Early Sunday Start for PGA Championship on TNT, also Online; Players Turn to Twitter to Amuse Themselves

August 11, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

With the rain interrupting Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship things will get a much earlier start than planned Sunday, with golfers finishing up the third round starting at 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time. According to the PGA’s Twitter stream, the broadcast coverage on TNT will start at 8 a.m. Eastern, and the online stream (which will follow Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the “featured” group) will start airing at 7:40 a.m. Just like the British Open, early weekend golf! CBS should still come on at 2 p.m. Eastern, weather permitting. Let’s see if they can finish before dark.

I have to say I’ve been impressed by the PGA’s online efforts so far. Though it still doesn’t match the Masters when it comes to online screen choices (there is only one “marquee group” on at any time, plus coverage of the par 3 holes plus the ability to see the CBS broadcast when CBS is live), I do like the timeline below the viewing screen that lets you go back to watch highlights. And I will call the Social Caddy page a success — I was getting set to rip it this morning because it looked like the PGA was keeping out any negative commenters, but by Saturday afternoon I saw more than a few tweets about how pathetically bad the shuttle system was to get fans and media in and out of Kiawah.

Apparently there is only one road out to the island, leading to all kinds of traffic jams and a cavalcade of woe-is-us tweets from the golfing media, who have to endure the horrors of hours-long shuttle rides to and from the course. While it’s doubtful that anyone feels at all sorry for golf writers it has made for some entertaining reading. And it’s cool that the PGA isn’t trying to stop or police it on the Social Caddy site. Here’s USA Today writer Steve DiMeglio with a good line:

Ai Miyazato’s swing is faster than this shuttle bus. So is @timrosaforte‘s hair growth.

— Steve DiMeglio (@Steve_DiMeglio) August 12, 2012

Of course one of the funniest PGA-related Twitter exchanges was taking place between Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner. If you’ve been following this trio you know that they love to just play around by ripping each other… relax folks it’s all a joke. Gotta love Bubba posting what looks like an old photo of Dufner:

This is @jasondufner with his earrings & blonde tips!! #urwelcomelockerz.com/s/233691612

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) August 12, 2012

Nothing like a little downtime and a good Internet connection.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Golf, PGA, TNT, Turner Sports, Twitter Tagged With: Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, PGA Championship, Rickie Fowler, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh

Watching Golf this Week: The PGA Championship

August 9, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

Good news first: The 94th running of the PGA Championship will have a boatload of online and viewing options, and all kinds of web-enabled goodies to allow you to enjoy the year’s last major from the comfort of your desk, laptop, or iPhone or iPad. (Here’s the link to live video.) The bad news? It may not wrap up until Monday given the probability of thunderstorms likely to hit the Island Course in Kiawah, South Carolina. At least during the inevitable rain delays, you will have all kinds of diversions like the PGA’s new Social Caddy page to let you watch Twitter streams of players and caddies waiting out the rain.

A quick note on the online stuff — though we had written before that the PGA Tour and Turner Sports were parting ways, the relationship between Turner and the PGA Championship is a different beast — and as such Turner will be pulling out all the stops with TNT coverage Thursday, Friday and before CBS on the weekends, and a whole bunch of good website stuff, including lots of photos and videos.

Several things that we are going to look closely at for the live online video (which starts at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday and Friday) are the multiple camera views and featured groups that Turner says we’ll be able to follow online. We were disappointed at the U.S. Open’s somewhat limited online options, so let’s see if Turner can do better at the PGA. So far, the Masters is still far and away the online king of majors. We are heavily disappointed that the PGA app is iPhone only — c’mon folks, there are a heckuva lot of Android phones out there. Bad form to not have an Android app ready. Like in gymnastics, we’re taking a full point deduction there.

As for the actual golf… once again it really is all about Tiger, and whether or not he can get the job done at a major. Kiawah really doesn’t suit his perfectionist game — weirdo target golf — but when he is on, he really is the Usain Bolt of golf. I think it’s good to note here that had he not three-putted on that disaster bunker hole and not gone over the green on the par-3, Tiger would be your defending British Open champion. Just saying, the guy didn’t have anything near his “A” game and he still almost took the jug. He’s still the rock lock on my ESPN Fantasy team, but behind him I see… maybe Jason Dufner? An incredibly consistent year and good performances in the majors. Like last year, he could be standing near the end while others are falling.

