Everything But the Game

EBTG on Hiatus

2007-08-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

EBTG will be taking summer vacation from August 10 - 19. The weather is supposed to be beautiful this week, so I thought I'd take some time off and curl up with the NFL Network for some pre-season football.

Odds to Win the 2008 Super Bowl

2007-08-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

I just turned on the TV, fully expecting to flip around and settle on some sort of game show featuring either Drew Carey or Jeff Foxworthy. Instead, I found pre-season football on FOX. I love the NFL, but I have a hard time watching football when its 95 degrees outside. Anyway, it got me thinking about the upcoming season, and what the odds were that my Jets would win the Super Bowl.

Here are the up to date odds to win the 2008 Super Bowl according to Intertops.com.

Win Odds Team
5.00 New England Patriots
8.00 Indianapolis Colts
8.00 San Diego Chargers
15.00 Chicago Bears
17.00 Baltimore Ravens
17.00 Cincinnati Bengals
17.00 Dallas Cowboys
17.00 Denver Broncos
17.00 New Orleans Saints
17.00 Philadelphia Eagles
23.00 Seattle Seahawks
26.00 Carolina Panthers
26.00 Pittsburgh Steelers
34.00 Jacksonville Jaguars
41.00 New York Giants
41.00 New York Jets
41.00 San Francisco 49ers
41.00 St Louis Rams
51.00 Arizona Cardinals
51.00 Atlanta Falcons
51.00 Green Bay Packers
51.00 Miami Dolphins
51.00 Tennessee Titans
51.00 Washington Redskins
67.00 Buffalo Bills
67.00 Kansas City Chiefs
67.00 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
81.00 Minnesota Vikings
101.00 Cleveland Browns
101.00 Detroit Lions
126.00 Houston Texans
126.00 Oakland Raiders

Bond's Elbow Armor: A Hitting Machine

2007-08-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that Barry Bond's elbow protector gives him an advantage by allowing him to lean over the plate without fear of being hit. Michael Witte of Editor and Publisher says that is not the only advantage of the armor. Witte claims that the protector is literally a "hitting machine", hinged at the elbow, that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. Witte concludes that Bonds' armor "may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home runs." Unfortunately, no evidence or reasoning is provided for this conclusion, and the total of 75 to 100 home runs appears rather arbitrary to me.

As a student of baseball – and currently a mechanics consultant to a major league baseball team -- I believe I have insight into the Bonds "achievement." I have studied his swing countless times on video and examined the mechanical gear closely through photographs.
For years, sportswriters remarked that his massive "protective" gear – unequaled in all of baseball -- permits Bonds to lean over the plate without fear of being hit by a pitch. Thus situated, Bonds can handle the outside pitch (where most pitchers live) unusually well. This is unfair advantage enough, but no longer controversial. However, it is only one of at least seven (largely unexplored) advantages conferred by the apparatus.

More Evidence NHL Salaries are Just Fine

2007-08-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that NHL salaries seem to be out of control, franchises are worth more now than ever before. The NHL's salary cap has risen to $50.3-million a team, an increase of $11-million in just two years. This is bad for the owners, right? Wrong.

In a previous post, Allan Muir argued that NHL salaries are fine, and teams are now paying for how players will perform during their contract years, and not for how they performed in the past. Allan Make of The Globe and Mail now provides further evidence that Gary Bettman knows what he is doing.

It seems the only thing that is skyrocketing faster than NHL salaries, is NHL franchise values.

If you scribbled "The end is near" on a placard and paraded it outside the National Hockey League's head office in New York, some hockey people would understand why.

They've watched teams being sold in furious fashion these days. They know that Craig Leipold couldn't wait to unshackle himself from the Nashville Predators after losing $70-million (all currency U.S.) in nine years. They know that Bill Davidson has lost more than $70-million since buying the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1999.

They may even know that Alan Cohen and his partners have lost $90-million in their six-year association with the Florida Panthers, and that the Atlanta Thrashers are
looking for fresh cash. The Phoenix Coyotes, too.

NHL Salaries Out of Control or Just Fine?

2007-08-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Dustin Penner: five years, $21.5 million. Pavel Datsyuk: seven years, $47 million. Patrice Bergeron: five years, $23.75 million. It's easy to point to these contracts and conclude the the NHL's CBA contract is not working the way the owners had expected. However, Allan Muir argues otherwise in his piece in SI. Muir says that these salaries are just fine, and teams are finally paying for what a player will perform during his contract years, and not what they performed in years past.

from Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated

I'm not sure about your neighborhood, but there have been no signs of plagues, pestilence or frogs raining down from the sky in mine. Maybe I'm just spending too much time indoors listening to talk radio or reading through my mail because going by all that, it sounds like some fans think the hockey world is rapidly heading toward end times.
In the wake of the Dustin Penner deal (five years, $21.5 million), I'm repeatedly hearing phrases like "rampant salary escalation" and "two-tier league" and "can another lockout be far off?" I haven't seen this kind of panic since the Tim Horton's at Air Canada Centre ran out of maple donuts midway through the second period.
It's time to tap on the breaks there, sports fans. The Penner signing was not the seventh sign of the impending apocalypse. In fact, we're not seeing salary escalation so much as salary re-allocation.

TNA Announcers Reading off Script?

2007-08-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

This sure looks like a video of TNA announcers reading off a script. Its possible that they are looking at an off-screen monitor, but it doesn't look like it. You be the judge.

NHL and Versus Each Can Opt Out of Deal

2007-08-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Both the NHL and Versus have options to opt out of their current rights deal, Multichannel News is reporting. Versus has already exercised an option to extend their deal through the upcoming 2007-08 season. They still have an option to extend the deal three additional years.

The NHL can also opt out of the deal at the end of this season if Versus does not meet certain subscriber benchmarks. It is not known exactly what these benchmarks are. However, Versus has increased its subscribers from 63 million in 2005, when it carried the NHL for the first time, to its current 72 million-subscriber mark.

If either party opts out of the contract, or if NBC decides not to renew after the 07-08 season, that would open the door for the NHL to return to ESPN. NBC says it is making money on their NHL contract, but the NHL has approached ESPN about securing NBC’s package. Another possibility is Versus renegotiating their deal and allowing some games to move to ESPN. The attractiveness of a renegotiation for Versus would be a lower rights fee, and cross-promotional exposure on ESPN.

from Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News

Versus can ice its National Hockey League deal after the upcoming season, a move that could allow ESPN to skate back into the pucks sport.

The Comcast-owned service has the right to end its NHL deal after the 2007-08 campaign, according to league deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who also said the hockey circuit can pull out of the deal based on whether Versus reaches certain distribution thresholds.

NBC to Offer Live Streaming Olympic in 2008

2007-08-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

NBC will be presenting 3,600 hours of coverage of the 2008 Olympics. Interestingly, they will be offering approximately 2,200 total hours of live streaming broadband video coverage on NBCOlympics.com. That's 2,200 more hours we can goof off at work.

Other highlights include:

3,600 HOURS: Over the 17 days of the Beijing Games (Aug. 8-24, 2008), NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage highlighted by NBC in primetime which will feature live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball, despite the 12-hour time difference from the U.S.'s eastern time zone to Beijing.
SURPASSES COMBINED TOTAL OF ALL PREVIOUS SUMMER OLYMPICS: The 3,600 hours is 1,000 hours more than the total coverage for every televised Summer Olympics in U.S. history. Note: Dating back nearly 50 years to CBS in Rome in 1960 (20 total hours) through NBC in Athens in 2004 (1,210 total hours), the 12 Summer Olympic Games broadcasts have totaled 2,562 hours.
212 HOURS A DAY... OR 8 DAYS A DAY: NBC Universal's coverage will average nearly 212 hours per day for 17 days - more than eight days of coverage during every single day of the Olympics.
TRIPLES ATHENS 2004... 20-TIMES ATLANTA 1996: The more than 3,600 total hours of coverage from Beijing triples the previous record of 1,210 total hours of coverage on NBC from Athens in 2004, is 20 times more than the 171 total hours on NBC from Atlanta in 1996 and 180 times greater than the 20 total hours for the inaugural U.S. Olympic broadcast on CBS from Rome in 1960.
ON-AIR: NBC Universal's NBC, USA, MSNBC and CNBC will all provide coverage from Beijing with high definition coverage on NBC's HD affiliates, USA HD and Universal HD. Spanish-language Olympic coverage will be seen on NBC Universal's Telemundo.
ON-DEMAND: In addition to the 3,600 total hours of coverage mentioned above, NBCOlympics.com also will feature approximately 3,000 hours of Highlights, Rewinds and Encores.
ON-THE-GO: On-the-Go (wireless) coverage will be detailed in the coming months

Fastest Growing Brands in Sports

2007-08-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Forbes has published a study in which they determined the fastest growing brands in sports. They calculated the brand value of the 122 teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB by adding up their revenues from sponsorships, naming rights, local media, tickets and merchandise not attributable to demographics. Since their study focused on growth rather than absolute value, that most of the teams on our list are turnaround situations.

According to Forbes, the fastest growing brands in each sport are as follows:

MLB: Toronto Blue Jays
NFL: Philadelphia Eagles
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers
NHL: Buffalo Sabres

from Peter J. Schwartz of Forbes

There's more competition than ever before when it comes to vying for the entertainment dollar, making a powerful brand a top priority for many professional sports teams.

No American sports team has done this as well as the New York Yankees, who are worth $1.2 billion and have set themselves apart by establishing their own cable TV network and forging a $95 million partnership with German apparel maker Adidas. Parent company Yankee Global Enterprises has also reached player development and sponsorship agreements with Chinese and Japanese companies in hopes of broadening its reach.

Tiger Woods and Amex Part Ways

2007-08-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

After a 10-year partnership, Tiger Woods and American Express have parted ways. Woods' second of two five year deals ended recently. Woods and AMEX decided not to sign another deal, thus ending the partnership. This story was reported by Sports Business Radio.

American Express will still be very much involved with golf though, as the company signed a deal with the PGA of America. Amex vice president Rich Lehrfeld told the AP that while the relationship with Woods was strong, the company's marketing strategy has shifted to become even more geared toward consumers.
"He brought a lot of value to Amex. He's an incredible athlete with an incredible work ethic, and that runs well with what our brand is all about," Lehrfeld said. "Sometimes strategies change. We wanted to move our dollars to build a broader base of consumer experiences."

read more...

Nielsen Ratings for Glavine's 300th Win

2007-08-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

The ratings for ESPN's coverage Sunday night of Tom Glavine's 300th victory have been released. Neil Best of Newsday is reporting the game was seen in 3% of the 94 million homes with ESPN. The total estimated audience is 2.89 million households and 3.83 million viewers. It was the biggest viewership for a Sunday night game since 1998, when the Braves faced Mark McGwire and the Cardinals.

How Much is Your Favorite Sport Covered in the News?

2007-08-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

During the month of May, over 37% of ESPN's SportsCenter was devoted to covering MLB. The NBA playoffs took up 25% of the coverage. The NHL playoffs: less than 5 percent. Even the NFL offseason received more coverage than the NHL at 7%.

Street and Smith's Sports Business Daily has put together a chart detailing how much coverage each sport received from 5 major outlets during the month of May. The five outlets are the USA Today, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, SportsCenter, and FSN's Final Score.

In another interesting comparison, coverage of Boxing exceeded that of MMA events in 4 of the 5 outlets. The only outlet that gave more coverage to MMA was FSN Final Score. Coincidentally, FSN has the television rights to the IFL.

Just How Much is A-Rod's 500th Home Run Ball Worth?

2007-08-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

The baseball Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th home run may be worth as much as $100,000. Rodriguez is the youngest player to ever reach this milestone, and is a certain future Hall of Famer. The Yankees media relations director so far has been unsuccessful in his negotiations to get the ball back for Alex. His first offer included memorabilia from high-profile Yankees.

