What’s the most impressive baseball statistic so far this decade? Try this one on for size: Since 2010, Major League Baseball and its franchises have struck deals with cable television networks worth $28.4 billion.

To put that in perspective, that’s more than the total market capitalization of Time Warner Cable ($27.9 billion), and more than the net worth of Michael Bloomberg ($27 billion), the 12th-richest man on the planet, according to Forbes.

Baseball’s cable gold rush began in 2010, when the Texas Rangers signed a 20-year, $1.7 billion extension with Fox Sports Southwest. Since then, TV money started flying into ballparks faster than home run balls flew out of them. To wit:

Deadspin shared this video yesterday and it's too good not to share with you.  If there's anything I'm a sucker for it's great blooper reels.  That and GIFs of cute animals.  The latest blooper reel to make its way around the interwebs is that of outdoor TV host Bill Dance.  He's on the Mount Rushmore of outdoor hosts along with Hank Parker, Roland Martin, and Jimmy Houston.  That's why it's so great to watch him break fishing reels, fight off angry ducks, and drive a variety of vehicles into water.  I could watch 30 minutes of these.  DAD GUM IT!!!

[Deadspin]

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
Georgia Tech at Ohio State -- Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.

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

Cycling
Giro d'Italia
Stage 4: Policastor Bussentino-Serra San Bruno -- beIN Sport, 9:30 a.m.

English Premier League
Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion -- ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Wigan Athletic vs. Swansea City -- Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.

No coach and sideline reporter have ever quite had the relationship that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and TNT's David Aldridge have "enjoyed" over the years.  Traditionally, their "interviews" consist of Aldridge trying to coax more than 10 words out of Pop with his trifecta of questions.  So naturally, after getting torched by Steph Curry in the 3rd Quarter of Game 1 and trailing by double digits, this would be the one time Pop pleaded with DA to ask more questions.  He even had a smile on his face!

Popovich is a lot like Roddy Piper, just when you think you got the answers, he changes the questions.

UPDATE: He must have known something we didn't, the Spurs won in double OT.

Video via cjzero

Monday, May 6

G1: Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (TNT 7PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr
G1: Golden State Warriors @ San Antonio Spurs (TNT 9:30PM) Dick Stockton, Chris Webber

Tuesday, May 7

G2: Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks (TNT 8PM) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller
G2: Memphis Grizzlies @ Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT 9:30PM) Matt Devlin, Mike Fratello

Wednesday, May 8

G2: Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (TNT 7PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr
G2: Golden State Warriors @ San Antonio Spurs (TNT 9:30PM) Dick Stockton, Chris Webber

Friday, May 10

G3: Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls (ESPN 8PM)
G3: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors (ESPN 10:30PM)

Saturday, May 11

G3: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Memphis Grizzlies (ESPN 5PM)
G3: New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers (ABC 8PM)

Sunday, May 12

G4: Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls (TBA)
G4: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors (TBA)

H/T Sammy!

Orb won a rain-soaked Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday and becomes the next in a three decades plus line of next great Triple Crown hopes.  It's often said that horse racing has gone the way of boxing and the pursuit of the Triple Crown doesn't have the interest it once did, so that makes it all the more surprising that Saturday's race tied for the best overnight rating in 21 years.  From NBC...

It has been far too long since we welcomed the one and only Darren Rovell into the great theater of Twitter Wars.  Since his move from CNBC to ESPN, Rovell has dialed back his back and forths on Twitter, refusing to engage arch nemesis Richard Deitsch in protracted battle in spite of innumerable barbs from the SI stalwart.

But if there is one story Rovell has been engaged with critics on, it's the Kings' relocation saga that finally drew to a close recently.  In spite of reports to the contrary early on, a new ownership will be keeping the Kings in Sacramento as opposed to moving them to Seattle.  Rovell is not an especially popular man with Kings fans since he tweeted out an empty arena pic in Sacramento and has had it out with SB Nation Kings blogger Tom Ziller on multiple occasions.

While many in the national media reported the overwhelming narrative of the Kings' inevitable move to Seattle, NBC's Aaron Bruski was out front with serious questions about the move and the closeness of the competition between Seattle and Sacramento ownership groups.  As far back as January, he had the Seattle move as far from a done deal.

Bruski and Rovell have a bit of a history too.  Bruski fired a shot at Rovell back in March claiming a tweet about the Kings sale to be inaccurate.  Today he fired another shot at Rovell and finaly drew ESPN's sports business reporter out of his corner.  Once Yahoo's Kelly Dwyer stepped in, we returned to the days of yore when this brand of entertainment happened all the time.

A great champion of Twitter Wars gone by battles not one but two would be kings.  Get your popcorn ready, here we go...

As news continues to trickle down the pipeline about Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter Susannah Collins' dismissal, the latest bit of news from the Chicago Tribune could set an ugly precedent for the future. According to the Tribune and reporter Robert Channick, a letter from Chicago Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz apparently played a role in Collins' dismissal.

The SEC Network is coming.  The conference released a trailer for the new ESPN backed channel today touting their championship pedigree and hardcore fanbase.  It'll be interesting to chart the SEC's success following in the footsteps of the Big Ten and Pac 12, but one thing's for sure - everyone is going to make a ton of money.  ESPN owns the network, but will split profits, and a lot of them, 50/50 with the conference.  

H/T Fang's Bites

Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday is unlike anything on American television.  Much like its counterparts across Europe, Soccer Saturday features a variety of analysts and on-site reporters that watch and offer commentary on games while they happen.  (Yes, it means you're basically watching people watch games.)  While the concept may seem ridiculous and pointless to some of you, it actually produces crazy television when everything is happening at once across England.  Take Saturday and the final day in the Championship.  It's almost impossible to explain everything that happened in the Championship, but this is a brief recap (more details here)...

-Hull City won promotion to the Premier League despite tying 2-2 with champions Cardiff City, who are also going to the EPL.
-Watford lost a chance at automatic promotion with a 2-1 loss to Leeds and will go into the playoffs.  Leicester reached the playoffs with their 3-2 over Nottingham Forest, who were also fighting for a playoff spot.
-Crystal Palace's victory over Peterborough combined with Barnsely's 2-2 draw with Huddersfield meant Peterborough were relegated to League One.

Watch and enjoy as Soccer Saturday's team tries to navigate all the action with screams and shouts and bits of madness in between.  The only thing missing is Chris Kamara counting players on the pitch.