WHEN BRUCE Springsteen released his ode to cable television, "57 Channels [and nothin' on]," 16 years ago, even The Boss couldn't have predicted our current landscape in which hundreds of channels now exist.
WHEN BRUCE Springsteen released his ode to cable television, "57 Channels [and nothin' on]," 16 years ago, even The Boss couldn't have predicted our current landscape in which hundreds of channels now exist.
Virtually every significant sporting event is televised now - it's just a matter of how hard you want to look to find it and how much you are willing to spend to get it.
The current popularity of the WNBA is certainly debatable, but as the league tips off its 12th season this weekend, it's never had more coverage by the mainstream media.
Thanks to this year's WNBA Draft, we now have not one but two local connections to the Detroit Shock. Coming off back-to-back national titles for the Tennessee Lady Vols, former South Charleston star Alexis Hornbuckle was the fourth-overall pick in this year's draft by the Shock and former WVU center Olayinka Sanni was grabbed by Detroit in the second round.
Both should play key reserve roles for Detroit. Hornbuckle is expected to be the first guard off the Shock bench, with the majority of her minutes coming at the shooting guard slot. Sanni impressed Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer early in camp and is expected to push starter Kara Braxton for minutes - Braxton is now in the final year of her initial contract with the Shock.
Following Hornbuckle and Sanni's rookie seasons with the Shock may be easier than you think.
ESPN2 and ABC began their 22-game regular-season broadcast schedule of WNBA action with the debut of Hornbuckle's former Lady Vols teammate Candace Parker with Los Angeles on Saturday, as the Sparks visited the defending champion Phoenix Mercury. It marked the first time ABC used its SkyCam for a WNBA telecast. Overall, ESPN2 has 14 WNBA regular-season games, with eight more on ABC.
The Sparks have a league-high five appearances in the ESPN2/ABC package, but Detroit will be on four times, with two of those games against Phoenix (June 14, 3:30 p.m. on ABC and Sept. 9, 7 p.m. on ESPN2), in rematches of last year's WNBA Finals. Detroit's game with Los Angeles on July 22 at 7 p.m. will be on ESPN2, as Hornbuckle and Parker clash for the first time as professionals. The Shock will get another ESPN2 game two days later (July 24 at 9:30 p.m. ) as Detroit visits Houston.
If Detroit is again a contender for the WNBA title, it may have more ESPN2/ABC regular-season games added, because flexible scheduling allows ESPN to work with the league to ensure the best possible matchups as the season unfolds.
DirecTV customers with the sports package will have even more chances to follow Hornbuckle and Sanni. NBA TV (DTV 601) has a hefty slate of 65 regular-season WNBA games (10 doubleheaders) and as many as nine playoff games. Detroit will be on NBA TV at least 13 times, with its first NBA TV appearance coming on Friday night against the new Atlanta Dream. NBA TV will also have the Shock's home date against the New York Liberty next Sunday (May 25) at 6 p.m.
And just in case you want more, the WNBA Broadband Season Pass is carrying over 90 live webcasts this season for free. You can sign up for a free account at WNBA.com and once you are issued a WNBA Member Name and password, you gain free access to the video stream.
WHEN BRUCE Springsteen released his ode to cable television, "57 Channels [and nothin' on]," 16 years ago, even The Boss couldn't have predicted our current landscape in which hundreds of channels now exist.
Virtually every significant sporting event is televised now - it's just a matter of how hard you want to look to find it and how much you are willing to spend to get it.
The current popularity of the WNBA is certainly debatable, but as the league tips off its 12th season this weekend, it's never had more coverage by the mainstream media.
Thanks to this year's WNBA Draft, we now have not one but two local connections to the Detroit Shock. Coming off back-to-back national titles for the Tennessee Lady Vols, former South Charleston star Alexis Hornbuckle was the fourth-overall pick in this year's draft by the Shock and former WVU center Olayinka Sanni was grabbed by Detroit in the second round.
Both should play key reserve roles for Detroit. Hornbuckle is expected to be the first guard off the Shock bench, with the majority of her minutes coming at the shooting guard slot. Sanni impressed Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer early in camp and is expected to push starter Kara Braxton for minutes - Braxton is now in the final year of her initial contract with the Shock.
Following Hornbuckle and Sanni's rookie seasons with the Shock may be easier than you think.
