Hi folks
Sorry I have not written since June. Here's a quick update for all who have been asking. I was selected to speak at the Arc National Convention November 4th and 5th. I have been extremely busy preparing for this big step in my speaking career. I also have other irons in the fire that I hope to have more information on soon. I hope to be back on a regular blogging schedule in the near future.
Have a great day.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, October 15, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Here a picture of me watching the USA must win world cup match . My prayers was answered. We won our group for the first time since 1930. (the first time the world cup was played) We play next Saturday afternoon 2P.M. on ABC, opponet is To Be Determimed. I will have more later, just wanted to share this photo.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
LAZ Sports Radio text
This is Jamie Lazaroff and welcome to the latest edition of LAZ sports radio. Sorry I have not done a blog or video in the last week. I have been busy with lots of irons in the fire. I got a part-time job being the voice on some advertising for 1350 WINY radio in Putnam CT.
One to the sports. This week’s major news story is that the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams. CBS sports and Turner sports are the home of the tournament for the next 14 years. The interesting part of the deal is that starting in 2016 the Final Four will be on cable. The good news for basketball fans is that all tournament game will be on national TV. It’s good that the NCAA men’s basketball committee recommended expansion of the tournament from 65 teams to 68. Like I said before, 96 teams would be too much. ESPN was also in the running for the right to March Madness but CBS/Turner bid was bigger. Is this a sign that ESPN is going after the Olympics? We will see.
There is sad news to report as former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch died last week. Mr. Samaranch was the IOC’s top man for 1980 to 2001. After boycotts at the 80 Summer Games in Moscow and 84 in LA Mr. Samaranch make the Olympics in to the global event it is today.
I have talked before about how I think the NFL Draft is one of the most over hyped events in all of sports. The Draft is not an exact science. No one knows how these college athletes are going to perform on the pro level. I was interested why the Denver Broncos took Tim Tebow before better rated Quarterback’s Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy. What was Denver thinking? We well see in a few years which team was right. Some times later round picks work better than first round sections. Remember Tom Brady was a six round pick in 2000 draft and he is the best Quarterback in the league right now. We shall see how this year’s class pans out in a few years.
This weekend is the latest fight to save boxing. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight Shane Mosley in Las Vegas. I read were Mayweather said he was better than Mohammed Ali. I laughed out loud. First off Ali had national TV in his day and also had Howard Cosell as his antagonist/supporter. Mayweather can’t deliver a promo. No one is in the league of Ali. Just for this I’M going to hope Mosley can shut Mayweather up. I’M going to Foxwoods to watch the fight on a big screen. We’ll give you a report next week.
This weekend is also the first Saturday in May, which means the Kentucky Derby. This year race is more wide open than usual. Last week likely favorite Eskendereya was scratched with a leg injury. The new favorite is Lookin At Lucky with Garrett Gomez aboard. It’s not good to be the favorite in the run for the roses; in the last decade only 4 favorites have won the fastest 2 minutes in sports. We shall see. Post time is 6:24 on NBC.
One final note. On April 17 one of my crazy relatives competed in the “Inferno” pentathlon race at Tuckerman’s ravine, which is on the eastern slope of Mt. Washington in NH. The race consist of a 8.3 Miles run, Kayak for 6.2 Miles, bike 18.2 Miles then hike for 3 miles before the final member of the team skis down the ravine. Their team name was “6 of 1 half dozen of the other.” My cousin David did the kayak, our friends Alec did the run, his father Len did the hike our vacation friend Bruce did the ski and their friend Kelly did the bike. Congratulations to all!! I know I can’t do it. You go guys and ladies. This year my cousin Carley is doing her triathlon in Webster with my aunt Ann and my soccer coach Geri is also competing. I will be their cheering them on and reporting back.
Talk to you next
Jamie Lazaroff
One to the sports. This week’s major news story is that the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams. CBS sports and Turner sports are the home of the tournament for the next 14 years. The interesting part of the deal is that starting in 2016 the Final Four will be on cable. The good news for basketball fans is that all tournament game will be on national TV. It’s good that the NCAA men’s basketball committee recommended expansion of the tournament from 65 teams to 68. Like I said before, 96 teams would be too much. ESPN was also in the running for the right to March Madness but CBS/Turner bid was bigger. Is this a sign that ESPN is going after the Olympics? We will see.
There is sad news to report as former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch died last week. Mr. Samaranch was the IOC’s top man for 1980 to 2001. After boycotts at the 80 Summer Games in Moscow and 84 in LA Mr. Samaranch make the Olympics in to the global event it is today.
I have talked before about how I think the NFL Draft is one of the most over hyped events in all of sports. The Draft is not an exact science. No one knows how these college athletes are going to perform on the pro level. I was interested why the Denver Broncos took Tim Tebow before better rated Quarterback’s Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy. What was Denver thinking? We well see in a few years which team was right. Some times later round picks work better than first round sections. Remember Tom Brady was a six round pick in 2000 draft and he is the best Quarterback in the league right now. We shall see how this year’s class pans out in a few years.
This weekend is the latest fight to save boxing. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight Shane Mosley in Las Vegas. I read were Mayweather said he was better than Mohammed Ali. I laughed out loud. First off Ali had national TV in his day and also had Howard Cosell as his antagonist/supporter. Mayweather can’t deliver a promo. No one is in the league of Ali. Just for this I’M going to hope Mosley can shut Mayweather up. I’M going to Foxwoods to watch the fight on a big screen. We’ll give you a report next week.
This weekend is also the first Saturday in May, which means the Kentucky Derby. This year race is more wide open than usual. Last week likely favorite Eskendereya was scratched with a leg injury. The new favorite is Lookin At Lucky with Garrett Gomez aboard. It’s not good to be the favorite in the run for the roses; in the last decade only 4 favorites have won the fastest 2 minutes in sports. We shall see. Post time is 6:24 on NBC.
