**MORE BOXING

==HBO.com will have live videostreaming of today's De La Hoya-Forbes weigh-in at 12:30 p.m.

==From a media standpoint, De La Hoya's bye-bye tour is just getting started. Soon, his autobiography entitled "American Son", co-authored by the L.A. Times' Steve Springer, is being released by Harper Collins ($25.95), where he supposedly addresses everything -- including children out of wedlock and his counciling to rid of him of womanizing.

==Since Forbes brings some reality TV punch into the ring to take on De La Hoya, who once produced his own boxing reality show as well, would HBO be interested in picking up "The Contender" franchise since ESPN has decided not to renew its deal?
"Not really at this point," said HBO Sports chief Ross Greenburg. "We're trying a different kind of reality show with 'Hard Knocks' and '24/7' that really dive into the inner sanction, behind the scenes of pro football and the training of great boxiners. Those are more in tune with the documentary style we're looking at. We're not into putting people into houses together and making them do different routines and having them fight each other. That's not really our style. I respect Mark Burnett as a filmmaker, and the show is beautifully crafted, but it doesn't have the right feel for HBO."

**BASEBALL

==From Vin Scully's visit to his alma mater Fordham University earlier this week for a very profitable fundraiser, the New York Times' Richard Sandomir got the Dodgers' 80-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster to admit that he's only coming back after his contract runs out at the end of this season if his wife, Sandy, says it's OK. That's nice and all, but it's pretty much the story he's given us in the past, including a couple of weeks ago. That's the word he used going back to when he renewed his deal for two years with owner Frank McCourt back in 2006. Some may take it as a hint that he could retire, but you really think his wife will pull some Yoko Ono and alienate herself from every Dodger fan in America? Stop trying to read more into it. It's Vin trying to make sure he's got all his bases covered and can still handle the load.

==The Onion Sports speaks in its latest edition:

Nomar Garciaparra Tells Wife To Meet Him On Disabled List At 8 p.m.

==Dick Stockton and Jose Mota call the Baltimore-Angels game from Angel Stadium on Saturday for Fox (12:55 p.m., Channel 11), which only goes to 12 percent of the nation's TV markets. The biggest audience (65 percent) will see Joe Buck and Tim McCarver do the Cubs-Cardinals game from St. Louis, while another 22 percent see Mets-Diamondbacks from Arizona (with Kenny Albert and Mark Grace).

==Fans of Jim Kaat get to hear him on TBS' coverage of the Mets-Diamondbacks matchup (Sunday, 1 p.m.) when he joins Chip Caray on the call.

**NHL:

==We appreciate the effort NBC made to have former New York Rangers Stanley Cup-winning goalie Mike Richter part of last Sunday's Rangers-Penguins telecast, to get the word out about his efforts to help the green movement among the NHL and beyond.

Richter, a second-intermission guest with Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury, explained how he's become involved in Environmental Capital Partners, a private equity firm that provides capital to promote middle-market companies that offer products or services which enhance and protect the environment. Richter currently serves on the board of Riverkeeper, a leading environmental non-governmental organization organized by Robert Kennedy Jr.
"All sports have a connection to the outdoors," said Richter, who retired in 1997 and last year graduated from Yale with a degree in Ethics, Politics & Economics. "Think of performance, health ... the health of the environment is a natural. With the Beijing Olympics this summer, they're talking a lot about the air quality and everything else. Hockey, in particular, gets this (movement). Things outdoors are freezing later and melting earlier. It's important to the NHL players, and more than 500 are going carbon neutral this year.
"We're in a good time in our lives. The answers are out there. It's not about saying, 'you're driving the wrong car.' It's about finding solutions, and there are ways of living better. The Natural Resources Defense Council, these guys have written a blueprint on it, given it to the NHL, and the NHL has has run with it. And other leagues will, too. So the answers are out there. You just have to listen."
The NHL also has a strategic marketing alliance with The GreenLife Organization, which is helping every team develop and document its green initiatives as it assesses operations and makes recommendations to reduce the league's carbon footprint.
and improve its overall environmental impact.

