More less-than-classic media notes, NBA heavy

==And there is more behind ABC play-by-play man Mike Breen doing his standup before Game 1 with a bandage on his forehead and looking a little worse for wear.
Some sources at the network tell us Breen had some recent skin cancer removed and that could have been the residual effect. During the earlier rounds of the playoffs, Breen was wearing a bandage after some cancer was removed on his neck.
In this case, however, it wasn't as life threatening....
Breen told us that he'd smacked his head against the corner of the bathroom door in the hotel room as he was leaving for Game 1, and the scalp would kept producing blood. He ended up getting a couple stitches from the Celtics' team trainer and had to wear the bandage because it continued to bleed. No makeup could fix it -- in fact, if makeup had gotten into it, there could have been infection.

(Photo taken from AwfulAnnouncing.com)

==And our first headline/story of the day from Onion Sports:
Pau Gasol Googles 'Lakers + Celtics + Rivalry'

LOS ANGELES--Claiming he was unaware of the existence of a Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics rivalry until numerous media outlets suggested their 2008 Finals matchup would revive it, curious Lakers center Pau Gasol researched the topic Wednesday by entering "Lakers + Celtics + Rivalry" into the Internet search engine Google.

==And one more OnionSports story:
Magic Johnson Shares 'Thoughts' On Lakers-Celtics Finals

BOSTON--Appearing on ESPN's SportsCenter Wednesday, former Lakers point guard Magic Johnson provided his "thoughts," "insights," and "analysis" of the NBA Finals matchup between the Lakers and the Celtics, assuring viewers that the series will hinge on "whoever team does its things better more."
"I think this, I think, this is really going to come down to basically overall game play and which team can win four or five games, and do it first," said the three-time NBA MVP, adding that scoring could also be as much of a major factor on the outcome as total points.
"There's also a possible definite possibility of matchups occurring. Could happen, yeah. And we can't overlook the influence that--that that effect or effects, might have on something." When pressed by SportsCenter anchor Rece Davis as to which team was favored, Johnson responded by saying "the one that's going to win...Win the NBA championship."

**MIXED MARTIAL ARTS:

==Do we deem CBS' coverage of its first mixed martial arts event a success. A bloody good one, you might say.
Preliminary numbers are a 2.7 rating and 5 share for the Saturday night "CBS EliteXC" event, that started at 9 p.m. and ran 45 minutes past the 11 p.m. window -- sure to make those in the network TV land even more strung out by its being broadcast over the nightly local news, and much of that delay caused by long walks into the ring by the participants.
That rating didn't include the Kimbo Slice-James Thompson bout, where Slice pounded Thompson into a pile of blood before it was called off, the disappointment of blow-by-blow announcer Gus Johnson. Maybe they didn't want it running another 15 minutes.
The Slice-Thompson fight did a 4.7 rating and 10 share on the overnights.
"We had three goals: Improve our Saturday night demos, get some new advertisers and expand viewership of the sport -- and we did all three," said CBS Senior Exec VP/Programming Operations Kelly Kahl. "We haven't seen numbers like that on Saturday night in quite a while."
In L.A., the event did a 4.7 rating and 9 share for KCBS Channel 2, squashing NBC's coverage earlier that night of the Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 (1.3/3). Several CBS affiliates did not show the event, or put it on tape delay.
Jay Larkin, the longtime TV executive at Showtime who's now the CEO of the International Fight League, said: "Saturday's ratings success of ProElite's show on CBS again shows that the market for the sport in the mainstream is growing, and we at the the International Fight League are very excited to be one of the industry leaders that can help grow the sport of Mixed Martial Arts collectively. We look forward to continuing our work both independently with our great roster of young, marketable athletes, and with other promotions, to help make exciting fights and encourage further growth of the sport to a larger audience."
Maybe the best review of the show came from (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel columnist Dave Hyde, who wrote that with the event put on not by the UFC, he "wasn't feeling entertained by the competition. I was feeling hustled. Maybe that's because it's Double-A baseball being sold as the major leagues. ... (In the) same manner Dolly Parton invented breasts, CBS was trumpeting the MMA's invention of blood lust."

==Versus is also trumpeting its 1.4 rating (1.5 million viewers) for its June 1 MMA World Extreme Cagefighting bout where Urija Faber kept his title with a five-round decision over Jens Pulver. That was the highest-rated and most-watched WEC on Versus telecast ever and the network's highest-rated and most-watched non-NHL Stanley Cup playoffs or non-Tour de France telecast in network history, going back to when it was called the Outdoor Life Network.