If the ball is valued at $100,000, one of those Yankees better be named Ruth or Gehrig.

from Jim Baumbach and Anthony Rieber of Newsday

Walter "Sonny" Kowalczyk awoke yesterday with an interesting and lucrative question to ponder: What should he do with the valuable baseball that Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th career home run?
The 6-4, 230-pound Rutgers graduate student, who emerged from the scrum with that ball Saturday, could keep it for his own collection. He could sell it to one of those memorabilia collectors undoubtedly waving blank checks in his face. Or he could work out a deal with the Yankees on behalf of Rodriguez.
And A-Rod has made it clear he wants that ball.

Will MMA Lead to the Death of Boxing?

2007-08-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

The rise in popularity of MMA is undeniable. The drop in popularity of boxing is undeniable. But are the two linked, and if so, can MMA's rise lead to the fall of boxing?

MMA leagues such as UFC, WEC, and IFL are competing with boxing for both talent and on-air exposure. And it can be argued that MMA is winning. While boxing is rarely seen on TV these days, MMA events are on all the time. The UFC is televised on Spike, WEC on Versus, and IFL on FSN. MMA is also getting coverage in daily newspapers, when just a few years ago it was only covered on the web.

Perhaps boxing's biggest challenge will be convincing young talent to join its leagues, rather than one of the MMA leagues. Boxing sorely needs a new big star along the line of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson. UFC's top star, Chuck Liddell, is more recognizable than any of the boxing's four heavyweight champions, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, Ruslan Chagaev, and Sultan Ibragimov.

Personally, I think that boxing and MMA can co-exist and thrive, even. But first, boxing needs to clean up the corruption that make its title fights almost impossible to take seriously.

from Robert Cassidy of Newsday

Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee has a saying for times like these: "Someone always comes along."

His theory has rung true for decades. Each time boxing fell out of the mainstream, a star emerged to make the sport matter again. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya were all viewed as boxing saviors. They possessed that blend of talent, toughness and charisma that enthralled not only boxing fans, but casual sports fans as well.

But what about now? With De La Hoya's talent waning and his career coming to a close, from where will the next star emerge? It may not be easy. Controversy has long courted boxing and it has become increasingly harder to bounce back. To the mainstream media, it has become a niche sport. Thus, the vehicles that once allowed the aforementioned stars to rise - daily newspaper coverage and network television exposure - are scarcely available to boxing.
Yet, someone always comes along, right?

Manchested United Signs 9 Year Old

2007-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

The Manchester United has signed its newest star, Rhain Davis of Australia. In case you haven't heard. Rhain is 9 years old. He was brought to the United's attention after the boy's grandfather sent the team a DVD of his play.

The club said the signing is not unusual, "Manchester United signs up to 30 boys aged nine for the under-10s of its academy in line with the rules that govern Premier League academies."

It is believed there is no truth to the rumor that the United has also signed their first fetus to play in their upcoming preemie league.

If you haven't seen Rhain's video, you have to check it out.

Tennis Match Investigated After Suspicious Wagering

2007-08-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Tennis has been just about the only major sport to avoid a scandal his year. Until now, that is.

ATP officials are investigating suspicious betting over No. 3 ranked Nikolay Davydenko's defeat to 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello last week. Betting on the match was 10 times the usual amount, at around $7 million. Vassallo Arguello was heavily backed, and won when Davydenko, coincidentally, left with an injury in the third set.

from The Toronto Star

Officials are investigating suspicious betting patterns in a tennis match involving top seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who retired with an injury against a low-ranked opponent at an ATP tournament in Poland.

In an unprecedented move, British online gambling company Betfair voided all bets yesterday placed on Thursday's second-round match at the Prokom Open in Sopot between the defending champion and No.4-ranked Davydenko and No.87-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina.

Betfair said it received about $7 million (U.S.) in bets on the match – 10 times the usual amount – and most of the money was on Arguello to win, even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2.

Lovitz Beats Dick and Bud

2007-08-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

First Jon Lovitz beats up Andy Dick, and now he beats up Bud Selig. At least this time Lovitz only used his words.

Erin Andrews interviewed comic Jon Lovitz during last night's Giants-Dodgers game on ESPN. (Why, I have no idea.) Speaking of the Barry Bonds-steroids scandal, Lovitz said that if Selig claims that he didn't know steroids existed in the game, he is 'full of crap".

Now maybe it's just coincidence, but that's two times that Lovitz has been in the news since he signed his lifetime contract to perform every Wednesday night at the Laugh Factory. For those of you keeping score, that's two more times than he's been in the news the last ten years. It looks like the publicity machine is in full motion.

Here is what "funny"-"man" Jon Lovitz had to say about Bonds. (Thanks to Neil Best of Newsday for the transcript.)

"I think he's the best hitter ever. All this talk about steroids is a bunch of crap. About seven years ago I was talking to a major baseball player in the league and I said, 'How many players take steroids?' And he said, '40 percent.'

"I'm not saying whether he took them or not, all I'm saying is the league totally allowed it, and anyway, whether he took it or not, out of all those players, three guys hit a lot of home runs - three. So obviously that's three out of 300 taking it. That's not the difference.

"The guy's just a great hitter. How many people get that many walks? He works the pitcher. Usually the pitcher is ahead of the batter, but this guy, he's ahead of the pitcher. He's unbelievably great. He was taught by his father, Bobby Bonds. He was taught by Willie Mays. Willie Mays was maybe the greatest player ever. Now he's the greatest player ever. It was Willie Mays himself who said he could be one of the greatest ever. If you've got Willie Mays saying you could be the greatest ever if you take it seriously, that's what happened and he started taking it seriously.

"The league is complaining about it and yet, you know, attendance is way up, a lot of it because of Barry Bonds. Wherever he plays, he sells out the stadium. So it's completely hypocritical.''

"Bud Selig, if he says he didn't know, is full of crap. If he didn't know he should resign, and if he did know, he should say, 'Yeah, I allowed it, so what?' But for him to say he didn't know, how did I know seven years ago and he didn't? Hello? Thank you.''

"I think he's one of the greatest hitters ever and I think it's fantastic. I think it's a shame he's getting booed everywhere. I think it's a wonderful thing to see. It hardly ever happens. And Hank Aaron is still as great as ever and Babe Ruth still is as great as ever. It's no reflection on them at all. It's another great guy. It's fantastic. If it wasn't for Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, those guys set the bar. Everyone shoots for that. You can't take it away.''

Michael Vick Inspires Minor League Promotion

2007-08-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

It didn't take long before someone found a way to profit off the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal. While other companies (Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Topps, Upper Deck, Donruss) are all separating themselves from Vick, one minor league team is using Vick's dogfighting indictment to increase attendance.

The St. Paul Saints will be giving away a Michael Vick chew toy before their game on August 21. The toy will be shaped like the Falcons quarterback, clad with a black and red jersey with the number seven on his chest. The first 1,500 fans who enter the ballpark will receive the chew toy.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity. The key word here is "portion", meaning that the Saints will be keeping the other, presumably larger, "portion".

ESPN and ABC Release 2007-08 NBA Schedule

2007-08-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

ABC and ESPN released their 2007-08 NBA schedule today. The schedule features a total of 90 games, with 18 on ABC and 72 on ESPN. The NBA finals will be broadcast exclusively on ABC. Overall ABC will broadcast six NBA Sunday doubleheaders. Both ABC and ESPN will feature a flexible schedule.

ABC and ESPN will combine to present a Christmas Day tripleheader. It will open at 2pm on ABC with the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James versus the Miami Heat with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. The game will be followed by Phoenix and Steve Nash visiting the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant. The nightcap moves to ESPN, where the Portland Trail Blazers’ and Greg Oden face the Seattle SuperSonics’ Kevin Durant at 8 p.m.

ABC highlights:

18 exclusive broadcasts;
a flexible schedule allowing for the best possible matchups throughout the season;
a Christmas Day doubleheader with Miami at Cleveland and Phoenix at the L.A. Lakers with coverage beginning at 2 p.m.;
a NBA Sunday regular-season schedule from Jan. 27 through April 13;
multiple appearances from several of the league’s top teams, including defending NBA Finals champion San Antonio and runner-up Cleveland, along with Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, L.A. Lakers, Miami and Phoenix;
two games between the Miami Heat, with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, facing the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James – Christmas Day at 2 p.m. and April 13 at 1 p.m. (both games at Cleveland);
Cleveland and LeBron James will host Denver and Carmelo Anthony Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. The matchup will be followed by the Lakers and Kobe Bryant visiting the Miami Heat and Shaquille O’Neal at 3:30 p.m.;
2006 NBA Finals rematch with the Miami Heat hosting the Dallas Mavericks March 16 at 3:30 p.m.;
a Texas showdown with the San Antonio Spurs hosting the Houston Rockets and perennial

YES Network for Sale

2007-08-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

The New York Yankees' cable network, the YES Network, is for sale, Fortune has learned. And some baseball insiders and Yankees limited partners are wondering whether the team itself might be next. This story was written by Jon Birger and Tim Arango of Fortune.

The highest-rated regional sports network in the country and the cable home of the Yankees and the NBA New Jersey Nets, YES is jointly owned by the Yankees, investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. (Charts, Fortune 500) , and former Nets owner Ray Chambers. Goldman and Chambers would like to cash out, YES and Yankees insiders say, and one source says to expect a deal by summer's end. Some possible bidders: Cablevision, Comcast (Charts), News Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) and Verizon (Charts, Fortune 500).

Publicly, Yankees and YES officials are noncommittal. "Absolutely not," Yankees president Randy Levine replies when asked whether YES is for sale - though not before acknowledging some "testing of the market." Gerry Cardinale, a Goldman managing director and YES board member, is more forthcoming, conceding that YES is in fact being shopped. "We're testing the waters with a limited universe of quality buyers," says Cardinale. "We would consider selling only if we receive a full and fair price."

And what might a "full and fair" price be? Try a cool $3 billion to $3.5 billion. At that price, one could argue that the true gem of the Yankees business empire isn't the team itself but YES.

read more...

Odds to Win the World Series

2007-08-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

Now that the MLB trade deadline has passed, and rosters are mostly set, I thought this would be a good time to check out the latest odds to win the World Series. According to Intertops.com, the Red Sox are the clear favorites at 4.25 to 1. The Sox certainly did not hurt themselves at the deadline, adding yet another quality reliever. Rounding out the top five are the Tigers, Angels, Mets, and Indians.

I find it surprising that the Braves and Phillies, only 3.5 and 4 games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East respectively, are so far down the list. The Phillies are at 26 to 1 and the Braves 21 to 1. It should also be noted that the odds on the Braves did not change after the deadline, despite the fact that they are much improved with the addition of Teixeira.

The following is the complete list of odds from Intertops.com to win the World Series.

Odds Team
4.25 Boston Red Sox
7 Detroit Tigers
8 Los Angeles Angels
8 New York Mets
10 Cleveland Indians
11 New York Yankees
13 Los Angeles Dodgers
13 Milwaukee Brewers
15 Chicago Cubs
15 San Diego Padres
21 Arizona Diamondbacks
21 Atlanta Braves
21 Seattle Mariners
26 Philadelphia Phillies
67 Colorado Rockies
67 Minnesota Twins
67 St Louis Cardinals
126 Toronto Blue Jays
151 Florida Marlins
201 Oakland Athletics
501 Houston Astros

Evidence World Cup Quidditch Game was Fixed

2007-08-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

I found this disturbing article today on Phil Birnbaum's Sabermetric Research blog. If a Quidditch game can be fixed, a World Cup Quidditch game no less, what chance does society have?

There's been a lot written about game-fixing in basketball lately, but not much about an obvious game fixing episode in World Cup Quidditch.

