Sports

Wait, WHAT? The MLS edition!

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Take a look at the “About Major League Soccer” list at the end of the article: MLS is expanding to Philadelphia and no one told me? They’re quadrilateraling and no one told me?!? (The WNBA really needs to get on the ball here!)

MLS already has 16 teams as of 2010 – the addition of Philly will re-balance the conferences at 8 apiece – and will add two more later, as will be announced either later this year or early next, which is insane. You might want to think about breaking them up into divisions within the conferences at this point, certainly once you hit 20.

So with Philly, Atlanta becomes the largest Nielsen market without an MLS team, and – ta da! – Atlanta is one of the teams on the short list of potential expansion candidates. (Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are among the others? Is soccer THAT big in Canada?) Detroit is the largest 2000-definition metro area without an MLS team (followed by Atlanta) and is next on the list of Nielsen markets, but isn’t on the short list to get a team. Instead, it’s Miami (repeating a bad experience and leapfrogging fellow-Florida-bad-experiencer Tampa, along with Phoenix and the Twin Cities, on the Nielsen market list)… along with St. Louis and Portland, the #21 and #22 media markets respectively?!? It’s not even as small as -33 KC, Columbus and Salt Lake, but… they really are going for soccer markets, and I didn’t even think St. Louis was that big on soccer. Maybe they’ve seen Wizards viewership numbers.

St. Louis is #18 on the metro areas list but, in addition to all the ones above except Tampa, leapfrogs Cleveland (who pays attention to Columbus just like in hockey) and San Diego (weren’t they supposed to get Chivas USA at one point?), and Cleveland, Orlando, and Sacramento on the markets list (the latter two are stepbrothers to larger nearby markets everywhere except the NBA anyway – but then again, so is Portland). On the metro areas list Portland also leapfrogs Tampa and Pittsburgh (who’s right behind it on the markets list).

(Worth noting: Most of the cities on the list would also be in the Eastern Conference, necessitating Kansas City to move West. Portland and Vancouver are the only exceptions.)

I should probably comment on this before I forget again.

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So I guess now we know how FSN is going to port its new graphics package to other sports.

Not shown: The logo bug in the corner. Does it, perhaps, as might be expected from other evidence, show the new name of the network, “FS Arizona”? No. From what I’ve seen on, say, FSN’s Final Score program and read on Wikipedia, it would read “FS Coyotes”… and would be displayed in Coyotes colors. That suggests a de-emphasis on regional identities in general (something FSN has waffled on in the past) and indeed, the potential for regional identities to be rendered superfluous.

We can presumably expect a similar bug for the NBA, but as the shot clock doesn’t “belong” to anybody, I don’t know where it would be displayed. Maybe it would only be shown when needed over the team with the ball? It would get kind of awkward if it kept shuttling back and forth on changes of possession… and I still have no clue how this box is going to work with baseball.

Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 6

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football package gives it flexible scheduling. For the last seven weeks of the season, the games are determined on 12-day notice, 6-day notice for Week 17.

The first year, no game was listed in the Sunday Night slot, only a notation that one game could move there. Now, NBC lists the game it “tentatively” schedules for each night. However, the NFL is in charge of moving games to prime time.

Here are the rules from the NFL web site (note that this was written with last season in mind):

  • Begins Sunday of Week 11
  • In effect during Weeks 11-17
  • Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
  • The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET. (Note: Last year, NBC listed a tentative game for Week 17; they are not doing so this year.)
  • The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
  • The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
  • The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night. (Note: Again, excluding Week 17.)
  • Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
  • NFL schedules all games.
  • Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.
  • Rules NOT listed on NFL web site but pertinent to flex schedule selection: CBS and Fox each protect games in five out of six weeks, and could not protect any games Week 17 last year. Unless I find out otherwise, I’m assuming that’s still the case this year, especially with no tentative game listed Week 17, and that protections were scheduled after Week 4.
  • Three teams can appear a maximum of six games in primetime on NBC, ESPN or NFL Network (everyone else gets five) and no team may appear more than four times on NBC. A list of all teams’ number of appearances is in my Week 4 post.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 16):

