Category Archives: ABC

The decision: Game 3 or U.S. Open tonight? Tiger or LeBron?

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So what are you watching tonight? Game 3 of the NBA Finals or the final round of the U.S. Open?

We have been handed this delicious Father’s Day bounty thanks to the Open being in San Francisco.

In a brilliant decision beginning with the 2010 tournament at Pebble Beach, NBC decided to air these West Coast Opens in prime time. The last group of Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell goes off at 6:10 p.m ET. That means the final putt won’t go down until 10:30-11 p.m. ET.

I love it, and so many other golf fans. Nothing like enjoying a beautiful day and then coming home to watch some big-time golf.

But there’s more. Also on the menu is Game 3 of the NBA Finals airing on ABC. Big game to see if LeBron James and the Heat can take control of the series at home.

The first two games have done huge ratings, and they only will get bigger.

For NBC’s sake, it would help if Tiger Woods gets back into the hunt quickly in the fourth round. He tees off at 4:50 p.m. If he makes a charge, people will tune in, especially the casual and even non-golf fan.

Either way, it should be a great night. My remote is in for a workout.

 

 

ESPN hires NBA referee equivalent to Mike Pereira

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Sound move by ESPN. The network has hired a former NBA official to lend insights for its coverage of the finals on ABC.

Richard Deitsch of SI.com reports Steve Javie will work as a rules analyst for the network’s pregame and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals, as well as SportsCenter.

Javie, a 25-year ref who had to retire because of a bad knee, told Deitsch that he was inspired by Mike Pereira’s work on Fox’s NFL coverage.

“Mike and I are friends and I think what he’s done has fantastic,” Javie said.  “He’s been the trailblazer here and he told me he thought the NBA, ESPN or TNT  would be interested in something like this. I think Mike has really gained  credibility for officials in the NFL, but fans of the NBA have never heard from  or been given the perspective from the officials’ point of view. I’m hoping for  positive feedback because I believe it’s something that’s been missing. I hope  people come away and say, “Boy, I didn’t even look at it that way, and I never  knew that.”

Yes, but what happens when he has to call out one of his former NBA colleagues for missing a call?

“Now I’m not going to be a jerk about it because these are my guys. But I want  to be the voice of the official and tell people, ‘Look at this play. Maybe you  should have had a whistle here, but here is the reason why they didn’t blow it.’  I won’t be a guy who blasts the officials but at the same time I will be someone  who points out to fans that the ref did not get call right and here’s why. It’s  not necessarily a criticism but an explanation on why a call was missed.”

I like the move. More explanation and less whining about the officials is the way to go.

 

Saturday flashback: ’79 Indianapolis 500 with Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart

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Back when, even if you weren’t a fan of auto racing, you tuned into the Indianapolis 500. Perhaps it had to do with the presence of Jim McKay.

In this video, the great one and Jackie Stewart broadcast the 1979 race. Just listen to how McKay opens the telecast and sets up the storylines. I got chills when I heard him say, “They’re racing at Indianapolis!”

Stewart also was excellent as an analyst. I remember him saying, “They call that drafting…” in that wonderful British accent.

Also, look at all the legendary drivers vying for the title. Rick Mears defeated A.J. Foyt.

Another time, another place for the Indianapolis 500.

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Indy 500 won’t have Danica Patrick storyline this year; ABC still will televise

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I never was a big auto racing fan, but I always used to watch the Indianapolis 500. I even knew the names of most of the drivers: A.J. Foyt, Bobby and Al Unser, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, and one of the great names of all time, Gordon Johncock.

Fast forward, and now about the only thing I know about this year’s Indy 500 is that Danica Patrick won’t be in the field. That says plenty about the state of Indy car racing these days.

ABC will air the race Sunday at 11 a.m. Naturally, Patrick’s name came up during a teleconference this week.

Analyst Eddie Cheever said of Patrick’s absence:

You can tell there’s a difference in the paddock.  Danica brought a lot of interest from people that were not really involved in racing.  I think she did some amazing things at her time that she spent in IndyCars.

When you’re at the racetrack and you’re watching the Go Daddy car go around the track, it’s doing pretty well right now.  So I think from the purely emotional part of being involved in following a car, that team picked up where it left off, and it’s doing very well.

I personally, my daughter follows Danica Patrick, no matter what she’s doing, whether she’s racing here or somewhere else.  But there are a lot of very talented drivers in IndyCar, many of which are females that are doing very well, and I think the series will just pick up and keep on going forward.

Actually, Patrick won’t be a complete no-show Sunday, according to producer Rich Feinberg:

In terms of the Danica story, not being there, we will address it.  It’s not something we’re going to avoid.  If you watch real, real closely to the prerace, you will see a brief cameo appearance in this year’s telecast by Danica, which she was happy to do for us and we think we’ll have some fun with our viewers.

As for race coverage, Feinberg noted as many as 12 cars will be wired with HD camera systems. He said:

If we achieve our goal of 12 cars, that would be 48 onboard cameras, which is a first in terms of volume for us. Additionally some interesting things about those in-car camera systems.  For the first time all the cars that have systems will offer our viewers driver shots which we’ve not been able to do in many, many years.

We’re also introducing what we call dual path technology, which allows viewers to see both the driver’s perspective and the driver driving simultaneously at the same time.  That technology has never been used in IndyCar racing and we’re excited to debut it at this year’s Indianapolis 500.  Additionally we plan on using within the telecast Ultra Hi motion cameras that shoot at a frame rate of one thousand frames per second.  This should offer some compelling views for our fans and viewers in ultraslow motion of key moments in the race and on the track.  We’ve never used those before as well. A lot of exciting new technology.

 

 

Lifetime Achievement Award overdue for Jack Whitaker

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Jack Whitaker finally will get his due Monday night. The legendary sports broadcaster will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York.

You have to wonder why it took the Academy so long to get to Whitaker. Surely, they heard his wonderful lyrical essays on CBS and then ABC. He was a pioneer, showing sports on television could be about words as well as pictures. Perhaps even more so.

When Frank Gifford was given his lifetime award in 1997, he said:

To have a Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award without Jack Whitaker on the list is hard to believe. He was the best of the best, a great friend and a terrific colleague.

For some mysterious reason, it took the Academy another 15 years to heed Gifford’s suggestion. Thankfully, Whitaker, 87, still is around to enjoy this honor. He will be presented by Jim Nantz, who learned his lessons well from Whitaker.

To see what made Whitaker so great, check out this video narrated by Brent Musburger. After you watch it, you’ll ask yourself: Why did they wait so long?

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