**HORSE RACING

==A year ago, as the NHL Eastern Conference clincher between Ottawa and Buffalo was going into overtime, NBC dumped out and went to Baltimore to get the Preakness pre-race show started on time. What upset NHL fans most was that NBC switched over at the end of regulation, even though there was 20 minutes left in the broadcast window, just to show how it was raining, then airing baseball highlights. The real pre-race show began actually after the playoff game ended.
The winning goal was scored about an hour before the race actually took place.
NBC took a lot of heat, but in the network's defense, it has only an ad revenue share deal with the NHL. It pays a much bigger sum of rights fee to carry the Triple Crown races. There are no TV timeouts in NHL overtime games, so it couldn't have realistically have switched over easily to Versus (which holds the rights to all NHL cable telecasts; meaning NBC couldn't give it off to CNBC or MSNBC, which more viewers likely had access to).
This comes up because, had there been a fifth game in the Western Conference semifinals between Detroit and Colorado -- there isn't, because the Red Wings completed a four-game sweep Thursday night -- NBC could have painted itself into a corner again. An overtime contest between the Red Wings and Avs on Saturday would threaten the start of the Kentucky Derby prerace show.
Network spokesman Brian Walker said NBC would have waited until after the first overtime period between Colorado and Detroit before it handed off coverage to Versus and switched to any Derby pre-race coverage. In addition, any game coverage that went into the second OT and beyond would be video streamed at NBCSports.com as well as NHL.com for those who weren't able to access Versus.

==When NBC does get around to covering the actual Kentucky Derby (aside from the big hats and fancy drinks), it'll be the usual cast of high-profile characters, starting with Bob Costas as the co-host, but Tom Hammond more of the knowledge provider. Gary Stevens, the three-time Derby winner, is the main analyst. Tom Durkin calls the race, with more guessing from Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Barton Brothers. Sam Flood produces and David Michaels directs the telecast.

==What NBC's Hammond says about how the Kentucky Derby will shake out:
"Most of the horses all seem to have significant things that you like about them and significant question marks associated with them with the exception of Big Brown, who is unbeaten in three starts, but only three starts. It's been since 1915 that a horse that lightly raced has won the Kentucky Derby. He has drawn - or chosen - post 20, the outside post, and no horse has ever won the Kentucky Derby from the 20-post. He did do something similar when he won the Florida Derby - he broke from the 12 outside post at Gulfstream Park."

==ESPN's coverage of the event, which started with draw on Wednesday, has the Kentucky Oaks today (2 p.m., ESPN2) with Kenny Mayne and Rece Davis hosting, Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss and Jeannine Edwards analyzing, Hank Goldberg handicapping and Jay Privman and Steve Cyphers reporting.
Mayne, in L.A. last week for book signings on his new tome, "An Incomplete & Inaccurate History of Sports," had to cancel appearances in New York this week after spending three days in the hospital because of some kind of virus/food poisoning, but he said he planned to be back in time for this event. Mayne will be on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike" show today (3-to-7 a.m.) from the first turn at Churchill Downs.
ESPN's coverage starts with "Today at the Kentucky Derby" at 8 a.m. (on ESPN2, then switching to ESPN at 9 a.m.) and a two-hour pre-race special starting at noon on ESPN.

==KSPN-AM (710) has the ESPN Radio live coverage of the race from 2-to-4 p.m., hosted by Brent Musburger, and including Goldberg, Bailey and Bob Valvano. Sirius Satellite Radio also has its coverage on Channel 120, also from 2-to-4 p.m. with Dave Johnson and Bill Finley.

**GOLF:

==More than just a function to admire the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, NBC confirmed this week that its coverage of the U.S. Open from Torrey Pines down San Diego way in mid June will go prime-time in the East -- 4 to 10 p.m. ET during Saturday's third round and 3 to 9 p.m. ET on Sunday -- the first scheduled prime-time brodcast in the event's history (since some have bled into primetime in the past because of weather conditions). And since the event can grind at the end, it'll probably run past those end times on both days. NBC also has the first and second-round coverage from 3 to 5 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday.
Get used to it: Three of the next five U.S. Opens are on the West Coast, including Pebble Beach in 2010 and the Olympic Club in San Francisco in 2012.

