A view through jamie's eyes

A view from the chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:13:00 +0000

I’M back!

Sorry I have not written in over a year. My new jobs have taken most of my time. I got the inspiration to write today from an interview I just heard with Norby Williamson an Executive Vice President at ESPN. What sent me off on this rant was his answer to a question about taking sports events away from ABC Sports like the Open Championship golf (British Open) and NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at Indy and put them on ESPN. Norby said that the company wants to make ESPN the destination for sports and that there are some sports like the NBA Finals and the Indy 500 still on ABC Sports. My problem with this is that ABC Sports has a long and glorious history that goes all the way back to the 60’s and Wide World of Sports with Jim McKay and Roone Arledge. Why throw away this history? My second observation is that weekends are for sports on the network. I guess I’M old school.

In other news on August 1 Comcast announced that its Venus Network would be rebranded NBC Sports Network starting next year. NBC has already started this year to put weekday programming on Venus and weekend coverage on the NBC. This is what I hope that ESPN can do with ABC Sports. You can still have a wrap around coverage of the big events on sportscenter, just put the events on the main channel on the weekends.

Speaking of the NBC Sports Network. They have made there first major sports rights deal to televise Major league Soccer for the next 3 years starting next year. This deal includes that 3 national team games will be on the mothership NBC. I think this is a great move for MLS as ESPN has focused on the international game and has buried the domestic league.

This summer NBC retained the broadcast rights to the Olympics until 2020. They outbid ESPN and FOX to keep the Games on the network. Also it was announced that my boy Dan Patrick will have a host role at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and unlike Vancouver, Mr. Patrick will be in London for all 16 days of glory.

I do want to compliment ESPN for their coverage of the Women Soccer World Cup from Germany. Great job giving it a big event feel and giving women’s soccer the big stage it deserves by showing all games and not just the United States matches. For the short-term women’s soccer will have a increase in interest but I think in the long term it will not get the respect it deserves. This is a problem for women’s sports in general, unfortunately.

Staying with soccer, on Friday October 21^st ESPN lost the rights to televise the 2018 and 2022 World Cup to FOX. ESPN does have the rights to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. FOX also gets the rights to the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada. The big question is, will they cover the Women’s tournament like ESPN? When it comes to the Men’s tournaments, my question is where are they going to put the games? Their main cable outlet is not in ever area and their other cable channels are under a pay wall. The only other choice is FX. Also, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated makes a good point in that it is unknown if FOX will go after US Soccer rights. That piece could help both FOX and US soccer. As Grant says “the narrative of World Cup qualifying can help build the audience for World Cup broadcasts.” I guess we will see. Six years is a long time and a lot can change, but I am not happy.

Besides the Women’s World Cup this summer, ESPN has done a great job covering soccer. I’ve been very impressed that they have shown the two youth World Cup’s (under 20 and under 17) and the United States didn’t ever qualify for the Under 20 competition. ESPN even covered two competitions that were not on their air; the Gold Cup that the US lost and the South America champion. This almost never happens. I guess because the Gold Cup and Copa America are qualifiers for the 2013 Confederations Cup (that is on the ESPN family of networks) is why they covered these tournaments, but good job any way. Remember, FOX will take over the Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups in there new package.

The announcer I have been most impressed with over the last year has been ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. I started to watch his radio show which is simulcasted on ESPN2. He has a very understated style and does not yell at the audiences that I like. He also did some play-by-play at the Open Championship (British Open) and was very good. I can see Scott hosting the golf broadcasts in the future.

In other sports media news, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is leaving it’s long time TV home of Spike TV and signing with the FOX network. This is reportedly a 7 to 8 year deal. Yes, this gives the UFC a much needed and wanted network TV presence to grow the sport. According to the report, the UFC’s flag ship show, the Ultimate Fighter and all other programming will be on the FX cable network. Also the press release states that all UFC programming will be on Friday night. I know that FX is in more households then Spike; I just think a lot of people will have a hard time finding the new channel. The problem I also have is that the UFC is popular with the 18 to 34 demographic and Friday night for this young crowd is party night. The press release does not say if FOX will continue showing the preliminary bouts before Pay Per View cards. I know this show has sold a lot of Pay Per Views over the last year. For these reasons I think it’s a bad deal but I’M willing to wait and see.

The last note, Thank you Comcast New England for picking up The Dan Patrick Show this month. It’s great to have a real alternative to ESPN in the morning when I have power.

All right I’M done. It’s good to get it out. Hope to write more when it warrants.

Thank you,

Jamie Lazaroff

Site/blog update

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:07:00 +0000

Hi folks

Sorry I have not written since June. Here's a quick update for all who have been asking. I was selected to speak at the Arc National Convention November 4th and 5th. I have been extremely busy preparing for this big step in my speaking career. I also have other irons in the fire that I hope to have more information on soon. I hope to be back on a regular blogging schedule in the near future.

Have a great day.

Jamie Lazaroff

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Here a picture of me watching the USA must win world cup match . My prayers was answered. We won our group for the first time since 1930. (the first time the world cup was played) We play next Saturday afternoon 2P.M. on ABC, opponet is To Be Determimed. I will have more later, just wanted to share this photo.

LAZ Sports Radio 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:09:00 +0000

LAZ Sports Radio text

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:03:00 +0000

This is Jamie Lazaroff and welcome to the latest edition of LAZ sports radio. Sorry I have not done a blog or video in the last week. I have been busy with lots of irons in the fire. I got a part-time job being the voice on some advertising for 1350 WINY radio in Putnam CT.

One to the sports. This week’s major news story is that the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams. CBS sports and Turner sports are the home of the tournament for the next 14 years. The interesting part of the deal is that starting in 2016 the Final Four will be on cable. The good news for basketball fans is that all tournament game will be on national TV. It’s good that the NCAA men’s basketball committee recommended expansion of the tournament from 65 teams to 68. Like I said before, 96 teams would be too much. ESPN was also in the running for the right to March Madness but CBS/Turner bid was bigger. Is this a sign that ESPN is going after the Olympics? We will see.