  • Tentative game: Dallas @ Washington
  • Prospects: Both teams are 4-2 in the tough NFC East. Probably will keep its spot, especially being the NFL’s greatest rivalry, to the extent I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS and Fox didn’t bother to protect anything, especially Fox (who if they lost anything, say Bears-Packers, could take solace in getting the Cowboys and Redskins). That said, there’s a reason I still have Fox protecting a game this week. See below.
  • Likely protections: Ravens-Giants, Titans-Jaguars, or nothing (CBS) and Bears-Packers (FOX)
  • Other possible games: Chargers-Steelers is still on life support and is another nominee for protection. Broncos-Falcons looks good but probably can’t compete.

Week 12 (November 23):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ San Diego
  • Prospects: A 3-2 v. 3-3 matchup that pits v. in NBCSports.com’s power rankings. Not as mediocre as it looked in weeks past, so might still keep its spot, but a lack of 1-loss teams and an overabundance of 2-loss teams means it’s too early to make any judgments.
  • Likely protections: Eagles-Ravens (Fox) and Jets-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Panthers-Falcons and Giants-Cardinals are probably the front-runners. Patriots-Dolphins may well be a dark horse. Too close to call right now.

Week 13 (November 30):

  • Tentative game: Chicago @ Minnesota
  • Prospects: 3-3 v. 3-3, which looks mediocre, but it represents a 3-way tie for the lead in the mediocre NFC North, so it could have playoff implications.
  • Likely protections: Giants-Redskins (Fox) and either Steelers-Patriots or Broncos-Jets (CBS).
  • Other possible games: It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so more teams like the Cowboys and Titans aren’t available. Panthers-Packers may be sliding; the Panthers’ better record than the Bears or Vikings is offset by the divisional rivalry. On the off chance Steelers-Patriots isn’t protected NBC would probably snap it up in a heartbeat, but if it is they might look at Broncos-Jets for a while as well. Falcons-Chargers is still alive.

Week 14 (December 7):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Seattle
  • Prospects: 3-2 v. 1-4, which looks lopsided. The Seahawks are just too terrible for this game to keep its spot.
  • Likely protections: Cowboys-Steelers (FOX) and if anything, Jags-Bears (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Redskins-Ravens is probably out with the Ravens’ losing streak, which means the Eagles and Giants may have a Sunday Night date to look forward to.

Week 15 (December 14):

  • Tentative game: NY Giants @ Dallas
  • Prospects: This is why I had Fox protect Bears-Packers Week 11: so they could leave this week protection-free and maximize their chances of getting a marquee NFC East matchup back.
  • Likely protections: Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Panthers, Bills-Jets, or nothing (CBS).
  • Othe possible games: Packers-Jaguars is in bad shape, and Bucs-Falcons is becoming a game with big playoff implications. Broncos-Panthers probably the best-looking of the potentially protected games, alongside Bills-Jets.

Week 16 (December 21):

  • Tentative game: San Diego @ Tampa Bay
  • Prospects: It’s 3-3 @ 4-2 but at the moment, NBC seems to think the Chargers are the best of the three-loss-or-more teams.
  • Likely protections: Panthers-Giants or Eagles-Redskins (FOX) and Steelers-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Cardinals-Patriots and Falcons-Vikings are still strong, with Bills-Broncos becoming a dark horse, providing the main challenges for the game Fox didn’t protect. The standings are so tight, though.

Week 17 (December 28):

  • Playoff positioning watch begins Week 9.

Important notice regarding both Morgan Wick Sports and Sandsday

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Freehostia’s servers are moving to a new data center in the name of better performance, which means I can’t make any changes to the web site in the meantime. I never did get around to updating the lineal titles; the Princeton-Yale title is now Oklahoma State’s after their upset defeat of Missouri (potentially torturing Texas by delaying their shot a week), the 2008 BCS title is now in the hands of Florida, and the NFL lineal title is in the hands of the upset-scoring Cleveland Browns. Hopefully this won’t affect the release of next week’s rankings.

Obviously this also means for the remainder of the week, you’ll need to hit up Da Blog to catch the latest strips.