Quidditch is played on flying broomsticks by two opposing teams of seven players. There are two ways to score. A goal counts as 10 points, and is achieved by putting a soccer-ball sized "quaffle" through the other team's goal hoop. Meanwhile, a magical golden ball with wings, called the "snitch," flies throughout the area of play, trying to elude the players. Catching it scores 150 points, and ends the game.

In Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts, the Quidditch World Cup pits Ireland against Bulgaria. Ireland takes a commanding 170-10 point lead. Then, Bulgaria's Viktor Krum catches the snitch, ending the match. Ireland wins, 170-160.

Why did Krum throw the game by catching the snitch?

Group with Kansas City Ties to Buy Predators

2007-08-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

The good news for Nashville Predator fans is that it appears very unlikely that their team will be moving to Hamilton. The bad news is that doors may just have opened for a move to Kansas City.

from Randy Covitz of the The Kansas City Star

A Nashville group planning to sign a letter of intent to buy the Nashville Predators today is expected to include William “Boots” Del Biaggio, who also has a contract to own an NHL team for Kansas City’s Sprint Center.

Del Biaggio could not be reached for comment today, but was in Nashville for the announcement.

The Predators have been on the market since the end of the 2006-07 season, and owner Bruce Leipold had negotiated an offer, reported to be for more than $190 million with Del Biaggio, a San Jose, Calif., businessman, after talks were suspended with Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who had offered $220 million.

NHL talking to ESPN about replacing NBC

2007-08-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

It's looking more and more as if NBC will not be renewing its contract with the NHL when it expires after this season. Heading into the final year of their contract, NBC is cutting costs every way it can. Instead of covering 3 regional games per week, there will be only one national game. Also reduced is the number of on air personalities, with Brett Hull, Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro gone this year. In their place, Pierre McGuire will perform double duty as both game analyst and "studio" host. Note that "studio" is in quotes, because NBC has also dropped its entire NHL studio at Rockefeller Center.

The good news is that if NBC does not renew its contract with the NHL, that will open the door for the league to go back to ESPN and ABC.

from William Houston of the Globe and Mail

The online publication SportsBusiness Journal reported this week that the NHL has started preliminary talks with ESPN about replacing NBC as a television partner in 2008-09.

In response, an NBC spokesman said it was premature to speculate on what the network will do with its 2008-09 option.

What's more, NBC will employ a flexible NHL schedule in 2007-08, from which it will pick the best matchup — a move that should push up ratings.

Tony Gwynn's Strikeout Rate

2007-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

This morning a friend emailed me Tony Gwynn's career stats. He had highlighted some of his single season strikeout totals, which were ridiculously low considering the number of at bats. So I did a little research, and found this article which graphs Gwynn's strikeout rate throughout his career versus the league average.

Gwynn had a tremendously low strikeout rate throughout his career. Just as interesting, however, is what happened to the major league rate at the same time. It trended steadily up. As I’m sure you remember, these were the days of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Everyone was swinging harder, trying to hit the ball over the fence. But not Tony Gwynn. He resisted the trend and still wound up in the Hall of Fame.

Overnight Sports Nielsen TV Ratings: 07/23/2007 - 07/29/2007

2007-07-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Overnight Nielsen ratings for selected sporting events. One rating point equals 1% of the USA's 77 million overnight TV homes in Nielsen Media Research's 56 selected major markets. Cable rating converted to broadcast equivalent.

4.1 ESPN SUN NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
2.2/6 FOX SAT MLB Regional action
1.7/4 NBC SUN PGA Tour Canadian Open, Final round
1.1 ABC SUN Senior British Open Final round
1.1/3 NBC SAT PGA Tour Canadian Open, Third round
0.9 ABC SAT NTRA Breeders' Cup Challenge
0.9/2 CBS SUN Tour de France
0.9 ABC SUN AFL ArenaBowl XXI
0.8/2 CBS SUN World Series of Video Games
0.8/2 NBC SAT Tennis Indianapolis Tennis Championships, Semifinal
0.7 ABC SAT Senior British Open Third round
0.6/1 NBC SUN Tennis Indianapolis Tennis Championships, Final
0.5/1 NBC SUN Championship Off Road Racing

Research: NBA Scores Consistent with Occasional Point Shaving

2007-07-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

With the NBA point shaving scandal front and center in the news, a senior thesis paper by Jonathan Gibbs of Stanford is getting a lot of attention. In his thesis, Gibbs found that the betting line does seem to have an effect on the final margin in games with large point spreads. And if you are going to fix a game, the easiest way to do it is to make sure the heavily favored team fails to beat a large spread.

Gibbs found that teams beat the Las Vegas sportsbooks' spread almost exactly fifty percent of the time over the 16,000 games in the study (7,802 compared to 7,855). But in the games where point shaving would seem to be most likely, where the spreads were 12.5 points or more, the betting lines were not accurate.

Gibbs and others have looked just at the games where point shaving would seem to be most likely -- the games with spreads of 12.5 points or more -- and a really weird thing became clear. Suddenly the betting lines were not accurate. Favorites fell way short of the spread at a normal rate, and beat it by a long shot at a normal rate. But if the score was close to the spread -- in short, if it was a game that would be easy to shave points in the final minutes -- then the favorite fell short of the spread more often than they beat it at a significant rate.

That means that if the spread closed at, say, 13, the favorite tended to win by something like 11 or 12 more often than they won by 14 or 15."

Overnight Ratings for ArenaBowl XXI

2007-07-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

The overnight ratings for ArenaBowl XXI, broadcast in HD on ABC Sunday afternoon, are in. The game, featuring the San Jose Sabercats versus the Columbus Destroyers, earned a .9 overnight rating. To put that in perspective, the World Series of Video Games on CBS Sunday afternoon, earned a 0.8.

NHL and ESPN Talking

2007-07-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal is reporting that the NHL and ESPN are having talks about bringing the league back to the World Wide Leader in Sports. The league may be back on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC as soon as the 2008-09 season.

Sources also say the league is negotiating its planned NHL Network with cable and satellite operators. The NHL is taking a page from MLB by tying carriage of its planned channel with the renewal of Center Ice. The U.S. channel will have a look and feel similar to the Canadian version, and will have 50 live games in 2007-08. Most of the content will be identical to what appears in Canada, although repackaged with some U.S.-based programming.

The NHL and ESPN are in discussions about bringing the league’s games back to ESPN2 as soon as the 2008-09 season.
Multiple sources described the conversations as preliminary. The two started talking the week of July 16 when the NHL approached ESPN about NBC’s nine-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs. NBC holds the rights to air the coming season as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and the network holds a one-year option for the 2008-09 season.
It’s not certain that NBC would exercise that option, given the sport’s tepid ratings on the network. Regular-season ratings on NBC averaged a 0.9 during the 2006-07 season and a 1.0 during the 2007-08 season over nine telecasts.

The key to this whole scenario is Versus, which holds cable exclusivity to all of the league’s games through 2011 and is paying the league a rights fee in excess of $70 million annually. Sources close to the Comcast-owned network, however, indicated that Versus would be willing to waive that clause, but only if it gets something in return — either a lower rights fee, a stronger schedule or a deal extension.

Poll Results: What will be the next sport dragged into the steroids scandal?

2007-07-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

The issue of steroids in sports was all over the news in July. From Barry Bonds, to golf, to the UFC, to the Tour de France, it seemed as if not a day went by when the topic didn't come up at least once. So last week, EBTG offered an online poll, asking you, "What will be the next sport dragged into the steroids scandal?"

The people have spoken and the results are in. Oddly enough, 12% of the voters said that the Bassmaster Tournaments will be the next sport dragged into the steroids controversy. I am not sure how steroids can give you an edge here, but perhaps if the fish were given steroids all sorts of weight records would be broken.

The largest percentage of votes went to the AFL, which just celebrated ArenaBowl XXI. Personally, I find this hard to believe. If these guys were taking steroids, wouldn't they be in the NFL?

Soccer 6 (24%)
Arena Football League 10 (40%)
Lacrosse 4 (16%)
NASCAR 5 (20%)
Bowling 2 (8%)
Bassmaster Tournaments 3 (12%)

Boomer Esiason to Replace Don Imus on WFAN

2007-07-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

Although not yet official, Newsday is reporting that Boomer Esiason will be taking over the Don Imus show on WFAN. The format of the new show is unclear. It is expected that Boomer will continue his work for CBS on their NFL studio show, as well as his show on the MSG network. However, he might have to cut back his "Monday Night Football" radio schedule.

from Neil Best at Newsday

CBS Radio and Boomer Esiason are close to an agreement to have Esiason become the morning host on WFAN, according to a person familiar with the talks, who last night said a deal is "imminent."

Esiason has been on the short list since Don Imus was fired April 13, but the situation has been muddled by Imus' legal status.

CBS Radio is expected to reach a settlement with him that would avoid litigation and allow him to leave for another station.

The Strikeout Homerun

2007-07-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Of course, you've seen a batter strikeout and get to first base safely when the catcher drops strike three. You might even have seen a batter or two get to second when the ball is thrown past the first baseman. But I am pretty sure you've never seen a batter strikeout and come all the way around to score. While the other team is in the dugout. Well, now you have.

Online Poll: Should Sports Gambling Be Legalized?

2007-07-29T08:37:00.001-07:00

Basketball has the Tim Donaghy point shaving scandal. Baseball had the Pete Rose and Black Sox scandals. Football had the Paul Hornung and Alex Karras scandal. College sports has suffered multiple gambling scandals. So what's the best way to prevent gambling in sports? Some say by legalizing sports betting.

By legalizing sportsbooks throughout the country, and not just in Vegas, all odds makers will be on alert whenever games look suspicious. After all, MLB already monitors baseball gambling trends to look for irregularities.

David Stern argues that, "By making it legal, you're going to encourage more people to bet." True, but as long as we know the games themselves are not corrupt, how is that a bad thing? And from the league's point of view, legalized gambling will only help falling TV ratings. The more people that have a stake in the game, the more that will watch.

Perhaps legalized sports betting is the best thing that could happen to sports leagues in the U.S.

Place your vote now, in the upper right hand corner of this page.

from Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post

The integrity of the NBA is broke. Don't worry. Somebody will fix it.

Wanna bet?

Thank you, Tim Donaghy. Do not collect your $260,000 salary as a referee with an apparent gambling itch. Proceed directly to jail, where a new uniform will be waiting. Maybe something in zebra stripes.

It took this rogue ref to blow the whistle on a harsh reality that won't go away, no matter how sternly commissioner David Stern covers his eyes.

There are two great guilty pleasures in the United States.

Cheeseburgers.

And gambling.

Mets Present Top Ten List on Letterman

2007-07-28T11:41:00.001-07:00

Ten Mets presented the Top Ten list on the Late Show with David Letterman Friday night. Here are the "Things You Never Knew About the New York Mets."

10. Paul LoDuca: “Team forfeited Sunday’s game because we were all reading ‘Harry Potter.’”
9. Shawn Green: “Mets is short for metrosexuals.”
8. Carlos Delgado: “We all carry Blackberries so we can blog on the field.”
7. Jose Reyes: “During month of May, all we did was bunt.”
6. John Maine: “Proud to be in the same city as our favorite talk show host, Conan O’Brien.”
5. Aaron Heilman: “We always give 110%, except on Tuesdays, when we give 111%.”
4. Lastings Milledge: “For one season in the ‘80s, every player on the team was named Mookie.”
3. Marlon Anderson: “Our stadium nacho cheese is made with pine tar.”
2. Tom Glavine: “Blew entire budget signing David Beckham.”
1. David Wright: “We’ve really bonded since watching Oprah as a team.”