There is sad news to report as former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch died last week. Mr. Samaranch was the IOC’s top man for 1980 to 2001. After boycotts at the 80 Summer Games in Moscow and 84 in LA Mr. Samaranch make the Olympics in to the global event it is today.

I have talked before about how I think the NFL Draft is one of the most over hyped events in all of sports. The Draft is not an exact science. No one knows how these college athletes are going to perform on the pro level. I was interested why the Denver Broncos took Tim Tebow before better rated Quarterback’s Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy. What was Denver thinking? We well see in a few years which team was right. Some times later round picks work better than first round sections. Remember Tom Brady was a six round pick in 2000 draft and he is the best Quarterback in the league right now. We shall see how this year’s class pans out in a few years.

This weekend is the latest fight to save boxing. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight Shane Mosley in Las Vegas. I read were Mayweather said he was better than Mohammed Ali. I laughed out loud. First off Ali had national TV in his day and also had Howard Cosell as his antagonist/supporter. Mayweather can’t deliver a promo. No one is in the league of Ali. Just for this I’M going to hope Mosley can shut Mayweather up. I’M going to Foxwoods to watch the fight on a big screen. We’ll give you a report next week.

This weekend is also the first Saturday in May, which means the Kentucky Derby. This year race is more wide open than usual. Last week likely favorite Eskendereya was scratched with a leg injury. The new favorite is Lookin At Lucky with Garrett Gomez aboard. It’s not good to be the favorite in the run for the roses; in the last decade only 4 favorites have won the fastest 2 minutes in sports. We shall see. Post time is 6:24 on NBC.

One final note. On April 17 one of my crazy relatives competed in the “Inferno” pentathlon race at Tuckerman’s ravine, which is on the eastern slope of Mt. Washington in NH. The race consist of a 8.3 Miles run, Kayak for 6.2 Miles, bike 18.2 Miles then hike for 3 miles before the final member of the team skis down the ravine. Their team name was “6 of 1 half dozen of the other.” My cousin David did the kayak, our friends Alec did the run, his father Len did the hike our vacation friend Bruce did the ski and their friend Kelly did the bike. Congratulations to all!! I know I can’t do it. You go guys and ladies. This year my cousin Carley is doing her triathlon in Webster with my aunt Ann and my soccer coach Geri is also competing. I will be their cheering them on and reporting back.
Talk to you next
Jamie Lazaroff

Video blog #3

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:52:00 +0000

YouTube #2

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:43:00 +0000

My debut on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:27:00 +0000

Hi All

A while ago I talked about puting videos of my sportscasts on YouTube. Well here is a preview of things to come.

Tell me what you think.

Jamie Lazaroff

The View from the chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:52:00 +0000

This is Championship week in College Basketball. Most of the conferences or leagues in the country have a tournament to decide what team for said conference (Big East, ACC, Big 12, PAC-10, and the likes) gets its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In fact there are 31 conferences, which have a tournament to decide their automatic bid. Only the Ivy League has the regular season champions who get that leagues automatic bid. The other 34 teams that make up the 65 team NCAA Tournament are chosen from a committee of basketball people in Indianapolis. This week’s debate is, do their tournaments over shadow the regular season. Make no mistake; these conference tournaments are not going a way any time soon. They make too much money for their leagues. In the large conferences like the Big East or the ACC that get multiple teams into the NCAA tournament, the regular season is important, but if a team losses early in its conference tournament and had a great regular season, that team will get an at-large bid to the big dance. This year is a good example; Syracuse won the Big East regular season title with a 15-3 conference record, but lost last Thursday in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. For that 15-3 record they are in the NCAA tournament. Some of the smaller leagues like the Northeast or the American East conference only the winner of their tournament will get a bid to the NCAA’s. My example here is in the Northeast Conference championship game Quinnipiac lost to Robert Morris for the only spot in the big dance. I think the only way this will change is if the UCONN’s of the world play the Quinnipiac’s of the world on a regular bases.

In woman’s college basketball, UCONN has won 72 games in a row, to break consecutive game records of 70 back in 2001 to 2003. The debate over this record is if the streak is good for woman’s basketball. I’M on the fence if the steak is good for woman’s basketball. I have to agree with ESPN’s Doris Burke for reminding use that no one questioned John Wooden when his UCLA Bruins Men’s team won 88 in a row back in the 70’s. Doris also is right when she points out that there opponents have not gotten any better than the 2001 to 2003 steak. ESPN.com had a great statistical breakdown of all 3 teams. During their current streak, the Huskies have beaten their opponents by more then 32 points. Compare that with 25 points the UCLA men beat their opponents from 1971 to 74. The other stat that blew me away is that the UCLA Men had 16 single-digit wins in the longest win streak in history, compared to not one single-digit win for the women. Just remarkable!

There is an interesting story on ESPN.com about how six of the 16 first and second round sites for the NCAA women’s tournament will lose money. This is because the women’s tournament is played on campus and if that team or a team from that team’s league or conference does not play there the crowd doesn’t come. Think about this Gampel Pavilion hosted games and UCONN or at least the Big East Team was not playing would you go to the games. UCONN and Tennessee are the only programs that travel well or will go were the team plays. What does this say about women’s basketball? I don’t know but I believe that the woman should play at the same sites as the men. Lets take this year for example; Providence, Rhode Island hosted the Men’s first two rounds Thursday & Saturday. The women could play Friday & Sunday. I think the problem is, not the same teams are involved in both tournaments but this scenario would make for a basketball destination.

