All Times Eastern

College Baseball
Florida at LSU -- ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.

College Baseball Live -- ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.

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

College Lacrosse
Big East Tournament, Philadelphia, PA
Semifinals
Notre Dame vs. Syracuse -- ESPNU, 4:30 p.m.
Georgetown vs. Villanova -- ESPNU, 10:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

ECAC Tournament, Geneva, NY
Semifinals
Denver vs. Fairfield -- Fuel/Fox Sports Net, 5 p.m.
Loyola (MD) vs. Ohio State -- Fuel/Fox Sports Net, 8 p.m.

College Softball
Texas Tech at Baylor -- ESPN, 8 p.m.

Hal McCoy is the Cincinnati Reds beat writer for the Dayton Daily News.  He has been honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame and is the longest tenured beat writer in Major League Baseball.  McCoy is also legally blind and can't drive to games on his own.  Earlier this year, McCoy put the equivalent of a Help Wanted Ad on his Dayton Daily News blog because his driver for the last five years to Reds home games was no longer able to do the job for health reasons of his own.  McCoy offered a free seat in the press box alongside him and gas money for the gig.

The Hall of Famer got 437 offers to drive him to Reds games and chose an Air Force vet who lost his wife in 2011 for the job, Ray Snedegar.  Last night MLB Tonight had a fantastic profile on McCoy and his relationship with his new driver.  It's one of the better feel-good stories you will see this year.

Wednesday, May 1

G1 -Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins (CNBC 7PM) Rick Peckham, Joe Micheletti
G1 - New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NBCSN 7:30PM) Kenny Albert, Pierre McGuire
G1 - San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks, (NBCSN 10:30PM) Randy Hahn, Drew Remenda (Comcast-CA)

Thursday, May 2

G1 - Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens (CNBC 7PM) Bob Cole, Garry Galley (CBC)
G1 - New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (NBCSN 7:30PM) Mike Emrick, Pierre McGuire
G2 - Los Angeles Kings @ St. Louis Blues (CNBC 9:30PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom
G2 - Detroit Red Wings @Anaheim Ducks (NBCSN 10PM) John Forslund, Daryl Reaugh

Friday, May 3

G2 - New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NBCSN 7PM) Kenny Albert, Pierre McGuire
G2 - Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens (CNBC 7PM) Bob Cole, Garry Galley (CBC)
G2 - Minnesota Wild @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN 9:30PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom
G2 - San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks (CNBC 10PM) Randy Hahn, Drew Remenda (Comcast-CA)

Saturday, May 4

G2 - New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (NBC 12:30PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
G2 -Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins (CNBC 7PM) Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson (CBC)
G3 -Anaheim Ducks @ Detroit Red Wings (NBCSN 7:30PM) Rick Peckham, Joe Micheletti
G3 - St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings (NBCSN 10PM) John Forslund, Daryl Reaugh

Sunday, May 5

G3 - Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders (NBC Noon) Dave Strader, Daryl Reaugh
G3 - Chicago Blackhawks @ Minnesota Wild (NBC 3PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
G3 - Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators (NBCSN 7PM) Bob Cole, Garry Galley (CBC)
G3 - Vancouver Canucks @ San Jose Sharks (NBCSN 10PM) Randy Hahn, Drew Remenda (Comcast-CA)

H/T Sammy!

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the most-watched teams in America. While the previous sentence might sound like some form of nonsensical gloating you might hear from a sports fan, it's actually pretty accurate according to a recent article from Sports Business Daily. 

The report states that prior to their final few games of 2013 the Penguins were on pace to post the highest regional ratings of any American MLB, NBA or NHL team since 2002. The Penguins were averaging an incredible 12.56 Nielsen rating in Pittsburgh on Root Sports, a number that's the highest of any United States NHL club on record. 

On this week's edition of Wednesday Night Baseball, featuring the Washington Nationals taking on the Atlanta Braves, ESPN will be experimenting with a new style of broadcasting. Analysts Doug Glanville and Mark Mulder will be at field level as opposed to in the booth with play by play man Sean McDonough.

After almost two months away from the broadcast booth, Fox's Gus Johnson returns to the soccer beat to call today's second leg in the Champions League semifinal between Bayern Munich and Barcelona.  Bayern takes a 4-0 lead back to the Camp Nou and with Barcelona's pedigree and attacking prowess, fireworks are expected.  (Note: The game is airing on FX today.)  In yesterday's other semi, Real Madrid almost completed a remarkable comeback from a 4-1 deficit against Borussia Dortmund.  If there's any game that would be full of action and a better fit for Johnson's commentary style, this would be it.

The Blues beat the Kings last night in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round matchup thanks to a shocking overtime goal.  Alexander Steen stole the puck from Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and put it in the net while St. Louis was short-handed and trying to kill a double-minor.  The shock and surprise can be seen in this great call from Fox Sports Midwest where Blues announcers John Kelly and Darren Pang are literally like, "Oh My God, what just happened."  