Nike, Reebok, Donruss Sack Vick

2007-07-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a bad financial day for Michael Vick, and it had nothing to do with the falling stock market. Nike, Reebok, and Donruss all took action against Vick, bowing under the pressure from animal rights organizations to stop doing business with Vick after his indictment last week for dogfighting charges.

Nike has suspended Vick's endorsement contract without pay, and Donruss has removed Vick from all future 2007 packs. In the biggest surprise, Reebok, the maker of the official NFL jerseys, will pull Vick’s jersey from shelves. A Reebok spokeswoman told the A.P. that the company had never taken this action before.

from Judy Battista of the New York Times

The groundswell against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is about to reach his wallet.
Yesterday, Nike announced that it had suspended Vick’s endorsement contract without pay and would not sell any more Vick-branded products.
Vick, who has been indicted in federal court on charges of running a dogfighting ring, has had an endorsement deal with Nike since entering the National Football League as the first overall draft pick in 2001. While Vick’s name will all but disappear from the shoe racks, his contract has not been terminated because, a statement released by Nike said, Vick “should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States.”

Clement Out as NBC Revamps NHL Studio Show

2007-07-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

Bill Clement is out as host of NBC's revamped NHL studio show. It was previously announced that Brett Hull had also left the show to take a front office position with the Dallas Stars. This season, NBC will abandon its set at Rockefeller Center and take its studio show on the road. The show will feature Pierre McGuire and the outspoken Mike Milbury, who is essentially replacing Hull. McGuire is expected to also continue his "Behind the Glass" segments of the telecasts.

When Milbury, who previously worked at ESPN, was asked why he is returning to television, he said, "You only have to work 25 days out of the year. It's kind of like stealing money."

Are Other Sports Leagues Safe from Gambling by Officials?

2007-07-27T04:17:00.000-07:00

In wake of the NBA referee gambling scandal, ESPN.com questioned other sports leagues to ask what they do to protect against gambling in their sport. In NCAA basketball, for example, all officials eligible to be selected to work the championship are subject to random, thorough background checks. Furthermore, the NCAA does not bring the referees who work the national title game into the city until the day of the game. MLB, which previously experienced both the Pete Rose and Black Sox scandals, monitors baseball gambling trends to look for irregularities.

At his televised news conference on Tuesday, NBA commissioner David Stern presented a lengthy list of safeguards the league had in place to prevent the sort of disgrace brought on in the last week by a federal investigation of suspected gambling by a referee.
The safeguards, clearly, weren't fail-safe.
"I can't believe it's happening to us," Stern said about the alleged gambling by referee Tim Donaghy on games he officiated.
Among other firewalls the NBA thought would protect it from gambling scandals are the presence in the league office of security representatives with experience in the
FBI, the Secret Service, the U.S. Army, the New York Police Department and New York State Police Investigation. The league, Stern said, maintains constant communication with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. It subjects its referees to extensive security checks, and it retains a security rep in Las Vegas to monitor unusual movements or trends on betting on NBA games in that city's legal sports books.
It wasn't enough.

AFL Nielsen TV Ratings on ESPN

2007-07-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

from Neil Best of Newsday.

It's been five months since ESPN detonated its new Arena Football League deal with hype that included an ESPN Zone bash in Times Square attended by everyone from Jon Bon Jovi to John Elway.

With the Arena Bowl scheduled for Sunday on ABC, how has it worked out so far? The ratings suggest not so great.

The season-opening regional coverage on ABC drew 1.0 percent of all U.S. households, but 16 regular-season games on ESPN2 attracted an NHL-like 0.2 percent of the 94 million homes that have ESPN. (The playoffs have performed somewhat better.)

That is far behind the 0.8 percent of all U.S. homes the AFL averaged on NBC in its last season in '06, which itself was that network's lowest figure to date.

Leah LaPlaca, a VP for programming, said the ratings "are about what we expected them to be for this first season" and added ESPN - which owns 10 percent of the AFL - sees vast growth potential.

ESPN had better hope so.

Wild Canucks Arrested after Bachelor Party

2007-07-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal and his younger brother Jordan, along with a number of their cousins, were arrested Saturday morning in Minnesota. They were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process. Jordan Staal, the 18 year old rookie with the Penguins, was also charged with consumption of alcohol while under 21 years of age. The arrests came after the 20 or so men at Eric's bachelor party grew rowdy and were warned "multiple times."

Luke DeCock of the News & Observer reports,

"After leaving the property, the group gathered on Highway 61 and began harassing passing motorists," the Sheriff's office said, at which point 14 members of the group were arrested at approximately 4 a.m.

SaberCats Versus Destroyers In HD! Huh?

2007-07-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

If I were to tell you that the SaberCats were playing the Destroyers on TV this Sunday, would you have any idea of what sport I was referring to? Here's a clue, it is broadcast on ABC. Need another clue? The two teams are from San Jose and Columbus, and the game is being played in New Orleans. Give up? It's ArenaBowl XXI, the championship game of the Arena Football League, played Sunday at 3 p.m. EST.

According to ESPN, the production highlights include the following:

Game broadcast in High Definition on ABC HD
SkyCam -- overhead remote-controlled camera will provide unique aerial views
Cameras inside locker-rooms during pre-game and halftime
Players and coaches (three per team) wearing live microphones, offering in-game audio inside the huddle as plays are called and conversations with ESPN commentators;
Possible booth visit by Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Joey Galloway, co-owner of the Columbus Destroyers.

Wow, a possible visit from Joey Galloway! We don't want to take a chance of missing that.

Kazakhstan Rider Latest Tour de France Drug Suspect

2007-07-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

Yawn. Another day, another sports scandal. The LA Times is reporting that yet another Tour de France cyclist, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, has tested positive for blood doping. As a result, Vinokourov's team, Astana, has withdrawn from the Tour.

Somewhere in the distance, Borat sheds a tear.

from Diane Pucin of the LA Times

It is as if this Tour de France is being competed in clown cars instead of on bicycles.

Tumbling out of that crazy car Tuesday came swashbuckling fan favorite Alexandre Vinokourov, the blond from Kazakhstan who had won two of the last three stages while riding bandaged and bloodied from a first-week crash.

Vinokourov had a positive test for blood doping on his first, or "A" sample, after his inspiring victory in Saturday's time trial. The story first appeared Tuesday on the website of the French sports newspaper L'Equipe and was confirmed by Tour officials at a news conference in Pau during the three-week Tour's second rest day.

Don Imus Not Returning to WFAN

2007-07-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Despite the persistent rumors, Don Imus will not be returning to his morning show on WFAN. Boomer Esiason is now the leading candidate to take over the morning drive slot. Insider thinking is that Boomer would be a better fit than Imus on the all-sports station. Neil Best of Newsday is reporting that Imus may show up elsewhere on radio after securing a contract settlement with CBS.

David Beckham’s Debut – Most-viewed MLS Telecast on ESPN and ESPN2

2007-07-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

The final Nielsen ratings are in for David Beckham's MLS debut on ESPN. The game, broadcast on Saturday July 21 at 9 p.m. ET, was seen in an average of 947,000 television homes by almost 1.5 million viewers. According to Nielsen Media Research, the game was the most-viewed Major League Soccer telecast ever on ESPN or ESPN2. It was also the most-viewed and highest-rated program of the night on ad-supported cable networks among Men 18-49 and 25-54.

According to an ESPN press release:

The match beat the previous most-viewed telecast – DC United vs. San Jose Clash on April, 4, 1996 – seen in 681,000 homes (1.092 million, P2+), based on a 1.0 rating. The DC United vs. San Jose Clash was the first match in the League’s 12-year history.

David Beckham’s MLS debut also beat the most-viewed U.S. Soccer National Team match (excluding FIFA World Cup tournament) on ESPN or ESPN2. Previously, the most-viewed U.S. National Team telecast was seen in 680,000 homes (915,000, P2+) and 0.9 rating for the Oct. 3, 1997, World Cup qualifying match between Jamaica and the U.S. on ESPN.

Mike Milbury to Replace Hull on NBC

2007-07-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

With Brett Hull leaving NBC to take a front office job with the Dallas Stars, NBC will be replacing Hull with Mike Milbury. Milbury was previously head coach, GM, head coach again, and Senior Vice President of the New York Islanders. The outspoken Milbury should be as good a replacement for Hull as NBC could have hoped to find. Milbury was outstanding in a previous stint at ESPN, which helped him land the head coaching job of the Islanders in the first place.

It is also being reported that NBC will drop it's NHL studio show, which is a shame since it's live segments on the ice at The Rock were some of the best parts of the broadcast.

Mike Milbury, in addition to ruining the Islanders through a series of ill-conceived trades, is best known for two incidents. 1) Speaking of Ziggy Pallfy's agent Paul Kraus, Milbury once said, "It's too bad he lives in the city. He's depriving some small village of a pretty good idiot." 2) In 1979, Milbury went into the stands a beat up a heckling Ranger fan with his shoe.

New San Jose Sharks Logo Revealed

2007-07-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

from NHL.com

The new look of Sharks Territory was unveiled at a 10 a.m. press conference by Sharks President and CEO Greg Jamison, Executive Vice President of Business Operations Malcolm Bordelon, defenseman Kyle McLaren and logo designer Terry Smith. The re-branding included the unveiling of the updated Sharks logos, the re-launch of http://www.sjsharks.com/ and the re-opening of the Sharks Store.

The new San Jose Sharks Primary Crest, joined by eight supporting marks, is both a re-imagination and a tribute to the original triangle logo used since the team’s inception in 1991. The updated crest incorporates more Pacific Teal, the primary color of the Sharks, and emphasizes speed, strength and determination. Smith, the designer of the original Sharks logo, created the new marks over an 18-month period in conjunction with Sharks players and front office.

read more...

A Scandal for Every Sport

2007-07-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks, there has been a major scandal in almost every major sport. The NFL has the Michael Vick indictment, the NBA has the referee point shaving scandal, MLB has the Bonds steroids issue, the UFC lightweight champion tested positive for steroids, and the WWE is dealing with the Chris Benoit tragedy. The PGA even got into the action last week when Gary Player said that golfers are taking steroids.

The only sport that is missing a major scandal is the NHL. Oh, that's right, it was only a couple months ago that Chris Simon used his stick to try to take the head of off Ryan Hollweg of the Rangers. It's funny how quickly we forget these things.

Freddy Adu To Leave MLS

2007-07-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

Just as the MLS gained one star player, they are losing another. The Washington Post is reporting that Adu is leaving the MLS to play in Portugal. Adu never lived up to the high expectations of becoming the first truly great American soccer player. He joined the league as a 14 year old, and was never able to handle the tremendous amount of pressure that was put on him.

Freddy was also to blame at times, often acting his age, pouting or quitting in games due to frustration. Perhaps he was too young.

Perhaps he was too young? He was 14! The MLS handled his career terribly, and is at least partly to blame for not being able to develop his talents further.

Minor League Coach Dies After Being Hit by Ball

2007-07-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

from Teddy Kider of The New York Times

A foul ball jumped off the bat of Tino Sánchez on Sunday night in North Little Rock, Ark., then took a hard and straight path down the first-base line. At first glance, it might have seemed like a routine line drive, but the ball crashed into the head of the first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh, knocking him to the ground at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Coolbaugh, a 35-year-old coach for the Tulsa Drillers, was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m. Central time, according to a Pulaski County Sherriff’s Office report, about an hour after he was hit and knocked unconscious.

NBA Referee Scandal: Several Suspicious Games Discussed

2007-07-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

In his article in today's Newsday, Ken Berger discusses several examples of games officiated by Tim Donaghy that appear suspicious. Berger points to the high percentage of games officiated by Donaghy in which the point spread changed as possible evidence of tampering. Berger also notes that there were 16 games Donaghy officiated in the last two seasons in which the home team shot at least 14 more free throws than the visitors.