Sports media watch

This week’s big news is that Jennifer Hudson becomes the new voice for CBS Sports’ NCAA Tournament anthem “One Shining Moment.” Hudson becomes only the 4th person and the 1st woman to sing the song. Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and the song’s composer David Barrett were the others to sing the song. I have no problem with Jennifer Hudson, she a great singer and will do great with the song. I will miss Luther Vandross and his soulful voice.
Here is the 2009 version of “One Shining Moment” with Luther Vandross.

I will have a full report of the madness and Jennifer Hudson’s version of “One Shining Moment” after the Championship Game on April 5.

Other story that caught my eye is that ESPN is producing a new two-hour programming block on ABC debuting April 3 from 4 to 6 P.M. It will be called ABC Sports Saturday. The show will generally begin with a 60-minute episode of one of the three ESPN series 30 for 30 (documentary series) E60 (60 minutes for sports fans), Homecoming with Rick Reilly (interview series) followed by the hour long Winners Bracket. Winners Bracket will be a debate show that will recap the week in sports in a bracket-style format. This looks to me like a big advertisement for ESPN programming on the main network. According to the press release this programming block is collaboration between ESPN and ABC affiliate stations. (WTNH channel 8 in Connecticut or WJAR 10 in Rhode Island) I had heard that the affiliated stations have been looking for consistant sports programming on Saturday afternoon since bowling and Wide World of Sports left ABC in the 90’s. We will see if this is going to work?

This week I have very much enjoyed Universal Sports TV two-hour daily highlights of the Winter Paralympics from Vancouver. I think its very interesting that the BBC, (British Broadcasting Corporation) the country that started the Paralympic movement, is only doing a one-hour highlight show after the Games are over but the United States finaly gets daily coverege of their great athletes. Bravo NBC Universal for a great job.
Breaking News: Tiger Woods is coming back to golf at the Master”s Tournament. I think this is a good move as the officals at Augsta National Golf Club controls every detail of the tournament, from the crowd to the media, he will be well guarded there. We will see how he plays? The Master’s is April 8 to 11.

Talk to you after the Maddness.

Jamie Lazaroff

A view form the chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:04:00 +0000

My Olympic marathon is over. It’s time to review NBC’s coverage of the 21st Olympic Winter Games. I think the overall story of these games was the unbridled patriotism of the Canadian people. There was a lot of “O, Canada” to go a round as they set the record of the most Gold Medals at a Winter Olympics with 14 Olympic champions. The most remarkable show of patriotism was at the men’s curling final, when in the last end or innings of the match the crowd just erupted in “O, Canada”. Great scenes.

I’ve got an idea of how NBC can give us diehard sports fans live coverage and not taped delayed. They should stream, live coverage on their website for those of us who want, for example, more than 5 out of 50 competitors in downhill. Then they can do the highlights in Primetime. I think this is the way to go in London in 2012 and Sochi, Russia in 2014.

In my last report I talked about Al Michaels. I have to say, he has improved in the second week as daytime host. He was at his best when he hosted five men’s Hockey games and also the closing ceremonies with Bob Costas. I hope Al comes back for London to get another shot at hosting.

I continue to be imprested by Jimmy Roberts; he is the best writer and essayer in the business. He knows how to use words to describe any moment. He was also very good in hosting “Meet the Olympic Press” on Universal Sports TV.

I have often said on this blog that Al Trautwig is the best scene setter in the business. Again he proved me right in calling the Nordic events at these games. I can’t say the same thing about his partner Chad Salmela. Chad just yelled too much for my taste.

My dislike for Todd Harris continues. In the men’s ski cross event he used the initials B.C. to say they were from British Columbia. I did not hear any other announcer on the NBC talent roster use B.C. they all said British Columbia. When any announcer uses initials it sounds very bad and improper.

I was very impressed with two new announcers at these games. As I said last time Johnny Moseley was very good. He did a great job of explaining his sports. The other rookie of the year was Andrew Catalon on Curling. He did a great job setting the scene at a very raucous venue. He will be back for sure and at 30 years old is the future of NBC sports.

I have to give credit to Ted Robinson for a great job calling the most unpredictable sport of Short Track Speed Skating. Andy Gabel was great in explaining his sport and all of the disqualifications.

Let me review some of the storylines I outlined in my Olympic preview. Lindsey Vonn won two medals in Vancouver. She won the Downhill and a Bronze in the Super-G. The Downhill was the one she wanted more than any other and got it.

Shaun White defends his title in Snowboarding Half-Pipe. This was one of the standout performers of the games. Shaun won the event after the first run of two and didn’t have to take his second run but did and pulled off the greatest run I have ever seen. I think the kid has the heart of a champion. Just an awesome Olympic moment, I think.

Shani Davis Won Gold in the 1,000 Meters and Sliver in the 1,500 Meters Long Track Speed Skating. Good way to go out Shani. The most bizarre moment of these games was when 5,000 Meter Champion Sven Kramer of the Netherlands was disqualified in the 10,000 Meters for not crossing lanes. His coach told him to go in the inner lane and he was supposed to cross to the outer. I have never seen any thing like this on the Olympic level. What a bad Olympic moment. If you know any thing about the Netherlands this is their nation sport.

The most inspirational moment of the games in Figure Skating was Joannie Rochette of Canada whose mother died just two days before she was to skate. She did skate and won a bronze medal. What a brave young women. This is the kind of story and person that Canada will name schools after. You get these stories at every Olympics but I don’t remember one like this.

The US Nordic Combined team ended their loosing streak in a big way with 6 medals over 3 events. Bill Demong won the Gold medal in the large Hill competition. Johnny Spillane won 2 Silver Medals and in the team relay they also won the Silver. Awesome job guys.

Steve Holcomb broke the 62-year drought of the US in Four-Man Bobsled with the Gold medal. The night train was on fire. All the sliding (Luge, Bobsled and Skeleton) sports made me nervous this year. The Whistler track was the fastest in the world and it showed.

