. David was a former number one player in the world who has struggled in recent years with his game. Hopefully this performance will lead him back to the Winner’s Circle soon. The Champion is the last great story, Lucas Glover. Lucas is a journeyman golfer, who did not make the cut in his three previous US Open appearances and has one PGA Tour victory. Lucas survived a tough week and deserves this victory. What I like about Lucas is that he could have taken the week off after the win, but he made a commitment a few months ago to play the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and kept that commitment. Bottom line is if you make a commitment keep it. Good for you Lucas.
Tuesday was a slow day with the Red Sox beating the happless Washington Nationals 11 to 3 and it was day two at Wimbledon.
But Wednesday was one of the biggest upset in worldwide Soccer history as the US National Team beat Spain 2 to 0 in the Confederations Cup Semi Finals to advance to their first FIFA worldwide final. Spain was the world number one team, had a fifteen game win streak and beat their three group opponents in this tournament by a total of 8 goals to 0. With stats like that a lot of people, myself included, thought the US would get killed. But we played a perfect game with the defense and especially goalkeeper Tim Howard really steped up. My question is where was this performance in their first two games? If we want to contend in the World Cup next year I think we have to play well in all games not just the ones that matter?
Thursday was a crazy day. First was the other Semi final in the Confederations Cup: Brazil beat South Africa 1 to 0. I was very impressed by how the South Africa’s played by keeping Brazil to one goal. (They scored 10 goals in the group stage) South Africa will be a tough opponent next year at home for the World Cup. This result gave the US a ray of hope for the final. Remember the US lost to Brazil 3 to 0. Right after the game ended news was breaking that Michael Jackson had died. If you like him or didn’t like him you had to respect his music and his dancing. In fact while writing this post I was rocking out to some old school Jackson 5 music.
I will skip to the Confederations Cup Final on Sunday. I will admit that I missed the first 15 minutes or so because I though the US would get blown out and that they could not put two big upsets together. I was shocked to see that Clint Dempsey scored the first goal in the 10th minute and than added to the lead in the 27th minute with a Landon Donovan goal to make it 2 to zero at halftime. At the half I was thinking that we could shock the world but than I remembered that there was 45 minutes to go and Brazil being Brazil any thing could happen. Then it happen Brazil scored 3 goals in the second half to win. After the first goal in the 46th minute I thought OK we can hold them for 44 more minutes, well we could not, Luis Fabiano scored again in the 74th minute to tie it up. Then I started to panick and knew we were going to loose. Thank goodness it didn’t go to PKs because I think it’s a hideous way to end a major championship. Thankfully Brazil scored in the 84th minute to put me out of my misery. Good game from the US, Tim Howard played great again and kept the ball out of the goal as best he could. We forget that there is two halves in a game! The defence that gave us the lead in the first half was forgotten in the second half. Great run in this tournament, they should be proud of the run, but getting to the finals should not be good enough. We need to learn from these experiences because the World Cup is the ultimate test.
This Weekend
The big event this upcoming weekend is the Wimbledon Finals. Saturday the 4th of July is the Women’s Final and it looks like we will have an all American final with Venus and Serena Williams meeting for the championship. Sunday is the Men’s Final with Roger Federer looking to regain his crown and become the greatest Grand Slam Champion of all time. He is tied with Pete Sampras with 14 wins. Roger will meet one of the Andy’s in the final, either Andy Roddick the American or Andy Murray the Brit. This is also the 30th anniversary of “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. In 1979 NBC Sports showed the Gentleman Final at 9 A.M. Saturday morning thus the name “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. That first “Breakfast at Wimbledon” almost didn’t happen. You see, in the old days the Final started at 9 A.M. on the dot. NBC needed time for the announcers to set up the match. They got a lucky break that year; the match was between Bjorn Borg and Roscoe Tanner. One of NBC’s announcers that year was Donald Dell who happened to be Tanner’s manager. Dell told Tanner to come out, go directly to the chair umpire, request a bathroom break, and not to comeback out of the locker room until 9a.m. Because Tanner did this NBC didn’t miss a point of the match. Interesting story to start a summer tradition, I think!
The other big event is the Moto GP at Laguna Seca in California. This is one of the most exciting round of the championship and one of the few times of the year that the bikes are on TV. The race is live on FOX at 5 P.M. on Sunday.
On Sunday I will be at Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners. I will have a full report next week. I’M looking forward to it. If you get a change to go to Fenway, even if you’re a Yankee fan, I urge you to go. When you walk to you seats through the tunnel and see the Green Monster, I well tell you there’s nothing like it.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Sunday June 21st was Father’s Day and the last group game for the U.S. National Soccer Team in the Confederations Cup Tournament. The U.S. played Egypt and needed a miracle to advance to the semifinals. If you remember, we were out scored 6 goals to one, in their first two-group games, by Italy and Brazil. They beat Egypt 3 to 0 and needed Brazil to beat Italy by more than 2 goals, they beat them 3 to 0 for the U.S. to advance. I will have the semifinal game later in this report.
Monday was the final round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park on Long Island New York. The Championship usually ends on Father’s Day but with all the rain on Long Island it played the final round on Monday for only the 4th time in the tournaments 109-year history. It was full of stories, Phil Mickelson trying to win one for Amy, his wife who is battling cancer. Phil came up just short this year but in the process he set a record for the most runner-up finishes in his career. I can’t imagine the pressure and the emotions Phil was feeling that week. Great show Phil!
Ricky Barnes was another story at the US Open; he was the 2002 US Amateur Champion but struggled as a pro. This was his first year on the PGA Tour but his season was not going well and he came out of nowhere to set a record for the lowest half way total in this tournament. Hopefully this performance will lead to bigger and better things. Another great story was the resurgence of David Duval. David was a former number one player in the world who has struggled in recent years with his game. Hopefully this performance will lead him back to the Winner’s Circle soon. The Champion is the last great story, Lucas Glover. Lucas is a journeyman golfer, who did not make the cut in his three previous US Open appearances and has one PGA Tour victory. Lucas survived a tough week and deserves this victory. What I like about Lucas is that he could have taken the week off after the win, but he made a commitment a few months ago to play the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and kept that commitment. Bottom line is if you make a commitment keep it. Good for you Lucas.
Tuesday was a slow day with the Red Sox beating the happless Washington Nationals 11 to 3 and it was day two at Wimbledon.
But Wednesday was one of the biggest upset in worldwide Soccer history as the US National Team beat Spain 2 to 0 in the Confederations Cup Semi Finals to advance to their first FIFA worldwide final. Spain was the world number one team, had a fifteen game win streak and beat their three group opponents in this tournament by a total of 8 goals to 0. With stats like that a lot of people, myself included, thought the US would get killed. But we played a perfect game with the defense and especially goalkeeper Tim Howard really steped up. My question is where was this performance in their first two games? If we want to contend in the World Cup next year I think we have to play well in all games not just the ones that matter?