It's a great example of what makes playoff hockey, and more specifically, overtime playoff hockey, one of the best things in sports.  In fact, the only disturbing element of this clip is seeing this image after hearing the Blues' choice of song selection to celebrate the victory.

What you're about to witness may be the biggest two minute trainwreck in sports broadcasting this year, and surprisingly, it doesn't come from First Take.  This segment, in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong, actually comes from the award winning studio TNT studio show Inside the NBA.  Let's run down all the bloopers:

1) Shaq's cell phone goes off on set with a text message.  I'm assuming it's a text message because Shaq's phone speaks to him and tells him it's a text message.
2) Shaq throws his phone off screen as it lands on the hard floor, probably breaking it unless it's an iPhone (seriously, those things are indestructible, mine has survived falls from 20 feet.)
3) Shaq's mic isn't working.
4) Charles Barkley becomes distracted by someone off-camera walking into the studio and stops mid-sentence.
5) Barkley takes a shot at a corporate partner saying "We're on truTV tonight America!"
6) Barkley halts his train of thought AGAIN as the TNT soundman sits on Shaq's lap to try and fix his microphone again as the segment finally breaks down in its entirety.

If Inside the NBA does win another sports emmy soon, my guess is this footage isn't going to make its highlight reel.  It does make for hysterical television, though.

Video via The Big Lead

Last night, Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket had a rare opportunity when it had three postseason games to air on its two channels. The Prime Ticket chanel had an NHL/NBA playoff doubleheader with Game 1 of Kings-St. Louis followed by Game 5 of the Memphis-Clippers series. On Fox Sports West, it was Game 1 of the Detroit-Anaheim NHL Playoff series. 

As the Kings-Blues game was winding down, it appeared things would end on time as the NHL game would end right as the Clippers game would get underway. But a funny thing happened. The Kings' Justin Williams tied it with 31.6 seconds remaining in regulation forcing overtime. 

While the Kings game went into intermission, Prime Ticket began airing the Clippers game. The Kings' Twitter account tried to reassure fans that the hockey game would be coming back once overtime was underway. In fact, Fox Sports West's Twitter account also tweeted the same information. However, what happened when overtime began in St. Louis made two fan bases angry. 

Prime Ticket went to a double box showing the Clippers on the left and the Kings on the right. But neither game went to full screen and that is how both games remained until St. Louis won in overtime on a Jonathan Quick giveaway in the Kings' zone. 

It angered both Clippers and Kings fans. Actress Alyssa Milano, who is a huge hockey fan, was especially angry.

This spilt screen bullshit is driving me nuts. #LAKings #Clippers

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 1, 2013

What's interesting is that while there's no official overflow Fox Sports channel in Southern California for conflicts, one was created in April for the Dodgers and it was utilized twice. In addition, the Clippers game was on TNT and when playoff games are on either ESPN or TNT, neither channel is blacked out in the home market. The Kings game was airing on CNBC and was blacked out locally, giving Kings fans no option to see the game on a full screen. In this case, Fox Sports did not utilize the overflow channel it had created for the Dodgers conflicts and continued with the double box until the Kings game was over.

So far, there's been no explanation from Fox Sports West as to why it went to the split screen. Awful Announcing will update the story if there is an official statement from Fox Sports. 

UPDATE: Wil Wheaton, yes Wil Wheaton, also ranted about the split screen as well and the fact that the Clippers game was available on TNT while the Kings game was blacked out on CNBC.

Kings fans, it's time for some strongly worded letters to @foxsportswest. This is infuriating.

— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) May 1, 2013

If @foxsportswest is going to split screen a Kings game in OT, the NHL shouldn't blackout other channels that aren't. @cnbc

— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) May 1, 2013

And now that I'm on an official rant, anyone who cares about the clippers is watching on TNT, @foxsportswest. Wake up, idiots.

— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) May 1, 2013

UPDATE II: From a Fox Sports West spokesperson:

“With Clippers, Kings, and Ducks all having playoff games last night, we tried the make the best of a challenging situation and offer balanced coverage of all the teams.  In similar situations going forward, we’ll take a look a look at our plans and see if there’s a way to serve all teams and viewers better.”

Another comment was released later in the day Wednesday by the network ensuring playoff games would be aired in their entirety in the future:

“We sincerely apologize to the Kings and the Clippers and their fans,” said Steve Simpson, senior vice president and general manager, FOX Sports West and Prime Ticket. “We didn't serve them as well we should have with our coverage of last night’s games. Going forward, there is a plan in place to ensure all remaining playoff games are seen in their entirety, which includes lifting local blackouts if necessary.”  

(Pic via The Royal Half)

All Times Eastern

Boxing
Mayweather vs. Guerrero Press Conference -- CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
All Access: Mayweather vs. Guerrero, Episode 4 -- Showtime, 10 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 4 p.m.

College Softball
Eastern Michigan at Michigan State -- Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.

Golf
Top 10: 17th at TPC Sawgrass -- Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m.
On the Range: Wells Fargo Championship -- Golf Channel, 8 p.m.
Big Break Mexico: Preview -- Golf Channel, 9 p.m.

Horse Racing
Kentucky Derby Draw -- NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.