The Olympics are done for 2010. Next stop for the Olympics is London in 2012. Hope to be in London. The next stop on the sports calendar is March Madness and also the start of the baseball season.

Talk to you all again soon.

Jamie Lazaroff

Olympic Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:43:00 +0000

We are a few days into the Winter Olympics Games; so let me give you my quick thoughts. Overall NBC is doing a nice job but they could make some changes, like not holding some marquee events for prime time. I know that they have to make choices when they show events happening at the same time but they have other cable networks that are not being used. I guess I have to avoid the Internet for duration of the Olympics.

One thing I don’t like is when they switch from one event to the other. Stay on one event live until we know who wins the Gold medal. If you have to tape the other event then do it. They should always show the words "LIVE" so we know and we don’t have to guess. Most of the time they will flash the word live on screen then take it off after a few seconds. Monday night they showed the words “LIVE” during the Gold medal ceremony for Men’s Moguls. Why can’t they do this for the competition? Also, please limit the commercial breaks. I know this is how NBC makes its money, but give me more than 2 minutes of action at a time.

I’M disappointed and sad at the same time for Al Michaels as daytime host. He looks very nervous in the studio. I hope he gets comfortable as the games go on. In prime time the host Bob Costas can host the games until I die, he is the best in the business in the studio.

Todd Harris is the worst announcer of all times. Thank goodness that Johnny Moseley was very good in his Olympics broadcasting debut. Harris used other announcer’s lines and at the end of the Men’s Moguls he described the winner’s brother, who happens to have cerebral palsy as suffering from. Todd, he was born with it and he is a person who happens to have it. Mr. Harris also stole a call from early in the day. When Johnny Spillane won the USA first medal ever in Nordic Combined, Chad Salmela said, “The medal drought is over!” Todd said the “The Drought is over” when Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first Gold medal ever on home turf. (1976 Summer Games in Montreal and 1988 Winter Games in Calgary no Gold’s) Please use original lines Mr. Harris.

Dan Patrick did a very good job in his role of setting the scene at the mogul’s completion. I hope he continues to doing this through out the games.
Update: He’s not, Tuesday he was back in New York doing his radio show.

I can’t believe more people watched the Winter Olympics on Sunday than the Daytona 500. Why I don’t know, but the Daytona 500 was delayed twice by potholes developing on the track. The Olympics coverage is up nearly 25% for the opening weekend over the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. I think more people are out of work and home and want something compelling to watch so they turn to the Olympics.

Until next time.

Jamie Lazaroff

Curling schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:24:00 +0000

Like I promised here is the Curling TV schedule for the Winter Olympic. I have edited the schedule down to ownly the day time covarge. Like I said Curling is all over the place on NBC's family of network's. You can go to nbcolympics.com to find were USA Network, CNBC and MSNBC is on you cable provider. Remember the Opening Ceremony starts at 7:30 this Friday on your local NBC station.(NBC 30 in Connecticut) I hope to post a daliy Olympic viewer guide this weekend. Enjoy

Tuesday, February 16
Time (ET) Network Description
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network USA Men vs. Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC U.S. Women's team takes on Japan.
Wednesday, February 17
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Team USA Women take on Germany.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Switzerland.
Thursday, February 18
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling vs. Denmark, live.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Team USA squad takes on Denmark.
Friday, February 19
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling Team USA take on Russia.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC American men take on France.
Saturday, February 20
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Men's Curling Team USA takes on Sweden.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Team USA takes on Great Britain.
Sunday, February 21
12:00p - 3:00p MSNBC Women's Curling Team USA finds itself in a hostile environment as they take on Team Canada in front of 6,000 home fans.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC The American men take on Great Britain.
Monday, February 22
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network The American men head into hostile territory when they take on host and gold medal-favorite Canada
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Women's Curling Gold medal-favorites Team Canada continue their march toward the podium as they take on Sweden.
Tuesday, February 23
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Team USA take on China.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold medal- and hometown-favorites Team Canada continue their medal quest as they take on China.
Wednesday, February 24
5:00p - 8:00p MSNBC Curling With medal hopes and advancing on the line, MSNBC has coverage of Curling's tiebreaker round.
Thursday, February 25
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Semifinal rounds begin.
5:00p - 8:00p CNBC Men's Curling: men's semifinals begin.
Friday, February 26
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Women's Curling: Bronze Game
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Women's Curling reaches its climax with the gold medal match up live from Vancouver.
Saturday, February 27
12:00p - 3:00p USA Network Men's Curling: Bronze medal Game.
6:00p - 9:00p CNBC Men's Curling Gold Medal Match

WinterOlympic Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:54:00 +0000

Less than a week before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver now is the time for my preview. Friday is the opening ceremonies on NBC. The marquee events you will see in primetime on NBC starting on Saturday are Figure Skating, Alpine Skiing, and Snowboarding along with Freestyle Skiing. Lindsey Vonn is the biggest favorite of the games for the USA in the Alpine Skiing’s downhill and super-G. She has won the last two World Cup overall titles and leads this years standing. The other athletes to look out for are Shaun White in Snowboarding Half-Pipe. His event is on Wednesday the 17th. Watch the boy fly. Shani Davis is another one the watch, he has dominated the 1,000 and 1,500 meters in long tack Speed Skating in the past two years and no one has come close to his times. The spotlight event of the games is Ladies Figure Skating, this year for the first time in a long time; the US does not have a favorite for a medal in this competition. It will be a wide-open event. Men Figure Skating has medal hopefuls in Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek. The pair’s Figure Skating is a battle between the team of Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin against the team that beat them at the national championship last month Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Should be a good battle. Team USA has a chance to medal in a lot of sports for the first time. Erin Hamlin in Woman’s Luge, Tim Burke in Biathlon, Kikkan Randall in Woman’s Cross-Country Skiing and Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane and Bill Demong in Nordic Combined. Steve Holcomb has a good change to end a drought since 1948 with out a gold medal in Four-Man Bobsled. His team is peaking at the right time just winning the world cup title in four-man and the overall. Two-Men is the other bobsled discipline. The Nordic Combined team has a very good chance for gold. At last year’s World Championship the USA won all three individual gold medals contested. Johnny and Bill have won World Cup races this year. By the way Nordic Combined is Ski Jumping and Cross-Country Skiing on the same day. Should be fun. Then you have my favorite winter Olympic sport, Curling. Please check it out. Curling is like shuffle board on ice. It will be on USA network most of the two weeks starting Tuesday February 16th, it will also be on CNBC, I hope to post the TV schedule this week. I will also attempt to post the daily TV schedule for the whole Olympics.

