NBC Sports Network is a few weeks away from completing its first season of covering college hockey on a weekly basis.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to watch the games. I can hear the readers saying, “Why don’t you record them?”
Well, there are two reasons why I don’t. One, my 11-year-old son Steven wants me to tape WWE “Friday Night Smack Down” on SyFy. Two, I’m too cheap to get a DVR cable box from Time Warner Cable. I don’t have time to watch any show that I would potentially record. So, I’m stuck.
But I think NBCSN can help me out. It should re-air the games overnight. Right now, it’s either reruns of “NBC Sports Talk” or infomercials.
Not everyone is home on Friday nights. People could be out at college hockey games, the movies or dinner. After a night out, it would be nice to be able to catch the game.
This is one thing that CBS Sports Network and Big Ten Network do. They will re-air the games overnight (and, in the case of CBSSN, there could be another re-air late Saturday morning).
So, please NBCSN, give the college hockey game a second chance overnight.
And one other suggestion. Have the capability to flex games the final two to three weeks of the season. For example, instead of having Boston University playing a last-place team in Vermont in Hockey East, NBCSN could have televised the Union-Cornell showdown for the ECAC Hockey regular-season title. Just a thought.
daytona 500
The Daytona 500 will run Sunday at noon on FOX Sports (FOX23 and FOX23 HD in the Capital Region).
After an exciting 2011 season that saw Tony Stewart edge Carl Edwards in the closest Chase for the Championship ever, NASCAR hopes that momentum carries over into this year.
“It may not be Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards again, but it could be Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick,” FOX NASCAR reporter Jeff Hammond said during a conference call Wednesday. “It could be any number of drivers. When you have a year like we had last year, you can’t say we’re going to be able to duplicate it. This is the year of the unknown. There are so many things we’re getting from teams as well as the technology that’s going to create so much buzz before and after races.”
Danica Patrick joins NASCAR after racing in the IndyCar series. FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip believes she will do fine.
“One thing that she needs is to be accepted by the fans,” Waltrip said. “People have said that she doesn’t deserve to do this. If she can overcome a lot of that, that will be a big accomplishment. She’ll do the on-track stuff better than most people expect. If she does, that’ll put some of those skeptics to rest. That would be a huge success.”
kessler joins mlbn
Congratulations to former NBC13 (WNYT) videographer Donna Kessler, who is joining the Major League Baseball Network.
Kessler will be working in a master control area ingesting games and file transferring material to producers and editors, and also editing game highlights for MLB Network’s shows.
Kessler worked at WNYT from 1981-2002. She spent the last nine years working with the New York State Assembly.
big east on 980
FOX Sports 980 (WOFX) will have every game of the Big East men’s basketball tournament March 6-10.
There are 15 games in the tournament from Madison Square Garden. If Syracuse advances to the March 9 semifinals and the March 10 final, the Syracuse home broadcast will be heard on WGY-AM (810) and WGY-FM (103.1).
yes signs piniella
Former New York Yankees outfielder and manager Lou Piniella joined the YES Network Wednesday as a special contributor.
He will provide Yankees game and studio analysis, be involved in the network’s spring training and potential post-season coverage and will contribute to YES special event programming. Piniella will also contribute to YESNetwork.com.
“It’s a thrill for me to be involved with the New York Yankees again and going back to my roots,” Piniella said.
pairings set
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have announced their broadcast teams for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The lead team will be Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. They will also call the First Four games March 13, along with Steve Kerr, on truTV. The March 14 First Four games on truTV will be called by Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel.
Here are the other broadcast teams — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr, Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller, Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner, Tim Brando/Mike Gminski and Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel.
Tracy Wolfson, Craig Sager, Lesley Visser, Marty Snider, Lewis Johnson, Jaime Maggio and Otis Livingston will serve as courtside reporters throughout the tournament.
parting shots
It’s NBA All-Star weekend, and TNT and TNT HD have all the action. They will televise the Shooting Stars, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk contest tonight at 8:30. The All-Star game is on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ESPN Radio 104.5 (WTMM) will have radio coverage of the game. . . .
ESPN and ESPN HD will have the Syracuse-Connecticut men’s college basketball game tonight at 9. WGY-AM and FM will also have the game. . . .
The Canisius-Siena men’s basketball game Sunday at 2 p.m. will be on Time Warner Cable Sports-3.
GAZETTE COVERAGE
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Categories: Sports