Who else? I like Dustin Johnson’s ability but fear that Dustin is his own biggest enemy. At least there are no sand-trap rules for Johnson to worry about. Unlike the PGA two years ago where there were bunkers everywhere, there is a lot of sand at Kiawah but… according to some weird rule none of the sand is a bunker. So expect to see a lot of guys grounding their clubs, and a million calls to the PGA offices to follow. Watch the video and learn why it’s not a problem.

Finally my dark horse pick: Someone who historically plays well in South Carolina coastal courses, someone who has been surprisingly sharp at times this year… while he puts together his Ryder Cup team. That’s right, I am giving some love to the Captain, DLIII, Davis Love the Thirdly, to find another rainbow and win a second major in the gloaming of his career. I watched Love for a hole at Olympic during the Open, and his game seemed anything but old, striping a 2-iron off the tee and outhitting a younger playing partner who went 3-wood. Nice. In reality Love will probably be on the sidelines Saturday and Sunday, watching to see if Phil Mickelson can give him a reason to make him a captain’s pick for the Ryder roster. Enough Olympics already. Let’s get this war by the shore started.

Here’s where to follow the action:

94th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Aug. 9 — TNT, 1 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 10 — TNT, 1 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 11 — TNT, 11 a.m. — 2 p.m. — 7 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 12 — TNT, 11 a.m. — 2 p.m. — 7 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 7 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
Coverage starts at 12 p.m. Thursday & Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

ONLINE
As we said above, there is going to be a lot of online video, including marquee groups, par 3 coverage and press conferences. HERE IS THE LIVE VIDEO PAGE.

PGA SHOT TRACKER
No Shot Tracker this week.

FACEBOOK PAGE
If it looks like the beach, it’s the PGA Facebook page for Kiawah.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

HASHTAG FOR THE PGA IS: #PGAChamp

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. Who won’t be going back to Akron anytime soon.
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?
You’re kidding, right? Like you haven’t heard of the Island Course. Or seen numerous recaps of The War by the Shore. Well here is the official page, knock yourself out.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Keegan “long putter” Bradley. Outlasting our man Duf.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 2,204 points
2. Zach Johnson, 2,018
3. Jason Dufner, 1,983
4. Hunter Mahan, 1,739
5. Bubba Watson, 1,712

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: Apple, Apps, CBS Sports, Golf, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, PGA, Tiger Woods, TNT, Turner Sports, Twitter Tagged With: Island Course, Kiawah, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, PGA, PGA Championship, Tiger Woods, TNT, Turner Sports, Twitter

Watching NASCAR this Week: The Quaker State 400

June 29, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Clint Bowyer dominated the Sonoma racetrack at last weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma yet still had to withstand a strong performance from Kurt Busch to earn the green flag. He led 71 of the 119 laps in a race that witnessed few cautions and 8 lead changes and which had an average speed of 86 mph, or as a friend said, lap car speeds.

It was a near thing for Bowyer as he ran out of gas at the end of the race and had to walk to victory lane. Busch, in an unsponsored car fell back at the end and the top 5 was filled out with Tony Stewart finishing second followed by Busch, Brian Vickers and Jimmie Johnson.

Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway.
Next up is the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway. The track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval and will be the site of a great deal of speculation as to Matt Kenseth’s future. At the end of the season his contract with Roush Fenway Racing expires and will not be renewed. He is slated to be replaced on the team by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

So far this season Kenseth has one victory and eight top five finishes and is the leading point’s leader. ESPN is reporting that now Kenseth is claiming that he has a deal for 2013 but is declining to say where. Let the second guessing begin-or is it still at first guessing level?

Twitter- Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Broadcast
June 30 at 6:30 pm ET on TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Greg Biffle -11
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -14
4) Jimmie Johnson -25
5) Tony Stewart -63

Nationwide’s Road America race last week was won by Nelson Piquet Jr., a race that I missed because ESPN decided to broadcast it like something the late LeRoy Neiman would have painted (my cable company is having trouble with some ESPN broadcasts).