In other news, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts. What a great game, 153.4 million viewers watched to make it the most watched show in U.S. television history according to Nielsen Media Research topping the previous mark of 106 million for the series finale of M*A*S*H in 1983.

Wow, that’s a lot of people watching one event at the same time.

Enjoy the Olympics.

Jamie Lazaroff

self-advocate

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:32:00 +0000

As a self-advocate, I would like to comment on the R-word. As you may know, it came out this week that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used the word in anger at a political strategy meeting last year. There is no excuse for using the R-word. My question is where’s the outrage over Rush Limbaugh, he used the word about 5 to 6 times in a row, live, on his radio show. I’M sorry to tell you Rush, this is not politically correct. It is just the way it, just like not using the N-word. I guess if you had or have a family member with an intellectual disability you don’t get it how it hurts.

People with Intellectual disabilities have abilities and are capable of many things, but ignorance leads some to describe us in this way. We know you don't mean to make us feel that way, but it hurts and is very demeaning. When people start making "retard" jokes or references, it makes me very sad. I would just ask you to please start putting yourself in my shoes and imagine if we started making jokes using a term that describes you. It would hurt you to.

I get it; people who use the term “retard” don’t always realize how it hurts those of us who have an intellectual disability. The problem is, it isn’t OK to those of us who make up the largest minority group in the country. If you think a "retard" is someone who is dumb and stupid you haven’t met anyone who has the medical diagnosis of mental retardation. Well I am here to tell you that I have that medical diagnosis and I am not dumb or stupid, I have been a broadcaster, I have interviewed Governors, and spoken in front of five thousand plus people. Do you think a dumb or stupid person could do all of this? Every time the term is used in a negative way it tells other people that it is OK to think of me and all of my friends this way.

The R-Word is the 21-century N-Word. Would you use the N-Word to describe black people? No, than please stop using the R-Word.

Just my opinion

A view form the chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:05:00 +0000

Time to answer one comment on my blog. Mary Ellen asked why I don’t mention the UConn women's basketball team? First off I enjoy women’s basketball a lot more than the men’s game because it is played below the rim. I don’t mention them because they have won 61 games in a row and beat all of their opponents by 25 or more points. It is like one sportscaster said this weekend, ho hum, they win again. Every time we think they’re going into a tough game, like Stanford or North Carolina, they keep it close for the first half then pull away in the second half. In the past I have talked about Head Coach Geno Auriemma. I happen to think he is overrated. This month on ESPN College Gameday Geno gave great insight to why the program is so successful and kind of changed my mind about him. He said that they practice for every game and don’t over look any opponents. He also recruits players that want to be great and not just good. For a good source of information I would direct you to the site sox and dawgs. I have posted the link in the links section of this blog. Each day they have daily links to all the beat writers around the state that cover the UCONN women. Without access I can just write what I see. If you have questions about a team or event that you head about on the news or on the radio, send me an e-mail at jdlazaroff@yahoo.com, I would love to hear from you.

Congratulations to Kelly Kulick for being to first women to win a Professional Bowlers Association title. Kulick beat Chris Barnes to win the prestigious Tournament of Champions event. You go girl!

Two big events last weekend were the Strikeforce MMA event on Showtime Saturday night. I talked about this stacked card about a month ago so I wont go further. I do want to talk about Bobby Lashley’s opponent UFC veteran Wes Sims. Wes will not be an easy win for Lashley. This will be a very interesting fight. The other interesting person who is making his MMA debut is 1982 Heisman Trophy win Herschel Walker. At first I thought this was a joke but in recent interviews Herschel has stated the he is very serious about this and is training every day for this fight. How will a 47-year-old man do in a young man’s game?
Update: It was very interesting; Herschel Walker beat his younger opponent in the third round via a TKO. From what I have seen and heard he was very impressive. In his post fight news conference, Herschel said that this was just a one-fight deal and he’s done with MMA. Good job Herschel you did it and won now leave the stage.
The other event is the NFL Pro Bowl. This is the first year it was held one week before the Super Bowl. When this was first announced (the Pro Bowl is usually the week after the Super Bowl) I thought this would not work. It is not a very well played game because there’s nothing to play for. I now think it is a good idea. After the Super Bowl a lot of people consider football season over. You now have the NFL’s best (minus the players in the Super Bowl) on the same stage as the Super Bowl.
Update: I watched and I now think whenever the Pro Bowl is played it is a bad idea because like any All-Star game there is no defense played in the game and this makes it boring.

Update on the story I brought you last time about the Togo National Team being attacked on their way to the African Nationals Cup Soccer Tournament in January. The new news is that the Confederation of African Football has banned the Togo Team from the next two African Nations Cup tournaments for withdrawal from this year's tournament in the wake of a gun attack on their team bus. My question is why are they being banned? They did nothing wrong, and were not even the target of the attack. Two members of their delegation were killed in the ambush; I would leave the tournament too to bury my friends. I think this ban is insensitive and just wrong.

What I’M looking forward to this weekend

Sunday is the Super Bowl at 6:25 on CBS. The year’s game is the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. I think the game will be a shootout as you have two of the best quartbacks in the league, with Peyton Manning of the Colts against Drew Brees of the Saints. I will be having my party of one on Sunday.

