Nothing "funny" about moving tail end of NASCAR race to ESPN2
Autoracing Betting Lines
11/10/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the second-to-last race in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" reaching its climactic point and Jimmie Johnson on the verge of clinching his record-tying third consecutive series championship, viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones were stunned to see the remaining 34 laps of Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway switched from ABC to ESPN2.
ABC made the decision to continue its coverage of the race on their sister network in order to air an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 7:30 p.m. (et). The race remained on ABC in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
"After two red flags, rain in Phoenix and 4 1/2 hours on ABC, we were still 34 minutes from the end of the telecast as it turned out," ESPN spokesman George McNeilly said in a statement. "We told fans in the East and Central from the second red flag on that the race was moving to ESPN2. ABC's entertainment viewers and NASCAR fans were both well served in a tough spot, and we are fortunate to have ESPN2 among our networks to serve the fans."
Though Johnson dominated at Phoenix, leading 217 of 313 laps, the race concluded with Kurt Busch making a last ditch effort to catch Johnson in a green-white-checkered finish and Carl Edwards rallying for a fourth-place finish to barely remain alive in the championship hunt.
For ABC to pull the plug on the race in half of the country to show funny home videos was not only a joke, but also a disgrace to NASCAR and its fans.
And some in the sport would agree with that.
"It seems a little odd to me as big as NASCAR is and as many people watch the sport, I can't imagine being a race fan and being on the East Coast and trying to watch this and then going to that," driver Jamie McMurray said after his third-place finish at Phoenix. "I mean, maybe if the President was going to talk, maybe if something big had happened, but I can't believe that 'America's Funniest Home Videos' would take priority over us."
Even Johnson echoed a similar sentiment.
"Well, I thought it went dark and nobody could watch it," he said. "So the fact that it was on another television channel was, I mean, it's better. It's still somewhat on a prime channel of course on ABC, but to go to 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' that one hurts, no doubt. I thought we have a lot of characters. Why do we need that show?"
Sure NASCAR is different from your usual stick-and-ball sport, but what sense does it make to switch a race from one network to another when the event is still ongoing.
CBS and FOX do not interrupt their coverage of football for their regularly scheduled prime-time programming on Sundays.
The start time for next Sunday's season-finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. (et). Let's just hope there are no weather issues in South Florida, so ABC can air the race in its entirety and show the trophy presentation to the Cup championship.
With Johnson taking a 141-point lead into Homestead and needing to finish only 36th or better to clinch the title, it would be a shame if the network skips out on airing a historic moment for NASCAR to show videos of some kid falling off his bicycle or a cat getting tangled up in a ball of yarn.
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League handed down a three-game suspension to Montreal Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos on Monday for his actions during Saturday's 6-3 loss in Toronto. Early in the first period,
<< Broncos place RB Torain on injured reserve
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos placed rookie running
back Ryan Torain on injured reserve Monday with a left knee injury.
Torain made his NFL debut in a Week 9 loss to the Dolphins and ran for 68
yards and a t
<< Richards wins MLS Player of the Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards
was voted Major League Soccer's Playoff Player of the Week, it was announced
on Monday.
Richards scored a goal and an assist as well as drawing a penalty kic
<< Around FCS: You've been eliminated
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teams battle all year to put themselves
into position for one of the 16 playoff berths in the NCAA Division I Football
Championships.
So when you get to November, losing can be a cruel fate.
Just ask Ma
<< This Week in Golf - November 13th through November 16th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LPGA TOUR - LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL,
Guadalajara Country Club, Guadalajara, Mexico - Normally, Lorena Ochoa's
boisterous hometown fans have to travel to see her play in person. This week,
she is
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils placed defenseman Paul Martin on injured reserve Monday. The 27-year-old Martin has missed the last four games with upper body soreness. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound rearguard has
Phils re-sign veteran P Eyre >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies re-signed
veteran reliever Scott Eyre to a one-year, $2 million contract extension on
Monday.
The left-handed Eyre, 36, was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in exchange
Juan Encarnacion files for free agency >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Attempting to recover from a career-
threatening injury, Juan Encarnacion was the only player to file for free
agency Monday.
It is unknown if the former Cardinals outfielder will be able to
NFL Inactives (Monday, November 10, 2008) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for tonight's NFL game.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT ARIZONA CARDINALS, 8:30 P.M. (ET)
49ers - 3rd QB Jamie Martin, CB Reggie Smith, S Dashon Goldson, LB Ahmad
Broo
Royals sign P Duckworth to one-year deal >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals signed pitcher
Brandon Duckworth to a 2009 Major League contract on Monday and proceeded to
outright him to Triple-A Omaha.
The 32-year-old Duckworth made just seven big l
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com