Tuesday February 21

Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN 8PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire

Wednesday February 22

Los Angeles Kings @ Colorado Avalanche (NBCSN 9PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom

Thursday February 23

Vancouver Canucks @ Detroit Red Wings (NHL Net 7:30PM) Local Broadcast

Friday February 24

Montreal Canadiens @ Washington Capitals (NHL Net 7PM) Local Broadcast 

Saturday February 25

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL Net 1PM) Local Broadcast

Washington Capitals @ Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL Net 7PM) Local Broadcast 

Sunday February 26

Chicago Blackhawks @ Anaheim Ducks (NBCSN 7PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom

H/T Sammy, Puck the Media!

Many sports fans (yours truly included) were hoping the introduction of the NBC Sports Network would finally mean real competition for the Worldwide Leader, ESPN.  Not that ESPN is bad or evil, or that NBC would be the best thing in the history of sports on TV.  But, that true competition would make ESPN better and would provide even more options for fans seeking to avoid staged debate, stale opinions, and endless crossover.  However, as our friend John Ourand at SportsBusiness Journal documents in vivid detail, NBC Sports Network has actually done worse numbers than its predecessor Versus.  In fact, NBCSN may be further away now from competing with ESPN than it was just 12 months ago.

How did we get here?  And how can NBCSN look to recapture what momentum it's already squandered? First, let's take a look at some startling facts.  The much maligned The Daily Line, you know, one of the worst sports shows in history, averaged twice as many viewers as NBCSN's answer to SportsCenter, the daily NBC Sports Talk.  Now, The Daily Line did have this going for it.  But, how can NBCSN justify losing almost half its viewership from a craptastic mess into a legitimate sports/news program that was supposed to become the station's flagship show?  Yes, hot chicks mean viewers, but the dismal viewership of NBC Sports Talk is unfortunately a trend spreading across the entire network at its infancy.

Live NHL broadcasts continue to be the most watched programming on the network.  Indycar and Tour de France... well, any live sport on NBCSN seems to do better than other programming, probably not a surprise.  But, it's just how dismal NBCSN's other programming is doing that has to be causing indigestion for those banking on the network's success.  Among studio shows, only NHL postgame shows and NFL Turning Point have been able to match the paltry success of past trainwreck TV like the T.Ocho Show and Junior Seau's Sports Jobs.  Even the great Bob Costas could only draw around 167,000 viewers for his debut town hall on the network.  And then there's the ratings Darren Rovell is drawing for his show.  According to TVSportsRatings, on February 10th, Rovell's 8,000 viewers tied for 2,452nd out of 2,544 telecasts on ad-supported national cable shows.  That's in the bottom .5% of cable shows...

Xavier hosted Dayton this past weekend in A-10 action and CBS Sports Network was there to cover the game with announcers James Bates and Steve Wolf.  The game ended with a Xavier victory in overtime, but it was what happened before the game that will live forever in infamy.  Watch as an excited Bates welcomes the CBS audience to the arena as his stool breaks and he goes crashing to the hardwood.  

James Bates is actually an interesting story.  He joined CBS Sports Network from The Mtn in 2011 and is perhaps most notable as a defensive captain for the 1996 Florida Gators national championship team as a linebacker.  His father Jim and brother Jeremy both coached in the NFL.  In this instance, his football background definitely came in handy as he shakes off the fall still ready to rock and even more excited for the game.  He even seamlessly fits the broken stool into his open!

Bravo James, for providing one of the funniest moments of the year, and handling it like a champ.

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Everyone's familiar with photobombing, but "makeup-bombing" might be a better way to describe what Lakers' radio play-by-play man John Ireland was caught doing [warning: NSFW language at both links] at halftime of the television broadcast of L.A.'s Feb. 12 win over Toronto. Take a look for yourself:

The best part is Ireland's look of terror at 0:25 when he realizes he's been seen on camera. Why is a radio guy using makeup, you might ask? Well, it's not just that Ireland wants to look good for his listeners (although that would be much funnier); he also works as a sportscaster for KCAL-9, the station doing the television broadcasts of Lakers' games, so he presumably was preparing for something post-game. He picked a bad time, though; if there's a likely time for television shots of the announcers (and by extension, everyone behind them), halftime's up there. Ireland hasn't yet commented on the incident on his Twitter feed, but I'm sure plenty of people will be eagerly watching in anticipation. Regardless of if he says anything about it, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Ireland decides to apply his makeup out of range of TV cameras in the future. 