I think this will be the first time the Six Nations (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy) Rugby Championships will be on America TV and the best part is it will be Live. The first game will be this Saturday at 12 noon when Wales takes on England from London. It will be on BBC America. I can’t wait!!

Next week I hope to have my Winter Olympic preview.

Jamie Lazaroff

A view form the chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:16:00 +0000

Hi everyone, sorry I have not written in a while, lots of projects in the works. I hope to have news on this front very soon. Just an update on the blog, as you can see I have added a Winter Olympics update bug, check it out for the latest news from Vancouver starting February 12th on the networks of NBC. I will have more on the Olympics as we get closer.

On to this week’s rant.

Monday January 11th baseballs superstar Mark McGwire finally admitted that he took steroid when he set the single season home run record back in 1998 (the record was eclipsed in 2001 by Barry Bonds). This was a well-orchestrated plan that started with a statement made to the AP (Associated Press) by McGwire at 3 P.M. That was followed by newspaper interviews and then McGwire did a live one-on-one interview on the MLB network with Bob Costas at 7 P.M. This was a full 60-minute interview with Costas, the best in the business. McGwire did admit to using steroids but said that they did not help him with his performance. THEIR CALLED PERFORMANCE ENHANCEING DRUGS FOR A RESON MARK! I believe that he came out now because his old team the St. Louis Cardinals hired him for the upcoming season, as the bating coach and he wanted to get it out before spring training. I truly believe with an admission like this he made more questions for himself, this story is not over. In his interview with Bob Costas, McGwire did shed light on the infamous 2005 congressional hearings where he coined the phase “I’M not here to talk about the past.” McGwire said that he was ready to talk but before the hearings he asked for immunity from prosecution if he talked about any other players he knew did steroids. He also did not want to bring his family and friends into this mess he caused for himself. He did not get the immunity from the congressman and so here we are almost 5 years later. I don’t know if I believe this story but I somewhat understand not wanting to bring your family into it if they had noting to do with it. I believe the truth will set you free and he should have told the truth back in 2005. But wait there’s more to this story, on Thursday January 21st, Curtis Wenzlaff a convicted drug dealer who says he used to supply steroids to McGwire told ESPN that McGwire's goal was to improve his performance on the field. This contradicts McGwire’s story that he took steroids for heath reasons. I guess we will never know the truth. If there’s more I will have it here.

The other major story that caught my attention this week was on January 8, 2010 there was an attack on the Togo National Football Team on their way to the African Nations Cup Tournament in Angola. The team was traveling from the Republic of the Congo to the Angolan Exclave of Cabinda, where they were to play their match’s. Cabinda is unique because it’s separated from the rest of Angola by a strip, some 60 kilometres (37 mi) wide, of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Togo team flew home after the attack by request of the Prime Minister. There were reports that the team wanted to play but they we disqualified from the tournament before they could return.
My first question is why didn’t the American networks cover this story? I heard it from the BBC. If I was not interested in soccer and do not have a world view I would not have known that this happened. My questions are why did the organizing committee decide to play matches in a disputed area? There is still a guerrilla and political movement fighting for the independence of the Angolan province of Cabinda. Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) who claimed responsibility for this attack had meant to attack Angolan security guards at the front of the convoy that passed through Cabinda and not the Togo team. In August 2006 a ceasefire was signed between the FLEC and Angola government, but the FLEC is still active. Why didn’t the Togo team fly into Cabinda as they we told? I think there is more blame to go around in this story. If there are any new delovpments in this story I will be on top of it.

On Tuesday news broke that UCONN’s men’s head basketball coach Jim Calhoun had taken a temporary medical leave of absence. In a statement from his primary care physician Peter Schulman, M.D of the UCONN Health Center he said that it is for some temporary medical issues. Rumors have been flying in the media that this leave of absence is stress related. Associate and now temporary head coach George Blaney squashed this rumor by saying before Wednesday’s game against St. John’s that Calhoun’s absence was not stress related. What is it? All any one is saying is that it is not related to previous medical conditions that he has dealt with, that include cancer three times. Get well coach looking forward to seeing you back on the sidelines soon.

The major story this week outside of sports has been the Earthquake in Haiti. My heart is aching for these people. They live in such poverty as it is and now this. Great job by all reporters on the scene, a sad story overall.

I hope to be back soon with more on the Winter Olympics and answer some viewer e-mail. If you have a question on an event you can e-mail me at jdlazaroff@yahoo.com.

Jamie Lazaroff

A view form the my chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Two in a row, I must be on a roll.

On Wednesday December 16th I got a call from ESPN about the next step for employment in the stats and information group. I passed a phone test by a hair and then I was sent an e-mail assessment. I had 45 minutes to complete the test and send it back. I did not complete it and was disqualified for not sending it back in time. I was nervous; as this was the first time I took a test like this. It was a hard test and I realized that I’m not a numbers guy as it had a lot of difficult math in it. My roller coaster week continued the next day (Thursday December 17th). I e-mailed my contact at ESPN about what happen and asked him if he could provide me with the contact person from the on-air talent department that was at my presentation on December 7th. This person took my information to her bosses. In a return e-mail she said that she showed my DVD resume at a meeting and “although they don’t have a particular opportunity for me at this time, both of her bosses agreed there might be a role for me in the future”. Ladies and Gentlemen the dream lives on! This story is to be continued!

