All Times Eastern

College Baseball
NCAA Division I Tournament
Regionals

Tallahassee Regional, Tallahassee, FL
Alabama vs. Troy -- ESPNU, noon

Manhattan Regional, Manhattan, KS
Kansas State vs. Wichita State -- ESPNU, 3 p.m.

Columbia Regional, Columbia, SC
St. Louis vs. South Carolina -- ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Nashville Regional, Nashville, TN
East Tennessee State vs. Vanderbilt -- ESPNU, 7 p.m.

Fullerton Regional, Fullerton, CA
Cal State-Fullerton vs. Columbia -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.

ESPN Bases Loaded -- ESPNU, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Yesterday, the story broke about the New York Rangers firing coach John Tortorella. WFAN has been taking credit for reporting the story first. Mike Francesa discussed the firing on his show Wednesday, then ripped ESPN for doing not crediting WFAN on its scoop. If you visit Awful Announcing regularly, you know about the issues regarding ESPN and "sources."

The NCAA Baseball Tournament doesn't get nearly as much love as its basketball counterpart, but the 64 team field is heaven for baseball junkies. ESPN and its various offshoot channels will be airing up to the maximum 153 games, from the Regionals this weekend to the College World Series later in June.

Eastern Conference Finals

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Boston Bruins

NBC/NBCSN: Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire (Behind the Glass)

Game 1: Saturday, June 1, @ Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh (NBC 8PM)
Game 2: Monday, June 3 @ Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 3: Wednesday, June 5, @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 4: Friday, June 7, @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 5*: Sunday, June 9, @ Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 6*: Tuesday, June 11, @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 7*: Wednesday, June 12, @ Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh (NBCSN TBA)

Western Conference Finals

Chicago Blackhawks vs Los Angeles Kings

NBC/NBCSN: Dave Strader, Darren Pang, Brian Engblom (Behind the Glass)

Game 1: Saturday, June 1, @ United Center, Chicago (NBSN 5PM)
Game 2: Sunday, June 2, @ United Center, Chicago (NBCSN 8PM)
Game 3: Tuesday, June 4, @ Staples Center, Los Angeles (NBCSN 9PM)
Game 4: Thursday, June 6, @ Staples Center, Los Angeles (NBCSN 9PM)
Game 5*: Saturday, June 8, @ United Center, Chicago (NBC 8PM)
Game 6*: Monday, June 10, @ Staples Center, Los Angeles (NBCSN 9PM)
Game 7*: Wednesday, June 12, @ United Center, Chicago (NBCSN TBA)

*If Necessary

H/T Sammy!

Tonight the NHL, NBA, and MLB take a backseat to the biggest sporting event in May - the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  While ESPN didn't quite take our advice on fantasy Spelling Bee announcing pairings, they are doing something with the broadcast that could draw in a few more spelling aficionados to the telecast.  Throughout the bee, ESPN's online channel ESPN3 will be airing a "play along" version where viewers can test their own spelling knowledge and the words won't appear until the end of the spelling attempt...

After regulation ended (and before the Red Wings lost in overtime) in Game 7 between the Blackhawks and Red Wings, NBC's Pierre McGuire appears to attempt an on-ice interview with Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg.  (McGuire could just be asking Zetterberg a random question, but he's putting in his earpiece and looking like he's prepping to go on air.)  At that moment, Zetterberg did what many hockey fans around the continent wished they could do - tuned out Pierre McGuire.  This GIF is a much better result then a couple tired cliches about taking the overtime "one shift at a time."

Ain't nobody got time for you, Pierre McGuire.

[GIF via SB Nation]

On a B.S. Report podcast yesterday, Bill Simmons was discussing his trip to Memphis with fellow ESPN NBA pregame show host Jalen Rose for the Western Conference Finals.  The Grizzlies were swept by the Spurs and the pair were discussing their brief time in the city.  Rose and Simmons began discussing the city's history and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and how that event has been sewn into the city's fabric.  When the conversation turned back to the Grizzlies and Simmons tried to tie the two together, that's when things got weird.

Here's the quote via Uproxx:

Last week, Dan Caeser of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a proposal by Fox Sports Midwest to experiment with the practice of interviewing players during Major League Baseball games had been kiboshed before getting past the discussion stage. 

Not surprising, when you consider that the world of professional baseball is typically less enthusiastic regarding newfangled ideas, zany or not. But as MLB continues to lose market share to the National Football League, you have to wonder if they're only hurting themselves by refusing to embrace technology in order to make game broadcasts more appealing to larger audiences.

In this case, they had a chance to make the players more accessible while adding a new element to a slow game.

All Times Eastern

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

College Softball
Women's College World Series, Oklahoma City, OK
Nebraska vs. Washington -- ESPN2, noon
Tennessee vs. Florida -- ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
Arizona State vs. Texas -- ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Michigan vs. Oklahoma -- ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.

Women's College World Series Postgame Show -- ESPNU, 11:30 p.m.

On today's edition of Joe & Evan on WFAN in New York, Mike Francesa broke into the broadcast to break the story that the New York Rangers had fired coach John Tortorella. ESPN then did what ESPN does when a competitor breaks a big story: credits "sources", and doesn't name the source. I thought that policy was supposed to be changing.

Anyway, after ESPN aired the report, Francesa went on the warpath.