Thursday was a crazy day. First was the other Semi final in the Confederations Cup: Brazil beat South Africa 1 to 0. I was very impressed by how the South Africa’s played by keeping Brazil to one goal. (They scored 10 goals in the group stage) South Africa will be a tough opponent next year at home for the World Cup. This result gave the US a ray of hope for the final. Remember the US lost to Brazil 3 to 0. Right after the game ended news was breaking that Michael Jackson had died. If you like him or didn’t like him you had to respect his music and his dancing. In fact while writing this post I was rocking out to some old school Jackson 5 music.
I will skip to the Confederations Cup Final on Sunday. I will admit that I missed the first 15 minutes or so because I though the US would get blown out and that they could not put two big upsets together. I was shocked to see that Clint Dempsey scored the first goal in the 10th minute and than added to the lead in the 27th minute with a Landon Donovan goal to make it 2 to zero at halftime. At the half I was thinking that we could shock the world but than I remembered that there was 45 minutes to go and Brazil being Brazil any thing could happen. Then it happen Brazil scored 3 goals in the second half to win. After the first goal in the 46th minute I thought OK we can hold them for 44 more minutes, well we could not, Luis Fabiano scored again in the 74th minute to tie it up. Then I started to panick and knew we were going to loose. Thank goodness it didn’t go to PKs because I think it’s a hideous way to end a major championship. Thankfully Brazil scored in the 84th minute to put me out of my misery. Good game from the US, Tim Howard played great again and kept the ball out of the goal as best he could. We forget that there is two halves in a game! The defence that gave us the lead in the first half was forgotten in the second half. Great run in this tournament, they should be proud of the run, but getting to the finals should not be good enough. We need to learn from these experiences because the World Cup is the ultimate test.
This Weekend
The big event this upcoming weekend is the Wimbledon Finals. Saturday the 4th of July is the Women’s Final and it looks like we will have an all American final with Venus and Serena Williams meeting for the championship. Sunday is the Men’s Final with Roger Federer looking to regain his crown and become the greatest Grand Slam Champion of all time. He is tied with Pete Sampras with 14 wins. Roger will meet one of the Andy’s in the final, either Andy Roddick the American or Andy Murray the Brit. This is also the 30th anniversary of “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. In 1979 NBC Sports showed the Gentleman Final at 9 A.M. Saturday morning thus the name “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. That first “Breakfast at Wimbledon” almost didn’t happen. You see, in the old days the Final started at 9 A.M. on the dot. NBC needed time for the announcers to set up the match. They got a lucky break that year; the match was between Bjorn Borg and Roscoe Tanner. One of NBC’s announcers that year was Donald Dell who happened to be Tanner’s manager. Dell told Tanner to come out, go directly to the chair umpire, request a bathroom break, and not to comeback out of the locker room until 9a.m. Because Tanner did this NBC didn’t miss a point of the match. Interesting story to start a summer tradition, I think!
The other big event is the Moto GP at Laguna Seca in California. This is one of the most exciting round of the championship and one of the few times of the year that the bikes are on TV. The race is live on FOX at 5 P.M. on Sunday.
On Sunday I will be at Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners. I will have a full report next week. I’M looking forward to it. If you get a change to go to Fenway, even if you’re a Yankee fan, I urge you to go. When you walk to you seats through the tunnel and see the Green Monster, I well tell you there’s nothing like it.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The view from the chair
This is a South Africa themed post.
Here is my recap of the FIFA CONFEDERATIONS Cup from South Africa. The first match of day one (Sunday) was a lifeless scoreless draw between the hosts South Africa and IRAQ. Match number two was Spain versus New Zealand, score, Spain six to zero. Spain shows that they are here to win and stamped their authority on this tournament. New Zealand was just out classed.
Day two (Monday) was the greatest day of football (soccer) I have ever seen. Match one was Brazil versus Egypt. Brazil survived a tough Egypt team 4 to 3. Brazil won on a controversial handball in the Brazilian goal area from an Egyptian player. That led to a Kaka penalty kick to win the game. For the record, I did not see the handball, but every one I talk to did. The Egyptian team has filed a protest, not on the handball its self, but the fact that the third official may have seen a video replay of the handball and gave advice to referee Howard Webb to award the penalty kick. Video replays are not used in soccer; by the way, FIFA (world’s governing body) has rejected Egypt’s protest. Despite the controversial call, as my fellow soccer sportswriter, Jamie Trecker, said this match was a great advertisement for soccer. It had everything, goals, send offs, PK’s, corner kicks, free kick, and the best part for sports writers, like me, controversy.
Match number two of day two was the United States National Team taking on Italy. This match was not with out controversy either. In the 31st minute the Americans were down to 10 men when Ricardo Clark was given a straight red card. But the Americans took the lead when Jozy Altidore was taken down in the penalty box by an Italian player. Landon Donovan stepped up to convert the PK. The second half was a different story as the 11-man Italian side scored three times. The irony is that two of the Italian goals were by Giuseppe Rossi, who was born in New Jersery, but his dad was born in Italy and he decieded to play for the Italy national team. Again, as Jamie Trecker said there are no more moral victories anymore for the American team. Ricardo Clark’s red card could have gone either way. It was a reckless tackel but I think it should not have been a direct red card which meant an immediate ejection but should have been a yellow card. The U.S. should know by now that FIFA tournaments are called in a tighter fashion than MLS because the refs are under the microscope by their bosses. If anything, FIFA refs tend to overcompensate. When will they learn?
The US played Brazil and lost 3 to 0 Thursday morning; in one of the worst games I have seen the US National Team play. Their defense was just awful; they even had another player sent off for a reckless tackel. Didn’t they learn anything from the other day? I guess not. As much as the Americans played terrible, Brazil was Brazil, they put on a show and scored in every way possible, off free kicks and in the run of play, thankfully not on a PK, I would have killed someone, that would have put me over the edge. My question is, why does the US play well against their regional opponents but when it comes the worldwide tournaments, they suck? Just sayin!
There is good news about next year’s World Cup in South Africa and the way ESPN will cover the event. According to the Sports Business Journal, ESPN is sending two SportsCenter sets and three host anchors to the event. The setup will be similar in scale to how the network uses “SportsCenter” at the Super Bowl as opposed to how it uses remote sets at an event like the recent Belmont Stakes and this weekends US Open Golf Championship. ESPN is finally identifying the World Cup as one of its three corporate priorities. In years past, the only other productions to make that list were “SportsCenter” and the NBA. ESPN hasn’t made any decisions about announcers and analysts for the games, but the executives said that it planned to handle the 2010 World Cup more like its telecasts of the Euro 2008 tournament than that of the 2006 World Cup. For the Euros, it used Sky Sports commentator and Brit Andy Gray, whereas for the 2006 World Cup it used American Dave O’Brien, who is a baseball guy and did not know anything about soccer. The difference between next year and the last World Cup is that the network sublicensed the rights from Soccer United Marketing in 2006. Next year in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, it will own the rights to the events outright and it is treating the event accordingly. I’M glad to see ESPN owns the rights and will be treating the event as the global spectacle it is.