Of the 139 games officiated by Tim Donaghy during the past two NBA seasons, the opening point spread moved at least two points in 28 of them, or 20 percent, according to a source within the Nevada sports betting industry.

The trend, along with dramatic free-throw differentials in several of Donaghy's games, could provide important evidence to the NBA and federal authorities investigating whether the referee bet on games he officiated or furnished information to bettors as part of a possible point-shaving or game-fixing
scandal.

Overnight Sports Nielsen TV Ratings: 07/16/2007 - 07/22/2007

2007-07-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

4.1/12 ABC SUN British Open Final round
2.7/8 ABC SAT British Open Third round
2.5/6 FOX SAT MLB Regional action
1.9/5 ABC SUN IRL Honda 200
1.2 ESPN SAT MLS David Beckham Debut
1.1/3 ABC SUN British Open Highlights
1.0/3 ABC SAT British Open Highlights
0.9/2 NBC SAT AVP Bud Light Long Beach Open Women's Final
0.9 NBC SUN AVP Bud Light Long Beach Open Men's Final
0.8/2 NBC SUN AST Dew Tour Right Guard Open
0.8/2 FOX SUN MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix
0.8/2 CBS SAT NTRA Grand Slam of Grass Virginia Derby
0.7/2 CBS SAT LPGA Tour HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship Third Round
0.7/2 CBS SUN LPGA Tour HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship Final Round
0.6/2 CBS SUN Tour de France Highlights
0.6/2 NBC SAT AST Dew Tour Right Guard Open
0.5/1 CBS SUN American Le Mans Series Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio

Despite all of the hype surrounding David Beckham's MLS debut on ESPN, it's interesting to note that it was not the highest rated sporting event of the week. It's not surprising that it was beat by the British Open. However it was also surpassed in the ratings by both a regular season MLB game on FOX, and the IRL Honda 200 on ABC. Yes, those two events were both shown on broadcast networks, rather than cable TV. But the MLS game was heavily hyped, and shown in prime time on the popular ESPN.

Beckham's Overnight Nielsen Ratings on ESPN

2007-07-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

David Beckham's MLS debut for the Los Angeles Galaxy earned a 1.2 overnight Nielsen rating on ESPN. The game was broadcast live on Saturday night, July 21. Beckham's first game was the highest rated MLS telecast ever on ESPN.

Why Vick’s Indictment is Good for the NFL

2007-07-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

After reading the heinous charges against Michael Vick, my initial reaction was that this story was a nightmare for the NFL. But after considering it some more, I think it will actually be good for the NFL.

How can it be a good thing to have one of your star players accused of operating a brutal dog fighting operation? Because it will increase ratings! After all, who would not want to watch Vick’s first game of the year? There will be so many interesting components. How will the announcers handle it? Will they condemn him, or say that he is innocent until proven guilty? Will they ignore the issue completely? It will be fascinating.

It will also be interesting to see how Vick and his teammates handle the situation. Will Vick crack under the pressure? Will the mob of press be such a distraction to the team that they cannot play well? The telecast will be such a train wreck, and so fascinating on many levels, that you will have to watch. And after all, that is why the networks are paying the NFL billions of dollars – to get people to watch.

The only way the Vick situation will be bad for the NFL is if PETA and other organizations can affect the NFL’s sponsors. If they can cause sponsors to drop out of the sport, that will hit the NFL where it really hurts – the bottom line. What good are ratings, if you can’t sell the ad space?

But that won’t happen. First of all, sponsors will not leave the NFL in mass. The ratings are too high, and the NFL’s product reaches all the right demographics. And even if some sponsors do leave, so what? There will be a line of new ones to take their place.

And if you’re thinking that this whole situation will be avoided when the NFL suspends Vick, think again. They have absolutely no incentive to suspend him. For starters, the product on the field is better when Vick is playing than when he is not. Vick has to be better than any replacement, or he wouldn’t have been starting to begin with. The other reason, again, is ratings. More people will tune in to see Vick play than to see his replacement play. And the NFL can easily defend a decision to not suspend Vick. Despite the mountain of evidence against him, the NFL can always hide behind the fact that he is “innocent until proven guilty.”

So get ready for September 9. Atlanta vs. Minnesota will be must-see TV.

Serena Williams to Pose Nude

2007-07-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

Serena Williams will be posing nude this month, along with seven other "famous faces", in Jane magazine. Actually, in this photo of Serena, we barely see her face at all. Serena is facing away from the camera, holding a flower to cover her "bootay". For a sneak preview, check out whudat.com.

NBA Referee Scandal Nothing New For League

2007-07-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

The allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy may have shaved points in games he officiated the past two years has rocked the sport. In her column today in Newsday, Johnette Howard points out that conspiracy theories have been around the NBA for years. For example, she tells of two star players back in the 1980's who charted the point spread versus final game score for every league referee because they had some suspicions back then. Other whisperings include the so-called "frozen envelope" that Stern picked out of a bin to give the Knicks the right to draft Patrick Ewing in 1985, and rumors that Michael Jordan's father was killed by the mob because of some Jordan gambling incident gone awry.

from Johnette Howard of Newsday

Back before his own players started attacking him as racist, before his spats with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the brawl at Auburn Hills, before the dress-code flap and the on-court behavior crackdown and the TV ratings flops for recent NBA Finals -- in short, before the NBA descended into the sort of trouble it knew when David Stern first took over a few decades ago -- Stern used to be known as the "genius" of pro sports commissioners.
Stern will need to channel the old David, the Other David, now that his league has been rocked with the darkest incident in pro basketball history -- an ongoing FBI investigation into a possibly mobbed-up referee, 13-year veteran Tim Donaghy, who may have shaved points in an unspecified number of games the past two seasons, allegedly because of gambling debts he couldn't repay.

Potential Evidence NBA Referee Bet on Games Uncovered?

2007-07-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

NBA referee Tim Donaghy is under investigation for allegations that he bet on games he officiated. By analyzing Donaghy's profile on gambling site Covers.com, Matt Watson of The FanHouse has uncovered some very interesting facts about the games Tim Donaghy officiated last year.

Donaghy officiated 74 games last year, and out of 60 referees, he ranked third in the league for officiating the most games where the final score topped the projected over/under. In addition, the home team's record against the spread in games he officiated was just 30-41-3, which ranks 52nd out of 60.

Bear in mind that by themselves, these rankings don't mean anything -- after all, someone has to rank high or low in these categories -- but it's certainly interesting that he ranks among the extremes in these categories instead of in the middle of the pack. I'm sure it'll be just a matter of time before we can point to specific calls in specific games, but astute gamblers already knew that most of the games Donaghy officiated were high-scoring affairs in which the home team lost by more than expected.

NBA Referee Under Investigation for Betting on NBA Games

2007-07-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

NBA referee Tim Donaghy is under investigation by the FBI for allegations that he bet on games that he officiated over the past two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in games, multiple sources told ESPN.

Donaghy, a 13-year veteran of the league, is aware of the investigation and resigned from the NBA recently.

The NBA issued a brief statement Friday, saying: "We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time."

According to a law enforcement official, authorities are examining whether Donaghy -- whose identity was not revealed until Friday afternoon -- made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered.

read more...

UFC Lightweight Champion Tests Positive for Steroids

2007-07-20T06:36:00.001-07:00

A day after Gary Player accused fellow golfers of taking steroids, it was announced that UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk has tested positive for steroids. Sherk's opponent at UFC 73, Hermes Franca, also tested positive.

Now that Golf and MMA have been dragged into the steriods scandal, what will be the next sport to take the fall? See our poll in the right hand margin of Everything But the Game.

Nike Delays Vick's Shoe Release

2007-07-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

After initially planning to release Michael Vick's new shoe as scheduled, Nike has now announced they will delay the debut of Air Zoom Vick V after all. Although Vick has only been indicted and not convicted, and in this country you are innocent until proven guilty, this was the right move. Nike also had endorsement deals with Kobe Bryant (accused of sexual assault) and Justin Gatlin (accused of using an anabolic agent ) and does not need the bad publicity of yet another scandal.

from Nicholas Casey of The Wall Street Journal

Nike Inc. suspended the release of a shoe endorsed by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, the second time in about a year that the athletic-footwear giant has taken the unusual step of cracking down on one of its star endorsers after alleged misbehavior.

Mr. Vick, who has been under contract with Nike since 2001, was this week indicted on federal charges for his alleged involvement in a dogfighting ring and is scheduled for arraignment next week in Richmond, Va. The Beaverton, Ore., company won't release Mr. Vick's fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V, which was set to be released on Aug. 23, a Nike spokesman said. Mr. Vick's four previous shoe models will remain in stores.
"Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent," the company said in a statement yesterday. Nike added that it believes Mr. Vick should be "afforded the same due process as any citizen" and hadn't yet terminated its relationship with the athlete at this time. Mr. Vick's agent, Joel Segal, didn't return a call for comment.

Gary Player Claims Golfers Taking Performance Enhancing Drungs

2007-07-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Gary Player, in an interview with the BBC, revealed that he knows of fellow golfers taking performance-enhancing drugs, and called for random drug testing in the sport. In fact, Player claims that two golfers told him personally that they are taking drugs to enhance their performance.

"I know for a fact that some golfers are doing it," said the South African, who won nine majors in his career.

Player goes on to say that he himself had rejected offers from doctors to take Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Player has been told that by taking HGH, he can expect to hit the ball 20 to 30 yards further.

It is now naive to think that only football players and bulky home run hitters are taking steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. If drugs are part of golf, can we assume that any sport, other than perhaps bowling, is drug free?

Nike to Release Michael Vick's New Shoe as Planned

2007-07-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

Despite Michael Vick's recent indictment by a grand jury on charges of operating a dogfighting operation, Nike plans on going ahead and releasing his new shoe as scheduled. The Vick V shoe, which retails for $100, will go out on shelves on August 23.

When Darren Rovell of CNBC spoke to Nike chief marketing officer Jeff Hennion, he was told,

"What’s going on with Michael Vick doesn’t change our merchandising marketing plan. The shoe is obviously a small component of the overall marketing initiative with Nike."

When I first heard that Nike will be releasing Vick's shoes as scheduled, I admit I was surprised. After all, the indictment against Vick alleges that he was actually involved in the execution of dogs that did not perform well. But then I realized that, sadly, Vick's indictment will probably result in an increase in shoe sales. Sigh.

Dan Patrick to Debut New Show September 9

2007-07-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Sports Business Daily is reporting that Dan Patrick's new radio show, distributed by The Content Factory, will debut on September 9. The show is being offered to terrestrial, satellite, and HD radio stations. Patrick's new show will touch not only on sports, but also entertainment and politics. There is no word yet on which specific outlets will carry the show.

The Star of David Beckham

2007-07-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

When the Los Angeles Galaxy signed David Beckham to a contract reportedly worth $250 million, they did so with the ultimate goal of increasing revenue and establishing a worldwide brand. In a matter of months, the Galaxy are on their way to achieving that goal.

To establish a worldwide brand, the first order of business was to create a new logo that would be instantly recognizable throughout the world, much like the interlocking NY of the New York Yankees. Done.

To increase revenue, the Galaxy has done everything from the obvious (increasing ticket prices) to the creative (signing new sponsors to a series of exhibition games). A big piece of the financial puzzle was selling sponsorship on the front of the team's jersey. Herbalife outbid other potential sponsors, including Citibank, with a $20 five year deal -- better than some MLS stadium-naming-rights. The deal also gave the Galaxy a chance to sell more than 75,000 jerseys to Herbalife product distributors and included a commitment to back other AEG Sports.