==Unfortunately, CBS' coverage of the PGA's Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C. (Saturday and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. both days) will again be without David Feherty. The on-course reporter, who managed to hold up at the Byron Nelson event near his home in Dallas last weekend, has had even more problems with his left elbow after banging it up in a bike accident almost two months ago.
His latest email explanation:
"You're not going to believe this, but I had another hoot of a (bleeping) morning at the hospital on Monday. I was 4 hours in the wound clinic, where they tore my elbow up, removed something that looked like (Bobby) Clampett's brain, and packed it with anti-bacterial tape. I have to spend 2 hours each day for the next 3 weeks in a hyperbaric chamber, and wear a vacuum pump on the wound, to be changed every other day. It has a motor and a drainage bag, which must be worn around the waist. Hey, you know me, I love to accessorize! So, no Wachovia, and no Atlanta (the May 15-18 AT&T Classic). Fortunately, I am now able to see the black dog of depression coming, and I started on my anti-insanity meds about 10 days ago. So, I don't feel too bad. I'm just going to make lemonade, and do some writing."
Feherty writes his "SideSpin" column for Golf Magazine, owned by the Time magazine empire, which means he's in Sports Illustrated's "Golf Plus" section on occasion as well as Golf.com. His latest entry: "I Have A Scream, Or How Grunting like a Rutting Bull Moose Can Save Golf."

==Before Sunday's final round, at 11 a.m., CBS airs the second "Rules of the Game" interactive show. Hosted by Bill Macatee, the one-hour special spins off the original version of the show that came out in Aug., 2007 and actually matched the ratings of the live PGA event that led into the program. Now we see how it works from the other side. Juma Entertainment , whose West Coast offices are in Burbank, set up the show that has viewers on CBSSports.com to answer questions posed about golf's rules. Those competing will be ranked on their responses.

Before Saturday's third round, also at 11 a.m., a more disguised attempt at an infomercial still has some TV media merit, as "The Best Shot in Golf" presented by MetLife is an hour-long "documentary" on how blimp coverage has helped the coverage of the sport. Produced by PGA Tour Productions, the special "demonstrates how the aerial camera captures distinct design features of each golf course and what players face on specific shots. It highlights the importance of this matchless perspective from the blimp and explains how the overall aerial broadcast of golf is created," according to the network release. The focus will be on blimp cameraman Bob Mikkelson and how he frames the shots that are at the disposal of the CBS production crew for each event.
If only to see more amazing shots of the coastline along Pebble Beach, watch it on the big screen in HDTV.

**NBA:

==TNT claims that after its first eight days of playoff coverage (that's 17 games, through April 28), ratings in all key demographics are up over previous years. It doesn't hurt when you have the Lakers on three of those nights. TNT reports a 2.1 rating, up 20 percent over last season so far, up 32 percent in the adult 18-to-34 age group, up 36 percent in the male 18-to-34 age group and up 32 percent in males 25-to-54.

==Over at the other network, ABC's coverage is up 32 percent in overall households over last season -- and the 3.3 rating so far is up 27 percent over 2.6 during the first weekend of the post season in 2007. ESPN's telecasts are also up 20 percent in the ratings over last year (2.4 vs. 2.0), and it has won the men 18-34 demo all three nights so far this postseason (averaging 795,900 men 18-34 vs. 547,000 in 2007).

==ESPN's slate of Game 6 matchups tonight:
-Cleveland at Washington, 4 p.m., ESPN2 (Mike Tirico and Doris Burke)
-Boston at Atlanta, 5 p.m., ESPN (Mike Breen with Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy)
-Houston at Utah, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (Dan Shulman and Hubie Brown)
ABC has two NBA game windows on Sunday -- 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. -- without any teams committed as yet. All depends on what series go to a seventh game after tonight. If Utah wins, it starts Game 1 of its Western Conference finals against the Lakers at Staples Center in that later window. If Utah loses, a Game 7 vs. Houston goes into that slot.
TNT's Saturday schedule:
-4 p.m.: Half-hour TNT Tip-Off show
-4:30 p.m.: Orlando at Detroit, Game 1 (Matt Devlin and Mike Fratello)
-7 p.m.: San Antonio at New Orleans Game 1 (Marv Albert and Reggie Miller)

==SportsbyBrooks.com replays an interview that ESPN NBA Mendoza-line analyst Tim Legler does with Miami's Dan LeBatard, where the later asks the former what he would change about the sports media. Legler's answer leads Brooks to surmise he's not real pleased that guys like Stephen A. Smith get to provide expert analysis of a game when, uh, they never played.