One final note. On April 17 one of my crazy relatives competed in the “Inferno” pentathlon race at Tuckerman’s ravine, which is on the eastern slope of Mt. Washington in NH. The race consist of a 8.3 Miles run, Kayak for 6.2 Miles, bike 18.2 Miles then hike for 3 miles before the final member of the team skis down the ravine. Their team name was “6 of 1 half dozen of the other.” My cousin David did the kayak, our friends Alec did the run, his father Len did the hike our vacation friend Bruce did the ski and their friend Kelly did the bike. Congratulations to all!! I know I can’t do it. You go guys and ladies. This year my cousin Carley is doing her triathlon in Webster with my aunt Ann and my soccer coach Geri is also competing. I will be their cheering them on and reporting back.
Talk to you next
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
My debut on YouTube
Hi All
A while ago I talked about puting videos of my sportscasts on YouTube. Well here is a preview of things to come.
Tell me what you think.
Jamie Lazaroff
A while ago I talked about puting videos of my sportscasts on YouTube. Well here is a preview of things to come.
Tell me what you think.
Jamie Lazaroff
Monday, March 22, 2010
The View from the chair
This is Championship week in College Basketball. Most of the conferences or leagues in the country have a tournament to decide what team for said conference (Big East, ACC, Big 12, PAC-10, and the likes) gets its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In fact there are 31 conferences, which have a tournament to decide their automatic bid. Only the Ivy League has the regular season champions who get that leagues automatic bid. The other 34 teams that make up the 65 team NCAA Tournament are chosen from a committee of basketball people in Indianapolis. This week’s debate is, do their tournaments over shadow the regular season. Make no mistake; these conference tournaments are not going a way any time soon. They make too much money for their leagues. In the large conferences like the Big East or the ACC that get multiple teams into the NCAA tournament, the regular season is important, but if a team losses early in its conference tournament and had a great regular season, that team will get an at-large bid to the big dance. This year is a good example; Syracuse won the Big East regular season title with a 15-3 conference record, but lost last Thursday in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. For that 15-3 record they are in the NCAA tournament. Some of the smaller leagues like the Northeast or the American East conference only the winner of their tournament will get a bid to the NCAA’s. My example here is in the Northeast Conference championship game Quinnipiac lost to Robert Morris for the only spot in the big dance. I think the only way this will change is if the UCONN’s of the world play the Quinnipiac’s of the world on a regular bases.
In woman’s college basketball, UCONN has won 72 games in a row, to break consecutive game records of 70 back in 2001 to 2003. The debate over this record is if the streak is good for woman’s basketball. I’M on the fence if the steak is good for woman’s basketball. I have to agree with ESPN’s Doris Burke for reminding use that no one questioned John Wooden when his UCLA Bruins Men’s team won 88 in a row back in the 70’s. Doris also is right when she points out that there opponents have not gotten any better than the 2001 to 2003 steak. ESPN.com had a great statistical breakdown of all 3 teams. During their current streak, the Huskies have beaten their opponents by more then 32 points. Compare that with 25 points the UCLA men beat their opponents from 1971 to 74. The other stat that blew me away is that the UCLA Men had 16 single-digit wins in the longest win streak in history, compared to not one single-digit win for the women. Just remarkable!
There is an interesting story on ESPN.com about how six of the 16 first and second round sites for the NCAA women’s tournament will lose money. This is because the women’s tournament is played on campus and if that team or a team from that team’s league or conference does not play there the crowd doesn’t come. Think about this Gampel Pavilion hosted games and UCONN or at least the Big East Team was not playing would you go to the games. UCONN and Tennessee are the only programs that travel well or will go were the team plays. What does this say about women’s basketball? I don’t know but I believe that the woman should play at the same sites as the men. Lets take this year for example; Providence, Rhode Island hosted the Men’s first two rounds Thursday & Saturday. The women could play Friday & Sunday. I think the problem is, not the same teams are involved in both tournaments but this scenario would make for a basketball destination.
Sports media watch
This week’s big news is that Jennifer Hudson becomes the new voice for CBS Sports’ NCAA Tournament anthem “One Shining Moment.” Hudson becomes only the 4th person and the 1st woman to sing the song. Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and the song’s composer David Barrett were the others to sing the song. I have no problem with Jennifer Hudson, she a great singer and will do great with the song. I will miss Luther Vandross and his soulful voice.
Here is the 2009 version of “One Shining Moment” with Luther Vandross.
I will have a full report of the madness and Jennifer Hudson’s version of “One Shining Moment” after the Championship Game on April 5.
Other story that caught my eye is that ESPN is producing a new two-hour programming block on ABC debuting April 3 from 4 to 6 P.M. It will be called ABC Sports Saturday. The show will generally begin with a 60-minute episode of one of the three ESPN series 30 for 30 (documentary series) E60 (60 minutes for sports fans), Homecoming with Rick Reilly (interview series) followed by the hour long Winners Bracket. Winners Bracket will be a debate show that will recap the week in sports in a bracket-style format. This looks to me like a big advertisement for ESPN programming on the main network. According to the press release this programming block is collaboration between ESPN and ABC affiliate stations. (WTNH channel 8 in Connecticut or WJAR 10 in Rhode Island) I had heard that the affiliated stations have been looking for consistant sports programming on Saturday afternoon since bowling and Wide World of Sports left ABC in the 90’s. We will see if this is going to work?
This week I have very much enjoyed Universal Sports TV two-hour daily highlights of the Winter Paralympics from Vancouver. I think its very interesting that the BBC, (British Broadcasting Corporation) the country that started the Paralympic movement, is only doing a one-hour highlight show after the Games are over but the United States finaly gets daily coverege of their great athletes. Bravo NBC Universal for a great job.
Breaking News: Tiger Woods is coming back to golf at the Master”s Tournament. I think this is a good move as the officals at Augsta National Golf Club controls every detail of the tournament, from the crowd to the media, he will be well guarded there. We will see how he plays? The Master’s is April 8 to 11.
Talk to you after the Maddness.
Jamie Lazaroff
In woman’s college basketball, UCONN has won 72 games in a row, to break consecutive game records of 70 back in 2001 to 2003. The debate over this record is if the streak is good for woman’s basketball. I’M on the fence if the steak is good for woman’s basketball. I have to agree with ESPN’s Doris Burke for reminding use that no one questioned John Wooden when his UCLA Bruins Men’s team won 88 in a row back in the 70’s. Doris also is right when she points out that there opponents have not gotten any better than the 2001 to 2003 steak. ESPN.com had a great statistical breakdown of all 3 teams. During their current streak, the Huskies have beaten their opponents by more then 32 points. Compare that with 25 points the UCLA men beat their opponents from 1971 to 74. The other stat that blew me away is that the UCLA Men had 16 single-digit wins in the longest win streak in history, compared to not one single-digit win for the women. Just remarkable!
