Thursday, April 30, 2009

Colorado vs. Los Angeles

Colorado's Conor Casey missed a crucial penalty kick in the Rapids' last game. He can make up for it against a team he easily found the back of the net against earlier this month.

Casey and the Rapids host the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, looking to continue their domination in the all-time series.

Colorado (2-2-1) beat Los Angeles 3-2 on April 4 behind three goals from Casey, who netted the winner in the 84th minute. Casey is tied for the league lead with four goals.

The Rapids return home after a three-game road trip in which they went 1-1-1. They ended it on a disappointing note, losing 1-0 to Houston on Sunday.

Casey is especially looking for some redemption after missing a chance to tie the match last week. He was awarded a penalty kick in the 83rd minute, but his shot was denied and the rebound attempt was also saved.

"It was a long trip and long day not to get a point after Conor did everything he did to create the PK," goalkeeper Preston Burpo said. "There are some positives going on with us. We just have to keep building on that for next week."

The Galaxy (0-1-3) remain the only winless team in the Western Conference. They've played to a draw in their last two contests, including 1-1 at San Jose last Saturday. Forward Bryan Jordan scored in the 76th minute to tie the game after the Earthquakes took a lead in the fifth minute.

"Overall, I was encouraged by our performance," coach Bruce Arena said. "Obviously the early goal we gave up is a concern, but I think our guys showed a lot of character.

"I was encouraged at halftime. I thought we could win the game, not just get a point."

Los Angeles' slow start is made all the more frustrating by the fact that it was unable to take advantage of a stretch of home games to start the season, dropping two of three. The loss to the Earthquakes kicked off a stretch of four of five games on the road.

The Rapids play three of their next four in Colorado, where they won 2-1 on March 28 in their only home game of the season. This is the fourth all-time meeting at Dick's Sporting Goods Park between these teams, with Colorado outscoring the Galaxy 8-0 in winning all three matches.

"It's been almost a month now since we've played a home game," defender Scott Palguta told the Rapids' official Web site. "I'm really, really looking forward to it. Everybody's looking forward to it."

"I think the character of this team has been tested in the early going and they've responded well," Arena said. "Despite what people may think, this has not been a negative start to the season. Are we happy with where we are? No, of course not. But there are some real positive signs."

The Galaxy are 7-15-3 all-time in Colorado. They have not won in their last 11 visits there since a 3-1 victory July 13, 2002.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

John Madden retires from broadcasting

By Tom Hoffarth

Boom, he's gone.

Thirty years after he retired as a Hall of Fame NFL coach, and more than a dozen years after he became the iconic face of video-game football, John Madden decided, six days after his 73rd birthday, to bus away from his Emmy Award-winning broadcasting career and announce his retirement on Thursday morning.

During his regular 10-minute daily radio show, which he has done the last 30 years at KCBS-AM in San Francisco, Madden told listeners that retirement afforded him the chance to look forward to spending his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife, Virginia, his two sons and five grandchildren this December rather than be on the road again via his Madden cruiser.

``You know, at some point you have to do this; I got to that point,'' Madden said on the radio. ``The thing that made it hard is not because I'm second guessing: `Is this the right decision?' But I enjoyed it so damn much. If you hated part of it or if something was wrong, it'd be easy.''

The only NFL broadcaster to work for all four major networks that televised the league's games -- outside of the league-owned NFL Network -- Madden leaves NBC and its `Sunday Night Football' package three years into a six-year contract.

He moved to NBC from ABC after four years on `Monday Night Football' (replacing the experiment with Dennis Miller). That was preceded by 13 years at Fox working with Pat Summerall, a partnership began at CBS in 1981, after Madden segued from coaching 10 years with the Oakland Raiders and got into broadcasting.

Madden's first practice game for CBS was with Bob Costas from the L.A. Coliseum, and then he was teamed with Vin Scully for much of his first couple of years at the network. Scully's last game for CBS was in San Francisco, in the 1981 NFC title game that featured `The Catch' from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark. Scully quit when network chief Van Gordon Sauter decided it was best to pair the boisterous Madden with the low-key Summerall.

Neil Pilson, the head of CBS Sports at the time, said the first deal he made with Madden was four games guaranteed, at $3,000 a game, and he was almost immediately a star.