It will be very interesting to see if the Galaxy can recoup their investment. The Beckham publicity machine is in full motion, but hype can only get you so far. In two years, when the hype has died down, the Galaxy and MLS may find themselves back in the obscurity from which they started.

from Tripp Mickle of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal

Alexi Lalas’ family vacation disintegrated last January. What was supposed to be a quiet week away from work in Palm Beach, Fla., turned into a week of nonstop, international phone calls and e-mails

Is it done? Lalas, president of the Los Angeles Galaxy, would ask every few hours.

We’re close, AEG Sports President Shawn Hunter would say. Still no signature.

But late on the night of Jan. 10 that all changed when Lalas got word that David Beckham had signed to play for the Galaxy. He immediately got on his computer to e-mail his staff the good news. After labeling the subject, “The Star of David,” Lalas wrote:

It’s a go. Let’s have some fun.

He hit send and felt a mix of pride and excitement as he thought about the historic significance of the signing. But those feelings quickly faded under the weight of his new responsibility.

The team had just signed the world’s most iconic soccer player to an unprecedented contract reportedly worth $250 million. It was a deal he would have to help make work not just for the Galaxy but also for all of Major League Soccer.

Spike to Pay $100 Million to Keep UFC

2007-07-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Multiple sources are reporting that Spike TV will renew their rights deal to continue carrying the UFC for over $100 million. According to Multichannel News, the pact will give Spike more live UFC events than the previous agreement. The deal will also allow Spike to continue running it's Ultimate Fighter reality series. Executives from Spike would not comment, and UFC executives could not be reached for comment at press time.

For those of you keeping track, that is $100 million more than Gary Bettman and the NHL received from NBC in their last rights deal.

Falcons' Vick Indicted by Grand Jury in Dogfighting Probe

2007-07-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three others were indicted on charges of operating a dogfighting operation on property owned by Vick in southeastern Virginia. If convicted, Vick could face up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines. Purses for the fights ranged from hundreds of dollars to thousands. According to the indictment, Vick was highly involved in the operation, attended the fights, and paid off bets when his dogs lost. The indictment also alleges Vick was involved in the executions of dogs that did not perform well.

NFL star Michael Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation so grisly the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot.

If convicted, many are calling for the same punishment for Vick.

The First Rule of NHL Fight Club...

2007-07-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

How proud the NHL must be to know one of its players has been hosting a camp that instructs kids as young as 12 how to physically decimate their opponents with their fists. This story was written by Adam Proteau of The Hockey News.

In addition to providing that oh-so-valuable life lesson in common assault, the second “Derek Boogaard Fighting Camp”, held last week in the Minnesota Wild enforcer’s home province of Saskatchewan, also gives the kiddies T-shirts “splotched with blood-red dye,” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Awwwww. Cute. But I think Boogaard hasn’t gone far enough. He should be demonstrating what ambulance rides to a hospital’s intensive care unit feel like. The tykes ought to know how it feels to have reconstructive surgery on their orbital bones. And there’s got to be enough room in the curriculum for showing campers how to push aside their consciences, as well as how to live with the long-term, physical effects that follow when you pummel other human beings for a living.

read more ...

Was Rick DiPeitro's Contract Genius or Madness?

2007-07-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sabermetric Research cites a July 16 Sports Illustrated article by Michael Farbe, in which he discusses a loophole in the NHL salary cap. At issue is that when a player is given a multi-year contract, the hit against the cap is the average salary for the length of the contract, and the not actual salary for that particular year.

For instance, Daniel Brière signed with the Flyers for $52 million over eight years. That's an average of $6.5MM, which will be charged each season against the Flyers' cap. But for the eight years, Brière is actually being paid $10, $8, $8, $7, $7, $7, $3, and $2 million, respectively.

To illustrate the loophole, Sabremetric Research offers the following extreme example,

Now, suppose the Flyers are so rolling in money that they're willing to pay Brière something completely unreasonable, like $50 million a year for 20 years. Technically, they can sign him to a billion year contract, at $1 per year, and front load all the money into the first twenty years. The cap gets charged $1 per year, for a billion years – and the Flyers barely notice. Brière gets rich, and the cap (in spirit, if not in letter) is blown away.

Which brings us to Rick DiPietro's much-criticized 15-year, $67.5 million contract. On the surface, this deal seems irresponsible. Why offer such a young goaltender, or any player for that matter, such a long expensive contract?

Well, let's assume the Islanders only expect to get 10 good years from DiPietro. Roberto Luongo recently signed a three year contract with the Canucks at $6.75 million per season. Using that as a base, one option for the Islanders would be to sign DiPietro to a 10 year $67.5 million contract. This deal would represent a $6.75 million dollar annual hit on the salary cap.

Here is where the genius comes into play. By extending the deal to 15 years at the same $67.5 million, the Islanders reduced their cap hit to only $4.5 million per year.

You might think that one risk to this deal is that even though the Islanders are taking a smaller cap hit, they are taking the hit for 5 additional years. What if DiPietro does not play all 15 years, and retires after the 10th season? Again, the Islander's are protected.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, if a player signs a multi-year deal before the age of 35, and retires before it finishes, there is no salary-cap charge for the unplayed seasons.

So the Islanders would not take any salary cap hit if DiPietro retires before the 15 year deal is complete. If DiPietro retires after year 10, he effectively gets a 10 year, $67.5 million contact. However, the Islanders cap hit was only $4.5 million per year. Suddenly, Garth Snow's first contract as Islanders GM seems much more like genius than lunacy.

A Deeper Look at the NHL Schedule

2007-07-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

On The Forecheck, a terrific NHL blog, has created a very interesting spreadsheet of the 2007-08 NHL schedule. The spreadsheet, of course, includes columns containing the names of the teams that are playing. But added in are columns for distance from the previous game, opponent's winning percentage, opponent's power play %, and more.

So how can you use this? Checking out who has the furthest to travel for games on consecutive nights is a start. That honor goes to the Vancouver Canucks, who play at Edmonton on November 20, then have to fly 1,090 miles to play the Wild in Minnesota the next evening. You can summarize and sort the teams based on greatest and least travel. Who's going to face the toughest defensive teams on the road this year? Whose goalie is going to see the most rubber flying his way? How do the divisions compare?

Overnight Sports Nielsen TV Ratings: 07/09/2007 - 07/15/2007

2007-07-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

2.3/6 FOX SAT MLB Baseball
1.7/4 ABC SAT NASCAR Busch USG Durock 300
1.3/3 CBS SUN PGA Tour John Deere Classic
1.0/3 CBS SAT PGA Tour John Deere Classic
1.0/2 NBC SUN Golf American Century
0.9/2 NBC SUN Hy Vee ITU World Cup
0.8/2 ABC SAT NASCAR Countdown
0.8/2 ABC SUN WNBA All Star Game
0.7/2 CBS SUN Tour de France Highlights
0.7/2 CBS SUN Grand Prix of Germany
0.7/2 NBC SAT Golf American Century
0.6/2 CBS SAT SPT SP
0.6/1 ABC SUN British Open Preview
0.5/1 NBC SAT SPT SP 7/14

ESPN and the WNBA Team Up

2007-07-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Sports Business News is reporting that the WNBA has agreed to an eight-year rights extension through the 2016 season with ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2.

The new contract includes a minimum of 18 regular-season games to be telecast on ESPN2 (approximately one per week) and two games on ABC. The postseason on ESPN2 will include a minimum of 11 games, including the entire best-of-five WNBA Finals. All ABC and ESPN2 telecasts will continue to have time-period exclusivity. In addition, the deal includes coverage of the first round of the WNBA Draft on ESPN2 and rights to coverage on ESPN Deportes, including: live simulcast rights for all ESPN2 regular-season and post-season games, as well as all studio and specials programming; SAP rights for all ABC games; and enhanced digital media rights for ESPNDeportes.com.

Although financial terms are not discussed in this article, it has been reported that the deal did include a rights-fee, and not a revenue sharing percentage. What does it say about the state of the NHL that the WNBA received more guaranteed money than they did? Of course, it is probably not a coincidence that the NBA recently also agreed to terms with ESPN and ABC. It would not be surprising to learn that David Stern made it clear that if you take the WNBA, you will get treated better by the NBA.

Chris Benoit Tragedy Splotlights Strain on WWE Wrestlers

2007-07-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

In the aftermath of the Chris Benoit tragedy, the stresses put on WWE wrestlers are coming more and more into the spotlight. According to insiders, wrestlers are placed under near-constant stress, face hazardous conditions, have no insursance, no off-season, and often perform hurt. A major factor leading to these conditions is that the WWE is basically a monopoly. According to Alfonso A. Castillo of Newsday,

Even when they are hurt, many pro wrestlers, who are classified as independent contractors and don't get insurance, choose to work through agonizing pain out of fear of losing their place in the cards or their jobs altogether.

With no unions or pensions and no viable competitor to WWE, losing your job can mean losing your career, wrestlers say.

The problem for the wrestlers is that the WWE has bought out most rival wrestling leagues. That leaves the performers with little options. They must keep performing up to brutal expectations -- the WWE puts on shows more than 250 nights a year -- or risk losing their jobs. If they lose their jobs, they do not have another league to turn to.

This is similar to the problem faced by UFC performers as previously discussed on Everything But The Game. When performers have few options, they are taken advantage of. Of course, the MLB and NFL are monopolies as well. But in those leagues, there are 30 odd teams competing for the services of each player. If a player leaves one team, he has 29 more opportunities to find another job. WWE wrestlers and UFC fighters do not have that same opportunity.

Odds & Ends: Beckham's Debut

2007-07-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

David Beckham's home MLS debut for the Los Angeles Galaxy has generated some interesting betting odds. Intertops.com is currently offering the following odds on Beckham's home opener:

Option: Odds
Tom Cruise to be in the audience: 1.10
To score: 2.20
To be substituted: 2.75
To be booked: 3.50
To score by freekick: 4.00
To score by penalty: 6.00
To be sent off: 15.00
To score a hattrick: 31.00

What are the odds that by January, anyone in the U.S. is going to care?

Sheffield: Yankees Treat Black Players Differently

2007-07-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Gary Sheffield no longer plays in New York, but he is still causing headaches for the Yankees. This time, Sheffield told HBO's "Real Sports" that Yankee's manager Joe Torre treats black and white players differently.

Sheffield says in the interview that Derek Jeter "ain't all the way black," referring to the fact that Jeter's father is African-American and his mother is white.

During the interview which will air Tuesday at 10pm, Sheffield goes on to tell Andrea Kremer that he did not think Torre was racist, only that he treated black and white players differently.

Isn't that the definition of a racist? I am certainly not accusing Torre of being a racist, but it sure sounds as if Sheffield is.

from By RICHARD SANDOMIR of The New York Times

Gary Sheffield, who is known for making candid and controversial comments, said in an HBO Sports interview that Yankees Manager Joe Torre treated black players differently from whites during Sheffield’s three seasons with the team.
“When I was there, the couple of blacks that was there, every one of them had an issue with the organization,” he told “Real Sports” for its July 17 program. “They had an issue with Joe Torre.”
He added, “They weren’t treated like everybody else.”

NHL 'Ice Bowl' Game may be Played in February

2007-07-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

It looks like NBC is thinking twice about televising an outdoor NHL game against the college football bowl games on New Year's Day. They are probably right. It would be embarrassing for the league and NBC to schedule a much-hyped outdoor game on New Year's Day, only to have the ratings show that nobody watched it. The game may now be moved to February 17, when there will not be as much sports competition.

from Rob Rossi of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Penguins and Buffalo Sabres could be played Feb. 17, 2008, rather than New Year's Day. The Penguins are scheduled to play twice in Buffalo this season, once Jan. 1 and again Feb. 17.

Each game is scheduled to be played at HSBC Arena and start at 1 p.m., but the Feb. 17 contest will be played on a Sunday -- an ideal slot for NBC to televise an outdoor game, given that major sporting competition would be limited to the NBA and college basketball.