On to the sports, December is a time to reflect on the year that was. It is also the time between the end of the college football regular season and the 34 bowl games. I have talked about the BCS system and the need for a playoff in the top division of college football (Football Bowl subdivision) before. I do believe the BCS got it some what correct this year as the SEC (Southeastern Conference) title game between Florida and Alabama was kind of like a semifinal, where the winner (Alabama) gets a shot at the National Championship. The problem is when you have more than two teams that go undefeated in the regular season. This year 4 teams went undefeated Alabama, Texas, TCU and Boise State. The BCS was formed by the major conferences like the SEC and the Big 12 (Texas). TCU comes from the Mountain West Conference and Boise State is from the Western Athletic Conference. This needs to change; all teams should have a chance at the National Championship not just the ones that come from the power conferences. There two schools will be playing in the Fiesta Bowl January 4 and Texas and Alabama are playing for the National Championship January 7th. The winners of these two games should play each other to find out who the National Champion really is. I think the BCS needs to be flexible when there are more then two undefeated teams. I know it cost money for an extra game but the NCAA basketball tournament does it.

We are in the home stretch of the regular season in the NFL. With three games left before the playoffs, we have two teams undefeated the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. This week’s debate is should these teams rest their players for the playoffs or play them in hopes of an undefeated season. I have been surprised that some former players including Michael Irvin of the NFL Network said he would give up his Super Bowl rings for an undefeated season.
This Weekend
Saturday is a big day and night for sports. The Ironman Triathlon World Championship from Hawaii is on NBC at 4:30P.M. The production is always an award winner. The last 15 minutes always makes me cry. Watch and find out why. Saturday night is a good night to fight as both Versus and Showtime present Mixed Martial Arts action. Versus has the World Extreme Cagefighting at 10 P.M. There are no championship fights on this card but the WEC features the lower weight classes that always have exciting fights. Should be fun the best part is that it’s on free TV.

The next event is a Strikeforce event on Showtime. It does include a championship fight; it’s a unification bout for their Lightweight Championship between Josh Thormson and Gilbert Melendez. I don’t have Showtime, so I won’t see this one.

I’M very much looking forward to the next Strikeforce event in Miami on January 30th. This show will feature the MMA debut of 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. Also on this card will be two sports star Bobby Lashley. Ok, pro wrestling is not a sport but, Bobby is attempting to do both pro wrestling and MMA at the same time. This is his first fight for a major MMA promotion. The last person I’m looking to fight on this card is one of the most exciting fighters right now, Nick Diaz. I hope to get Showtime by January 30th .

I hope each and ever one of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Will talk to you after the holidays.

Jamie Lazaroff

A view through my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Hi folks

Sorry I have not written in a while, I did a presentation for ESPN and getting ready for that took up a lot of my time. As most of you know, my life long dream is to be an on-air announcer for ESPN. After Monday it is closer than ever. I will keep you all posted.

Enough about me, on to the sports.

Last Friday December 4 was the Draw for next summer’s Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Here are my initial observations on each group and the two teams that will advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament. Group A includes the host country South Africa and 1998 champions and 2006 runner-up France. Also in this group are Mexico and the first host and champion of the World Cup back in 1930 Uruguay. This is a wide-open group; South Africa is not a good team and could be the first host country not to qualify for the knockout portion of the competition. I will say Mexico and France will move along from this group. Group B is the first “Group of Death” or tough pairing. Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion with South Korea being one of the best teams from Asia and Nigeria is the second best team in Africa. Greece is the wild card in this group; they won the European Championship in 2004, did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and went out of the first round of the Euros in 2008. Which Greece will show up? I have to go with Argentina and South Korea to advance on to the knockout stage. I just have a feeling about South Korea; they do their best work on the grandest stage of then all. Group C is where we have the good old USA. We got a great draw as our first game is against the Brits! Of all the seeded teams, England and South Africa were the two we needed to draw. The other teams in this group are Algeria and Slovenia, two of the worst teams in the field of 32. If the US and England don’t advance I will eat my hat. Group D is the second “Group of Death”; it includes 3-time champions Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. All four are very underrated. I like Germany and Australia in this group but Serbia could be a tough game. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. This is a very tough group because all of these teams are very good. I will go with the Netherlands and Cameroon to advance. Group F is a cakewalk for the defending Champions Italy, as New Zealand and Slovakia are not of the caliber as Italy. Paraguay should be the other team besides Italy to advance. Group G is the last “Group of Death” Brazil is the only 5-time champion of the tournament, Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa and Portugal is the best team never to win a major tournament. North Korea is the other team in this group and it is the worst team ever to qualify for a World Cup Final. The last is Group H with Spain who is the raining European Champions and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Switzerland, Honduras and Chile are the rest of the group. This is an under rated group, as it is the only one with all four teams ranked in the top 35. I will have go with Chile to advance with Spain to the knockout round. I will have more as we get closer to June 11.

The next thing I would like to talk about is the Tiger Woods story. As you may know Tiger crashed his car outside his home in Florida the day after Thanksgiving. For the last few weeks’ women have been coming out saying they are his mistresses. As of Friday December 11 eight women have been linked to Tiger. There are many sides to this story, first Tiger and his wife Elin need to make a joint statement saying how he planes to rehab his rep. The next part of this story is his sponsors and will they continue to support him. Only Gatorade has discontinued its Tiger line of products. But according to CNBC its was a business decision made months ago to streamline their offerings and had nothing to do with recent events. On Friday December 11, Tiger issues a statement via his website, that he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on being a better husband, father, and person. This is the first statement by Tiger where he used the word infidelity. This is a personal problem and a family issue, yes his image is taking a big hit, but I believe, when he gets back on the golf course and wins again, most of this will be forgotten. I think Tiger needs to do a big interview to tell his side of the story. The American people are very forgiving when some one spills their guts. I will keep an eye on it.

The major story out of Bristol (ESPN) besides my visit is that Peter Gammons is leaving ESPN after 20 years with the worldwide leader. Peter is moving to the MLB network and MLB.com. He will also be working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). I believe this is a good move for Peter also the MLB network is 24/7 just about baseball so he will have more time for his stories. His home base is on Cape Cod so he is close to the Red Sox, therefore NESN is a natural fit for him. I have always liked Peter’s inside info and will miss him on Baseball Tonight, but look forward to him on NESN. He also will be getting back to his roots (worked at the Boston Goble before TV) by writing stories for MLB.com. Good luck Peter, I’ll be watching.