Making more than $4 million a season with NBC and nominated for another Emmy -- he has won 16 of them -- Madden's decision caught nearly everyone at the network and beyond by surprise.

``I got a phone call nine days ago, late in the day at my apartment, and he said, `I'm going to retire,' and I went, `No, you're not,''' said NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol. ``And he said, `I'm going to retire.' From that moment forth I set on a course to persuade him not to. I knew right away I couldn't talk him out of it. He's thought about it the last two months.

"When he makes a decision, he doesn't look back," said Ebersol. "It's the mark of a man, and I hate it."

Madden's every-man, crumbled shirt exterior and Xs and Os brilliance connected with football fans on every level, from every generation.

"He's the only broadcaster I believe could change ratings," said Ebersol. "Not necessarily bring more people to a game that he was doing, but because he was so entertaining and larger than life. People would stay with him during a game that may be a rout than with anyone else, and it consistently gave that game better ratings. I envied that."

Said Michaels: "He's been the gold standard for analysts for almost three decades. As John said today, 'it was time." That's John -- succinct, pithy and right to the point."

``He had a physical a week before and it was the best physical he's had in years, and that's what actually propelled him in this direction. He's had to balance (his family life with his professional life) and he came to the same conclusion as he did 30 years ago, that the coaching game was at a point where he'd done everything he possibly could and he steps away as the absolute best sports broadcaster who ever lived. His fame is better than with anyone else's because he did the biggest sport in America.''

Madden's longtime friend and agent Sandy Montag, the senior corporate vice president of IMG, said the main concern was his time away from his Bay Area home base, and ``unfortunately, the Raiders and 49ers and football in general on the West is not as strong as it once was so he never got home during the season. When you're 73, your priorities change.''

Ebersol gave Madden a couple of games off last season to accommodate his schedule, using Cris Collinsworth as Michaels' partner. Now, the job belongs to Collinsworth, and Ebersol says he believes Madden won't be pulling a Brett Favre and reversing his decision when it comes closer to the season. Nor does Ebersol expect to use Madden on the NBC pregame show in any kind of capacity.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

CBS Sports heads into its 50th year of NFL coverage

NEW YORK -- Highlighted by Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010 from Miami, the CBS Television Network marks its golden 50th year of coverage of the NFL by broadcasting a total of 106 games during its 17 weeks of regular-season coverage of the NFL’s American Football Conference. The regular-season schedule is followed by a full post-season slate including an AFC Wild Card playoff game on January 10, 2010, two divisional playoff games on January 16 and January 17, the AFC Championship Game on January 24 and Super Bowl XLIV.

CBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl XLIV marks the 17th time the Network will broadcast the Super Bowl with the last being in 2007 when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears in Miami, Fla.

► ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

In Week 7, THE NFL ON CBS for the second straight year travels across the Atlantic Ocean to cover the New England-Tampa Bay (10/25) game live from Wembley Stadium in London, England.

► AFC DIVISIONAL RIVALRIES

Along with near-weekly divisional battles in the AFC North between Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati, other AFC games highlighted include interdivision rivalries in the South including Tennessee-Indianapolis (12/6); in the East including Miami-New England (11/8); and in the West including San Diego-Denver (11/22).

► THANKSGIVING DAY GAME

Thanksgiving Day (11/26) will feature the Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys.

► OPENING KICK-OFF

THE NFL ON CBS kicks off Week 1 with singleheader coverage on Sunday, Sept. 13 (Noon-4 p.m., ET) beginning with THE NFL TODAY, the Network’s pre-game studio show.

The day’s NFL action is highlighted by Jacksonville visiting Indianapolis and Kansas City taking on Baltimore. Other regional action that day on THE NFL ON CBS includes Miami-Atlanta, Denver-Cincinnati and the New York Jets-Houston games, live on the CBS Television Network.

► PRESEASON

CBS Sports’ NFL pre-season schedule begins Friday, Aug. 28 (8 p.m., ET) live in prime time with the New England Patriots taking on the Washington Redskins. The Network’s second pre-season game sees the San Diego Chargers visiting the Atlanta Falcons live in prime time on Saturday, Aug. 29 (8 p.m., ET) on the CBS Television Network.

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are the lead announce team for the Network’s coverage of the NFL.