Piquet ran a solid race but at least some of the news has to do with Jacques Villenueve how was dominating for a time and racing for a top finish still on the last lap. Then on the last lap to go he was pushed into the grass and came back on the track and collided with Danica Patick, spinning her out from the 5th place position she was in-she eventually finished 12th. The top five was filled out by Michael McDowell in second, then Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.

Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway

Broadcast
June 29 7 pm ET ESPN 2

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillion -11
3) Rickey Stenhouse Jr. -23
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -34
5) Cole Whitt -75

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, TNT, Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Sprint Cup

NASCAR Faces Fast Track at Quicken Loans 400 Race

June 15, 2012 by Greg Quick 4 Comments

I turn on a race a little bit late and what do you know, half a dozen cars are already out and a number are laps down already — that’ll teach me to watch the clock better. The Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR had some bumping at the start and some at the end.

Joey Logano ended the race by giving Mark Martin a bit of a love tap that enabled him to win a race that he started from the pole position, and action that seems to be increasingly rare in NASCAR these days and which had not yet been accomplished this season until last week.

By pushing past Martin with just three laps to go Logano managed to secure his first win of the season and left Martin with the second spot. The crowd was filled out by Tony Stewart in third, Jimmie Johnson in fourth and the fifth spot was taken by Denny Hamlin.

Quicken Loans 400
This week the teams head to Michigan International Speedway for the Quicken Loans 400 up in the Irish Hills. This will be a very interesting race due to the new surface on the track. Speeds are very high, according to ESPN, and some drivers have spoken out about safety concerns. I seem to recall a few years ago another track that had been resurfaced suffered from peeling during a race, but I could be mistaken.

Broadcast
June 17, 12 pm ET on TNT

Twitter Feeds
#NASCAR- the new NASCAR curated site
@NASCAR-Official NASCAR feed
@NationwideNNS-Nationwide Official Twitter
@NASCAR_NNS-NASCAR Nationwide feed
@Poconoraceway-Pocono Raceway
@PRNLive-Performance Racing Network
@EdHintonESPN-ESPN Columnist Ed Hinton
@nascarnowespn-ESPN2 NASCAR
@siriusxmnascar- Sirius XM:
@SPEED-Speed
@Nascar_TNT-TNT’s feed

The leader board remains tight, with a bit of shuffling from last week’s standings, with leader Biffle dropping to third, but still only 16 points out from the lead.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -10
3) Greg Biffle -16
4) Denny Hamlin -19
5) Jimmie Johnson -20

Nationwide Series
The Alliance Truck Parts 250

Broadcast
June 16 3:30 pm ET ABC

Last week was an off week so no changes since the Dover race on June 2. The Alliance Truck Parts 250 will be the race of choice for those rooting on the Nationwide crews, and the Sprint crews that often race side by side at the events.

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliot Sadler
2) Rickey Stenhouse Jr. -12
3) Austin Dillon -14
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -50
5) Justin Allgater –78

Filed Under: ABC, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., TNT, Tony Stewart Tagged With: NASCAR, Sprint Cup

NASCAR and Twitter Reach out to Racing Fans

June 14, 2012 by Greg Quick 3 Comments

If you noted something a bit different while following last week’s NASCAR race at the Pocono 400 Presented by NASCAR it could have been the results of an alliance between Twitter and NASCAR designed to ratchet up fans’ participation in the sport.

The two launched #NASCAR as a tool to bring fans into the mix during races and it will feature a curated site that will focus on races and select other events and will include Tweets and photos from race drivers, teams and fans. NASCAR also has a @NASCAR account

It’s funny when I was watching the race last week on TNT I noticed that they had started running Tweets from race teams, and I am not totally sold on it, at least in the manner in which it appeared in the middle of the screen rather than at the top of bottom, which I prefer. But it did bring some interesting info into the mix.