[D-Listed, Deadspin]

Coming off the heels of the epic battle that was Rovell vs Sandomir, I thought we might see an extended period of peace in the theatre of battle that is Twitter Wars.  Then, Arsenal Football Club had to go and get knocked out of the FA Cup in a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland this weekend.  This cup exit came immediately after a humiliating 4-0 defeat at AC Milan that effectively ended Arsenal's Champions League hopes.  Needless to say, it was a bit of a rough week in North London.

And, it was another rough week for unabashed Arsenal supporter and vocal critic Piers Morgan.  The CNN host has made an imprint in the sports world moonlighting as a Fox Soccer analyst/pundit/voice of the fan this season.  He has certainly added buzz, intrigue, and a certain cachet to Fox Soccer that was lacking.  Say what you wil about the man, he actually has some knowledge of what he's talking about and offers strong opinions.  He's been the biggest critic of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger all season long and destroyed Wenger again Saturday on Twitter after the FA Cup defeat.

One Arsenal player finally had enough of Piers' rants criticizing Wenger and the club, 20 year old Ghanian midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong.  Frimpong saw action in the Arsenal first team earlier this season, but was sent to Wolves on loan during the season to gain more playing time and experience, as bigger English clubs often do with young talent.  Unfortunately for Frimpong, he suffered an ACL injury that ended his season and sent him back to Arsenal.  However, he was sure to speak up for his club after seeing one too many negative tweets from Piers.  

In one corner stands one of the world's biggest media heavyweights.  In the other corner stands a ferocious, fearless young midfielder defending the honor of his team and manager.

Arsenal fan vs Arsenal player in the social media squared circle!  Here's how it went down...

If you missed SNL's opening skit on Jeremy Lin you're certainly in for a treat below. The sketch pokes fun of how the media has been a bit too folksy in their coverage of Lin and how the rise of an Asian baskeball star has opened the door to be subtly racist at times.

A pretty entertaining jab at the media from SNL that covered a lot of ground. The dubbing of Lin's interview had me in stiches. This was a solid job by the SNL guys and I'm guessing there could be more skits like these on the horizon as Linsanity doesn't look to be just breezing through, but becoming a nationwide phenomenon.

Steve Novak does the Discount Double Check.  Now that's a sentence I never thought I would write.  Is it too late to add him to the Dunk Contest?

Monday February 20

Atlanta Hawks @ Chicago Bulls (ESPN 4PM) Mark Jones, Doris Burke

Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks (TNT 8PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello

Portland Trail Blazers @ Los Angeles Lakers (TNT 10:30PM) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller

Tuesday February 21

Sacramento Kings @ Miami Heat (NBA TV 7:30PM) Ernie Johnson, Chris Webber, Greg Anthony

San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Trail Blazers (NBA TV 10PM) Local Broadcast

Wednesday February 22

Boston Celtics @ Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN 7PM) Dave Pasch, Hubie Brown

Los Angeles Lakers @ Dallas Mavericks (ESPN 9:30PM) Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy

Thursday February 23

New York Knicks @ Miami Heat (TNT 7PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Reggie Miller

Los Angeles Lakers @ Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT 9:30PM) Dick Stockton, Mike Fratello, Chris Webber

NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND @ AMWAY CENTER, ORLANDO, FL

Friday February 24

Rising Stars Challenge

Team Shaq vs Team Chuck (TNT 9PM)

Saturday February 25

All-Star Saturday Night (TNT 8PM)

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest and Haier Shooting Stars

Sunday February 26

NBA All-Star Game

NBA West All Stars @ NBA East All Stars (TNT 6PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Reggie Miller

H/T Sammy!