College Football Schedule: Week 8

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All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Missouri @ Texas 8 PM ABC
Michigan @ Penn State 4:30 ESPN
USC @ Washington State 3:15 FSN
Kansas @ Oklahoma 3:30 ABC
Mississippi @ *Alabama 3:30 CBS
Baylor @ *Oklahoma State 3 PM
Texas Tech @ Texas A&M Noon FSN
Ohio State @ Michigan State 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
UTEP @ #12 Tulsa 8 PM CBS CS
#23 Vanderbilt @ Georgia 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
#14 BYU @ TCU 8 PM TH VS.
Colorado State @ #15 *Utah 2 PM mtn.
Hawaii @ Boise State 8 PM FR ESPN
#18 Georgia Tech @ Clemson Noon ESPN
#19 North Carolina @ Virginia 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Wisconsin @ #20 Iowa Noon BTN
#21 Wake Forest @ Maryland Noon Raycom
#22 Nebraska @ Iowa State 12:30 VS.
Arkansas @ #25 Kentucky 7 PM ESPNU
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
California @ Arizona 7 PT FSN
Syracuse @ South Florida Noon ESPN+
Virginia Tech @ Boston College 8 PM ESPN2
LSU @ South Carolina 8 PM ESPN
Pittsburgh @ Navy 3:30 CBS CS
Florida State @ NC State 7:30 TH ESPN
Connecticut @ Rutgers Noon ESPNU
Oregon State @ Washington 7 PM VS.
Toledo @ Northern Illinois 4 PM CSN/Gameplan
This Week’s Other HD Games
Purdue @ Northwestern Noon ESPN2
Miami (FL) @ Duke 3:30 ESPNU
Stanford @ UCLA 4 PM FSN/FCS
Indiana @ Illinois 8 PM BTN
Big 12
Kansas State @ Colorado 7 PM FSN
SEC
Mississippi State @ Tennessee 7 PM Gameplan
Mountain West
San Diego State @ New Mexico 6 PM mtn.
Air Force @ UNLV 7 PT mtn.
MAC
Miami (OH) @ Bowling Green Noon ESPN+
Western Michigan @ Central Michigan Noon ESPN+
Akron @ Eastern Michigan 1 PM CSD.TV
Conference USA
Memphis @ East Carolina Noon CSS
Southern Miss @ Rice 3 PM CBSCS XXL
Houston @ SMU 8 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
Utah State @ Nevada 4 PM Gameplan
Idaho @ Louisiana Tech 7 PM ESPN+
Sun Belt
Florida International @ Troy 7 PM ESPN+
Arkansas State @ Louisiana-Lafayette 7 PM CSD.TV
North Texas @ Louisiana-Monroe 7 PM CSD.TV
Florida Atlantic @ Western Kentucky 7 PM CSD.TV
San Jose State @ New Mexico State 8 PM Gameplan
Bowl Subdivision
Middle Tenn. St. @ Louisville 3:30 Gameplan
Army @ Buffalo 3:30 CSD.TV
Marshall @ UAB 4 PM CBSCS XXL

Quick college football ranking note

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The new rankings are up, and links should be fixed to the Week 6 full rankings, but there won’t be an RTF of the full rankings for this week until I post tomorrow’s strip. I should also have a couple more logos up by tomorrow, including TCU’s.

I may have a more substantive post later today turning back to politics and/or global warming/mass transit… or I may not. Coming down with something over the weekend has really played havoc with my plans and I’m still recovering.

Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/11-12

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All times PDT.

Saturday
9-12:30 PM: College Football, Texas v. Oklahoma (ABC). The loser will not play for a national championship. The winner will look good to do so but needs to not screw it up.

12-3:30 PM: College Football, #19 Nebraska @ Texas Tech (FSN). Alternately, Michigan State-Northwestern on the Deuce.
4-8:30 PM: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing, Bank of America 500 (ABC). It’s the midpoint of the Chase, and I gain the ability to slot in an NFL daytime game! Without help from another sport and with the ability to pick the late (or middle, depending on your point of view) game!

