Lorena Ochoa by A. Messerschmidt/ WireImage.com
As the LPGA's second major of the year begins today, Lorena Ochoa is looking to continue her Tigeresque run. The 26-year-old Mexican has already won the season's first Major, April's Kraft Nabisco Championship, and will look to add the McDonald's LPGA Championship to her resume. She has won a staggering six of nine starts this year, and earlier this spring tallied enough points to qualify for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame. Despite her current success and acknowledged talent, Ochoa struggled early as a professional. “She very probably could have — and should have — won the U.S. Open in 2005, but she made 8 at the last hole,” says ABC/ESPN golf analyst Judy Rankin. “That’s what has seasoned her. She’s learned how to win through the experience of losing.” Rankin says the passion Ochoa shows on the course appeals to fans. “She’s more of a natural player in this day and age when everybody is a bit more robotic. That’s drawing people in....
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Four months after getting punted by HBO, Inside the NFL has found a new home. Showtime has decided to pick up the long-running football studio show, which will be produced by corporate sibling CBS Sports, along with NFL Films.“CBS Sports is proud to expand its association with the National Football League and the award-winning team at NFL Films," says Sean McManus, CBS News and Sports president. “We look forward to bringing the show to a new stage with a new team of talent and to continue to make history in the style that has been recognized for more than three decades.” The show will air Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET, premiering Sept. 10. Hosts have yet to be announced.
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Bob Costas courtesy HBO
Bob Costas takes a swing at the sport of baseball on the next edition of Costas Now (July 16, 9 pm/ET, HBO).The live broadcast — airing on the last night of baseball's All-Star break — will feature several panels of former baseball players, experts and industry observers discussing issues facing the sport.Next month's program comes on the heels of a live broadcast in April that featured raucous and heated discussions on, among other things, race and the impact of bloggers on sports. —J.R. Whalen
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Michael Phelps by Osports/WireImage.com
Even a swimming superstar like Michael Phelps — the reigning world champion in seven events — can’t just float into the Olympics. “We have to fight it out for a spot on the actual Olympic team,” he says. If Phelps hopes to contend for as many as eight gold medals in Beijing, he must navigate the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, held this summer in several key sports. “It’s basically sudden death,” says Adam Nelson, a two-time Olympic shot put silver medalist. “If you have a bad day, there are no excuses. You can’t appeal to anybody.”In swimming, only the top two in each event earn guaranteed tickets to the Beijing Games. In track and field, it’s the top three. Gymnastics has more flexibility: The top two women at the trials nail down a spot, but the top two men must also rank in the top three in three individual events to become Beijing-bound. Committees choose the rest of the six-team rosters (plus three alternates).In the men...
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NBA fans — at least those from places other than Detroit and San Antonio — are getting the Finals match-up they wanted: The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers will revive their storied rivalry in this year's edition of the league championships. The Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons to wrap up the Eastern Conference on Friday night, one day after the Lakers dispatched the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the West.The two franchises will meet for the 11th time in the NBA Finals (including 1959, when the Lakers played in Minneapolis), but for the first time since 1987.The TV schedule for the best-of-seven series (all games 9 pm/ET, ABC):Game 1: Thursday, June 5Lakers at Celtics Game 2: Sunday, June 8Lakers at CelitcsGame 3: Tuesday, June 10Celtics at LakersGame 4: Thursday, June 12Celtics at LakersGame 5: Sunday, June 15*Celtics at LakersGame 6: Tuesday, June 17*Lakers at CelticsGame 7: Thursday, June 19*Lakers at Celtics* if necessary
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Tyson Gay by Kirby Lee/WireImage.com
In an Olympic year, the profile of track and field rises significantly. Case in point: two track meets will be televised (in three broadcasts) this weekend.Saturday night's Reebok Grand Prix, from Randall's Island in New York City, includes Olympic hopefuls in sprints, hurdles, pole vault, shot put and distance races. The main event is the men's 100-meter dash, which features 2007 world champion Tyson Gay of the U.S. He'll face stiff competition from Jamaican Usain Bolt, who is primarily a 200-meter specialist and won silver in that event at last year's world championships, behind Gay. But Bolt might be a factor in the Olympic 100, too, having recently clocked 9.76 to become the second fastest ever in the event. He has yet to decide if he will contest that event in Beijing. "Right now the 200 is still my favorite race," Bolt says. "I don't think that will change anytime soon."Two hours of live coverage air Saturday night (May 31, 8 pm/ET, ESPN2). The 100 is expected to be part of a ...
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John Kruk by Rich Arden/ESPN
In the sports equivalent of stunt casting, former MLB All-Star and current ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk, will work 10 games of the NCAA softball championship, aka the Women’s College World Series.The WCWS begins Thursday with four games (May 29 at 1, 3, 7 and 9 pm/ET, ESPN). Kruk will make his debut (alongside Beth Mowin's play-by-play and additional analysis from Olympian Jessica Mendoza) on the 9 o'clock game between No. 2 seed UCLA and No. 7 Arizona. He will also work the best-of-three championship, June 2, 3 and 4.
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Danica Patrick by Michael Hickey/WireImage.com, Helio Castroneves by Brian Spurlock/WireImage.com
Even before the cry of “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines,” the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will be packed thick with excitement and story lines (Sunday, May 25, 1 pm/ET, ABC). The fiercest rivalry in open wheel racing is finally over as the sport’s two governing bodies have unified after 12 years. The hot new young guns with familiar names (Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal) will be motoring alongside Indy greats such as Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, pole-sitter Scott Dixon and two-time Indy winner (and one-time Dancing With the Stars champ) Helio Castroneves. And yet all eyes watching the 33 sleek cars whipping around the most famous track in the U.S. will be trained on Danica Patrick. Last month, Patrick became the first female driver ever to win a big league motorsports event, and she loves Indy as much as the crowd loves her. ABC/ESPN analyst Scott Goodyear, himself an Indy great, likes Dixon (“I think he’s in a class by himself this year”), Catroneves...
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The Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby by Jim Rogash/WireImage.com
Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer, but one very un-summer like sport is reaching it’s climax. The National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup finals begin Saturday with the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to play the Red Wings. Of the match-up between two storied franchises, NBC/Versus play-by-play man Mike Emrick says, “the hockey gods are smiling so wide we can count their broken teeth." For a league that has struggled for media attention, the finals showcase some of the sport’s top talent. "I cannot recall more stars in a final since 1987 when Edmonton had five of the best,” Emrick says. “But they were all on one team. This time we have the stars divided out on teams." Top names include Detroit scoring machine Henrik Zetterberg and Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, who carried the Penguins during an extended injury break for team star Sidney Crosby. Indeed, Crosby will be the focus of most mainstream attention dur...
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Seattle Storm's Swin Cash courtesy WNBA
WNBA rookie Candace Parker lived up to the hype in her debut game last week: 34 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in the L.A. Sparks' victory over the Phoenix Mercury. But here’s one number that didn’t make the stat sheet: 1.07 million viewers for the game, on ABC. That may not sound like much, but it's a 35 percent increase over last year’s tip-off game. Credit the buzz surrounding Parker’s arrival for the boost.Parker’s potential and the return of Lisa Leslie have most experts picking the Sparks to win the league title this year. But don’t underestimate the newly revamped Seattle Storm. The team is lead by reigning league MVP Lauren Jackson and All-Star point guard Sue Bird. And after being knocked out of last year's playoffs in the first round, the Storm added some serious star power to its roster: Sheryl Swoopes, Swin Cash and Yolanda Griffiths have seven WNBA championship rings between them. On Saturday they face the San Antonio Silver Stars (May ...
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