There is an interesting story on ESPN.com about how six of the 16 first and second round sites for the NCAA women’s tournament will lose money. This is because the women’s tournament is played on campus and if that team or a team from that team’s league or conference does not play there the crowd doesn’t come. Think about this Gampel Pavilion hosted games and UCONN or at least the Big East Team was not playing would you go to the games. UCONN and Tennessee are the only programs that travel well or will go were the team plays. What does this say about women’s basketball? I don’t know but I believe that the woman should play at the same sites as the men. Lets take this year for example; Providence, Rhode Island hosted the Men’s first two rounds Thursday & Saturday. The women could play Friday & Sunday. I think the problem is, not the same teams are involved in both tournaments but this scenario would make for a basketball destination.
Sports media watch
This week’s big news is that Jennifer Hudson becomes the new voice for CBS Sports’ NCAA Tournament anthem “One Shining Moment.” Hudson becomes only the 4th person and the 1st woman to sing the song. Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and the song’s composer David Barrett were the others to sing the song. I have no problem with Jennifer Hudson, she a great singer and will do great with the song. I will miss Luther Vandross and his soulful voice.
Here is the 2009 version of “One Shining Moment” with Luther Vandross.
I will have a full report of the madness and Jennifer Hudson’s version of “One Shining Moment” after the Championship Game on April 5.
Other story that caught my eye is that ESPN is producing a new two-hour programming block on ABC debuting April 3 from 4 to 6 P.M. It will be called ABC Sports Saturday. The show will generally begin with a 60-minute episode of one of the three ESPN series 30 for 30 (documentary series) E60 (60 minutes for sports fans), Homecoming with Rick Reilly (interview series) followed by the hour long Winners Bracket. Winners Bracket will be a debate show that will recap the week in sports in a bracket-style format. This looks to me like a big advertisement for ESPN programming on the main network. According to the press release this programming block is collaboration between ESPN and ABC affiliate stations. (WTNH channel 8 in Connecticut or WJAR 10 in Rhode Island) I had heard that the affiliated stations have been looking for consistant sports programming on Saturday afternoon since bowling and Wide World of Sports left ABC in the 90’s. We will see if this is going to work?
This week I have very much enjoyed Universal Sports TV two-hour daily highlights of the Winter Paralympics from Vancouver. I think its very interesting that the BBC, (British Broadcasting Corporation) the country that started the Paralympic movement, is only doing a one-hour highlight show after the Games are over but the United States finaly gets daily coverege of their great athletes. Bravo NBC Universal for a great job.
Breaking News: Tiger Woods is coming back to golf at the Master”s Tournament. I think this is a good move as the officals at Augsta National Golf Club controls every detail of the tournament, from the crowd to the media, he will be well guarded there. We will see how he plays? The Master’s is April 8 to 11.
Talk to you after the Maddness.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A view form the chair
My Olympic marathon is over. It’s time to review NBC’s coverage of the 21st Olympic Winter Games. I think the overall story of these games was the unbridled patriotism of the Canadian people. There was a lot of “O, Canada” to go a round as they set the record of the most Gold Medals at a Winter Olympics with 14 Olympic champions. The most remarkable show of patriotism was at the men’s curling final, when in the last end or innings of the match the crowd just erupted in “O, Canada”. Great scenes.
I’ve got an idea of how NBC can give us diehard sports fans live coverage and not taped delayed. They should stream, live coverage on their website for those of us who want, for example, more than 5 out of 50 competitors in downhill. Then they can do the highlights in Primetime. I think this is the way to go in London in 2012 and Sochi, Russia in 2014.
In my last report I talked about Al Michaels. I have to say, he has improved in the second week as daytime host. He was at his best when he hosted five men’s Hockey games and also the closing ceremonies with Bob Costas. I hope Al comes back for London to get another shot at hosting.
I continue to be imprested by Jimmy Roberts; he is the best writer and essayer in the business. He knows how to use words to describe any moment. He was also very good in hosting “Meet the Olympic Press” on Universal Sports TV.
I have often said on this blog that Al Trautwig is the best scene setter in the business. Again he proved me right in calling the Nordic events at these games. I can’t say the same thing about his partner Chad Salmela. Chad just yelled too much for my taste.
My dislike for Todd Harris continues. In the men’s ski cross event he used the initials B.C. to say they were from British Columbia. I did not hear any other announcer on the NBC talent roster use B.C. they all said British Columbia. When any announcer uses initials it sounds very bad and improper.
I was very impressed with two new announcers at these games. As I said last time Johnny Moseley was very good. He did a great job of explaining his sports. The other rookie of the year was Andrew Catalon on Curling. He did a great job setting the scene at a very raucous venue. He will be back for sure and at 30 years old is the future of NBC sports.
I have to give credit to Ted Robinson for a great job calling the most unpredictable sport of Short Track Speed Skating. Andy Gabel was great in explaining his sport and all of the disqualifications.
Let me review some of the storylines I outlined in my Olympic preview. Lindsey Vonn won two medals in Vancouver. She won the Downhill and a Bronze in the Super-G. The Downhill was the one she wanted more than any other and got it.
Shaun White defends his title in Snowboarding Half-Pipe. This was one of the standout performers of the games. Shaun won the event after the first run of two and didn’t have to take his second run but did and pulled off the greatest run I have ever seen. I think the kid has the heart of a champion. Just an awesome Olympic moment, I think.
Shani Davis Won Gold in the 1,000 Meters and Sliver in the 1,500 Meters Long Track Speed Skating. Good way to go out Shani. The most bizarre moment of these games was when 5,000 Meter Champion Sven Kramer of the Netherlands was disqualified in the 10,000 Meters for not crossing lanes. His coach told him to go in the inner lane and he was supposed to cross to the outer. I have never seen any thing like this on the Olympic level. What a bad Olympic moment. If you know any thing about the Netherlands this is their nation sport.