THE NFL TODAY, CBS Sports’ NFL pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show, begins on Sunday, Sept. 13 (Noon-1 p.m., ET) with host James Brown, along with analysts Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher.

Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports and serves as the executive producer of CBS Sports’ coverage of the NFL. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

► SUPER BOWL CHAMPION PITTSBURGH AND INDIANAPOLIS SLATED FOR NINE APPEARANCES; WHILE NEW ENGLAND AND AFC DIVISION CHAMPIONS MIAMI, TENNESSEE AND SAN DIEGO TO MAKE 10

The Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and perennial AFC power Indianapolis Colts will appear nine times each on THE NFL ON CBS, while the New England Patriots, along with AFC East Champion Miami Dolphins, AFC South Champion Tennessee Titans, and AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers will make 10 appearances each; the Baltimore Ravens will be seen 11 times on CBS; the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and New York Jets will appear 12 times each; the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders 13 times each; and the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs 14 times each.

► NINE CBS DOUBLEHEADER WEEKENDS

THE NFL ON CBS’s 2009 broadcast schedule, which includes nine doubleheader weekends, features several of last year’s powerhouse teams in the AFC and key AFC-NFC match-ups including San Diego-Dallas (12/13); Pittsburgh-Chicago (9/20); San Diego-New York Giants (11/8); AFC Championship rematch Baltimore-Pittsburgh (12/27); New England-Denver (10/11); Tennessee-New England (10/18); Denver-Philadelphia (12/27); Kansas City-Philadelphia (9/27); Cincinnati-Green Bay (9/20); Denver-Indianapolis (12/13); Cleveland-Chicago (11/1); Houston-Arizona (10/11); Baltimore-New England (10/4); Indianapolis-Baltimore (11/22); Pittsburgh-Miami (1/3/10); New York Jets-New Orleans (10/4); Oakland-New York Giants (10/11); Baltimore-Minnesota (10/18); Cleveland-Pittsburgh (10/18); Kansas City-Washington (10/18); Denver-Washington (11/15); Jacksonville-San Francisco (11/29) and New York Jets-Indianapolis (12/27). (Over) THE NFL ON CBS Schedule…2

Thursday, April 9, 2009

San Diego vs. Los Angeles

Billingsley (1-0) entered the fifth seemingly in control with a 2-0 lead. He had allowed only two singles and thrown 65 pitches, 43 for strikes. He then experienced a bit of wildness, walking the first three batters he faced to load the bases with no outs in the inning.

Jody Gerut drove in a run with a fielder's choice and David Eckstein had a sacrifice fly, but Gerut was doubled up 8-3-4 attempting to go to second on Eckstein's ball.

"Overall, I felt good," Billingsley said. "I settled in until the fifth where I couldn't seem to locate or find my rhythm. I was able to get out of it with limited damage, only two runs. That was huge, and it doesn't get much better than James cutting it off and getting them in a rundown. That was a huge play right there."

SAN DIEGO -- Manny Ramirez was already looking forward to the Los Angeles Dodgers' next game after collecting his first three RBI of the season Wednesday night.

"What we did today means nothing tomorrow, and you've got to move on," he said following the Dodgers' 5-2 victory against the San Diego Padres. "What's done is done."

Ramirez helped finish San Diego, driving in a run with a first-inning groundout and hitting a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh.

Chad Billingsley worked six solid innings for Los Angeles and three relievers combined to finish the three-hitter. Jonathan Broxton struck out two during a scoreless ninth, earning his second save.

Ramirez's big hit in the seventh came after an unusual mix-up with the Padres. Cla Meredith thought he had been summoned from the bullpen to face the dreadlocked slugger after Edward Mujica (0-1) had given up back-to-back singles to Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson with one out.

Meredith got close to second base before manager Bud Black, who had come out to the mound to talk to Mujica, waved him back to the bullpen.

"When I went to the mound, I might have motioned to the infielders, who came in," Black said. "I think Cla [Meredith] saw that and thought that was the sign for him. He was on call, but at that point, I decided to leave Edward in. He was throwing the ball well and had given up those two light hits. And he hadn't given up a run."

Meredith surrendered a home run to Ramirez the only time he faced him last season.

Mujica threw a called strike past the Los Angeles star, who drove the next pitch into right-center to put Los Angeles ahead 4-2. James Loney tacked on an RBI single off Meredith later in the inning.