The next news story is also about South Africa, ESPN is finally giving Nelson Mandela the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at its ESPY awards show. I can’t believe ESPN finally is recognizing the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the impact it had on South Africa. He is the first paragraph of the press release: “The 1995 Rugby World Cup was hosted in South Africa for the first time. Following the victory of the host national team, The Springboks, and in a pivotal moment for South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the William Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar to the delight of black and white sports fans across the country. This iconic gesture helped to unite a previously divided nation through a shared passion for sport, and further cemented the transition from apartheid to democracy”. Also what made this moment so moving is that while Mandela was in prison he would listen to rugby matches and because rugby was such a white sport, he would rote for the other team. This year the Arthur Ashe Courage Award coincides with Mandela Day, which will fall on July 18th, Nelson Mandela's birthday. Mandela Day will act as a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better. The Nelson Mandela Foundation and 46664 (Mandela’s number in Prison) are calling upon people around the world to commit 67 minutes (Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years) of their time to make an imprint and help change the world around them. Talk about cross promotion, but it’s good to see him get this award. The ESPYs will be televised Sunday, July 19 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN HD.
This Weekend
This is a big sports weekend. It started Thursday with the first round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage Black on Long Island NY. Bethpage staged the Open back in 2002 and was the first public course to host our National Championship of golf. The main storylines are; can Tiger come back after last years win and his win at the Black in 2002. The other major story is Phil Mickelson who came back to the tour after his wife Amy was diagnosed with cancer. He said he only came back because he thought he could win the Open. He was the runner-up to Tiger in 2002 by 3 shots. The course is always the story at the US Open. The United States Golf Association says that protecting par is the goal for the tournament. NBC has the weekends, Sunday 1:30 to 7:30 P.M.
For you fight fans the UFC has their Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday on Spike TV at 9 P.M. This is when the 7-figure contract will be handed out for the winner of the Ultimate Fighter realty TV show. The Main event of the night is a lightweight fight between two of the most exciting fighters in the world, Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida. This one should be good. Also on the card is Nate Diaz against Joe Stevenson, both fighters are very exciting. Should be a fun night.
Monday was starts the Wimbledon Championships from London. This is the first year that there is a roof over center court, no more rain delays at the All England Club! The main story will be; can Rafael Nadal defend his title or will Roger Federer win back his crown. Update: Rafael will not defend his title he withdrew this week, this news opens the door wide open for Federer to win the tournament. On the women side, will Venus Williams defend her title or will someone else win the crown. From the British point of view will Andy Murray be the first Brit to win the Gentleman’s Crown in a long long time. Always interesting to see Wimbledon from the British point of view, you have to love the Brits. Should be interesting. ESPN will have the coverage starting Monday through Friday 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day. Enjoy!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Here is my recap of the FIFA CONFEDERATIONS Cup from South Africa. The first match of day one (Sunday) was a lifeless scoreless draw between the hosts South Africa and IRAQ. Match number two was Spain versus New Zealand, score, Spain six to zero. Spain shows that they are here to win and stamped their authority on this tournament. New Zealand was just out classed.
Day two (Monday) was the greatest day of football (soccer) I have ever seen. Match one was Brazil versus Egypt. Brazil survived a tough Egypt team 4 to 3. Brazil won on a controversial handball in the Brazilian goal area from an Egyptian player. That led to a Kaka penalty kick to win the game. For the record, I did not see the handball, but every one I talk to did. The Egyptian team has filed a protest, not on the handball its self, but the fact that the third official may have seen a video replay of the handball and gave advice to referee Howard Webb to award the penalty kick. Video replays are not used in soccer; by the way, FIFA (world’s governing body) has rejected Egypt’s protest. Despite the controversial call, as my fellow soccer sportswriter, Jamie Trecker, said this match was a great advertisement for soccer. It had everything, goals, send offs, PK’s, corner kicks, free kick, and the best part for sports writers, like me, controversy.
Match number two of day two was the United States National Team taking on Italy. This match was not with out controversy either. In the 31st minute the Americans were down to 10 men when Ricardo Clark was given a straight red card. But the Americans took the lead when Jozy Altidore was taken down in the penalty box by an Italian player. Landon Donovan stepped up to convert the PK. The second half was a different story as the 11-man Italian side scored three times. The irony is that two of the Italian goals were by Giuseppe Rossi, who was born in New Jersery, but his dad was born in Italy and he decieded to play for the Italy national team. Again, as Jamie Trecker said there are no more moral victories anymore for the American team. Ricardo Clark’s red card could have gone either way. It was a reckless tackel but I think it should not have been a direct red card which meant an immediate ejection but should have been a yellow card. The U.S. should know by now that FIFA tournaments are called in a tighter fashion than MLS because the refs are under the microscope by their bosses. If anything, FIFA refs tend to overcompensate. When will they learn?
The US played Brazil and lost 3 to 0 Thursday morning; in one of the worst games I have seen the US National Team play. Their defense was just awful; they even had another player sent off for a reckless tackel. Didn’t they learn anything from the other day? I guess not. As much as the Americans played terrible, Brazil was Brazil, they put on a show and scored in every way possible, off free kicks and in the run of play, thankfully not on a PK, I would have killed someone, that would have put me over the edge. My question is, why does the US play well against their regional opponents but when it comes the worldwide tournaments, they suck? Just sayin!
There is good news about next year’s World Cup in South Africa and the way ESPN will cover the event. According to the Sports Business Journal, ESPN is sending two SportsCenter sets and three host anchors to the event. The setup will be similar in scale to how the network uses “SportsCenter” at the Super Bowl as opposed to how it uses remote sets at an event like the recent Belmont Stakes and this weekends US Open Golf Championship. ESPN is finally identifying the World Cup as one of its three corporate priorities. In years past, the only other productions to make that list were “SportsCenter” and the NBA. ESPN hasn’t made any decisions about announcers and analysts for the games, but the executives said that it planned to handle the 2010 World Cup more like its telecasts of the Euro 2008 tournament than that of the 2006 World Cup. For the Euros, it used Sky Sports commentator and Brit Andy Gray, whereas for the 2006 World Cup it used American Dave O’Brien, who is a baseball guy and did not know anything about soccer. The difference between next year and the last World Cup is that the network sublicensed the rights from Soccer United Marketing in 2006. Next year in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, it will own the rights to the events outright and it is treating the event accordingly. I’M glad to see ESPN owns the rights and will be treating the event as the global spectacle it is.
The next news story is also about South Africa, ESPN is finally giving Nelson Mandela the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at its ESPY awards show. I can’t believe ESPN finally is recognizing the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the impact it had on South Africa. He is the first paragraph of the press release: “The 1995 Rugby World Cup was hosted in South Africa for the first time. Following the victory of the host national team, The Springboks, and in a pivotal moment for South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the William Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar to the delight of black and white sports fans across the country. This iconic gesture helped to unite a previously divided nation through a shared passion for sport, and further cemented the transition from apartheid to democracy”. Also what made this moment so moving is that while Mandela was in prison he would listen to rugby matches and because rugby was such a white sport, he would rote for the other team. This year the Arthur Ashe Courage Award coincides with Mandela Day, which will fall on July 18th, Nelson Mandela's birthday. Mandela Day will act as a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better. The Nelson Mandela Foundation and 46664 (Mandela’s number in Prison) are calling upon people around the world to commit 67 minutes (Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years) of their time to make an imprint and help change the world around them. Talk about cross promotion, but it’s good to see him get this award. The ESPYs will be televised Sunday, July 19 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN HD.
