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Blogs:
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Dogs' Bark: Not fair! Study shows pups get jealous
The Heldenfiles:
Who Will Get the Michael Media Treatment Next?
Patrick McManamon:
More on Varejao
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Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Wedge challenges relievers
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
CIA Did Mislead Congress
Akron Law Café:
Breaking Story: CIA Lied to Congress about Secret Program
Varsity Letters:
East basketball update
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
First 24 'Guitar Hero 5' songs announced
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter
POSTED: 04:37 p.m. EDT, Apr 21, 2008
Some say that the fall with its assortment of pennant races, college and pro football and the start of NBA training camps is the best time of year.
I dunno, this past spring weekend did a fairly nice job of feeding the beast that is the sports fan. There was plenty of fun, frivolity and history to enjoy the past few days — topping the list was the slightly enigmatic Cavaliers, who answered some verbal jabs thrown at them by the Washington Wizards with its seven consecutive playoff win over that club.
Not only did the Cavs win on the court, but they also won on the airwaves. The Cavs-Wizards opener did a respectable 2.1 (translating to about two million homes) national rating Saturday on WEWS (Channel 5) as part of the ESPN's tripleheader coverage.
Locally, WEWS garnered a 5 rating (about 75,000 households). The game also was carried on the team's cable home, FSN, and WUAB (Channel 43), the combined rating outdistanced ABC by about 7,500 households. Not shabby, but you have to wonder whether the game not being in high definition affected FSN's ratings.
Overall, a 10.5 rating is nothing to whine about.
Technology rules
Some of us didn't get to see the Cavs game in its entirety. However, Saturday as yours truly sat in the pressbox at Ohio Stadium taking in the annual Scarlet and Gray Spring Game, naturally the mind did wander. In instances like that you thank the technology gods who came up with the Internet and ESPN360, the monolithic sports empire's Internet channel.
When I was able to check in and see LeBron James and Antwan Jamison go at it, it came courtesy of crystal clear video and audio. It proved to be a lifesaver allowing me to do two jobs at once.
More inevitability
It keeps popping up everywhere. First, presidential primary elections and now basketball playoffs. It's inevitable that the Boston Celtics will win the NBA's Eastern Conference. Just ask ABC's Mark Jackson, who made that statement during the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers game Sunday.
Jackson definitely has a better than average chance of being correct. However, as much as I respect his knowledge and the guy will know more about hoops than will ever fill my walnut-sized brain, I'm reminded of last year when the Detroit Pistons were ''inevitable.''
Look what happened there. Playoffs in any sport are a different beast than the regular season. At this stage of the game, the first round, no one should be making any plans for The Finals. You never know who might crash the party.
James stars online
You know you've big time when as an online entity you have your own sports minute. This is the case for Yahoo. The online behemoth awarded LeBron James the dunk of the weekend in the playoffs for that arching reach for the ball to slam it home against the Wizards on Saturday. That's one that will be saved on a personal highlight reel, and James definitely deserved the recognition for it.
Patrick takes one
Danica Patrick, the IndyCar Series driver, deserves a heap of praise for her victory over the weekend in the Japan Indy 300 and, in the process, making a little history for women who happen to be race car drivers. Since Patrick entered the IRL racing circuit, the question has been whether she can hang with the big boys (ummm...gee, ya think that one has been laid to rest) and whether she is tough enough to ever pull one out. We got that answer Saturday.
What always troubled me, however, was the media always played that gender card when it doesn't really matter. Patrick proved that she was qualified to handle those cars the minute Rahal Letterman Racing — she now drives for Andretti Green Racing — gave her the metaphorical keys to the car.
For Patrick, it always seemed a matter of when, not if.
Gladiators march on TV
After recovering from OSU spring football, I dashed home, relaxed a little then had to take in the Gladiators game against the Los Angles Avengers on FSN Ohio.
Props to FSN national for doing a nice job with the game, but apparently not enough people here watched to notice. The game reached under 15,000 homes for the night. However, let's give the team the benefit of the doubt.