"Manny hit that ball hard," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We needed that. We had the lead and an opportunity to score a run or two after that and couldn't do it. Chad got wild in that fifth inning. You look up there and see they only had two or three hits, so we felt like we needed to win this game. That was an important base hit for us, and James's following it, too."

Casey Blake hit a solo home run in the second inning for Los Angeles.

San Diego's Walter Silva pitched five effective innings in his major league debut. The 32-year-old right-hander allowed two runs and five hits, walked four and struck out one.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sports briefs

Player charged with DUI manslaughter

MIAMI -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged Wednesday with killing a pedestrian last month while driving drunk after a night out at a swank South Beach nightspot.

An arrest warrant charging Stallworth, 28, with DUI manslaughter was filed in the March 14 accident that killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. If convicted, Stallworth would face up to 15 years in prison.

Stallworth's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .126, well above Florida's legal limit of .08, according to results of a blood test. Stallworth will also be charged with DUI, which carries a possible six-month sentence plus fines and community service for first offenders.

Stallworth, who is expected to surrender in court Thursday, released a statement last month saying he was "grief-stricken" over the accident. Prosecutors said they will ask that he be released on $200,000 bail.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Gumbel sues producer




CBS Sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel claims in a lawsuit a television producer tricked him into hosting a series of Internet infomercials. The lawsuit, filed in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says Paul Douglas Scott, owner of Encore Television Group Inc., told Gumbel he would be announcing introductions for educational programming. Instead, Gumbel says, his introductions were used in infomercials for time-shares, magnet therapy, and other products.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Werner Ladder Co. Again Teams Up with the NCAA(R) and CBS Sports to be the Official Ladder of the NCAA(R) Basketball Championships



NCAA, features the post game net-cutting ceremonies for Divisions I, II and III men's and women's basketball championships, with Werner ladders that will be used by the winning teams in the post game net-cutting ceremonies for Divisions I, II and III men's and women's basketball championships.

These specially-sized 9 ft. fiberglass stepladders, are designed to give easy access to the net and feature a HolsterTop(TM: 67.03, 3.59, 5.66%) that has a built-in magnetic strip to safely secure screws, nails, or in this case, the scissors used to cut down the nets.

Following the championship games, the winning institutions will keep one ladder for permanent display on campus, and the other ladder will be auctioned off to a charity of the winning coach's choice at the start of next season. Proceeds from last year's Werner Ladder charity auction will go to Bill and Cindy Self's Assists Foundation for the 2007-08 University of Kansas Jayhawks championship ladder. The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund(TM: 67.03, 3.59, 5.66%) will benefit from the auction of the 2007-08 University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers championship ladder.

This year, the ladders will make several appearances in Detroit, including NCAA Hoop City(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%) refreshed by Coca-Cola(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%), at the Werner Ladder Hang Time Challenge. There, fans can climb a Werner Ladder to see how long they can hang on a basketball rim, and compete against other fans to win prizes, including their own NCAA replica ladder. The display runs from April 3-6 at the Cobo Center.

"Werner Ladder is extremely proud to be a part of the celebration honoring these teams who have worked so hard all year both on and off the court," said Chris Filardi, Vice President, Commercial Marketing, Werner Ladder.

In support of the partnership, Werner Ladder is proud to donate $1,000 to the general scholarship fund of each school that reaches the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%).

Werner Ladder's participation is made possible through a relationship with Lowe's, an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA. Werner ladders are available at Lowe's, and at most professional, hardware and paint retailers nationwide.

For additional information about Werner Ladder, go to www.wernerladder.com.

ABOUT WERNER LADDER COMPANY: Werner Co. is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of ladders, climbing equipment, and ladder accessories. Backed by over 60 years of product innovation, Werner leads the industry with its commitment to the design and manufacture of quality products that meet or exceed applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA: undefined, undefined, undefined%) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI: undefined, undefined, undefined%) codes and standards for strength and structural integrity. Werner is headquartered in Greenville, Pa.

About the NCAA(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%): The NCAA(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%) is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA(R: 27.89, -0.48, -1.69%) championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.NCAA.org and www.NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions -- AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac --and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners -- Enterprise, The Hartford, Hershey's, Lowe's, Sheraton and State Farm.