This Weekend
This is a big sports weekend. It started Thursday with the first round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage Black on Long Island NY. Bethpage staged the Open back in 2002 and was the first public course to host our National Championship of golf. The main storylines are; can Tiger come back after last years win and his win at the Black in 2002. The other major story is Phil Mickelson who came back to the tour after his wife Amy was diagnosed with cancer. He said he only came back because he thought he could win the Open. He was the runner-up to Tiger in 2002 by 3 shots. The course is always the story at the US Open. The United States Golf Association says that protecting par is the goal for the tournament. NBC has the weekends, Sunday 1:30 to 7:30 P.M.
For you fight fans the UFC has their Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday on Spike TV at 9 P.M. This is when the 7-figure contract will be handed out for the winner of the Ultimate Fighter realty TV show. The Main event of the night is a lightweight fight between two of the most exciting fighters in the world, Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida. This one should be good. Also on the card is Nate Diaz against Joe Stevenson, both fighters are very exciting. Should be a fun night.
Monday was starts the Wimbledon Championships from London. This is the first year that there is a roof over center court, no more rain delays at the All England Club! The main story will be; can Rafael Nadal defend his title or will Roger Federer win back his crown. Update: Rafael will not defend his title he withdrew this week, this news opens the door wide open for Federer to win the tournament. On the women side, will Venus Williams defend her title or will someone else win the crown. From the British point of view will Andy Murray be the first Brit to win the Gentleman’s Crown in a long long time. Always interesting to see Wimbledon from the British point of view, you have to love the Brits. Should be interesting. ESPN will have the coverage starting Monday through Friday 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day. Enjoy!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A view for the chair
I’m really getting into the NBA finals this year. The Lakers are a great team; Kobe Bryant has taken over the game. Magic is the team of the future. In my opinion Dwight Howard of the Magic is the future of the NBA but needs some more work before I call him a superstar. A lot of the Magic success is because of coach Stan Van Gundy who, I think, is an extremely underrated coach. He made the necessary adjustments needed after game one and the blowout by the Lakers to continue in this series and to help make it competitive. Two of the games have gone into overtime, the Magic should have won these games but they blew it in OT.
I think ABC is doing a great job on the telecast of the games. Mike Breen is the best play-by-play man in the business. Jeff Van Gundy (Stan’s brother) is a great analyst. He is a former coach but talks the fans language. Mark Jackson is also very good he comes up with some funny lines but his voice is very monotone.
My question about the NBA Finals is, why do the weekday games start around 9 P.M. and weekend games start around 8 P.M.? Last Thursdays game did not end until after midnight, to late for me! Should it be revised? Just a though!
Last weekend was the finals of the French Open. Roger Federer won a career Grand Slam and is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most all-time Grand Slam singles titles with 14 championships. Roger is the greatest tennis player I have every seen. Wimbledon in two weeks will be very interesting. Can Roger regain his crown he lost last year to Rafael Nadal? Let’s talk about NBC’s telecast. I think Ted Robinson is the second best play-by-play voice in tennis behind Dick Enberg. John McEnroe is the best in the business behind no one. Mary Carillo is very good too. These three combined may be the best announcing team in all of sports.
Last Friday as Roger Federer was outlasting Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open Semifinals, we in the United States did not see it live until that afternoon on Tennis Channel. Here is an explanation from NBC Sports via Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated. NBC Sports’ contract with the tournament allowed it to air only one of the semifinals and they gave NBC a “blackout window” after the broadcast of the NBC taped match ended. NBC’s window was 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. because it wanted to protect the “Today Show”. By the way I thought the “Today Show” went to 11 A.M.? I would like to know why there was no live tennis on NBC the first weekend (May 30 and 31) of the French Open? As Richard says in his Monday column, the three network partners (NBC, ESPN, and the Tennis Channel) need to figure out how to air live coverage on the first weekend and last Friday in 2010.
Last Saturday, June 6th was the season opener for the WNBA Connecticut Sun. It was one of the worst games I have every witnessed. I hope this was just season opening jitters. On Sunday, June 7th they beat New York, so we will see how they do in their next game, Sunday, June 14, 2009 at home versus Atlanta. I won’t be there!
Now on to hockey for a minute, why are some of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals games on the same night as the NBA finals games? Just asking?
Last Sunday TNT took over NASCAR coverage from FOX. I think play-by-play announcer Bill Weber is good but no Mike Joy. I don’t like Wally Dallenbach, I think he is too laidback and comes off as arrogant sometimes. Kyle Petty was a good diver in his day but is no good in the booth. He speaks diver language but for the most part I can’t understand him. After just one week, I miss Darrell Waltrip. Larry McReynolds is part of TNT coverage but just trackside but he’s not on enough to be effective.
Last Sunday night Mike Brown and Urijah Faber put on a great show for the WEC on Versus. Mike Brown won the fight by unanimous decision to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber broke his hand in the frst round of the fight, but still fought all 5 rounds @ 5 minutes each. Just incredible, in fact, I missed the overtime of game 2 of the NBA Finals to watch this fight. Versus needs to find a new announcer because Todd Harris was just awful. He should not do any sports, he is bad at everything he does. Kenny Florian was great as the analyst. He has been an analyst on ESPN internet show MMA live, but I did not know how he would do on live TV. After his fight career is over Kenny has a furtue in TV.
This Weekend
The big event this weekend is UFC 99 from Cologne, Germany on pay-per-view. There are no championship fights on this card, will have some great matchups, like former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “ACE” Franklin fighting fomer Pride Middlewight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva in a 195 lb bout. The other headliner is the return of Mirko “Cro Cop” to the Octagon. “Cro Cop” is a former Pride Openweight Grand Prix Champion. Should be fun.
The other big event is the start of the FIFA Confederations Cup from South Africa on Sunday. The good news for soccer fans in the U.S. is that all of the games will be on ESPN and ESPN2. Here is next weeks schedule:
Su 6/14 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 South Africa vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. Spain
Mo 6/15 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Brazil vs. Egypt
2:25 p.m. ESPN USA vs. Italy
We 6/17 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Spain vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. South Africa
Thur 6/189:55 a.m. ESPN2 USA vs. Brazil
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 Egypt vs. Italy
Enjoy, I know I will!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
I think ABC is doing a great job on the telecast of the games. Mike Breen is the best play-by-play man in the business. Jeff Van Gundy (Stan’s brother) is a great analyst. He is a former coach but talks the fans language. Mark Jackson is also very good he comes up with some funny lines but his voice is very monotone.
My question about the NBA Finals is, why do the weekday games start around 9 P.M. and weekend games start around 8 P.M.? Last Thursdays game did not end until after midnight, to late for me! Should it be revised? Just a though!