The most inspirational moment of the games in Figure Skating was Joannie Rochette of Canada whose mother died just two days before she was to skate. She did skate and won a bronze medal. What a brave young women. This is the kind of story and person that Canada will name schools after. You get these stories at every Olympics but I don’t remember one like this.
The US Nordic Combined team ended their loosing streak in a big way with 6 medals over 3 events. Bill Demong won the Gold medal in the large Hill competition. Johnny Spillane won 2 Silver Medals and in the team relay they also won the Silver. Awesome job guys.
Steve Holcomb broke the 62-year drought of the US in Four-Man Bobsled with the Gold medal. The night train was on fire. All the sliding (Luge, Bobsled and Skeleton) sports made me nervous this year. The Whistler track was the fastest in the world and it showed.
The Olympics are done for 2010. Next stop for the Olympics is London in 2012. Hope to be in London. The next stop on the sports calendar is March Madness and also the start of the baseball season.
Talk to you all again soon.
Jamie Lazaroff
I’ve got an idea of how NBC can give us diehard sports fans live coverage and not taped delayed. They should stream, live coverage on their website for those of us who want, for example, more than 5 out of 50 competitors in downhill. Then they can do the highlights in Primetime. I think this is the way to go in London in 2012 and Sochi, Russia in 2014.
In my last report I talked about Al Michaels. I have to say, he has improved in the second week as daytime host. He was at his best when he hosted five men’s Hockey games and also the closing ceremonies with Bob Costas. I hope Al comes back for London to get another shot at hosting.
I continue to be imprested by Jimmy Roberts; he is the best writer and essayer in the business. He knows how to use words to describe any moment. He was also very good in hosting “Meet the Olympic Press” on Universal Sports TV.
I have often said on this blog that Al Trautwig is the best scene setter in the business. Again he proved me right in calling the Nordic events at these games. I can’t say the same thing about his partner Chad Salmela. Chad just yelled too much for my taste.
My dislike for Todd Harris continues. In the men’s ski cross event he used the initials B.C. to say they were from British Columbia. I did not hear any other announcer on the NBC talent roster use B.C. they all said British Columbia. When any announcer uses initials it sounds very bad and improper.
I was very impressed with two new announcers at these games. As I said last time Johnny Moseley was very good. He did a great job of explaining his sports. The other rookie of the year was Andrew Catalon on Curling. He did a great job setting the scene at a very raucous venue. He will be back for sure and at 30 years old is the future of NBC sports.
I have to give credit to Ted Robinson for a great job calling the most unpredictable sport of Short Track Speed Skating. Andy Gabel was great in explaining his sport and all of the disqualifications.
Let me review some of the storylines I outlined in my Olympic preview. Lindsey Vonn won two medals in Vancouver. She won the Downhill and a Bronze in the Super-G. The Downhill was the one she wanted more than any other and got it.
Shaun White defends his title in Snowboarding Half-Pipe. This was one of the standout performers of the games. Shaun won the event after the first run of two and didn’t have to take his second run but did and pulled off the greatest run I have ever seen. I think the kid has the heart of a champion. Just an awesome Olympic moment, I think.
Shani Davis Won Gold in the 1,000 Meters and Sliver in the 1,500 Meters Long Track Speed Skating. Good way to go out Shani. The most bizarre moment of these games was when 5,000 Meter Champion Sven Kramer of the Netherlands was disqualified in the 10,000 Meters for not crossing lanes. His coach told him to go in the inner lane and he was supposed to cross to the outer. I have never seen any thing like this on the Olympic level. What a bad Olympic moment. If you know any thing about the Netherlands this is their nation sport.
The most inspirational moment of the games in Figure Skating was Joannie Rochette of Canada whose mother died just two days before she was to skate. She did skate and won a bronze medal. What a brave young women. This is the kind of story and person that Canada will name schools after. You get these stories at every Olympics but I don’t remember one like this.
The US Nordic Combined team ended their loosing streak in a big way with 6 medals over 3 events. Bill Demong won the Gold medal in the large Hill competition. Johnny Spillane won 2 Silver Medals and in the team relay they also won the Silver. Awesome job guys.
Steve Holcomb broke the 62-year drought of the US in Four-Man Bobsled with the Gold medal. The night train was on fire. All the sliding (Luge, Bobsled and Skeleton) sports made me nervous this year. The Whistler track was the fastest in the world and it showed.
The Olympics are done for 2010. Next stop for the Olympics is London in 2012. Hope to be in London. The next stop on the sports calendar is March Madness and also the start of the baseball season.
Talk to you all again soon.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Olympic Update
We are a few days into the Winter Olympics Games; so let me give you my quick thoughts. Overall NBC is doing a nice job but they could make some changes, like not holding some marquee events for prime time. I know that they have to make choices when they show events happening at the same time but they have other cable networks that are not being used. I guess I have to avoid the Internet for duration of the Olympics.
One thing I don’t like is when they switch from one event to the other. Stay on one event live until we know who wins the Gold medal. If you have to tape the other event then do it. They should always show the words "LIVE" so we know and we don’t have to guess. Most of the time they will flash the word live on screen then take it off after a few seconds. Monday night they showed the words “LIVE” during the Gold medal ceremony for Men’s Moguls. Why can’t they do this for the competition? Also, please limit the commercial breaks. I know this is how NBC makes its money, but give me more than 2 minutes of action at a time.
I’M disappointed and sad at the same time for Al Michaels as daytime host. He looks very nervous in the studio. I hope he gets comfortable as the games go on. In prime time the host Bob Costas can host the games until I die, he is the best in the business in the studio.
Todd Harris is the worst announcer of all times. Thank goodness that Johnny Moseley was very good in his Olympics broadcasting debut. Harris used other announcer’s lines and at the end of the Men’s Moguls he described the winner’s brother, who happens to have cerebral palsy as suffering from. Todd, he was born with it and he is a person who happens to have it. Mr. Harris also stole a call from early in the day. When Johnny Spillane won the USA first medal ever in Nordic Combined, Chad Salmela said, “The medal drought is over!” Todd said the “The Drought is over” when Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first Gold medal ever on home turf. (1976 Summer Games in Montreal and 1988 Winter Games in Calgary no Gold’s) Please use original lines Mr. Harris.
Dan Patrick did a very good job in his role of setting the scene at the mogul’s completion. I hope he continues to doing this through out the games.