**NHL:

==NBC says Wednesday night's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, where Detroit clinched the title in Pittsburgh, had a 4.4 overnight rating and 7 share, the best audience for an NHL game on the network since it hooked up with the league in 2004.
In Pittsburgh, it did a 37.4 rating and 51 share. In Detroit, it was 30.6 and 45. In L.A., it was a miserable 1.9 rating and 4 share.
In the triple OT Game 5, NBC had a 3.8 national rating and seven share, up 111 percent over last season's Game 5 (Anaheim-Ottawa, 1.8/3). NBC says it won that Monday night in the adults 18-34 demo, as well as all key demos.

**BASEBALL:

==The Dodgers and Cubs this weekend -- just as the Dodgers and Mets did last weekend -- provide national TV outlets with viewer-friendly major market coverage. Fox will get Saturday afternoon's game from Dodger Stadium (12:55 p.m., Ch. 11) to 60 percent of the country, with Kenny Albert and Tim McCarver on the call. ESPN has Dodgers-Cubs as well for its Sunday night game (5 p.m.) with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

==FSN Prime Ticket launches an episode of "In My Own Words" with the Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra at 11 p.m. tonight after its coverage of the Dodgers-Cubs game.

==More OnionSports headlines:
Padres Broadcaster Insists Audience Is Watching A Good Game

**SOCCER:

==Switzerland vs. the Czech Republic (Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth) at 8:50 a.m. and Portugal vs. Turkey (Adrian Healey and Andy Gray) at 11:30 a.m., both on ESPN Classic, are the first two matches of the Euro 2008 tournament that ESPN will carry over the next 21 days, simulcast on ESPN360.com.
And as part of its Euro 2008 coverage, ESPN says it will also have Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon "debate Euro 2008 topics, focusing primarily on events and personalities that capture the imagination of U.S. fans," during "Pardon the Interruption," while on "1ST and 10," co hosts Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson will "moderate the opinionated Skip Bayless and his rotating co-debaters as they opine about Euro 2008 news and issues."
Is that really necessary?
Meanwhile, the ESPN Zone on Downtown Disney in Anaheim will open at 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday for fans who want to watch the games there.

==The L.A. based Fox Soccer Channel starts a reality show that chronicles someone's dream to play for a top European club on "Soccer Dreams," which starts Saturday at 9 a.m. Players between the ages of 14 and 19 are trying to advance to the prize of getting a contract with Barclays Premiere League club Everton FC of England. The top 36 players go to the finals and a two-week stay together in a house, leading to a winner. The show airs every Saturday from 9 to 9:30 a.m. through Aug. 9, then moves to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays from Aug. 16-30.

**COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

==A partial schedule of the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU involving SEC and ACC teams was released this week, which only matters locally because both ABC and ESPN2 will carry USC's opener at Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 12:30 p.m.
ABC's "Saturday Night Football " starts with Alabama vs. Clemson in Atlanta (Aug. 30, 5 p.m. and includes Georgia at Arizona State on Sept. 20 at 5 p.m.
One to mark already as need-see viewing: defending national champion LSU will host Appalachian State on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
Other key games: Florida hosting Miami, Sept. 6, 5 p.m., ESPN and Maryland vs. Cal, Sept. 13, 9 a.m., on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The first network telecast is Thursday, Aug. 28 with Vanderbilt vs. Miami (Ohio) on ESPNU at 4 p.m., with N.C. State at South Carolina on 5 p.m. on ESPN.
As previously announced, UCLA's opener against visiting Tennessee on Monday, Sept. 1 goes to ESPN at 5 p.m.

**MOTORSPORTS:

==Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty call TNT's return to NASCAR racing coverage with the Pocono 500 (Sunday, 11 a.m.). Petty, Marc Fein and Larry McReynolds host the "NASCAR on TNT" pre-race show at 9:30 a.m.
Said Petty about what he learned from dabbling on the TNT broadcast a year ago before jumping back into the race car: "Last year, I was concerned that I would sit in the booth and talk only talk about the No. 43 (Bobby Labonte) and the No. 45 (Petty) cars and look like an idiot. ... It's hard to believe that I had been around the sport as long as I have and didn't realize how much work (announcers) put in to prepare for a race. (I didn't realize the amount of time) it took to set up for a race, drag the cables and bring in the rig. I was mesmerized when I went to that first race and saw everything set up and then it all happens again at the next race. learned a lot last year and I'm looking forward to going back this year. I've been driving a race car for 30 years and I still haven't learned how to drive one. After (working as an analyst for) six races last year, I still have a lot to learn."
The online coverage on NASCAR.com reveals a new character, RaceBuddy, who will hopefully do more good than harm from what Fox's "Digger" gopher character did popping up all over the place.

==Fox, meanwhile, reports it stopped a two-year trend of sagging NASCAR numbers with a 5.7/12 rating for its coverage over the first half of 2008, up 2 percent over last year and the first rise in ratings for the network since 2005.