**NFL:

==Fox officially hired former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick as a game analyst for the upcoming season. Fox Sports executive producer and president Ed Goren says: "We have always tried to hire analysts that have a certain presence or confidence - an edge if you will, and coach Billick is the latest example of our philosophy. Partner that passion with a tremendous knowledge of the game, and you have the makings of a top game analyst."
Billick probably raised his status as a potential broadcaster, not only for his adept handling of the media during his coaching tenure, but also in HBO's "Hard Knocks" reality show about the Ravens' training camp of 2002 coming off their Super Bowl victory (which also helped the broadcasting careers of soon-to-be retired players Shannon Sharpe and Tony Siragusa). Billick was most recently part of the NFL Network's draft coverage last weekend.
Some may also contend, in a very creepy way, that Billick was already trying to get on TV 30 years ago, when he appeared as a contestant on "Match Game," as well as "The Gong Show" and "Jeopardy." There's evidence to prove some of that on the Internet matchine (see accompanying photo).
Billick is going to be put in a three-man booth on eight Sunday broadcasts when Fox has at least a seven-game schedule that day, including Week 1. A play-by-play partner will be determined. A game-show host may accompany them.
The race now is to see whether it's Billick, or CBS NFL studio analyst Bill Cowher, who lands the next coaching job after the 2008 season.

**MOTORSPORTS:

==The motorsports nationally syndicated radio show "SpeadFreaks with Kenny Sargent" has returned to KLSX-FM (97.1) on Sunday nights at 7 p.m. after the last five years on KSPN-AM (710). The Encino-based "Speedfreaks," going into its ninth season, was on KLSX from 2000 to 2002.

==In a YouTube world, this is the kind of stuff that gets used later in court when patrons of the Long Beach Grand Prix get put on the stand to ask what the heck happened after the race ended:

Notice all the people with cellphone cameras and video cameras also taking in the festivities.

**MISC.

==More airings of the HBO "Costas Now" special from earlier in the week that focused on the contemporary sports media -- radio, TV, the Internet, etc.: Saturday (7:30 a.m.), May 8 (10:30 a.m., 6:30 p.m.), May 11 (5 a.m.), May 14 (6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.), May 16 (3:30 p.m.) and May 21 (2:30 a.m.) on HBO; Monday (9 a.m. and 7 p.m.), May 13 (2 p.m. and 10 p.m.), May 18 (11:30 a.m.), May 24 (6:15 a.m.) and May 27 (11 a.m.) on HBO2.
You've already got our take on how the sports and the Internet segment went down. There was more coverage of it in the New York Times, where Bissinger didn't back down from what he said, nor did Leitch claim he knew there was something amock, nor did Costas know it was going to be that caustic.

But it made for great TV, eh? And great blogging, eh? And great newspaper ... well, not sure how that medium works still.

In an email to us Wednesday, Leitch admits it was "a (bleep)show. It's a shame, too, because the other panels -- well, except for the Joe Buck/Dan Patrick let's all make cheap (and funny) jokes -- were informative and provacative. There's a real discussion to be had on both sides. Unfortunately, that's not even close to what happened."

Leitch also posted a followup blog about the events, with a interview he did the day after on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show," where he admits John Calipari looks more like a voice of reason than Bissinger. And Leitch says he's ready to let it all go.

That whole segment almost overshadowed some other interesting quotes that came out of the show.
Such as:
Al Michaels: "There's a lot of sports I watch now where it's a screaming match .. it's almost like 'Gas Bags on Parade.'" (Not that he's ever seen ESPN's "Around The Horn")

Mitch Albom: "What's happened is the mentality (of sports-talk radio) has started to move into other areas. Print people start competing with talk radio. I've noticed an anger and a meanness in columns and sportswriting that hasn't existed until the last 10 years ... and also it is because they listen to the radio and ... they're so angry ... I need to write to them. There used to be a standard to write, to report, to inform. Now almost anybody can get into that field. Joe Fan shouldn't be on the same level as Joe Reporter." (Nor should you write a column with incorrect facts because you are trying to cut corners).

Michael Schur, one of founders of FireJoeMorgan.com and a writer and producer for NBC's "The Office:: "You can't just make one sweeping generalization about bloggers any more than you can make a sweeping generalization about artists or Swedish people or animals ... The more transparent the work is, the better off we are. That's the basis of, like, democracy."

And an update on the collateral damage from Bissinger:

=Appearing on WAXY-AM, Bissinger said Thursday: "I don't take back a word of what I said. I have a tremendous amount of problem with blogs. ... (but) I honestly think in this case there were some things that I should not have said. I shouldn't have used profanity. I shouldn't have been as hostile in my approach to Will Leitch because it makes me look bad. I came across as so angry and so crazy in some ways that it really subsumed the valid points that I was trying to make and I regret that, and I don't care if it's Will Leitch or anyone, no one should be treated the way I treated him."