Update: He’s not, Tuesday he was back in New York doing his radio show.
I can’t believe more people watched the Winter Olympics on Sunday than the Daytona 500. Why I don’t know, but the Daytona 500 was delayed twice by potholes developing on the track. The Olympics coverage is up nearly 25% for the opening weekend over the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. I think more people are out of work and home and want something compelling to watch so they turn to the Olympics.
Until next time.
Jamie Lazaroff
One thing I don’t like is when they switch from one event to the other. Stay on one event live until we know who wins the Gold medal. If you have to tape the other event then do it. They should always show the words "LIVE" so we know and we don’t have to guess. Most of the time they will flash the word live on screen then take it off after a few seconds. Monday night they showed the words “LIVE” during the Gold medal ceremony for Men’s Moguls. Why can’t they do this for the competition? Also, please limit the commercial breaks. I know this is how NBC makes its money, but give me more than 2 minutes of action at a time.
I’M disappointed and sad at the same time for Al Michaels as daytime host. He looks very nervous in the studio. I hope he gets comfortable as the games go on. In prime time the host Bob Costas can host the games until I die, he is the best in the business in the studio.
Todd Harris is the worst announcer of all times. Thank goodness that Johnny Moseley was very good in his Olympics broadcasting debut. Harris used other announcer’s lines and at the end of the Men’s Moguls he described the winner’s brother, who happens to have cerebral palsy as suffering from. Todd, he was born with it and he is a person who happens to have it. Mr. Harris also stole a call from early in the day. When Johnny Spillane won the USA first medal ever in Nordic Combined, Chad Salmela said, “The medal drought is over!” Todd said the “The Drought is over” when Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first Gold medal ever on home turf. (1976 Summer Games in Montreal and 1988 Winter Games in Calgary no Gold’s) Please use original lines Mr. Harris.
Dan Patrick did a very good job in his role of setting the scene at the mogul’s completion. I hope he continues to doing this through out the games.
Update: He’s not, Tuesday he was back in New York doing his radio show.
I can’t believe more people watched the Winter Olympics on Sunday than the Daytona 500. Why I don’t know, but the Daytona 500 was delayed twice by potholes developing on the track. The Olympics coverage is up nearly 25% for the opening weekend over the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. I think more people are out of work and home and want something compelling to watch so they turn to the Olympics.
Until next time.
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Curling schedule
Like I promised here is the Curling TV schedule for the Winter Olympic. I have edited the schedule down to ownly the day time covarge. Like I said Curling is all over the place on NBC's family of network's. You can go to nbcolympics.com to find were USA Network, CNBC and MSNBC is on you cable provider. Remember the Opening Ceremony starts at 7:30 this Friday on your local NBC station.(NBC 30 in Connecticut) I hope to post a daliy Olympic viewer guide this weekend. Enjoy
Tuesday, February 16
Time (ET) Network Description
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network USA Men vs. Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC U.S. Women's team takes on Japan.
Wednesday, February 17
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Team USA Women take on Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Switzerland.
Thursday, February 18
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling vs. Denmark, live.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Team USA squad takes on Denmark.
Friday, February 19
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling Team USA take on Russia.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC American men take on France.
Saturday, February 20
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Men's Curling Team USA takes on Sweden.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Team USA takes on Great Britain.
Sunday, February 21
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Women's Curling Team USA finds itself in a hostile environment as they take on Team Canada in front of 6,000 home fans.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Great Britain.
Monday, February 22
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network The American men head into hostile territory when they take on host and gold medal-favorite Canada
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Gold medal-favorites Team Canada continue their march toward the podium as they take on Sweden.
Tuesday, February 23
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Team USA take on China.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold medal- and hometown-favorites Team Canada continue their medal quest as they take on China.
Wednesday, February 24
5:00p - 8:00p MSNBC Curling With medal hopes and advancing on the line, MSNBC has coverage of Curling's tiebreaker round.
Thursday, February 25
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Semifinal rounds begin.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling: men's semifinals begin.
Friday, February 26
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Bronze Game
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Women's Curling reaches its climax with the gold medal match up live from Vancouver.
Saturday, February 27
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling: Bronze medal Game.
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold Medal Match
Tuesday, February 16
Time (ET) Network Description
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network USA Men vs. Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC U.S. Women's team takes on Japan.
Wednesday, February 17
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Team USA Women take on Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Switzerland.
Thursday, February 18
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling vs. Denmark, live.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Team USA squad takes on Denmark.
Friday, February 19
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling Team USA take on Russia.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC American men take on France.
Saturday, February 20
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Men's Curling Team USA takes on Sweden.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Team USA takes on Great Britain.
Sunday, February 21
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Women's Curling Team USA finds itself in a hostile environment as they take on Team Canada in front of 6,000 home fans.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Great Britain.
Monday, February 22
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network The American men head into hostile territory when they take on host and gold medal-favorite Canada
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Gold medal-favorites Team Canada continue their march toward the podium as they take on Sweden.
Tuesday, February 23
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Team USA take on China.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold medal- and hometown-favorites Team Canada continue their medal quest as they take on China.
Wednesday, February 24
5:00p - 8:00p MSNBC Curling With medal hopes and advancing on the line, MSNBC has coverage of Curling's tiebreaker round.
Thursday, February 25
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Semifinal rounds begin.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling: men's semifinals begin.
Friday, February 26
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Bronze Game
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Women's Curling reaches its climax with the gold medal match up live from Vancouver.
Saturday, February 27
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling: Bronze medal Game.