==Formula One sneaks into the Fox lineup Sunday (10 a.m., Ch. 11) with the Canadian Grand Prix from Montreal. Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett are on the call.

**MISC.

==In Tuesday's episode of the Morgan Spurlock reality series "30 Days," which began its third season last week on FX, former NFL star Ray Crockett decided to spend 30 days in a wheelchair to experience the challenges faced by paraplegics. Crockett, who played 14 years in Denver, Detroit and Kansas City, was a teammate of Mike Utley, the offensive lineman with the Lions who was injured during a game in 1991 and left paralyzed from the waist down. One of the things Crockett does during his experience is tries wheelchair rugby, made famous in the documentary "Murderball." Tuesday's episode airs at 10 p.m., with repeats throughout the week.

==Ted Robinson, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo wrap up NBC's coverage of the French Open -- they're hoping with a Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer final on Sunday.
Today's men's semifinals (10 a.m., delayed, Ch. 4) between Nadal and Novak Djokovic spills into live coverage this weekend with the Sharapova and Williams sisters-absent womens' final (Saturday, 6 a.m.) and men's final (Sunday, 6 a.m.) from Paris.
NBC's media notes points out that the women's final is "Russian Dinara Safina, the brother of former U.S. Open and Australian Open winner Marat Safin, taking on the new No. 1 women's player Ana Ivanovic from Serbia." Or, Safina could also be Safin's sister.

==Rick Reilly's "Life of Reilly" ESPN gig has started with a piece in ESPN The Magazine, where he begins: "Since this is my first column for The Magazine, I figure I should introduce myself. And maybe the best way to tell you who I am is to tell you about my dad, Jack. He was an Irish tenor, a yarn spinner, a songwriter, a father of four, a crack golfer and a first-class drunk." It's a Father's Day piece a week early worth reading.
ESPN.com already has an archive set up for his work, and he did one of them chat things on Thursday, the transcript of which is already quite readable.
And it didn't take more than a few hours before someone was then fired for plagerizing Reilly's work. The ESPN cops must be in full force.
Reilly is also part of the ESPN/ABC coverage of Saturday's Belmont.

==Josh Elliott will be Hannah Storm's partner on the new 6 to 9 a.m. (PDT) ESPN "SportsCetner" that starts in mid August.

==Dave Pasch and Marcellus Wiley call the Avengers' road game in Utah on Monday (ESPN2, ESPN360.com, 7 p.m.).

==Tom Hammond, Carol Lewis, Lewis Johnson, Ato Bolden, Dwight Stones, Ed Eyestone and Bob Neumeier are at NBC's coverage of the Prefontaine Classic (Sunday, 1 p.m., Channel 4) from Eugene, Ore. Allyson Felix, the former L.A. Baptist star and two-time world champion in the 200 meters, is in the field.

==In another Tiger- and Mickelson-free PGA event, CBS scales back coverage of the Stanford St. Jude Championship this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., Channel 2) with Bill Macatee and Nick Faldo in the 18th tower, Peter Oosterhuis at the 17th hole, Ian Baker-Finch at the 16th and Peter Kostis and Bobby Clampett as on-course reporters.

==TNT also announced that Baker-Finch will slice over from the CBS side and be part of its early-round coverage of the British Open, PGA Championship, PGA Grand Slam of Golf and the President's Cup this year, joining Ernie Johnson, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber.

==Al Trautwig, Elfi Schlegel and Tim Daggett are on NBC's coverage of the USA Gymnastics national championships (Saturday, 1-to-3 p.m. with the women from Boston, Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the men, on tape, from Houston) .

==Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Emanuel Steward call HBO's coverage of Kelly Pavlik vs. Gary Lockett and Daniel Ponce de Leon vs. Juan Manuel Lopez from Atlantic City, N.J. on Saturday (7:05 p.m.)

==NBC's Dan Hicks and Alex Flanagan call the annual Michael Douglas And Friends celebrity golf event, taped in February at Riviera Country Club (Channel 4, 11 a.m. Saturday).

==Steve Herbst, the Senior VP of Broadcasting and GM of NBA TV, was named Executive VP and GM of CBS College Sports Network.

**AND FINALLY:
Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch decided to track down the Detroit freelance camera man -- Kevin Bovee -- who took the towel to the lens from the Pistons' Rasheed Wallace during the Eastern Conference finals:

"I think our cameraman should give him a 'T' right there!" said ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy.
"I've had some players be rude to me in the huddle before, but I've never had one throw anything at me," Bovee told SI. "That was memorable. He threw the towel at the camera and it covered the lens. It was actually a pretty nice shot. He did me a favor."