Last weekend was the finals of the French Open. Roger Federer won a career Grand Slam and is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most all-time Grand Slam singles titles with 14 championships. Roger is the greatest tennis player I have every seen. Wimbledon in two weeks will be very interesting. Can Roger regain his crown he lost last year to Rafael Nadal? Let’s talk about NBC’s telecast. I think Ted Robinson is the second best play-by-play voice in tennis behind Dick Enberg. John McEnroe is the best in the business behind no one. Mary Carillo is very good too. These three combined may be the best announcing team in all of sports.
Last Friday as Roger Federer was outlasting Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open Semifinals, we in the United States did not see it live until that afternoon on Tennis Channel. Here is an explanation from NBC Sports via Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated. NBC Sports’ contract with the tournament allowed it to air only one of the semifinals and they gave NBC a “blackout window” after the broadcast of the NBC taped match ended. NBC’s window was 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. because it wanted to protect the “Today Show”. By the way I thought the “Today Show” went to 11 A.M.? I would like to know why there was no live tennis on NBC the first weekend (May 30 and 31) of the French Open? As Richard says in his Monday column, the three network partners (NBC, ESPN, and the Tennis Channel) need to figure out how to air live coverage on the first weekend and last Friday in 2010.
Last Saturday, June 6th was the season opener for the WNBA Connecticut Sun. It was one of the worst games I have every witnessed. I hope this was just season opening jitters. On Sunday, June 7th they beat New York, so we will see how they do in their next game, Sunday, June 14, 2009 at home versus Atlanta. I won’t be there!
Now on to hockey for a minute, why are some of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals games on the same night as the NBA finals games? Just asking?
Last Sunday TNT took over NASCAR coverage from FOX. I think play-by-play announcer Bill Weber is good but no Mike Joy. I don’t like Wally Dallenbach, I think he is too laidback and comes off as arrogant sometimes. Kyle Petty was a good diver in his day but is no good in the booth. He speaks diver language but for the most part I can’t understand him. After just one week, I miss Darrell Waltrip. Larry McReynolds is part of TNT coverage but just trackside but he’s not on enough to be effective.
Last Sunday night Mike Brown and Urijah Faber put on a great show for the WEC on Versus. Mike Brown won the fight by unanimous decision to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber broke his hand in the frst round of the fight, but still fought all 5 rounds @ 5 minutes each. Just incredible, in fact, I missed the overtime of game 2 of the NBA Finals to watch this fight. Versus needs to find a new announcer because Todd Harris was just awful. He should not do any sports, he is bad at everything he does. Kenny Florian was great as the analyst. He has been an analyst on ESPN internet show MMA live, but I did not know how he would do on live TV. After his fight career is over Kenny has a furtue in TV.
This Weekend
The big event this weekend is UFC 99 from Cologne, Germany on pay-per-view. There are no championship fights on this card, will have some great matchups, like former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “ACE” Franklin fighting fomer Pride Middlewight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva in a 195 lb bout. The other headliner is the return of Mirko “Cro Cop” to the Octagon. “Cro Cop” is a former Pride Openweight Grand Prix Champion. Should be fun.
The other big event is the start of the FIFA Confederations Cup from South Africa on Sunday. The good news for soccer fans in the U.S. is that all of the games will be on ESPN and ESPN2. Here is next weeks schedule:
Su 6/14 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 South Africa vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. Spain
Mo 6/15 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Brazil vs. Egypt
2:25 p.m. ESPN USA vs. Italy
We 6/17 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Spain vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. South Africa
Thur 6/189:55 a.m. ESPN2 USA vs. Brazil
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 Egypt vs. Italy
Enjoy, I know I will!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, June 5, 2009
A view for the chair
Hi folks
I’m back and better than ever. We are diligently working on the audio podcast; I hope to have it up by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
There is a lot going on in the world of sports, so let’s go. Rance Mullinicks was in the booth this weekend as the Red Sox were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. New England Sports Network (NESN) has been using different analysts since May 6, when Jerry Remy took a leave of absence so he can fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery. Rance has been the best sub NESN has had; he was clear and did not use baseball jargon. Please come back soon Jerry, we miss you.
Breaking news: Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are the new analysts for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Rodney and Tony worked for NBC at the Super Bowl in February and were very good. They are replacing Cris Collinsworth, who is leaving the studio and replacing John Madden in the game booth and Jerome Bettis who was let go by the network. I cannot believe Tiki Barber as the only holdover from last season and Jerome was let go. Jerome you could tell loved the game and it showed. He had passion and Tiki is seems like he’s just going through the motions. Tony and Rodney has that passion and I think they will do very well.
For the past two weeks, ESPN has been sharing converge of the French Open with the Tennis Channel on weekdays and NBC Sports on the weekends. This past Sunday 4-time defending champion Rafael Nadal lost to 23rd seed Robin Soderling. NBC had all the matches on the day taped for the afternoon; remember that Paris is 5 hours ahead of New York. Next time something big happens please NBC, let ESPN (as they are in more homes than the Tennis Channel) show the match live. The finals this weekend will be live, the women are Saturday and the men are Sunday.
There is big news in the mixed martial arts world this week. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that former eliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice is a part of season 10 of there reality TV show the “Ultimate Fighter” that will start airing on Spike on September16. UFC President Dana White, at one point last year, called Kimbo “not a real fighter”, a “fraud”, and that he would not let him in UFC. Dana has stated the only way Kimbo will fight in the UFC is if he wins the Ultimate Fighter contract. The other fights announced for the show are all former NFL players…will be a fun season and I can’t wait for September.
I have one question, why are games 3 and 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Versus? I don’t know any major sports league other than the NHL that has their championship series on cable TV. For a league that needs showcasing, the NHL does a terrible job at being visible. Just a thought.
This weekend
This is a huge weekend for sports. The crazy French Open wraps up with the Women’s Final Saturday morning and the Men’s final on Sunday morning, both live on NBC.
It is a huge weekend for mixed martial arts with events on both days. Saturday is Strikeforce on Showtime. The main event is Robbie Lawler versus Jake Shields, but the fight I want to see is Nick Diaz versus Scott Smith. These will be two very entertaining bouts but there are great fighters up and down the card. Should be fun…wish I had Showtime.
On Sunday night is the WEC on Versus at 9 P.M.. The main bout is a rematch for the Featherweight Championship with defending champion Mike Brown fighting Urijah Faber, the man he beat for the title.
Saturday is the Belmont stakes on ABC at 5 P.M. Calvin Borel will be looking for a jockey triple crown, as he won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, and the Preakness on Rachel Alexandra and he is back on Mine That Bird for the mile and a half “test of the champions.” Will be very interesting, I don’t think he can do it. The Belmont is the longest Triple Crown and perhaps the longest race the horse will run in his entire career. Calvin Borel is a jockey made for shorter races.
Besides all this, the WNBA starts its season. I will be at the season opener this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena when the Sun take on the Washington Mystics. I will have a report next week. Should be fun.