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold Medal Match
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
WinterOlympic Preview
Less than a week before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver now is the time for my preview. Friday is the opening ceremonies on NBC. The marquee events you will see in primetime on NBC starting on Saturday are Figure Skating, Alpine Skiing, and Snowboarding along with Freestyle Skiing. Lindsey Vonn is the biggest favorite of the games for the USA in the Alpine Skiing’s downhill and super-G. She has won the last two World Cup overall titles and leads this years standing. The other athletes to look out for are Shaun White in Snowboarding Half-Pipe. His event is on Wednesday the 17th. Watch the boy fly. Shani Davis is another one the watch, he has dominated the 1,000 and 1,500 meters in long tack Speed Skating in the past two years and no one has come close to his times. The spotlight event of the games is Ladies Figure Skating, this year for the first time in a long time; the US does not have a favorite for a medal in this competition. It will be a wide-open event. Men Figure Skating has medal hopefuls in Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek. The pair’s Figure Skating is a battle between the team of Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin against the team that beat them at the national championship last month Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Should be a good battle. Team USA has a chance to medal in a lot of sports for the first time. Erin Hamlin in Woman’s Luge, Tim Burke in Biathlon, Kikkan Randall in Woman’s Cross-Country Skiing and Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane and Bill Demong in Nordic Combined. Steve Holcomb has a good change to end a drought since 1948 with out a gold medal in Four-Man Bobsled. His team is peaking at the right time just winning the world cup title in four-man and the overall. Two-Men is the other bobsled discipline. The Nordic Combined team has a very good chance for gold. At last year’s World Championship the USA won all three individual gold medals contested. Johnny and Bill have won World Cup races this year. By the way Nordic Combined is Ski Jumping and Cross-Country Skiing on the same day. Should be fun. Then you have my favorite winter Olympic sport, Curling. Please check it out. Curling is like shuffle board on ice. It will be on USA network most of the two weeks starting Tuesday February 16th, it will also be on CNBC, I hope to post the TV schedule this week. I will also attempt to post the daily TV schedule for the whole Olympics.
In other news, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts. What a great game, 153.4 million viewers watched to make it the most watched show in U.S. television history according to Nielsen Media Research topping the previous mark of 106 million for the series finale of M*A*S*H in 1983.
Wow, that’s a lot of people watching one event at the same time.
Enjoy the Olympics.
Jamie Lazaroff
In other news, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts. What a great game, 153.4 million viewers watched to make it the most watched show in U.S. television history according to Nielsen Media Research topping the previous mark of 106 million for the series finale of M*A*S*H in 1983.
Wow, that’s a lot of people watching one event at the same time.
Enjoy the Olympics.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, February 5, 2010
self-advocate
As a self-advocate, I would like to comment on the R-word. As you may know, it came out this week that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used the word in anger at a political strategy meeting last year. There is no excuse for using the R-word. My question is where’s the outrage over Rush Limbaugh, he used the word about 5 to 6 times in a row, live, on his radio show. I’M sorry to tell you Rush, this is not politically correct. It is just the way it, just like not using the N-word. I guess if you had or have a family member with an intellectual disability you don’t get it how it hurts.
People with Intellectual disabilities have abilities and are capable of many things, but ignorance leads some to describe us in this way. We know you don't mean to make us feel that way, but it hurts and is very demeaning. When people start making "retard" jokes or references, it makes me very sad. I would just ask you to please start putting yourself in my shoes and imagine if we started making jokes using a term that describes you. It would hurt you to.
I get it; people who use the term “retard” don’t always realize how it hurts those of us who have an intellectual disability. The problem is, it isn’t OK to those of us who make up the largest minority group in the country. If you think a "retard" is someone who is dumb and stupid you haven’t met anyone who has the medical diagnosis of mental retardation. Well I am here to tell you that I have that medical diagnosis and I am not dumb or stupid, I have been a broadcaster, I have interviewed Governors, and spoken in front of five thousand plus people. Do you think a dumb or stupid person could do all of this? Every time the term is used in a negative way it tells other people that it is OK to think of me and all of my friends this way.
The R-Word is the 21-century N-Word. Would you use the N-Word to describe black people? No, than please stop using the R-Word.
Just my opinion
People with Intellectual disabilities have abilities and are capable of many things, but ignorance leads some to describe us in this way. We know you don't mean to make us feel that way, but it hurts and is very demeaning. When people start making "retard" jokes or references, it makes me very sad. I would just ask you to please start putting yourself in my shoes and imagine if we started making jokes using a term that describes you. It would hurt you to.
I get it; people who use the term “retard” don’t always realize how it hurts those of us who have an intellectual disability. The problem is, it isn’t OK to those of us who make up the largest minority group in the country. If you think a "retard" is someone who is dumb and stupid you haven’t met anyone who has the medical diagnosis of mental retardation. Well I am here to tell you that I have that medical diagnosis and I am not dumb or stupid, I have been a broadcaster, I have interviewed Governors, and spoken in front of five thousand plus people. Do you think a dumb or stupid person could do all of this? Every time the term is used in a negative way it tells other people that it is OK to think of me and all of my friends this way.
The R-Word is the 21-century N-Word. Would you use the N-Word to describe black people? No, than please stop using the R-Word.
Just my opinion
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A view form the chair
Time to answer one comment on my blog. Mary Ellen asked why I don’t mention the UConn women's basketball team? First off I enjoy women’s basketball a lot more than the men’s game because it is played below the rim. I don’t mention them because they have won 61 games in a row and beat all of their opponents by 25 or more points. It is like one sportscaster said this weekend, ho hum, they win again. Every time we think they’re going into a tough game, like Stanford or North Carolina, they keep it close for the first half then pull away in the second half. In the past I have talked about Head Coach Geno Auriemma. I happen to think he is overrated. This month on ESPN College Gameday Geno gave great insight to why the program is so successful and kind of changed my mind about him. He said that they practice for every game and don’t over look any opponents. He also recruits players that want to be great and not just good. For a good source of information I would direct you to the site sox and dawgs. I have posted the link in the links section of this blog. Each day they have daily links to all the beat writers around the state that cover the UCONN women. Without access I can just write what I see. If you have questions about a team or event that you head about on the news or on the radio, send me an e-mail at jdlazaroff@yahoo.com, I would love to hear from you.
Congratulations to Kelly Kulick for being to first women to win a Professional Bowlers Association title. Kulick beat Chris Barnes to win the prestigious Tournament of Champions event. You go girl!
Two big events last weekend were the Strikeforce MMA event on Showtime Saturday night. I talked about this stacked card about a month ago so I wont go further. I do want to talk about Bobby Lashley’s opponent UFC veteran Wes Sims. Wes will not be an easy win for Lashley. This will be a very interesting fight. The other interesting person who is making his MMA debut is 1982 Heisman Trophy win Herschel Walker. At first I thought this was a joke but in recent interviews Herschel has stated the he is very serious about this and is training every day for this fight. How will a 47-year-old man do in a young man’s game?
