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Watching Golf this Week: RBC Canadian Open

July 26, 2012 by

Like a lot of the pro golf field your MSR golf writer is taking some time off this week following the most recent major. But newly minted British Open champion Ernie Els isn’t, and is heading to Canada for this week’s RBC Canadian Open.

After the orgy of online and broadcast coverage of last week this week you are back to the Golf Channel Thursday-Friday, CBS Saturday-Sunday routine. I wish I could get more excited about this event but — gotta recharge for the end of the season, the PGA, the Ryder Cup, and the FedEx Cup chase. So just the basics below. More in-depth analysis next week.

Here’s where to follow the action:

RBC CANADIAN OPEN

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, July 26 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, July 27 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 28 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 29 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. every day

ONLINE
No Live@ video this week — the PGA’s live online video doesn’t return until the Barclays in late August, so you will need to get your online fix from…

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker.

FACEBOOK PAGE
Nothing not to like about the RBC Canadian Open Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
The RBC Canadian Open has its own feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Hamilton Golf and Country club has its own site.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Sean O’Hair.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 2,132 points
2. Zach Johnson, 1,988
3. Jason Dufner, 1,888
4. Hunter Mahan, 1,705
5. Bubba Watson, 1,662

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Luke Donald; 2. Tiger Woods; 3. Rory McIlroy; 4. Lee Westwood; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Facebook, Golf, Golf Channel, PGA Tagged With: , , , , ,

MLB’s Trade Season in Full Swing

July 25, 2012 by

With the conclusion of MLB’s All Star game the next notable day on the calendar is the non-waiver deadline, which is July 31. This is one of my favorite times of the year not just for the trades as for some of the major trade rumors that always seem to be making their way around the league.

The trade rumors often come from a variety of sources and can show player unhappiness with his team, teams being unhappy with their players and agents already working on next year’s deals by showing how popular their players under contract are.

Of course people in fantasy leagues closely follow the comings and goings but often I find people seem to miss some of the trades and are surprised that a player is now on a new team. That is too bad because it is so much fun to follow the activity and a number of sites do a good job tracking them. I read five rumors this morning that I had not heard last night.

We have already seen some interesting trades this year, and no doubt some, as always, will break hometown fans’ hearts. The first in that category is probably the Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees deal. This is in the sad tradition of Willie Mays going from the Giants to the New York Mets and others along these lines.

One of the more interesting trades, in a sort of head scratching way, was the big ten player swap between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros. Now I was a bit confused by the purpose of the deal but others think it might be a great deal for at least one of the teams.

Teams like the Chicago Cubs have been looking for a wholesale house cleaning all season and now might be the time. Teams are looking for pitching and they have Ryan Dempster, who as a 10/5 man can veto any trade he does not like.

Teams in the playoffs or at least in the hunt will obviously be looking to shore up areas that appear to be a weak spot while teams looking to rebuild will want prospects and cash. The Marlins look to be a rebuilding team and have already sent Hanley Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Some teams will be looking to unload players perceived as problem players as well. It will be an interesting next few days. Next up will be the wavier deadline, always a much tougher call as players must clear waivers to go to a new team, a much harder prospect since rivals can often easily block moves.

Filed Under: All Star Game, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Fox Sports, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, New York Yankees Tagged With:

Are you Watching this Weekend’s Arena Football Playoffs?

July 25, 2012 by

The Arena Football League playoffs start this week with some returning powerhouses and new up-and-comers as the league continues to make a nice recovery after being left for dead a few years back when it ceased operations.

I have a number of friends that deride the league as bush league but in the few games I have attended I really enjoyed myself. It features very high scoring and continuous action. The short field and odd rules really make it a great viewing spectacle, especially in person where it is an inexpensive yet fun time.

For the first round of playoffs, which will see games played on July 27 and 28 there will be eight games, two apiece in each conference. In the National Conference the San Antonio Talons, founded this year, against the Utah Blades in one set while the other will feature the Arizona Rattlers against the San Jose SaberCats, one of the oldest established teams in the league.

Over on the American Conference side the first week matchups will include the Philadelphia Soul against the New Orleans VooDoo and in the other match there will be the Jacksonville Sharks against the Georgia Force.

The winners from both conferences will meet the following weekend for the conference championships and the week after that is the Avitae ArenaBowl XXV to be held in New Orleans with a 10:30 pm ET kickoff. So New Orleans could have a home field advantage if it manages to win out. Some games will be broadcast on the NFL Network while others will be available online at www.ustream.tv.

Just for those that do not know, the AFL was founded in 1987 and played until the economic downturn of 2007 forced it to dissolve. It was reformed in 2010 and has been playing since with 17 teams in two conferences of two divisions each. The season is 20 weeks long with two bye weeks.

What makes it interesting to me is the field. It is 85 feet wide, 50 yards long and has a 3-yard end zone. Eight players per team and they have four downs to move the ball at least 10 yards. Scoring is a bit wide open with six points for a touchdown with one point for a conversion by place kick, two points for a conversion by drop kick and two points for successful run or pass after a touchdown.

Three points for a field goal by placement or four points for a field goal by drop kick. Missed kicks can be returned by the opposition and a safety is two points. Interesting note is that the AFL is the second longest running football league in the United States, after of course the National Football League.

Filed Under: Arena Football League, NFL, NFL Network Tagged With: , ,

Key Competition Dates For First 24/7 Digital Summer Olympics

July 24, 2012 by

The Summer Olympics are so chock-full of events that the competition begins July 25 — two days before the Opening Ceremonies — and continues through the Closing Ceremonies on Aug. 12.

Olympic statistics are always numbing, but with the influx of digital broadcast offerings, the overwhelming statistic is that for the first time via multi-platform broadcasts available, sports fans have 24/7 access to competition during the London Games.