Odds & Ends: Cubans and Blacks in Baseball

2007-07-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

According to multiple sources, Mark Cuban has submitted an application to purchase the Chicago Cubs. I wonder where someone gets one of those applications.
Chris Isidore of CNNMoney discusses why there are so few black baseball players. Interestingly, the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros have no black players on their rosters. Isidore attributes much of the problem to two trends: 1) More players are being drafted out of college rather than high school, and 2) Teams are signing more players than ever from outside the U.S..

NFL Network Cuts Comcast Deal

2007-07-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

In big blow to the NFL Network, their new deal with Comcast will see the fledgling network carried on a little-subscribed-to digital tier. After the NFL granted their own network a package of 8 regular season games, they had hoped to be added to basic cable. It could be worse though. They could be on Versus.

from Braodcasting & Cable

The three-year-old NFL Network has quietly cut a deal for this season with Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, to carry its controversial package of eight live football games on terms far weaker than the league is seeking.

Meanwhile, the NFL Network will go dark on Time Warner Cable systems recently acquired from Adelphia Communications in a bankruptcy sale.The Adelphia dispute is part of a larger duel in which the No. 2 cable operator is resisting paying the NFL network's high license fee and carriage demands. Time Warner has said the NFL is looking for a 250% increase in those fees.

When the NFL Network’s new eight-game, Thursday-Saturday package kicks off on Thanksgiving, Comcast will air the games on a digital tier available to fewer than one third of its subscribers. The league has been seeking carriage on basic cable, which would be available to nearly all of the operator's 23.3 million subscribers.

Reason for Pujols All Star Benching Possibly Uncovered

2007-07-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Chris Russo of the Mike and the Mad Dog Show today quoted "reliable sources" as telling him that Tony LaRussa did not bat Albert Pujols in the ninth inning of the All Star Game because Pujols had already undressed. Russo did not name his sources, and the story has not been confirmed by a second independent source. I am very curious if there is footage of the dugout during the ninth inning, and if so, whether Pujols appears in it.

Dan Patrick To Launch Syndicated Radio Show

2007-07-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

from Robert Feder at The Chicagio Sun-Times

Also on the ESPN beat, Dan Patrick, who's leaving the network after 18 years as one of its biggest stars, soon will announce his new deal: He'll continue in radio and launch a new nationally syndicated program via Chicago-based Content Factory.

read entire article ...

According to this report, Dan Patrick has already signed a deal to launch a new syndicated radio program. I haven't seen this reported anywhere else, and it has not been confirmed. I had previously speculated that Patrick might be leaving ESPN to take over the Don Imus radio show. Neil Best of Newsday is reporting that this will not be the case.

UPDATE - Read the official press release: Dan Patrick Adds ''Mo'' to ''Big Show"

Alex Rodriguez: The $30 Million Man

2007-07-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

The New York Yankees are reportedly breaking their own team rule, and negotiating an in-season contract extension with Alex Rodriguez. As amazing as it may sound, Rodriguez may opt out of his current contract even though he has approximately three years and $81 million left on the 10-year, $252-million deal he signed with Texas before the 2001 season.

Wallace Matthews of Newsday argues that not only do the Yankees have little chance of renewing A-Rod's contract, they risk upsetting their longtime stars Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, with whom the Yankees will not discuss new contracts until the season is over.
read article ...

Joel Sherman of The New York Post claims that even if Rodriguez does not opt out of his contract after the season, stipulations exist in his current deal that guarantee Rodriguez's salary will climb to $32 million the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

read article ...

"The Cheater's Guide to Baseball," and Bonds/Steroids Evidence?

2007-07-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

This article is a review of Derek Zumsteg's book, "The Cheater's Guide to Baseball." Zumsteg discusses some of the more famous incidents of cheating in baseball, such as the steroid scandal, the 1919 Black Sox , Pete Rose's betting, and the Twins experiment with the Metrodome ventilation system, getting air currents to blow out when the Twins were batting, and blowing in when the opposition was at bat. Also included are lesser known tactics, such as the Indians watering down the infield when they had a a ground-ball pitcher on the mound, so that opposition balls would die in the infield.

Zumsteg quotes various sources who estimate the number of games won as a result of their cheating.

-- Lou Boudreau said "I wouldn't be surprised if [Bossard's groundskeeping] helped us win as many as ten games a year."

-- Earl Weaver argues that groundskeeping increased the Orioles' batting average by "more than 30 points."

-- Zumsteg himself argues that exceptional grounds crews "might be worth a few games a year."

-- And George Steinbrenner argued that Earl Weaver gained "eight or ten games a year" through intimidation of umpires.

Zumsteg also includes a study that he claims proves when Barry Bonds was on steroids. Phil Birnbaum of Sabermetric Research, runs his own simulations which he claims disproves Zumsteg's argument.

read article...

Breaking News: NHL "Ice Bowl" Update - Crosby's Opponent Revealed

2007-07-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I wrote about the NHL planning an outdoor game on New Year's Day in 2008. According to sources, the Penguins would be the visiting team in the game, which would be hosted by either the Red Wings or Sabres.

Well, the NHL just released its 2007-2008 schedule at 2:00pm today. Taking a quick look at the games scheduled for January 1, I see that the Penguins are playing the Sabres at 1:00pm EST.

So, although this has not been officialy announced by the NHL, it looks like the 2008 New Year's Day "Ice Bowl" will feature the Penguins and Sidney Crosby versus the Buffalo Sabres on NBC.

Should the MLB All Star Game Determine World Series Home Field Advantage?

2007-07-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

The winner of the MLB All Star Game determines which league gets home field advantage in the World Series. But if the All Star game is going to count, shoudn't it be managed that way? And should Tony LaRussa, who's team is under .500 and 7.5 games out of first place, be making the decisions that affect World Series home field advantage?

There has been a lot of debate on the topic of whether the MLB All Star Game should determine home field advantage in the World Series. Critics of this policy believe that something as potentially crucial as home field advantage in game seven of the World Series should not be determined by what is basically an exhibition game. What these critics have to keep in mind is that previously, before Bug Selig decided that the All Star game “should count”, World Series home field advantage alternated between the AL and NL every other year. At least this way, it is determined by the winner of a contest that includes the best players from both leagues.

The one change I would make to the format, is who manages the All Star Game. If the game is going to count, then it should be managed that way. Currently, the teams are managed by the skipper of the two teams that played in the World Series the previous year. The problem is that these teams may not be in contention for the World Series this year. And when that is the case, the manager does not have the proper incentive to try to win the All Star game. If your team is not going to be in the World Series anyway, then why would you care who gets the home field advantage?

Take Tony LaRussa and the Cardinals as an example. The Cardinals played in the World Series last year, so Tony LaRussa got to manage the NL squad in this year’s All Star Game. But the Cardinals are under .500 and 7.5 games out of first place at the break. So where is LaRussa’s incentive to win this game to get home field advantage for the NL?

Instead, the team should be managed by the skipper of the teams with the best record in either league as of June 15. These managers would then gave great incentive to win the game, since it could potentially give them home field advantage in game 7 come October. And if Padres manager Bud Black or Mets skipper Willie Randolph were managing this years’ NL team, do you really think Albert Pujols would have been sitting on the bench in the ninth inning while Aaron Rowand was flying out with the bases loaded to end the game?

Networks Take Bold Steps to Offer All-Access Viewing

2007-07-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

from Michael McCarthy at USA TODAY

Over the last two nights, we've seen Fox contributor Eric Byrnes and ESPN's Kenny Mayne paddle around McCovey Cove in kayaks in search of home run balls at Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby and 78th All-Star Game from San Francisco.

In the future, ESPN would like to have one of its reporters ride along during an actual NASCAR race. NBC wants to put a cameraman in skates on the ice during NHL shootouts. It also wants to add tracking devices to horses in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes so viewers can better gauge their speed and position in the race.

The suddenly gonzo correspondents of TV sports are showing up with their mics and cameras in unexpected places. It's a smart idea. In a world of 24/7 sports coverage, networks have to provide viewers with access to areas that used to be off-limits. Or get left behind.

Sidney Crosby to Play in Outdoor NHL Game on New Year's Day

2007-07-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

from Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The league reportedly desires at least one U.S. team involved in "Ice Bowl," which would be a spin-off to the Heritage Classic that took place in November 2003 between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens. That game, played at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, drew a crowd of nearly 60,000 and was played in sub-zero temperatures.

The Heritage Classic was the first NHL game played outdoors and attracted the largest live audience to watch a league contest. However, it was not televised live in the United States.

According to multiple sources, the NHL will stage an outdoor game involving Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Year's Day in 2008. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Penguins have agreed to be the visitors in the outdoor game, which will be hosted in either Buffalo or Detroit. The game would be marketed as the "Ice Bowl", and would air on NBC on January 1, 2008 opposite college football bowl games.

Talks of a planned outdoor NHL game started last year. Those plans reportedly had the Rangers playing the Islanders in an outdoor game on New Year's Day at Yankee Stadium. Those plans never materialized, but the NHL remained interested in playing a outdoor game in 2008 to help increase the league's exposure. NBC is interested in televising the event, as it looks to add sports programming on New Year's Day after losing its college football bowl game rights.

Penguins Sign Crosby to Five-Year Extension

2007-07-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

from Dave Molinari at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins have signed center Sidney Crosby to a five-year contract extension.
The deal is worth $43.5 million, an annual salary-cap hit of $8.7 million. It will take effect in the 2008-09 season.
The contract breaks down this way:
2008-09 -- $4 million salary plus $5 million signing bonus.
2009-10 -- $9 million.
2010-22 -- $9 million.
$2011-12 -- $9 million.
2012-13 -- $7.5 million.

NFLPA Leader Gene Upshaw’s Compensation at Least $6.7M

2007-07-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

from Daniel Kaplan at Sports Business Journal

NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw earned at least $6.7 million in compensation in the year ended Feb. 28, 2007, according to the union’s annual report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. That amount was more than double the prior year’s pay for Upshaw, who ranks consistently as sports’ highest-paid union chief.

NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw The increased compensation came as the union negotiated a player-friendly labor deal with team owners. At the same time, however, the union and the executive director personally have been undertremendous public fire from retired players on issues ranging from pensions and disability benefits to licensing income.
read more ...

The timing of this story could not be worse for Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA, which is the target of a class-action lawsuit for failing to pay benefits to retired players. According to Forbes, only 317 out of more than 10,000 eligible players are getting disability payments out of their own fund. (Read my two previous posts on this lawsuit.)

But the NFLPA apparently has the funds to pay their employees. According to the Sports Business Journal, Upshaw is the highest-paid union chief in sports. Billy Hunter, the National Basketball Players Association executive director, earned $2.1 million in the 12 months ended June 30, 2006. MLBPA boss Donald Fehr takes in $1 million salary.

Furthermore, in a recent amendment to their lawsuit, the retired NFL players allege that, “Players Inc. has ... diverted millions of dollars from Players Inc. to the NFLPA in order to support the overhead, substantial salaries and perquisites of NFLPA management and employees.”

Richard Berthelsen, the NFLPA’s general counsel, had this to say about Upshaw's salary, “If anything, he is underpaid."

The UFC: A Case Study of Why Monopolies are Bad

2007-07-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

from WCK at 100percentinjuryrate

Mixed martial arts is a pretty rough sport. You've gotta train hard for months on end and all that hard work can vanish in one quick bloody mess.
But you get paid reasonably well if you're appearing in big events and facing top-tier competition, right? Right?
Wrong. As it turns out, most MMA fighters - even those on the pay-per-view card - get paid practically nothing for fighting in what are incredibly lucrative events, even if they win.