Update: It was very interesting; Herschel Walker beat his younger opponent in the third round via a TKO. From what I have seen and heard he was very impressive. In his post fight news conference, Herschel said that this was just a one-fight deal and he’s done with MMA. Good job Herschel you did it and won now leave the stage.
The other event is the NFL Pro Bowl. This is the first year it was held one week before the Super Bowl. When this was first announced (the Pro Bowl is usually the week after the Super Bowl) I thought this would not work. It is not a very well played game because there’s nothing to play for. I now think it is a good idea. After the Super Bowl a lot of people consider football season over. You now have the NFL’s best (minus the players in the Super Bowl) on the same stage as the Super Bowl.
Update: I watched and I now think whenever the Pro Bowl is played it is a bad idea because like any All-Star game there is no defense played in the game and this makes it boring.
Update on the story I brought you last time about the Togo National Team being attacked on their way to the African Nationals Cup Soccer Tournament in January. The new news is that the Confederation of African Football has banned the Togo Team from the next two African Nations Cup tournaments for withdrawal from this year's tournament in the wake of a gun attack on their team bus. My question is why are they being banned? They did nothing wrong, and were not even the target of the attack. Two members of their delegation were killed in the ambush; I would leave the tournament too to bury my friends. I think this ban is insensitive and just wrong.
What I’M looking forward to this weekend
Sunday is the Super Bowl at 6:25 on CBS. The year’s game is the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. I think the game will be a shootout as you have two of the best quartbacks in the league, with Peyton Manning of the Colts against Drew Brees of the Saints. I will be having my party of one on Sunday.
I think this will be the first time the Six Nations (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy) Rugby Championships will be on America TV and the best part is it will be Live. The first game will be this Saturday at 12 noon when Wales takes on England from London. It will be on BBC America. I can’t wait!!
Next week I hope to have my Winter Olympic preview.
Jamie Lazaroff
Congratulations to Kelly Kulick for being to first women to win a Professional Bowlers Association title. Kulick beat Chris Barnes to win the prestigious Tournament of Champions event. You go girl!
Two big events last weekend were the Strikeforce MMA event on Showtime Saturday night. I talked about this stacked card about a month ago so I wont go further. I do want to talk about Bobby Lashley’s opponent UFC veteran Wes Sims. Wes will not be an easy win for Lashley. This will be a very interesting fight. The other interesting person who is making his MMA debut is 1982 Heisman Trophy win Herschel Walker. At first I thought this was a joke but in recent interviews Herschel has stated the he is very serious about this and is training every day for this fight. How will a 47-year-old man do in a young man’s game?
Update: It was very interesting; Herschel Walker beat his younger opponent in the third round via a TKO. From what I have seen and heard he was very impressive. In his post fight news conference, Herschel said that this was just a one-fight deal and he’s done with MMA. Good job Herschel you did it and won now leave the stage.
The other event is the NFL Pro Bowl. This is the first year it was held one week before the Super Bowl. When this was first announced (the Pro Bowl is usually the week after the Super Bowl) I thought this would not work. It is not a very well played game because there’s nothing to play for. I now think it is a good idea. After the Super Bowl a lot of people consider football season over. You now have the NFL’s best (minus the players in the Super Bowl) on the same stage as the Super Bowl.
Update: I watched and I now think whenever the Pro Bowl is played it is a bad idea because like any All-Star game there is no defense played in the game and this makes it boring.
Update on the story I brought you last time about the Togo National Team being attacked on their way to the African Nationals Cup Soccer Tournament in January. The new news is that the Confederation of African Football has banned the Togo Team from the next two African Nations Cup tournaments for withdrawal from this year's tournament in the wake of a gun attack on their team bus. My question is why are they being banned? They did nothing wrong, and were not even the target of the attack. Two members of their delegation were killed in the ambush; I would leave the tournament too to bury my friends. I think this ban is insensitive and just wrong.
What I’M looking forward to this weekend
Sunday is the Super Bowl at 6:25 on CBS. The year’s game is the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. I think the game will be a shootout as you have two of the best quartbacks in the league, with Peyton Manning of the Colts against Drew Brees of the Saints. I will be having my party of one on Sunday.
I think this will be the first time the Six Nations (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy) Rugby Championships will be on America TV and the best part is it will be Live. The first game will be this Saturday at 12 noon when Wales takes on England from London. It will be on BBC America. I can’t wait!!
Next week I hope to have my Winter Olympic preview.
Jamie Lazaroff
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A view form the chair
Hi everyone, sorry I have not written in a while, lots of projects in the works. I hope to have news on this front very soon. Just an update on the blog, as you can see I have added a Winter Olympics update bug, check it out for the latest news from Vancouver starting February 12th on the networks of NBC. I will have more on the Olympics as we get closer.
On to this week’s rant.
Monday January 11th baseballs superstar Mark McGwire finally admitted that he took steroid when he set the single season home run record back in 1998 (the record was eclipsed in 2001 by Barry Bonds). This was a well-orchestrated plan that started with a statement made to the AP (Associated Press) by McGwire at 3 P.M. That was followed by newspaper interviews and then McGwire did a live one-on-one interview on the MLB network with Bob Costas at 7 P.M. This was a full 60-minute interview with Costas, the best in the business. McGwire did admit to using steroids but said that they did not help him with his performance. THEIR CALLED PERFORMANCE ENHANCEING DRUGS FOR A RESON MARK! I believe that he came out now because his old team the St. Louis Cardinals hired him for the upcoming season, as the bating coach and he wanted to get it out before spring training. I truly believe with an admission like this he made more questions for himself, this story is not over. In his interview with Bob Costas, McGwire did shed light on the infamous 2005 congressional hearings where he coined the phase “I’M not here to talk about the past.” McGwire said that he was ready to talk but before the hearings he asked for immunity from prosecution if he talked about any other players he knew did steroids. He also did not want to bring his family and friends into this mess he caused for himself. He did not get the immunity from the congressman and so here we are almost 5 years later. I don’t know if I believe this story but I somewhat understand not wanting to bring your family into it if they had noting to do with it. I believe the truth will set you free and he should have told the truth back in 2005. But wait there’s more to this story, on Thursday January 21st, Curtis Wenzlaff a convicted drug dealer who says he used to supply steroids to McGwire told ESPN that McGwire's goal was to improve his performance on the field. This contradicts McGwire’s story that he took steroids for heath reasons. I guess we will never know the truth. If there’s more I will have it here.
