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

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

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

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

One Shining Moment

Here is the 2009 edition of CBS sports video olde to the NCAA Turnament. Enjoy!!!!

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

Jamie's view

Last week I went to Washington D.C for Special Olympics Capitol Hill Day and it was an awesome experience. We meet with all of the Connecticut Congressional delegation, or their staff. We had photo ops with Senator Lieberman, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congressmen John Larson, Congressmen Jim Himes, and Congressmen Joe Courtney. At one point in the day we saw former NFL great Herschel Walker, who was on the Hill lobbying for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Herschel was there with the request to make physical activity a priority for our nation by making it more accessible and more affordable to all. At the end of the day we had a reception in one of the committee rooms, the highlight of the evening was meeting and listening to Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
Of all the experiences I have had with Special Olympics this was the most fun. At first I was pretty nervous because I did not know what to expect, but everyone was so nice and it was just like having a conversation with any one. They all are really champions of rights for people with disabilities. It also helps that Connecticut hosted the 1995 World Special Olympics Games in New Haven and everyone had a connection, in someway to the Special Olympics.

Now back to the sports beat. The big news while I was away was that Al Michaels will be NBC’s daytime and weekend host of the Winter Olympics next year in Vancouver. I think this is a good fit, Al Michaels is one of the all time best play-by-play men in the business and deserves to host an Olympics. Al is synonymous with the Winter Olympics because he was the man behind the mic for the "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" call of the U.S. hockey victory over the Soviet Union at 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. I think it was time to replace Jim Lampley as daytime Olympic host as I believe that he “mailed it in” and did not show enthusiasm at last years Olympics in China. If Lampley doesn’t take a hockey role (it is rumored he turned it down) at the games this will end a string of working 14 straight Olympics. “Bob Costa and Al Michaels”, two Hall of Famers working the same Olympics, I can’t wait!

Here are my thoughts about Jim Calhoun ‘s Press Conference from a few weeks back. I think the “Reporter” ambushed Calhoun. The “Reporter” should have stopped after Calhoun told him to "shut up" after the question about his state salary (which is public knowledge) but the "Reporter" continued to ask about his deal with Comcast. This is a personal issue and has nothing to do with the University. I think Calhoun went a little over board, but if I were in his shoes I would do the same thing.
Talk to you next week at the start of the madness.

Good night and good luck.

I would like to hear from you, sent me a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

Jamie Lazaroff