Weekend Watchdog: National championship weekend
Back in the old days, college football ended Jan. 1. The big bowl games, and that was it. In 2011, the second weekend of the New Year means college football championship games – one official, one assumed.
Friday, the Football Championship Subdivision (old I-AA) closes its expanded playoffs when Delaware meets Eastern Washington in Frisco, Texas on ESPN2. The playoffs previously ended before Christmas, but adding four teams – including a Coastal Carolina squad that lost to one-win Towson in September – meant the game had to be pushed into the New Year.
The Bowl Championship Series title game keeps going deeper and deeper into January. It lands January 10th this year, with Auburn trying to maintain the pride of the SEC against Oregon. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: National championship weekend” »
Weekend Watchdog: Over the air, out of luck
New Year’s Day used to be the big day for college football on the TV networks – three or recently four games on the same time in the early afternoon.
In 2011, if you don’t have cable, you won’t have a full bowl menu to choose from. There’s just one game – Florida vs. Penn State in the Outback Bowl on ABC at 1 p.m. And that’s only because there’s no room on ESPN or ESPN2 in the time slot.
The Granddaddy of them All – the Rose Bowl – will be on ESPN at 5 p.m. Your memories of Curt Gowdy calling the game on NBC while your family got together to watch – long gone. Of course, TCU’s purple in one end zone doesn’t go with tradition. Although Wisconsin and its run game would fit right into the Woody Hayes era. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Over the air, out of luck” »
Weekend Watchdog: Sports under the tree
After spending time with a tree with Christmas balls, the NBA hopes you’ll watch their players on the court Christmas afternoon.
Five NBA games tip off Christmas Day, with the two biggest on ABC. The Celtics head south to face Orlando at 2:30 p.m., then at 5 p.m. LeBron, D-Wade and the crew take the Heat against the Kobe and the Lakers.
The day starts at noon on ESPN with the Bulls visiting Chicago at noon. At 8 p.m., Denver takes on Oklahoma City followed by Portland-Golden State. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Sports under the tree” »
Weekend Watchdog: Bowling with Beef O'Brady
It’s college bowl season. Thirty-five bowls spread over 24 days, starting Saturday with a tripleheader on ESPN. But don’t wear yourself out watching too much early bowl football. You’ve got to pace yourself to make it to the national championship game Jan. 10.
The first bowl champion will be crowned at the New Mexico Bowl, with BYU facing UTEP at 2 p.m. Then it’s Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl, and Troy faces Ohio in the R&L Carriers Bowl from New Orleans.
Tuesday is the famous Beef O’Brady Bowl, with Southern Mississippi going against Louisville. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Bowling with Beef O'Brady” »
The (failed) Shanahan experiment
Another Sunday, another unfulfilling ending for the Washington Redskins, who lost 17-16 to Tampa Bay despite dominating for long stretches, then suffering the “North Dallas Forty” ending when the special-teams unit couldn’t execute what would have been the game-tying extra point with nine seconds to go.
It’s easy to say that the ‘Skins have just been bugabooed this year, because there have been plenty of bad-news type things happening in Redskin Park. Injuries are part of the game of football, though, so don’t hang your hat there and excuse first-year coach Mike Shanahan because of them. Shanahan, two-time Super Bowl winner that he is, completely mismanaged this Redskin team into another out-of-the-playoffs finish. Continue reading “The (failed) Shanahan experiment” »
Weekend Watchdog
Changing of college seasons
With college football basically down to the bowl season, college basketball begins to step into the spotlight.
Saturday, CBS has a two-sport doubleheader. Saint Louis visits national champion Duke at noon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, then the coverage heads to Philly for the annual Army-Navy game. While it’s the biggest game of the season for both, they still have bowl season to look forward to.
The Football Championship Series (old I-AA) playoffs provides the rest of the football this weekend. The quarterfinals start Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 with a battle between CAA schools – New Hampshire at Delaware. Villanova visits Appalachian State Saturday at noon on ESPN, and MASN features Georgia Southern-Wofford at 2 p.m. North Dakota State visits Eastern Washington following the conclusion of that contest. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog” »
Weekend Watchdog: Conference title time
The weekend in TV sports
We know when the BCS bowls will be. We basically know who’s going to be in the BCS bowls. But it won’t be until Sunday night that we officially know who’s going where, and who’s playing for the national championship Jan. 10.
ESPN’s BCS selection show Sunday at 8:15 p.m. – and the bowl selection show at 9 p.m. – caps off the final big weekend of college football.
Top-ranked Oregon knows it’s in the BCS, and plays Oregon State in the Civil War Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
Over on CBS, No. 2 Auburn faces South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference final at 4 p.m. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Conference title time” »
Weekend Watchdog: Turkey Day TV
When the NFL schedule came out, fans circled the Cowboys-Saints game as the highlight of Thanksgiving football.
Then the Cowboys flopped.
Sure Dallas has won two straight since chopping coach Wade Phillips. But their season is still a turkey.
The show must go on, and the Saints must win to keep pace with Atlanta in the NFC South. FOX has the festivities Thursday afternoon, after CBS opens the day with Tom Brady and the Patriots visiting Detroit. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Turkey Day TV” »
Weekend Watchdog: I want my game, NFL Network
Do you have NFL Network? It’s the most popular of the league networks, but not popular enough to make most basic cable packages.
So the second half of the season, eight games on NFL network means most fans must head to a sports bar or a friend with the upper tier programming to watch. Fans in the local cities get to watch over-the-air, but out-of-market areas like Fishersville are out of luck.
This year’s slate starts with a good one – Ravens visiting the Falcons Thursday. Teams with young quarterbacks who have had success in the past two years, and continue that in the 2010 campaign. They are among a bunch of teams with 6-2 records midway through the season, so the winner gets a big boost toward the playoffs.
Fire up the computer or catch the highlights. And wait for whatever’s left for Sunday afternoon. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: I want my game, NFL Network” »
Weekend Watchdog: Tech vs. Tech
After losing its first two games of the season, Virginia Tech has rolled to six straight wins. Will the trend continue in the November stretch run?
The Hokies host Georgia Tech Thursday in ESPN’s Prime Time game. Since being upset by James Madison, Virginia Tech has righted its ship nicely – leading its division by two games over Georgia Tech, Miami and North Carolina.
A win Thursday puts the Hokies in great shape to spend the first Saturday of December at the ACC championship game. Then a BCS game is only one win away.
Friday, ESPN2 shows the C-USA contest between Central Florida and Houston at 8 p.m. Saturday at noon, ESPN will feature Illinois against Michigan. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Tech vs. Tech” »
Weekend Watchdog: Is it too early for flex scheduling?
The NFL probably felt very good about this week’s national games – Vikings going to Green Bay Sunday night and Giants-Cowboys on Monday – until the season started.
After Sunday’s meeting, the Vikings are 2-3 and the Cowboys 1-4. People will still watch them, but it’s likely they won’t be watching them when the playoffs start.
Hey, Cowboys, which team will be in your locker room for Super Bowl XLV? Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Is it too early for flex scheduling?” »
Weekend Watchdog: Who's going to Super Bowl XLV?
Posted by afp on January 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Fresh off upsets of the top-seeded squads, the Packers and Jets hope for one more upset Sunday – and the first championship meeting of the lowest seeded playoff teams in each conference.
Green Bay gets the day started at 3 p.m. on FOX against the Bears in Chicago. The Packers have two Super Bowl trips in the 1990s to go with winning the first two games. Three years after the departure of Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers has the Pack almost back to the big game. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Who's going to Super Bowl XLV?” »
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