The other major story that caught my attention this week was on January 8, 2010 there was an attack on the Togo National Football Team on their way to the African Nations Cup Tournament in Angola. The team was traveling from the Republic of the Congo to the Angolan Exclave of Cabinda, where they were to play their match’s. Cabinda is unique because it’s separated from the rest of Angola by a strip, some 60 kilometres (37 mi) wide, of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Togo team flew home after the attack by request of the Prime Minister. There were reports that the team wanted to play but they we disqualified from the tournament before they could return.
My first question is why didn’t the American networks cover this story? I heard it from the BBC. If I was not interested in soccer and do not have a world view I would not have known that this happened. My questions are why did the organizing committee decide to play matches in a disputed area? There is still a guerrilla and political movement fighting for the independence of the Angolan province of Cabinda. Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) who claimed responsibility for this attack had meant to attack Angolan security guards at the front of the convoy that passed through Cabinda and not the Togo team. In August 2006 a ceasefire was signed between the FLEC and Angola government, but the FLEC is still active. Why didn’t the Togo team fly into Cabinda as they we told? I think there is more blame to go around in this story. If there are any new delovpments in this story I will be on top of it.
On Tuesday news broke that UCONN’s men’s head basketball coach Jim Calhoun had taken a temporary medical leave of absence. In a statement from his primary care physician Peter Schulman, M.D of the UCONN Health Center he said that it is for some temporary medical issues. Rumors have been flying in the media that this leave of absence is stress related. Associate and now temporary head coach George Blaney squashed this rumor by saying before Wednesday’s game against St. John’s that Calhoun’s absence was not stress related. What is it? All any one is saying is that it is not related to previous medical conditions that he has dealt with, that include cancer three times. Get well coach looking forward to seeing you back on the sidelines soon.
The major story this week outside of sports has been the Earthquake in Haiti. My heart is aching for these people. They live in such poverty as it is and now this. Great job by all reporters on the scene, a sad story overall.
I hope to be back soon with more on the Winter Olympics and answer some viewer e-mail. If you have a question on an event you can e-mail me at jdlazaroff@yahoo.com.
Jamie Lazaroff
On to this week’s rant.
Monday January 11th baseballs superstar Mark McGwire finally admitted that he took steroid when he set the single season home run record back in 1998 (the record was eclipsed in 2001 by Barry Bonds). This was a well-orchestrated plan that started with a statement made to the AP (Associated Press) by McGwire at 3 P.M. That was followed by newspaper interviews and then McGwire did a live one-on-one interview on the MLB network with Bob Costas at 7 P.M. This was a full 60-minute interview with Costas, the best in the business. McGwire did admit to using steroids but said that they did not help him with his performance. THEIR CALLED PERFORMANCE ENHANCEING DRUGS FOR A RESON MARK! I believe that he came out now because his old team the St. Louis Cardinals hired him for the upcoming season, as the bating coach and he wanted to get it out before spring training. I truly believe with an admission like this he made more questions for himself, this story is not over. In his interview with Bob Costas, McGwire did shed light on the infamous 2005 congressional hearings where he coined the phase “I’M not here to talk about the past.” McGwire said that he was ready to talk but before the hearings he asked for immunity from prosecution if he talked about any other players he knew did steroids. He also did not want to bring his family and friends into this mess he caused for himself. He did not get the immunity from the congressman and so here we are almost 5 years later. I don’t know if I believe this story but I somewhat understand not wanting to bring your family into it if they had noting to do with it. I believe the truth will set you free and he should have told the truth back in 2005. But wait there’s more to this story, on Thursday January 21st, Curtis Wenzlaff a convicted drug dealer who says he used to supply steroids to McGwire told ESPN that McGwire's goal was to improve his performance on the field. This contradicts McGwire’s story that he took steroids for heath reasons. I guess we will never know the truth. If there’s more I will have it here.
The other major story that caught my attention this week was on January 8, 2010 there was an attack on the Togo National Football Team on their way to the African Nations Cup Tournament in Angola. The team was traveling from the Republic of the Congo to the Angolan Exclave of Cabinda, where they were to play their match’s. Cabinda is unique because it’s separated from the rest of Angola by a strip, some 60 kilometres (37 mi) wide, of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Togo team flew home after the attack by request of the Prime Minister. There were reports that the team wanted to play but they we disqualified from the tournament before they could return.
My first question is why didn’t the American networks cover this story? I heard it from the BBC. If I was not interested in soccer and do not have a world view I would not have known that this happened. My questions are why did the organizing committee decide to play matches in a disputed area? There is still a guerrilla and political movement fighting for the independence of the Angolan province of Cabinda. Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) who claimed responsibility for this attack had meant to attack Angolan security guards at the front of the convoy that passed through Cabinda and not the Togo team. In August 2006 a ceasefire was signed between the FLEC and Angola government, but the FLEC is still active. Why didn’t the Togo team fly into Cabinda as they we told? I think there is more blame to go around in this story. If there are any new delovpments in this story I will be on top of it.
On Tuesday news broke that UCONN’s men’s head basketball coach Jim Calhoun had taken a temporary medical leave of absence. In a statement from his primary care physician Peter Schulman, M.D of the UCONN Health Center he said that it is for some temporary medical issues. Rumors have been flying in the media that this leave of absence is stress related. Associate and now temporary head coach George Blaney squashed this rumor by saying before Wednesday’s game against St. John’s that Calhoun’s absence was not stress related. What is it? All any one is saying is that it is not related to previous medical conditions that he has dealt with, that include cancer three times. Get well coach looking forward to seeing you back on the sidelines soon.
The major story this week outside of sports has been the Earthquake in Haiti. My heart is aching for these people. They live in such poverty as it is and now this. Great job by all reporters on the scene, a sad story overall.
I hope to be back soon with more on the Winter Olympics and answer some viewer e-mail. If you have a question on an event you can e-mail me at jdlazaroff@yahoo.com.
Jamie Lazaroff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