The fallout at ESPN from their racially insensitive mobile headline was swift, decisive, and steep.  On Sunday, the network announced it was taking action in two instances and made public a third where a similar reference was made on ESPN Radio in New York.  The most drastic action was taken against the author of the mobile headline, who lost his job.  This morning, the New York Daily News talked to the editor, 28 year old Anthony Federico, who said the headline was an innocent lapse in judgment.

ESPN also stated that an ESPNEWS anchor had been suspended 30 days for their use of the phrase.  We know from video evidence and his Twitter page that it was Max Bretos, formerly of Fox Soccer Channel.  Action wasn't taken against the third person because they weren't an ESPN employee.  Here's the full ESPN statement about their response to the comments...

"At ESPN we are aware of three offensive and inappropriate comments made on ESPN outlets during our coverage of Jeremy Lin.

Saturday we apologized for two references here. We have since learned of a similar reference Friday on ESPN Radio New York. The incidents were separate and different. We have engaged in a thorough review of all three and have taken the following action:

• The ESPN employee responsible for our Mobile headline has been dismissed.
• The ESPNEWS anchor has been suspended for 30 days.
• The radio commentator is not an ESPN employee.

We again apologize, especially to Mr. Lin. His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN. Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future."

Give credit to ESPN in this regard - after some mishaps in the past where they have seemed stubborn and out of touch handling controversy, Bristol HQ did everything necessary and more in this case...

A crucial tilt in the Northern Atlantic Conference's South Division between the Benedictine Eagles and the Aurora Spartans came down to the buzzer the other night. Here's Benedictine's play-by-play announcer Mark Vasko navigating us through the final hectic seconds of the game with Aurora up by 1 point.

"Ballgame is overrrrrr" being said in a dejected tone after your team pulls off a buzzer-beating win is definitely not how it's supposed to sound. After multiple rewinds, it appears to me that the correct call was made to count the basket, but it certainly was close. To Vasko's credit, he recovers nicely after running the gamut of emotions in mere seconds as he ends the game elated after a tough road win in that snake pit of a gym in Aurora.

The win helped clinch a tie for the Benedictine Eagles atop their division in the standings. For Aurora, they at least can take solace in fact that they are home to perhaps the top public access show in existence, and no one can take that away from them.

[Guyism]

Matt looked at FOX's MLB schedule last week, and noted the extra primetime games in the schedule. In fact, there were ten straight weeks of primetime games, from May through July. We've learned more information today, and this isn't going to please people who hate the MLB blackout rules.

During the primetime schedule, all games scheduled between 7 and 10 PM EST will air on FOX locally and be unavailable to watch on MLB Extra Innings or MLB.tv. Normally, FOX blackouts only take out three afternoon games at a time. During the primetime periods, the blackouts will take out five or six games at a time. 

I don't need to tell you how irritating this is. A perfect example comes on June 23rd. I live in central PA and I'm a Braves fan. I really want to watch what should be a great, primetime Braves-Red Sox game. But I'm going to be screwed, because my local FOX station will air the Yankees-Mets or Nationals-Orioles game instead, and I'm going to have to listen to the Braves on the radio. This really sucks for the avid baseball fan who wants to watch as many games as possible. Transplanted west coast fans who are fans of east coast teams are pretty much screwed here, because there's essentially no chance in hell that FOX is going to be airing a game with an east coast team on the west coast, unless a west coast team is involved.

When is MLB just going to stop this arcane blackout garbage? I'm thinking about getting rid of my cable box, but because of my location I won't be able to watch my Braves play the Phillies, Nationals, Pirates, or Orioles this year because I'm blacked out due to being in their local territories. This just isn't right at all. With NFL Sunday Ticket, the NFL avoids all of these silly blackouts. Imagine you're a Steelers fan who now lives in Miami. Your local CBS station is airing the Dolphins game at the same time the Steelers game is on. With Sunday Ticket, you can just go ahead and watch your Steelers. In MLB's world, you'd be blacked out from watching the Steelers (along with every other game on CBS at that time period) because you're in the Dolphins local territory. It's ridiculous, insane, and drives fans completely nuts.

Just stop the madness, MLB. All you're doing is hurting your product.

[h/t: The Biz of Baseball]

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