NHL extends deal with NBC through next season
The NHL extended its partnership with NBC through next season, with an option for the 2008-09 season.The agreement, announced Tuesday, will allow NBC to select from a minimum of three games on Sunday afternoons. Two weeks before, the network will pick one matchup as the “Game of the Week” to be shown nationally. The other two games will be televised locally.In addition to regular-season games, NBC will continue to broadcast select playoff games on Saturdays and Sundays and Games 3-7 of the Stanley Cup finals in prime time. “In under two seasons, NBC has significantly elevated NHL broadcast coverage in the U.S.,” commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We’re delighted to have extended our partnership and look forward to
Pirates trim roster to 32
Today the Pittsburgh Pirates optioned reliever Josh Sharpless to Class AAA Indianapolis. Another questionble move considering Sharpless was close to a sure thing of making the team again. Sharpless, a 26-year-old right-hander and Beaver native, spent 14 games with the Pirates last season — 1.50 ERA, seven strikeouts and 11 walks in 12 innings. Sharpless did not have a great spring but posted a 2.08 era in eight apparances. The team also reassigned outfielder Michael Ryan and catcher Einar Diaz to trim the roster to 32. The roster, which still has 16 pitchers, three catchers, eight infielders and five outfielders, must be at 25 by Sunday, the day before the season opener in Houston.
NHL roundup
In the lone NHL game last night, Dominik Hasek’s made 25 saves for the Detroit Red Wings as they shut out the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 1-0 in a possible preview of the Western Conference Finals. The Red Wings snapped a 4 game losing streak. The team the Penguins are chasing for the Atlantic Division title just got a boost towards their hopes of winning the Atlantic Division Title. The New Jersey Devils announced today that star forward Patrick Elias will return to the lineup tonight against the Islanders after being sidelined with a groin injury since March 15th.
News and Views
1. News: Joe Theismann out as MNF analysts Views: Toni Kornhieser and Joe Theismann did not get along last season in the broadcast booth and latest reports had Kornhieser stating that he didn’t want to come back. Ousting Theismann can be seen as a move to make Kornhieser happy so that he’ll consider sticking around next year for ESPN’s second year of televising Monday Night football. With Theismann out, Kornheiser is expected to stay in the booth while Ron Jaworski is expected to replace Theismann. 2. News: The Pirates have reassigned top prospect Andrew McCutchen to AA Altoona Views: McClutchen the Bucco’s only blue chip prospect in their minor league system batted over 3.00 this spring and was even better
The Hottest Ticket in Town
Individual Playoff Tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00 for Game A and Game B and all it took was 13 minutes for both games to be sold out. Fans were lined up around Mellon Arena as early as 4:30 this morning. Earlier this month the Penguins sold 13,000 seats for the 12 game ticket packages and today they put 2,000 tickets up for grabs for fans in the Pittsburgh area. The remaining 2,000 seats are left to the teams for the players and opposing teams.
Game Day Notes
Fresh off a highly entertaining shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres, the Penguins head to New Jersey tonight to face off against the Division leading Devils. Although the Penguins did surrender a two goal lead last night, the most important thing is they managed to get the two points. I’ll take two points any day of the week against the conferencing leading Sabres. Marc Andre Fleury gave up four goals on 19 shots and on paper it looks like he had a awful game but in all honesty he was very strong between the pipes. The second goal Drury scored, Fleury had no chance and you can’t fault Fleury for the third goal as Daniel Briere is going to score
Joey Porter Signs with Miami & Gets 20 million in guarantees
The Miami Dolphins have signed former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter to a 5 year deal worth 32 million. The deal is worth 20 million in guarantees and it’s not to surprising to see Porter get this kind of money considering the money owners have been throwing around the past two seasons. The minute he became a free agent, his phone was ringing. Porter had enough offers to visit most of the teams that run a 3-4 defense and few, including Cincinnati, that run a 4-3. He chose to play for Dom Capers’ 3-4 unit in Miami. Regardless of what people say, the Steelers are going to hard pressed to replace Joey Porter.James Harrison is not the answer. The guy