Also, can the USA Men’s national soccer team rebound after a 3 to 1 lost to Costa Rica Wednesday night in World Cup qualifying? Saturday the U.S. host Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago at 8 P.M. on ESPN. With only two home games left in qualifying I think we need to win this game. The national team has a big month ahead of them as they head to South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup and play some of the best national teams in the world. Their first two games in South Africa will be against Italy and Brazil; these two teams combine for 9 world cup titles. Will be some good matches, I hope.
Talk to you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
I’m back and better than ever. We are diligently working on the audio podcast; I hope to have it up by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
There is a lot going on in the world of sports, so let’s go. Rance Mullinicks was in the booth this weekend as the Red Sox were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. New England Sports Network (NESN) has been using different analysts since May 6, when Jerry Remy took a leave of absence so he can fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery. Rance has been the best sub NESN has had; he was clear and did not use baseball jargon. Please come back soon Jerry, we miss you.
Breaking news: Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are the new analysts for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Rodney and Tony worked for NBC at the Super Bowl in February and were very good. They are replacing Cris Collinsworth, who is leaving the studio and replacing John Madden in the game booth and Jerome Bettis who was let go by the network. I cannot believe Tiki Barber as the only holdover from last season and Jerome was let go. Jerome you could tell loved the game and it showed. He had passion and Tiki is seems like he’s just going through the motions. Tony and Rodney has that passion and I think they will do very well.
For the past two weeks, ESPN has been sharing converge of the French Open with the Tennis Channel on weekdays and NBC Sports on the weekends. This past Sunday 4-time defending champion Rafael Nadal lost to 23rd seed Robin Soderling. NBC had all the matches on the day taped for the afternoon; remember that Paris is 5 hours ahead of New York. Next time something big happens please NBC, let ESPN (as they are in more homes than the Tennis Channel) show the match live. The finals this weekend will be live, the women are Saturday and the men are Sunday.
There is big news in the mixed martial arts world this week. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that former eliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice is a part of season 10 of there reality TV show the “Ultimate Fighter” that will start airing on Spike on September16. UFC President Dana White, at one point last year, called Kimbo “not a real fighter”, a “fraud”, and that he would not let him in UFC. Dana has stated the only way Kimbo will fight in the UFC is if he wins the Ultimate Fighter contract. The other fights announced for the show are all former NFL players…will be a fun season and I can’t wait for September.
I have one question, why are games 3 and 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Versus? I don’t know any major sports league other than the NHL that has their championship series on cable TV. For a league that needs showcasing, the NHL does a terrible job at being visible. Just a thought.
This weekend
This is a huge weekend for sports. The crazy French Open wraps up with the Women’s Final Saturday morning and the Men’s final on Sunday morning, both live on NBC.
It is a huge weekend for mixed martial arts with events on both days. Saturday is Strikeforce on Showtime. The main event is Robbie Lawler versus Jake Shields, but the fight I want to see is Nick Diaz versus Scott Smith. These will be two very entertaining bouts but there are great fighters up and down the card. Should be fun…wish I had Showtime.
On Sunday night is the WEC on Versus at 9 P.M.. The main bout is a rematch for the Featherweight Championship with defending champion Mike Brown fighting Urijah Faber, the man he beat for the title.
Saturday is the Belmont stakes on ABC at 5 P.M. Calvin Borel will be looking for a jockey triple crown, as he won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, and the Preakness on Rachel Alexandra and he is back on Mine That Bird for the mile and a half “test of the champions.” Will be very interesting, I don’t think he can do it. The Belmont is the longest Triple Crown and perhaps the longest race the horse will run in his entire career. Calvin Borel is a jockey made for shorter races.
Besides all this, the WNBA starts its season. I will be at the season opener this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena when the Sun take on the Washington Mystics. I will have a report next week. Should be fun.
Also, can the USA Men’s national soccer team rebound after a 3 to 1 lost to Costa Rica Wednesday night in World Cup qualifying? Saturday the U.S. host Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago at 8 P.M. on ESPN. With only two home games left in qualifying I think we need to win this game. The national team has a big month ahead of them as they head to South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup and play some of the best national teams in the world. Their first two games in South Africa will be against Italy and Brazil; these two teams combine for 9 world cup titles. Will be some good matches, I hope.
Talk to you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The view from here
What a great weekend of sports this past weekend. We had the Kentucky Derby, with the horse “Mind That Bird” who was the horse with the second longest odds to win in the 135-year history of the race. Also, this past weekend was Game 7 of the Celtics versus the Chicago Bulls. It was a great series just not for Celtics fans, the young Bulls would not die. The Celtics are really hurting without Kevin Garnett. They are in the middle of a big test in the next round with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Howard is a young kid that can do it all on the basketball court. Should be a great series. I would like to have been in South Korea for the inaugural round of the new Triathlon World Championship Series. The men’s race was a photo finish with Bevan Docherty of New Zealand beating Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia. What a race, after a 1500 meter swim, a 40km bike and a 10km run these two were separated by mire inches.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is the unofficial fifth major of the golf year the Players Championship. Can Sergio Garcia defend his title, or will Tiger and Phil contend for their second Players title? The two young guns I will have my eyes on this weekend will be Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy. Watch for the 17th hole, it is one of the most difficult holes in golf. TV coverage is Thursday and Friday on the Golf Channel at 1 P.M. both days, weekend coverage is NBC Sports from 2 to 7 P.M. both days.
The NHL and NBA playoffs continue this weekend with the Bruins (NHL) taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. Game 4 is Friday night at 7:30 P.M. on NESN and game 5 is Sunday May 10 at 7:30 on Versus. The NBA playoffs are also in the conference semifinal stage with the Celtics playing the Orlando Magic. The NBA games are the same day as the NHL, Friday at 7 P.M. on ESPN and Sunday at 8 P.M. on TNT. Enjoy!! I know I will.
Personal
Next week I’M in Florida with my family, when I come back I will have the audio podcast up and ready to go. I have an account on Twitter so come follow me there (@jman20008). When I come back from Florida I will be doing a daily what to watch on TV and will be updating my blog on it.
See you in a few weeks, if not before. I will be bringing my laptop to Florida with me so I won’t be out of touch.
Jamie
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is the unofficial fifth major of the golf year the Players Championship. Can Sergio Garcia defend his title, or will Tiger and Phil contend for their second Players title? The two young guns I will have my eyes on this weekend will be Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy. Watch for the 17th hole, it is one of the most difficult holes in golf. TV coverage is Thursday and Friday on the Golf Channel at 1 P.M. both days, weekend coverage is NBC Sports from 2 to 7 P.M. both days.
The NHL and NBA playoffs continue this weekend with the Bruins (NHL) taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. Game 4 is Friday night at 7:30 P.M. on NESN and game 5 is Sunday May 10 at 7:30 on Versus. The NBA playoffs are also in the conference semifinal stage with the Celtics playing the Orlando Magic. The NBA games are the same day as the NHL, Friday at 7 P.M. on ESPN and Sunday at 8 P.M. on TNT. Enjoy!! I know I will.
Personal
Next week I’M in Florida with my family, when I come back I will have the audio podcast up and ready to go. I have an account on Twitter so come follow me there (@jman20008). When I come back from Florida I will be doing a daily what to watch on TV and will be updating my blog on it.