Sunday
10-1 PM: NFL Football, probably Rams @ Redskins (FOX). Just my luck that I finally get a chance at the usually more national late game (or middle game, depending on your point of view), and Fox throws this at me in the early game.

1-3 PM: Champions Tour Golf, Senior Players Championship (NBC). How did I not know of this until just now?!?

5-8:30 PM: MLB Baseball, Phillies @ Dodgers (FOX). NASCAR forces the NLCS to be the LCS of the weekend.

Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 5

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football package gives it flexible scheduling. For the last seven weeks of the season, the games are determined on 12-day notice, 6-day notice for Week 17.

The first year, no game was listed in the Sunday Night slot, only a notation that one game could move there. Now, NBC lists the game it “tentatively” schedules for each night. However, the NFL is in charge of moving games to prime time.

Here are the rules from the NFL web site (note that this was written with last season in mind):

  • Begins Sunday of Week 11
  • In effect during Weeks 11-17
  • Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
  • The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET. (Note: Last year, NBC listed a tentative game for Week 17; they are not doing so this year.)
  • The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
  • The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
  • The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night. (Note: Again, excluding Week 17.)
  • Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
  • NFL schedules all games.
  • Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.
  • Rules NOT listed on NFL web site but pertinent to flex schedule selection: CBS and Fox each protect games in five out of six weeks, and could not protect any games Week 17 last year. Unless I find out otherwise, I’m assuming that’s still the case this year, especially with no tentative game listed Week 17, and that protections were scheduled after Week 4.
  • Three teams can appear a maximum of six games in primetime on NBC, ESPN or NFL Network (everyone else gets five) and no team may appear more than four times on NBC. A list of all teams’ number of appearances is in my Week 4 post.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 16):

  • Tentative game: Dallas @ Washington
  • Prospects: Both teams are 4-1 in the tough NFC East. Probably will keep its spot, especially being the NFL’s greatest rivalry, to the extent I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS and Fox didn’t bother to protect anything, especially Fox (who if they lost anything, say Bears-Packers, could take solace in getting the Cowboys and Redskins). That said, there’s a reason I still have Fox protecting a game this week. See below.
  • Likely protections: Ravens-Giants, Titans-Jaguars, or nothing (CBS) and Bears-Packers (FOX)
  • Other possible games: Chargers-Steelers is losing ground as the Chargers may be overrated (and now that I think about it, may have been protected anyway). Broncos-Falcons is the only remote possibility at the present time, but a lot can change.

Week 12 (November 23):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ San Diego
  • Prospects: A 2-2 v. 2-3 matchup that pits v. #23 in NBCSports.com’s power rankings. Last week I said “If Indy keeps losing and the Chargers get on the winning track this could start looking lopsided.” I may want to put that the other way around, but it looks mediocre at the moment anyway, which is a shock.
  • Likely protections: Eagles-Ravens (Fox) and Jets-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Panthers-Falcons and Giants-Cardinals are probably the front-runners. Patriots-Dolphins may well be a dark horse, as might Jets-Titans. Too close to call right now.

Week 13 (November 30):

  • Tentative game: Chicago @ Minnesota
  • Prospects: 3-2 v. 2-3, which looks mediocre, but in NBCSports.com’s power rankings it’s a 10-16 matchup, which is decent, especially given the competition.
  • Likely protections: Giants-Redskins (Fox) and either Steelers-Patriots or Broncos-Jets (CBS).
  • Other possible games: It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so more teams like the Cowboys and Titans aren’t available. Panthers-Packers looks like a decent enough selection. On the off chance Steelers-Patriots isn’t protected NBC would probably snap it up in a heartbeat. Falcons-Chargers might look bad soon.

Week 14 (December 7):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Seattle
  • Prospects: 3-1 v. 1-3, which looks lopsided. 9-v.-25 in NBC’s power rankings, also looking lopsided. Only chance for this to keep its spot is if NBC thinks the Pats are as much of a draw as they were last year, and without a perfect record (or Tom Brady), they are not.
  • Likely protections: Cowboys-Steelers (FOX) and if anything, Jags-Bears (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Redskins-Ravens looks worse off than before, but Eagles-Giants still looks good, which makes it the favorite for the moment.