ESPN2 and ABC began their 22-game regular-season broadcast schedule of WNBA action with the debut of Hornbuckle's former Lady Vols teammate Candace Parker with Los Angeles on Saturday, as the Sparks visited the defending champion Phoenix Mercury. It marked the first time ABC used its SkyCam for a WNBA telecast. Overall, ESPN2 has 14 WNBA regular-season games, with eight more on ABC.
The Sparks have a league-high five appearances in the ESPN2/ABC package, but Detroit will be on four times, with two of those games against Phoenix (June 14, 3:30 p.m. on ABC and Sept. 9, 7 p.m. on ESPN2), in rematches of last year's WNBA Finals. Detroit's game with Los Angeles on July 22 at 7 p.m. will be on ESPN2, as Hornbuckle and Parker clash for the first time as professionals. The Shock will get another ESPN2 game two days later (July 24 at 9:30 p.m. ) as Detroit visits Houston.
If Detroit is again a contender for the WNBA title, it may have more ESPN2/ABC regular-season games added, because flexible scheduling allows ESPN to work with the league to ensure the best possible matchups as the season unfolds.
DirecTV customers with the sports package will have even more chances to follow Hornbuckle and Sanni. NBA TV (DTV 601) has a hefty slate of 65 regular-season WNBA games (10 doubleheaders) and as many as nine playoff games. Detroit will be on NBA TV at least 13 times, with its first NBA TV appearance coming on Friday night against the new Atlanta Dream. NBA TV will also have the Shock's home date against the New York Liberty next Sunday (May 25) at 6 p.m.
And just in case you want more, the WNBA Broadband Season Pass is carrying over 90 live webcasts this season for free. You can sign up for a free account at WNBA.com and once you are issued a WNBA Member Name and password, you gain free access to the video stream.
Around the dial
If you haven't checked out the Huntington Heroes' brand of indoor football, FSN Pittsburgh has got you covered. Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh will have no less than four tape-delayed games featuring the Heroes in the coming weeks, beginning Monday night at 7:30 p.m. with a replay of Huntington's game at Erie from May 9. The rematch of those teams that was played last night in Huntington will air May 26 at 7:30 p.m. FSN Pittsburgh will also have the Reading Express-Huntington Heroes game (from May 31) on Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. and the Heroes' road test at Fayetteville (from June 7) on Monday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m.
If you prefer your football to be more of the NFL variety, the NFL Network (DTV 212) has five of the best games from Week 10 of 2007 condensed into 90-minute formats beginning today at 1 p.m., capped by the Browns and Steelers at 7 p.m.
This has been a tough month for fans of some of the biggest names in sports print journalism, who are probably better known for their work on ESPN these days. Tony Kornheiser has accepted a buyout from the Washington Post after being there for nearly three decades. Dan Le Betard is in the midst of a year-long sabbatical from the Miami Herald. And sports blog pioneer Bill Simmons is once again feuding with his bosses at ESPN, where he's been a fixture as a featured columnist for ESPN.com's "Page 2." Simmons' mixture of Boston sports fanaticism and pop culture references is admittedly an acquired taste, but if you need a Simmons' fix, he put up a new site independent of the WorldWide Leader last week at: http://sportsguy.blogspot.com. ;
New York state of mind
Mike D'Antoni is already hard at work on his new NBA head coaching assignment - cleaning up Isiah Thomas' mess inside Madison Square Garden and attempting to bring respectability back to the once-proud New York Knicks. Mike's wife, Laurel, is a former Italian fashion model - the pair was introduced by former Sonics president and Virginia All-American Wally Walker, when D'Antoni was a star player in his own right in Italy.
Some observers have noted that the white-hot media glare of the Big Apple won't be a good fit for the easy going D'Antoni, but his wife disagrees with that. Laurel D'Antoni says Mike's European experience has more than prepared him for the City that Never Sleeps. After starring at Marshall, D'Antoni won five Italian League titles in 13 seasons as a player for Milan and was a two-time Italian Coach of the Year before coming to the NBA.
"New York? It's not the same thing here," Laurel D'Antoni told the New York Post last week in reference to the pressure to win. "This is entertainment. There, it's war."
To contact freelance writer Dave Weekley, send e-mail to week...@yahoo.com.
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