See you in a few weeks, if not before. I will be bringing my laptop to Florida with me so I won’t be out of touch.
Jamie
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The view form the Chair
The big news this week is the retirement of NFL broadcaster John Madden. After winning the Super Bowl in 1976 with the Oakland Raiders, John started a career in broadcasting and became the best color commentators of all time. John is the only broadcaster to announce for every NFL TV partner; NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. He stared his broadcasting career with CBS sports in 1979. In 1981 he was elevated to the network's top team with Pat Summerall, they went on to call footbal games for CBS until 1994 when CBS lost the NFL to FOX Sports, Madden and Summrerall went with them. Madden and Summrerall called eight Super Bowls together, (five for CBS and three for FOX). In 2002 John left FOX and joined Al Michaels at ABC’s Monday Night Football. After Monday Night Football was relegated to cable, John made his last jump to NBC’s Sunday Night Football. On February 1,2009 he became the only person to call the Super Bowl on the “Big Four” TV networks. By the way he did call 2 Super Bowls while at ABC. All this for a grand total of 11 Super Bowls. Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery has won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst. He was also the first broadcaster to use a telestrator to diagram and analyzel plays. Madden’s enthusiasm for the game of football is what made him great. What I also liked about him is that his did not talk over the audience by using big words. You knew it was a big game when John Madden was on the call. Before a one-week break last season he had a streak of 476 consecutive weekends calling football. So John, you deserve you retriment, enjoy the grandkids!
One story that caught my attention this last week, is out of Washington D.C. Wahington Nationals player Elijah Dukes was five minutes late to the stadium. He was fined $500 , suspended, and threaten with demotion to the minors if it happened again. The problem is, he was late because he was speaking at a Little Legue event. Fine a player for being late, but he was doeing something good for his community. The problem was the event was not sponsored by the Nationals so he got in trouble. The Little Legue program is paying Dukes fine. To quote Jim Mraz, President of the Freat Falls LL, “The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him, It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the $500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him." Good for them. The General Manager of The Nationals wants to change the culture of the team, this is not the way to do that.
This Weekend in Sports
The big event of the weekend is round one of the Red Sox versus the Yankees at Fenway. Series started on Friday at 7:10 on NESN in New England or the YES network in New York. By the way, Boston won the first game 5 to 4. Saturday’s game is on FOX at 4:10 and Sunday game is on ESPN 8:05. I know it’s early in the season, but it’s an early indication of where each team is. Should be fun.
The other big event this weekend is the NFL Draft. I will only watch because ESPN is putting Todd McShay up to challenge so called draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. For what I have seen on SportsCenter this week it should be fun. I wish McShay was in New York and not at ESPN studios in Bristol, but I do expect a lot of disagreements. Can you tell I don’t like Mel? Should be interesting.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
One story that caught my attention this last week, is out of Washington D.C. Wahington Nationals player Elijah Dukes was five minutes late to the stadium. He was fined $500 , suspended, and threaten with demotion to the minors if it happened again. The problem is, he was late because he was speaking at a Little Legue event. Fine a player for being late, but he was doeing something good for his community. The problem was the event was not sponsored by the Nationals so he got in trouble. The Little Legue program is paying Dukes fine. To quote Jim Mraz, President of the Freat Falls LL, “The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him, It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the $500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him." Good for them. The General Manager of The Nationals wants to change the culture of the team, this is not the way to do that.
This Weekend in Sports
The big event of the weekend is round one of the Red Sox versus the Yankees at Fenway. Series started on Friday at 7:10 on NESN in New England or the YES network in New York. By the way, Boston won the first game 5 to 4. Saturday’s game is on FOX at 4:10 and Sunday game is on ESPN 8:05. I know it’s early in the season, but it’s an early indication of where each team is. Should be fun.
The other big event this weekend is the NFL Draft. I will only watch because ESPN is putting Todd McShay up to challenge so called draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. For what I have seen on SportsCenter this week it should be fun. I wish McShay was in New York and not at ESPN studios in Bristol, but I do expect a lot of disagreements. Can you tell I don’t like Mel? Should be interesting.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A view from the chair
The 2009 Masters is in the books and I think it was one of the most enjoyable in some time. Sunday was like two tournaments in one, we had the pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson the number one and two players in the world trying to make a run and chasing the lead. I was at my cousin Carley home for Easter. Carley’s husband David, her father-in law Bill and I were glued to the TV watching Tiger and Phil duel to the end. We all felt the roller coaster ride with them. When Tiger and Phil ended their round and we knew that they would not win the golf tournament, my dad asked my why I was still watching (he’s not a fan of golf) I said, “ Some one will win and it will be a great story.” After the thrill ride of Tiger and Phil the tournament really took off. Kenny Perry had a two shot led heading to the 17th hole, but he ended up with bogeying the 17th and 18th to set up a sudden-victory playoff with Chad Campbell and Angel Carbera. Carbera came out the winner on the 2nd playoff hole. He is the first player from Argentina to win the Masters. One of the great stories that goes along with Angel Carbera’s win is that in 1968 Roberto De Vicenzo, also from Argentina, was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard only to lose the golf tournament. Roberto could not win 41 years ago but finally a fellow Argentinean did.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is UFC 97; live on Pay-per-view on Saturday night from Montreal, Canada.
The main event of UFC 97 is Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva who returns to the Octagon to defend his crown against number one contender Thales Leites. The pound for pound king Silva has already defended his title more times than anyone in UFC middleweight history and will battle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Black Belt Leites is a winner of five fights in a row. Silva is the best in the world and should win this fight.
Also featured is the Light Heavyweight showdown fans have waited for years to see. As UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell squares off against Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in what promises to be one of the most explosive bouts of 2009. This is a must win fight for both men as both are coming off of big loses.
Monday is another sign of spring in the running of the Boston Marathon. This is the 113th running of one of the oldest sporting events in the country. Headlining the field is four time champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya, defending women’s champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and former champions Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia and Timothy Cherigat of Kenya. Challenging the champions are Olympians Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Kara Goucher of America; Deriba Merga and Gashaw Asfaw of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei of Kenya, as well as additional Olympians and winners of international marathons. The good thing about the marathon is that it is not just a one-off race; it is part of a whole series of races all over the world that will crown a champion at the end of the year.
Also running this year is Terry Moulin of Woodstock CT. Terry works for my mom at The Arc of Quinebaug Valley in Danielson. Terry is running in the marathon to raise money for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Game Camp in Ashford CT. Good Luck Terry, I for one will be watching for you.
See you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is UFC 97; live on Pay-per-view on Saturday night from Montreal, Canada.
The main event of UFC 97 is Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva who returns to the Octagon to defend his crown against number one contender Thales Leites. The pound for pound king Silva has already defended his title more times than anyone in UFC middleweight history and will battle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Black Belt Leites is a winner of five fights in a row. Silva is the best in the world and should win this fight.
Also featured is the Light Heavyweight showdown fans have waited for years to see. As UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell squares off against Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in what promises to be one of the most explosive bouts of 2009. This is a must win fight for both men as both are coming off of big loses.