Week 15 (December 14):

  • Tentative game: NY Giants @ Dallas
  • Prospects: This is why I had Fox protect Bears-Packers Week 11: so they could leave this week protection-free and maximize their chances of getting a marquee NFC East matchup back.
  • Likely protections: Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Panthers, Bills-Jets, or nothing (CBS).
  • Othe possible games: Packers-Jaguars could start looking concerning, and Bucs-Falcons could be sneaking up to replace it. Broncos-Panthers probably the best-looking of the potentially protected games, with Bills-Jets right behind.

Week 16 (December 21):

  • Tentative game: San Diego @ Tampa Bay
  • Prospects: Quite possibly will lose its spot. It’s 2-3 @ 3-2.
  • Likely protections: Panthers-Giants or Eagles-Redskins (FOX) and Steelers-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Cardinals-Patriots and Falcons-Vikings have to at least be considered, but NBC will probably take whatever game Fox didn’t protect.

Week 17 (December 28):

  • Playoff positioning watch begins Week 9.

College Football Schedule: Week 7

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Let’s launch right into the games. All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Texas v. Oklahoma Noon ABC
Oklahoma State @ *Missouri 8 PM ESPN2
Penn State @ Wisconsin 8 PM ESPN
Arizona State @ USC 3:30 ABC
#19 Nebraska @ Texas Tech 3 PM FSN
Tulsa @ SMU 8 PM CBSCS XXL
*LSU @ Florida 8 PM CBS
Ball State @ Western Kentucky 7 PM CSD.TV
New Mexico @ #12 BYU 6 PM mtn.
Tennessee @ Georgia 3:30 CBS
#14 *Utah @ Wyoming 2 PM mtn.
Notre Dame @ #15 North Carolina 3:30 ABC/ESPN
South Carolina @ Kentucky 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
Michigan State @ #25 Northwestern 3:30 ESPN2
Gardner-Webb @ #18 Georgia Tech 3:30
#20 Vanderbilt @ Mississippi State 2:30 Gameplan
Colorado @ #21 Kansas 12:30 ESPN2
#22 Boise State @ Southern Miss 8 PM CBS CS
#23 TCU @ Colorado State 3:30 CBS CS
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
Clemson @ Wake Forest 7:30 TH ESPN
Rutgers @ Cincinnati Noon ESPN+
Iowa @ Indiana Noon BTN
Minnesota @ Illinois Noon ESPN
Arkansas @ Auburn 5 PM Gameplan
Purdue @ Ohio State 3:30 ABC/ESPN
Arizona @ Stanford 5 PM
This Week’s Other HD Games
Troy @ Florida Atlantic 8 PM TU ESPN2
Louisville @ Memphis 8 PM FR ESPN
Toledo @ Michigan Noon BTN
East Carolina @ Virginia Noon Raycom
Syracuse @ West Virginia Noon ESPNU
Central Florida @ Miami (FL) 3:45 ESPNU
Utah State @ San Jose State 7:30 ESPNU
UCLA @ Oregon 7 PT FSN
Big 12
Kansas State @ Texas A&M 2 PM
Iowa State @ Baylor 7 PM FCS
Mountain West
Air Force @ San Diego State 9:30 mtn.
MAC
Ohio @ Kent State 2 PM FSN Ohio
Western Michigan @ Buffalo 3:30 CSD.TV
Miami (OH) @ Northern Illinois 4 PM Gameplan
Temple @ Central Michigan 4 PM CSD.TV
Bowling Green @ Akron 6 PM
Pac-10
Washington State @ Oregon State 6:30 FSN NW
Conference USA
UAB @ Houston 8 PM TH CBS CS
Tulane @ UTEP 9 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
New Mexico State @ Nevada 4 PM Gameplan
Idaho @ Fresno State 7 PT Gameplan
Louisiana Tech @ Hawaii 9 PT PPV
Sun Belt
Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas State 7 PM ESPN+
Middle Tenn. St. @ Florida International 7 PM
Louisiana-Lafayette @ North Texas 7 PM CSD.TV
Bowl Subdivision
Eastern Michigan @ Army 1 PM ESPN Classic