Spike TV Looks to Gobble Up Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest from ESPN

2007-07-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

from Richard Sandomir at The New York Times

ESPN started carrying the Nathan’s event in 2004, and it drew 926,000 viewers. In 2005, it dipped to 860,000, but it leaped to 1.46 million last year, a level it probably reached on Wednesday.

“We’ve done other competitive eating contests,” said David Berson, an ESPN executive vice president. “But we focus on the hot dog. It’s the marquee event.” But with ESPN’s deal now expired, Spike wants to take gluttony (not entirely a male pursuit, as the M.L.E. star Sonya Thomas shows) to its male-focused network as a companion to its Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise. Spike has shown one Major League Eating event (the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage, jalapeños and green doughnuts show from Savannah, Ga., attracted 739,000 viewers) and is scheduled to carry three more.

“We want to be known as the home of competitive eating,” said David Schwarz, a spokesman for Spike.
read entire article...

Last year the Nathans hot dog eating contest drew 1.46 million viewers, a total that was probably surpassed this year. On May 30, Anaheim's 3-2 victory over Ottawa in the opener of the Stanley Cup finals was watched in 523,000 households. Ouch.

Overnight Sports Nielsen TV Ratings: 07/02/2007 - 07/08/2007

2007-07-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

3.2/9 NBC SUN Wimbledon final on NBC, Federer/Nadal
2.9/7 CBS SUN PGA AT&T National Final Round
2.8/8 NBC SAT Wimbledon final, V. Williams/Bartoli
2.8/7 FOX SAT MLB Angels/Yankees
2.0/5 CBA SAT PGA Tour AT&T National Third Round
1.2/3 NBC SUN U.S. Senior Open Final Round
1.1/3 NBC SAT U.S. Senior Open Third Round
1.0/1 ABC SUN IRL Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix
0.9/2 FOX SUN F1 Santander British Grand Prix
0.6/2 CBS SUN American Le Mans Series, Northeast Grand Prix

Dan Patrick Announces He is Leaving ESPN

2007-07-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Dan Patrick has just officially announced he is leaving ESPN on August 17th. He did not elaborate on why he is leaving, or where he will be going to. He did say that he will be a "free agent", suggesting that he has not yet agreed to take another position.

The one hint Patrick dropped was that he "hopes to remain in radio." This would seem to rule out Fox Sports as a possible destination. The most likely possibilities now include Sporting News Radio and, as I previously speculated, the old Don Imus radio show on WFAN and MSNBC.

I think today's announcement supports the Don Imus theory. If Patrick was to take over the high profile Dom Imus show, his new bosses would not want him to announce it on rival ESPN radio. They would want to hold their own press conference to gain as much publicity as possible. Similarly, his current bosses at ESPN would not want him to promote his new show on ESPN radio.

Dan Patrick Leaving ESPN?: Announcement at 2:00 PM

2007-07-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

During Dan Patrick's opening monologue on his radio show today, he said that he will be making his big announcement at 2:00PM EST. Dan, however, strongly hinted that he will be leaving ESPN. He said that while he his "happy" with his decision, he is not without "mixed feeling." I am not sure what else that could refer to, other than him leaving the network. Patrick did confirm that he did not audition for The Price is Right. (For the record, he also confirmed that he is not the father of Nicole Richie's love child.)

Let the Dan Patrick Countdown Begin

2007-07-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

The countdown to the "Dan Patrick leaving ESPN" announcement on his radio show tomorrow has officially begun. There are plenty of rumors going around that Patrick will announce his departure from ESPN during his Monday radio broadcast. Various rumors have him leaving ESPN for Fox Sports, Sporting News Radio, satellite radio, or even to host The Price is Right.

On July 5th, I speculated that Patrick may leave ESPN to take over the Dom Imus show on WFAN and MSNBC. Patrick is exactly what they are looking for -- a recognizable name that can talk knowledgebly and with humor about sports, news, and pop culture. But here is another possibility: Dan Patrick flees to the flegdling Versus network to immediately become their most recognizable name and host a daily SportCenter-esque show. Sound crazy? Well, actually it has been done before by Patrick's good friend Keith Olberman, who once left ESPN for Fox Sports to host his own daily sports news show. (Which was trounced by SportsCenter.)

One interesting fact, reported by Sports Business Radio, is that the ratings of Patrick's radio show trail those of ESPN's other primary radio properties, Mike & Mike in the morning and "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd.

Why Do Baseball Players Make So Much?

2007-07-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

from CBSNews.com

Baseball plays out from one end of the country to the other — from one end of the lifespan to the other. It’s a game, a sport and a pastime.

But at the highest levels, it is a $6 billion a year business where the extraordinary skill and talent of the best reaps once unimaginable rewards. The minimum wage in major league baseball is almost $400,000 more than half the players make $1 million or more. New York Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez takes in $25 million — some 500 times what a teacher or a cop or a paramedic makes.

“My wife’s a school teacher, and she works 12 hours a day, 10 months a yearand she doesn’t make a whole lot of money," baseball fan Tom Nighe told CBS News correspondent Jeff Greenfield. "And it is sort of disheartening to see a ballplayers make the kind of salary they do when a teacher doesn’t make what they really deserve.”

read more...

Why does Alex Rodriguez make 500 times what a teacher makes? The last time I checked, no one was willing to pay $100 to watch a teacher do her job for 3 hours.

News Flash - A-Rod is no Jeter

2007-07-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

Last night Alex Rodriguez hit his 493rd career home run, tying him with Lou Gehrig for 22nd on the all-time list. After the game, a reporter informed Rodriguez that he just tied Gehrig. A-Rod's response: an apathetic, "Cool."

Cool? Rodriguez sounded as if he couldn't care less that he just tied a Yankee legend. If Derek Jeter was in the same situation, I can guarantee that his answer would be along the lines of, "It's an honor to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Lou Gehrig."

Yet another reason why, depsite the incredible numbers Rodriguez puts up, Yankee fans have never warmed up to this guy.

Odds & Ends: MLB Punishes ESPN and Beckham's First MLS Match

2007-07-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

MLB is punishing ESPN for reporting this year's All Star team selections while TBS was broadcasting their own selection show, for which TBS had acquired the exclsuive rights.
David Beckham's first Major League Soccer match will be broadcast on ESPN Saturday, July 21. According to ESPN, the planned coverage of Beckham’s arrival represents ESPN’s most expansive initiative ever for a single U.S. domestic soccer event.

NBC renews Wimbledon deal

2007-07-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

from John Dempsey at Variety

NBC Sports has reupped its deal to air Wimbledon, where Serena Williams reached the quarterfinals this week.NBC Sports has renewed its rights to the Wimbledon tennis tournament for another four years, starting in 2008, ponying up $12 million a year vs. $13 million in the current contract.

The license fee dropped by $1 million a year at least in part because the Wimbledon ratings tumbled in 2006 by 20% from the previous year's average.

read more ...

Maybe David Stern should have negotiated this deal for Wimbledom. When the NBA ratings dropped 31% from 2002 - 2006, Stern was still able to increase TV revenue by 22%. At least they did better than Gary Bettman and the NHL, who got the league zero guaranteed dollars from NBC.

Paychecked into the boards: Small markets can howl, the NHL needs rich dynasties

2007-07-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

from Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated

There's been quite a bit of anguish about the way free agency has played out this summer. Listen to the talk shows, check out the message boards, it's everywhere. In fact, my SI.com colleague Darren Eliot crafted a piece bemoaning the fact that, just like in the bad old days, the best free agents have flocked to such big-money franchises as the Rangers, Red Wings and Flyers, leaving their middle-class relations to fight over the scraps.

My first reaction, and probably yours, was the same as Darren's. It's like the lockout never happened. The rich get richer and everyone else gets relegated to farm team status as nurturers of talent that stays just long enough to break the hearts of those who raised them before heading elsewhere to find Stanley Cup glory -- or at least a
pay raise large enough to choke a banker. Why is this happening? Where's the
level playing field that we were promised after that cruel, yearlong labor stoppage?

Yeah, that was my gut reaction. But after reading Darren's piece, I finally realized I was looking at this situation all wrong.

read more...

In Allan Muir's article today on SI.com, he claims that when the big market NHL teams snatch up all of the big name free agents, it is actually good for the league. This is the same point I made in my post on July 2, Free agency off to much-needed (and frenzied) start.

If this logic sounds counter-intuitive, think again. When the largest market teams are the best teams, TV ratings grow. Why? Well, obviously fans in the home team market will watch. And the bigger the market, the more home team fans. What's not as obvious is that when big market teams are good year after year, they provide the sport with a much-needed villian. And the only thing that's as fun as cheering for your beloved home team, is jeering against a hated villian. If you don't beleive me, just look at MLB TV ratings when the New York Yankees are playing.

Dan Patrick Update!

2007-07-05T10:29:00.001-07:00

I just listened to the first half hour of the Dan Patrick Show. I can now confirm (drum roll, please) that Dan Patrick is not in the studio today. Bob Valvano is guest hosting today, as he did on Tuesday. A half hour into the show, and there was no mention of this story. Apparently Patrick is on vacation, and will not be back until Monday.

The Dan-Patrick-is-Leaving Rumor Picks up Steam

2007-07-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

from The Big Lead

When we left Tuesday, speculation about Dan Patrick leaving ESPN was turning from a whisper to a roar. For us, it’s what our contacts over at the four-letter weren’t saying: nobody would give us a straight answer. They either hadn’t heard or they couldn’t say. Which led us to believe Patrick was gone. It also sort of makes us wonder if Patrick’s agent planted the Price is Right rumors to fuel interest in the anchor. We do remain somewhat skeptical, though, because ESPN hands USA Today any meaningful scoop (not due to a relationship, but simply because the McPaper has the largest readership audience in the United States), and we found nothing about the announcement in that rag today. We’re guessing it’ll happen Monday, when the world returns to work.

read more ...

The Dan Patrick rumors are really picking up steam now. Most observers are guessing that he will move to Fox Sports. As far as I can tell, this is the only space guessing that he will be taking over Don Imus' old job.

Dan Patrick to Leave ESPN?

2007-07-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

from Michael David Smith at aol.com's Fanhouse

Greenstein reports that a source said there is a "90 percent chance" that Dan Patrick will announce his farewell during his Thursday radio show. Although Patrick won't host The Price is Right, he has been rumored to have a number of other options, ranging from sports to news to entertainment.

read more ...

Earlier, I commented that WFAN and MSNBC would have to bring back Dom Imus if they could not replace him with "a Bob Costas." Well, what about a Dan Patrick? If Dan Patrick really does leave ESPN today, as is being reported, let me be the first to guess that he will be Dom Imus' replacement. Patrick is the perfect choice, in that he can talk knowledgeably about sports, news, and entertainment, has a great sense of humor, and already has a huge fan base that he can bring with him.

Cablevision sells regional sports holdings to Comcast

2007-07-04T17:25:00.001-07:00

from Daniel Wagner at Newsday

Cablevision has executed a $581-million deal that will give Comcast Corp. full ownership of Cablevision's remaining regional sports holdings outside of the New York area, the company announced Tuesday.

Under the agreement, Rainbow Media Holdings Llc, a subsidiary of Bethpage-based Cablevision Systems Corp., will transfer to Comcast a 60-percent stake in the corporate parent of the FSN Bay Area regional sports channel and a 50-percent interest in the owner of the FSN New England channel.

read more ...

Comcast has just purchased an ownership stake in the cable stations that broadcast the Boston Celtics, San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's, San Jose Sharks, and Golden State Warriors. One benefit to Comcast is that the stations provide excellent marketing opportunities, as cable companies face increasing competition from telephone and satellite providers. However, another potential benefit may be that these stations can provide Comcast with both content and on-air talent for their Versus cable sports network. Judging from Versus' Nielsen ratings, it can use all the help it can get.