The effort is still a work in progress and it looks like some drivers and teams are much more active than others, but then it takes some time to just establish this in your routine, so I suspect that it will improve as everybody gets used to tweeting on a regular basis.

I do not follow any of the drivers on a regular basis but have found that Brad Keselowski has been uniformly amusing and engaging, which is probably why he was selected to be in the first ad that was run about the partnership. His tweet about the crash at Daytona 500 was a huge hit earlier this year.

I hope that NASCAR continues on this trend and brings its partners further into the fold. Having spent some time on many of the circuits track’s web site I have found that they vary greatly in what they offer fans.

The best of them include track Twitter feeds, videos and photos as well as areas where fans can participate. Then there are some where the site basically just serves an online ticket office, providing little if no interaction with the fans.

In addition I hope that the tracks ensure that they have enough wireless capacity to carry the Twitter traffic, it can be very disappointing to try and connect and get nothing. Both MLB and the NFL are working to upgrade their capabilities in this area.

I would not like them to follow the MLB direction where all the team sites are almost identical, different tracks’ should have different personalities, just as the drivers do. But encouraging them to have a more powerful online presence will only enhance the sports appeal to fans.

Filed Under: Major League Baseball, NASCAR, TNT, Twitter Tagged With: NASCAR. Twitter

NASCAR Tackles the Tricky Triangle-Poconos here We Come

June 8, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Jimmie Johnson did what he does best in Dover, he won, for the seventh time to be exact. Leading for more than half the 400 laps he is in some pretty august company as driver Richard Petty and Bobby Allison also have seven.

It looked as if Jeff Gordon was going to fight him to the finish line but a loose tire killed any real chance he had because after the pit stop he was mired in traffic. The other top finishers were Kevin Harvic in second followed by Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

On a sad note recent Hall of Fame inductee Cotton Owens, former driver and car owner passed away at age 88.

This Week-Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR
I love this track, simply because it looks like someone was having fun when designing it, everything is different, the banking, the length of the straightaways and the fact that it has three corners. The long, 2.5 mile, but relatively slow track will also affect pit strategies.

It will not be as fast as some of the races that you see all year, particularly the longer tracks such as Talladega and Daytona, but it has a lot more strategy involved at Pocono Raceway, particularly in green flag racing.

The track has an interesting history, and while shorter than some makes a good read over at its web site. I did not realize that it was almost bankrupt several times and that Bill France Sr. talked them out of selling the track. I also like that Yuengling is a sponsor. Don’t know who that is? For shame!

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Greg Biffle
2) Matt Kenseth -1
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -10
4) Denny Hamlin -22
5) Jimmie Johnson -33

Broadcast
June 10, 12 PM ET on TNT

Twitter Feeds
@NASCAR-Official NASCAR feed
@NationwideNNS-Nationwide Official Twitter
@NASCAR_NNS-NASCAR Nationwide feed
@Poconoraceway-Pocono Raceway
@PRNLive-Performance Racing Network
@EdHintonESPN-ESPN Columnist Ed Hinton
@nascarnowespn-ESPN2 NASCAR
@siriusxmnascar- Sirius XM:
@SPEED-Speed
@Nascar_TNT-TNT’s feed

Nationwide Series
Joey Logano won at Dover last week with an interesting up and down win. I only caught parts of the race but when I did see some of it he seems to be in command, yet apparently late in the race he pitted for four tires and emerged in the pack. Yet he fought through that issue to gain first the lead and then the checkered flag.

Pole sitter Ryan Truex had pulled in front late but got stuck in traffic and finished a disappointing second. He was followed by Brian Scott, Kurt Busch and Justin Allgaier. Danica Patrick had a hookup with old friend Sam Hornish Jr. and wrecked her drive, finishing 30th. Odd how those two are always drawn together.

The ever shy Kurt Busch, already on probation this season, earned a one race suspension for making threatening comments to a reporter after the over race. No race this week so see you in two weeks in Michigan.

Nationwide Standings
1) Elliot Sadler
2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -12
3) Austin Dillon -14
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -50
5) Justin Allgaier -78

Filed Under: Contests, Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup Series, TNT Tagged With: NASCAR, TNT