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
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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
Friday, December 18, 2009
A view form the my chair
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
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
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
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