First of all, it aired at 10:30 on a Saturday night. Dunno about the others who watched, but I did so with an adult beverage (or a few) in and out of my hand at my favorite watering hole. Secondly, the Utah Jazz-Houston Rockets game overlapped in the time frame.
Yours truly is far more curious to see what happens when the team plays in primetime.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
Some say that the fall with its assortment of pennant races, college and pro football and the start of NBA training camps is the best time of year.
I dunno, this past spring weekend did a fairly nice job of feeding the beast that is the sports fan. There was plenty of fun, frivolity and history to enjoy the past few days — topping the list was the slightly enigmatic Cavaliers, who answered some verbal jabs thrown at them by the Washington Wizards with its seven consecutive playoff win over that club.
Not only did the Cavs win on the court, but they also won on the airwaves. The Cavs-Wizards opener did a respectable 2.1 (translating to about two million homes) national rating Saturday on WEWS (Channel 5) as part of the ESPN's tripleheader coverage.
Locally, WEWS garnered a 5 rating (about 75,000 households). The game also was carried on the team's cable home, FSN, and WUAB (Channel 43), the combined rating outdistanced ABC by about 7,500 households. Not shabby, but you have to wonder whether the game not being in high definition affected FSN's ratings.
Overall, a 10.5 rating is nothing to whine about.
Technology rules
Some of us didn't get to see the Cavs game in its entirety. However, Saturday as yours truly sat in the pressbox at Ohio Stadium taking in the annual Scarlet and Gray Spring Game, naturally the mind did wander. In instances like that you thank the technology gods who came up with the Internet and ESPN360, the monolithic sports empire's Internet channel.
When I was able to check in and see LeBron James and Antwan Jamison go at it, it came courtesy of crystal clear video and audio. It proved to be a lifesaver allowing me to do two jobs at once.
More inevitability
It keeps popping up everywhere. First, presidential primary elections and now basketball playoffs. It's inevitable that the Boston Celtics will win the NBA's Eastern Conference. Just ask ABC's Mark Jackson, who made that statement during the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers game Sunday.
Jackson definitely has a better than average chance of being correct. However, as much as I respect his knowledge and the guy will know more about hoops than will ever fill my walnut-sized brain, I'm reminded of last year when the Detroit Pistons were ''inevitable.''
Look what happened there. Playoffs in any sport are a different beast than the regular season. At this stage of the game, the first round, no one should be making any plans for The Finals. You never know who might crash the party.
James stars online
You know you've big time when as an online entity you have your own sports minute. This is the case for Yahoo. The online behemoth awarded LeBron James the dunk of the weekend in the playoffs for that arching reach for the ball to slam it home against the Wizards on Saturday. That's one that will be saved on a personal highlight reel, and James definitely deserved the recognition for it.
Patrick takes one
Danica Patrick, the IndyCar Series driver, deserves a heap of praise for her victory over the weekend in the Japan Indy 300 and, in the process, making a little history for women who happen to be race car drivers. Since Patrick entered the IRL racing circuit, the question has been whether she can hang with the big boys (ummm...gee, ya think that one has been laid to rest) and whether she is tough enough to ever pull one out. We got that answer Saturday.
What always troubled me, however, was the media always played that gender card when it doesn't really matter. Patrick proved that she was qualified to handle those cars the minute Rahal Letterman Racing — she now drives for Andretti Green Racing — gave her the metaphorical keys to the car.
For Patrick, it always seemed a matter of when, not if.
Gladiators march on TV
After recovering from OSU spring football, I dashed home, relaxed a little then had to take in the Gladiators game against the Los Angles Avengers on FSN Ohio.
Props to FSN national for doing a nice job with the game, but apparently not enough people here watched to notice. The game reached under 15,000 homes for the night. However, let's give the team the benefit of the doubt.
First of all, it aired at 10:30 on a Saturday night. Dunno about the others who watched, but I did so with an adult beverage (or a few) in and out of my hand at my favorite watering hole. Secondly, the Utah Jazz-Houston Rockets game overlapped in the time frame.
Yours truly is far more curious to see what happens when the team plays in primetime.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
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