The official site of the Summer Olympics ideally details the schedule of each sport. Visit the complete schedule and results, here:

The official site of the Summer Olympics also details all of the official application option. Visit it here:

And here are the dates of the marquee competitions:

July 25 — Soccer matches begin and continue through Aug. 11 with the gold medal match

July 27 — Opening ceremonies. The pageantry and traditions of the Olympics begin.

July 28 — Basketball competition begins and continues through the bronze and gold medal games Aug. 12

July 28 — Gymnastics competition begins and continues the final four medal competitions on Aug. 7

July 29 — Hockey competition begins and continues through the bronze and gold medal games Aug. 11

July 29 — Swimming competition begins with two men’s and two women’s finals and continues through Aug. 10 with the men’s 10km.

Aug. 3 — Track & Field competition begins with final in the men’s shot put and women’s  10,000 meters and continues through Aug. 12 with the men’s marathon.

James Raia is an editor and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his site: www.tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Olympics, OnLive, Samsung, Soccer, Sports Social Media, Tablets

NBCUniversal, Verizon Agree to Extensive Mobile Summer Olympics Coverage Deal

July 24, 2012 by

Verizon FiOS is the latest company to partner with NBCUniversal to offer its customer multi-platform content coverage of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The package, beginning July 25, will include live and on demand coverage across multiple digital, mobile and tablet platforms.

In addition to extensive coverage on the networks of NBCUniversal – NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and Telemundo, two HD specialty channels and a 3D channel – subscribers, wherever they go, can stay connected to the London Summer Olympic Games exclusively via NBCOlympics.com, and the “NBC Olympics” and “NBC Olympics Live Extra” apps available to mobile and tablet users.

For the first time, 242 hours of the games will be available in 3D.

As part of a FiOS TV customer’s video subscription, which includes all Olympic television content, NBCUniversal is bringing Olympic content to subscribers live and on demand, online, and on mobile and tablet devices via applications.  This additional access to NBCUniversal’s Olympic programming extends FiOS TV customers’ opportunities to watch the games.

Following are multiplatform offerings that will allow FiOS TV customers to watch and be a part of the 2012 London Olympic Summer Games:

* NBCOlympics.com — Will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours from NBCUniversal networks, including NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo, for the first time so that FiOS TV customers can easily verify their subscriptions and watch Olympic coverage live online at no additional charge.

* Mobile and Tablet Apps — NBCUniversal will offer two apps for mobile and tablet viewing. “The NBC Olympics Live Extra” and will offer the same live streaming and event replays available via NBCOlympics.com/LiveExtra.

* On Demand — NBCUniversal is making Olympic highlights and full-event rewinds available via FiOS TV’s Video-On-Demand service. See U.S. athletes compete in diving, gymnastics, swimming, and track and field with more than 100 highlights covering the U.S. Olympic trials.

* Pre-Games — Viewers can access more than 120, four- to eight-minute clips available in SD and HD.

In Games — NBCU will offer more than 550 highlight clips, in addition to 240 full-length event replays, available within 24 hours of an event’s completion, all in HD and SD.

* Interactive TV — FiOS TV customers will have access to an on-screen interactive application with NBCUniversal’s real-time medal counts, athlete bios, team USA reports, Olympic news and more.

* 3D — Panasonic Corporation of North America and the NBC Sports Group have partnered to make the London 2012 Olympic Games available in 3D to FiOS TV customers.  The effort will produce 242 hours of coverage and marks the first time that the Olympic Games will be distributed in the U.S. in 3D.

* Specialty Channels — Dedicated 24/7 basketball and soccer channels are available to FiOS TV customers and will total 770 hours of NBC’s HD coverage. FiOS TV customers can find Olympics basketball on Channel 594, and Olympics soccer on Channel 596.

For more information, visit www.NBCOlympics.com or http://entertainment.verizon.com/nbclondongames
James Raia is an editor and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his site: www.tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Live sports via mobile, Olympics, Sports Social Media, Verizon Wireless

YouTube Deal Will Enhance ACC’s Digital Network

July 24, 2012 by

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s digital network has introduced a channel on YouTube that will deliver live content from the ACC as YouTube continues to grow as a force in live sports broadcasting with deals such as this.

We have long talked about the emergence of YouTube as a de facto channel for sports, and YouTube has been working hard to cement that position with the ACC deal as one of its more notable deals. However in case you missed it will also be serving up some nice Olympic moments via a deal with NBC that will enable it to show highlights and live events from the London Olympics.

The ACC and YouTube have been partners to a degree for several years and provided exclusive, but not live content at its site since at least 2009, however this takes it a significant step further.

Between that time and now the ACC started a deal with Silver Chalice that enabled it to launch the ACC Digital Network that provided broad coverage of the ACC schools including news conferences, highlights and analysis that could be delivered to both Apple and Android mobile devices.

Now it will also present live events as well as on demand videos that are created by the ACC as well as a live weekly studio program during football and basketball season. There will also be condensed replays of ACC Network productions of football and basketball games.

The current deal will call for the ACC to provide fan access and interaction to its analysts via Google’s Google Hangout. Fans can view, comment upon and share the programming by visiting youtube.com/accdigitalnetwork, or by searching for ACC Digital Network on YouTube.

Of course others are also working on attracting digital partners. The Big Ten Networks recently expanded to support Android in its broadcast and the Pac-12 is increasingly involved in digital media. Still it is nice that the ACC will be presenting live sports to its fan base and other interested parties.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Atlantic Coast Conference, BCS, Big Ten Network, Google, iOS, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, Pac-12, YouTube Tagged With: , ,
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