Monday is another sign of spring in the running of the Boston Marathon. This is the 113th running of one of the oldest sporting events in the country. Headlining the field is four time champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya, defending women’s champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and former champions Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia and Timothy Cherigat of Kenya. Challenging the champions are Olympians Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Kara Goucher of America; Deriba Merga and Gashaw Asfaw of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei of Kenya, as well as additional Olympians and winners of international marathons. The good thing about the marathon is that it is not just a one-off race; it is part of a whole series of races all over the world that will crown a champion at the end of the year.
Also running this year is Terry Moulin of Woodstock CT. Terry works for my mom at The Arc of Quinebaug Valley in Danielson. Terry is running in the marathon to raise money for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Game Camp in Ashford CT. Good Luck Terry, I for one will be watching for you.
See you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
One Shining Moment
Here is the 2009 edition of CBS sports video olde to the NCAA Turnament. Enjoy!!!!
Watch CBS Videos Online
Watch CBS Videos Online
The view from the chair
This year’s first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament was not the most exciting action, there were no major upsets and the games were pretty boring with just 2 overtime games and a few buzzer beaters. The only double-digit seed to advance to the sweet 16 is Arizona. The good part is that my bracket is holding up pretty well, most years it in the can by now. By the way, I am beating President Obama’s picks after the first weekend and the second weekend as well. The good thing about no upsets is that there were some very good matchups.
Update #1: We did get great games and a few surprises with Missouri over Memphis and Villanova over Duke. Villanova also beat Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four. Update #2: Your Final Four was UCONN and Michigan State, Villanova and North Carolina, until UCONN lost to Michigan State this past weekend, and North Carolina beat Villanova. Tonight, Monday April 6th it is Michigan State and North Carolina. Update #3: North Carolina won the national title in a blow out. President Obama did pick the champ, and I lost.
It’s an interesting year when the Women’s Tournament catches my interest, there were some great games and a few buzzer beaters, and they even had some upsets. The problem I have with the Women’s Tournament is that the first two rounds are held at on campus sites so some teams have their home crowd on their side. Most of the time it’s the higher seeds home court but this year some of the double-digit seeds had the advantage. This caused two major upsets as Rutgers beat a second seed Auburn and Michigan State beat a # 1 seed Duke. The Men’s Tournaments are played on neutral sites all the way through. I would love to see the Women play their first rounds with the Men.
Let me talk about some of the announcers, UCONN had the team of Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas on Thursday, Jay is one of the best analyst in the business, Carter in the new kid on the block and may be good in the future but he had no enthusiasm for the game or the event. We had Jay with Dick Enberg for the other three games. Dick is a legend in the sports broadcasting business but this tournament he mispronounced names and called a
2-pointer a 3 pointer that clearly was not. At 74 years old he can still call Tennis better than any one but basketball is a young man’s game. I fell badly for him but when your time is up its up.
Speaking of enthusiasm, one man that had too much of it was Gus Johnson. One game I heard him scream the last name of the officials, I thought to myself, calm down, the game has not even begun. The main team this year is Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Clark took over for Billy Packer who has called the Final Four since 1974 until last year. Clark was CBS’s studio analyst from 1997 until this year. I think he is better in the studio because he has more time. He uses stats and that’s more useful in the studio, at the game just call what you see. I think he will get better the more he does it. One person I would love to call the Final Four is Bill Raftery. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He’s a lot of fun to listen to. By the way, Raf will be on the radio to call the title game tonight. Here is one of his gems from the first round of this year’s tourament with partner Verne Lundquist.
What to watch for this weekend
Easter weekend bring us the first major of the golf season, The Masters from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. Converge begins Wednesday with the par-3 contest 3 to 5 P.M. on ESPN. The first two rounds will be on ESPN 4 to7:30 P.M. each day. CSB has the weekend converge on the weekend with the Third-Round on Saturday from 3:30 to 7 P.M. Easter Sunday is the Final Round from 2 to 7 P.M. For the 24th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 22nd year as host). This is CBS sport’s 54th consecutive year of converging the Masters. It is truly is a tradition unlike another and a sure sign of spring. Enjoy!!!!!
This week is the start of Baseball season. The Boston Red Sox have there home opener today at 3 P.M.
Jamie Lazaroff
Update #1: We did get great games and a few surprises with Missouri over Memphis and Villanova over Duke. Villanova also beat Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four. Update #2: Your Final Four was UCONN and Michigan State, Villanova and North Carolina, until UCONN lost to Michigan State this past weekend, and North Carolina beat Villanova. Tonight, Monday April 6th it is Michigan State and North Carolina. Update #3: North Carolina won the national title in a blow out. President Obama did pick the champ, and I lost.
It’s an interesting year when the Women’s Tournament catches my interest, there were some great games and a few buzzer beaters, and they even had some upsets. The problem I have with the Women’s Tournament is that the first two rounds are held at on campus sites so some teams have their home crowd on their side. Most of the time it’s the higher seeds home court but this year some of the double-digit seeds had the advantage. This caused two major upsets as Rutgers beat a second seed Auburn and Michigan State beat a # 1 seed Duke. The Men’s Tournaments are played on neutral sites all the way through. I would love to see the Women play their first rounds with the Men.
Let me talk about some of the announcers, UCONN had the team of Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas on Thursday, Jay is one of the best analyst in the business, Carter in the new kid on the block and may be good in the future but he had no enthusiasm for the game or the event. We had Jay with Dick Enberg for the other three games. Dick is a legend in the sports broadcasting business but this tournament he mispronounced names and called a
2-pointer a 3 pointer that clearly was not. At 74 years old he can still call Tennis better than any one but basketball is a young man’s game. I fell badly for him but when your time is up its up.
Speaking of enthusiasm, one man that had too much of it was Gus Johnson. One game I heard him scream the last name of the officials, I thought to myself, calm down, the game has not even begun. The main team this year is Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Clark took over for Billy Packer who has called the Final Four since 1974 until last year. Clark was CBS’s studio analyst from 1997 until this year. I think he is better in the studio because he has more time. He uses stats and that’s more useful in the studio, at the game just call what you see. I think he will get better the more he does it. One person I would love to call the Final Four is Bill Raftery. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He’s a lot of fun to listen to. By the way, Raf will be on the radio to call the title game tonight. Here is one of his gems from the first round of this year’s tourament with partner Verne Lundquist.
What to watch for this weekend
Easter weekend bring us the first major of the golf season, The Masters from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. Converge begins Wednesday with the par-3 contest 3 to 5 P.M. on ESPN. The first two rounds will be on ESPN 4 to7:30 P.M. each day. CSB has the weekend converge on the weekend with the Third-Round on Saturday from 3:30 to 7 P.M. Easter Sunday is the Final Round from 2 to 7 P.M. For the 24th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 22nd year as host). This is CBS sport’s 54th consecutive year of converging the Masters. It is truly is a tradition unlike another and a sure sign of spring. Enjoy!!!!!
This week is the start of Baseball season. The Boston Red Sox have there home opener today at 3 P.M.
Jamie Lazaroff
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