==And Costas, in the Kansas City Star, on Bissinger: "If fairness prevails, you keep in mind who he is and that more than outweighs a subpar performance on his part. ... (his actions) obscured whatever points he made. And then some people made the leap that because I am critical of some -- precisely SOME aspects of the web -- that my sentiments are the same as Buzz's. And they're not."

==That's Bill Raferty and Verne Lundquist playing the roles of Bill Raferty and Verne Lundquist in a very special episode of "CSI: NY" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.). The CBS basketball broadcasters are doing an apparent fake college basketball game -- is it against NCAA rules? -- in the episode called "Personal Foul," where Gary Sinise and the above-average Melina Kanakaredes follow a forensic trail of evidence to stop the "Taxi Cab Killer" from killing another fare. Maybe not as a psychological thriller as Robin Williams on the recent "Law & Order: SVU," but perhaps as compelling as the "CSI: NY" episode where Petros Papadakis, in Season 1, Episode 22, where he played sports-talk show host Rico Savalas in the gripping story of "The Closer." It's only a shame that two famous Greeks -- Papadakis and Kanakaredes -- were forbidden to send sparks across the screen together in that episode.

==The OnionSports take on more college kid decision making:

Tyler Hansbrough Staying In School To Take This One Awesome Philosophy Class

==Sirius Satellite Radio renewed its deal with Scott Ferrall to continue hosting his live weeknight sports-talk show (5 to 8 p.m.) on Howard Stern Channel 101.
"I couldn't walk away from the revolution - it's too much fun," said Ferrall, who once upon a time did "Ferrall On the Bench" from the Westwood One studios in Culver City and was part of Infinity Broadcasting and heard on KLSX-FM (97.1).
Ferrall is also appearing in the new movie, "Redbelt," as himself. The flick, a mixed martial arts drama from David Mamet, debuted last week at the Tribeca Film Festival.

==CBS College Sports Network (Channel 610 on DirecTV; Channel 152 on DishTV) has two games of the college baseball series between Pepperdine and San Diego today (1 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) with Carter Blackburn and Kevin Stocker.

==Another nugget from CBS College Sports: Miami graduates Brody Logan and Jason Kerepesi have the assignment to spend the next two months emersed in the college baseball scene as part of the "Going Yard" tour, finishing with a trip to the College World Series in Omaha. Among the 4,000 miles traveling over 60 days will be a stop at UCLA today and Saturday. Their reports are featured on "College Sports Tonight" and online at NCAA.com.
Here's a clip of their recent stop at Cal State Fullerton:

==CBS has its annual all-encompassing NCAA championship show (Saturday, 10 a.m., Channel 2) where all 88 NCAA title winners get some exposure on the one-hour special. Highlighted are all divisions from fencing, ice hockey, indoor track & field, rifle, skiing, swimming, diving and wrestling.

==The WNBA Sparks will have five national exposures when ABC and ESPN2 releases its schedule next week, starting with the May 17 Saturday opener at Phoenix (on ABC at 12:30 p.m.) and including games at Washington (May 31, ABC, 12:30 p.m.), at Sacramento (July 10, ESPN2, 6 p.m.), at Detroit (July 22, ESPN2, 4 p.m.) and home vs. Seattle (Sept. 14, ESPN2, 2 p.m.)

**AND FINALLY:

==The word has been out for the last week or so that Tom Bergeron, more recognized for hosting "Dancing with the Stars" and "America's Funniest Home Videos" for ABC, will host the network's coverage of the National Spelling Bee final (Friday, May 30, 8 to 10 p.m.) after ESPN is done with the earlier rounds.
ESPN's telecast (of course, simulcast on ESPN360.com) hosted by Chris McKendry goes from 8 to 11 a.m. that day.

Somewhat lost in the buzz -- but not lost on those bloggers who have already sniffed it out -- is that Erin Andrews will be a "correspondent" for both ESPN and ABC on the coverage.

Watch for the sequel, "Erin and The Bee," coming to porn sites everywhere.

She's covered the Little League World Series, so 12-year-old boys already have posters of her on their walls next to A-Rod. Since this could also help raise her visibility in the important 8-to-15 demographic, how will the 2007 Playboy "America Sexiest Sportscaster" choose an event-appropriate wardrobe so as to not call too much attention to herself, but keep it focused on the wide-eyed kids with his hands jammed into his pockets, already tongue-tied enough going in and scrambling to find extra padding for his underwear?

Can you spell v-e-x-a-t-i-o-u-s?