For this weekend my advice is to go Christmas shopping, as there are no major events on TV.

Talk to you again soon
Happy Holidays,
Jamie

A view through my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:30:00 +0000

A view through my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:25:00 +0000

A view through my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:35:00 +0000

Hi Fans, sorry for no update last week. Been working hard to get back into the work force and other big projects in progress. Will share with you when I have more details. As they say in the business, “stay tuned”.

This has been a very sad week on the UCONN Campus. Last Sunday around 12:30 in the morning (October 18^th) after the UCONN football team beat Louisville. Some of the players went to a school-supported dance at the Student Union. After a fire alarm was pulled that forced every one out of the building, a fight broke out between students and non-students. Football player Jasper Howard was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was stabbed to death. One of the many sad parts of this story is that “Jazz” was from a tough part of Miami and was the first person in his family to go to collage, he was also about to be a father for the first time and his girlfriend was on campus for the Homecoming festivities, she was not at the dance, she was back at the dorm. The other sad part of this story, to me is that about 200 people and the police were at this event and no one saw what happened? It came out Thursday October 22^nd in the Hartford Courant that the witnesses to this crime are being threatened online with violence if they come forward with evidence in this case. According to the Hartford Courant, Maj. Ronald Blicher told the student newspaper, “The Daily Campus”, that police are looking into these threats. He said authorities are still urging people to submit videos, photos or other information. I hope they do so and we can find who killed this popular player. On Tuesday October 27^th three young men were changed in connection with the murder of Jasper Howard. John William Lomax, 21, of Bloomfield, was charged with the murder. Hakeem Muhammed, 20, also of Bloomfield, was charged with conspiracy to commit assault and Jamaal Todd, 21, of West Hartford, is accused of pulling the fire alarm. This information is from NBC Connecticut News, Channel 30.

One of the great things about this story is how people are coming together, even UCONN’s opponent on Saturday West Virginia honored “JAZZ” before and after the game. West Virginia students will sell arm bans with his number 6, and all money will go to Jasper’s family. His teammates from Miami, in schools around the country wore arm bans to honor “JAZZ”. Like I said just a sad story over all.

Sports Media Madness

A lot going on in Sports Media in the past few weeks, so lets get to it.

The only thing I will say about TBS coverage of baseball’s postseason is that Chip Caray is the worst play-by-play man in the business bar none. I don’t know what TBS sees in him? Just say I’M glad the Phillies are in the World Series and the National League Championship Series is over, he’s that bad. FOX is doing the World Series (staring Wednesday) with the crew of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, not great but better then Caray.

The story that did catch my eye this week coming out of Bristol Connecticut (ESPN) is that they have hired renowned soccer announcer Martin Tyler to call World Cup games next year in South Africa. Tyler is the best in the business. He has attended every world cup since 1978. I’m glad ESPN hired a real soccer announcer, four years ago, they assigned baseball announcer Dave O’Brien to call matches. He did a terrible job. Soccer is a difficult assignment for even a seasoned announcer, so this is a very good choice. I’M ready for South Africa, qualifying is almost over.

In Olympics news last week, Rugby 7’s and golf have been added to the 2016 Games in Rio. I’m a little split on the inclusion of these two sports into the Olympics. Rugby 7’s, I have no problem with, it’s an exciting sport and the fastest version of Rugby. It can be played in two days and is very TV friendly. On the other side is golf, don’t get me wrong, I love golf, but I just don’t think it’s an Olympic sport. First, the Olympics won’t be the pinnacle of the sport. The major championships will still be played and those tournaments are the ones the players want to win. The first Olympic event will have the worlds best like Tiger, Phil, Rory, Sergio and Y.E. just to name a few, but after the glow of the first events, than what? Take a look at Tennis in the Olympics; no one talks about it out side of the games because the Grand Slam tournaments are the be all and end all. Tennis includes the Olympic event in it’s ranking to attract the best players; hopefully golf will do the same. Golf is not a TV friendly sport compared to other Olympic sports. They are going to have a 74-hole (4 day) stroke-play tournament, and not a match play tournament that would be (I think) more TV friendly and existing to watch. We will see in 2016.

See you again soon.

Jamie Lazaroff

2016 Olympics host city is

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Rio de Janerio Brazil will be the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics Game. Rio beat Madrid 66 to 32 in the final round of voteing after Chicago was knoted off the the frist round, Tokyo went out in the next round. I can't belive I pick Rio to win and it did. I will have a full report next week.

Have a great weekend

Jamie Lazaroff

The view from here

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:50:00 +0000

This week’s major news is the countdown to the announcement of the 2016 Summer Olympic host city on Friday. The four finalists are Madrid, Rio, Chicago and Tokyo. Here are my thoughts on how each city, I think, will do in the vote.

4. Madrid: Since 1952 the Summer Games have not been held on one continent back-to-back. The next Summer Olympics in 2012 will be held in London and the Winter Olympics in 2014 will be held in Sachi, Russia. The IOC is not going to change this just for King Juan Carlos. Sorry Madrid.

3. Chicago: You can call me un-American but I never thought Chicago was fit to host the Olympics. Chicago does not have a very good political history. That could hurt them here. Crime is also a big problem for the city. This Chicago organizing committee has it all wrong; its plan is to win the bid then start building stadiums and arenas for the games. I also think economics play a big role. Chicago and the US as a whole can’t afford the games. I think President Obama and First Lady Michelle’s presence in Copenhagen will help but the long-standing dispute the US Olympic Committee has with the IOC will hurt their chances. I hope Chicago doesn’t win and repeat what happen to Denver. In 1970 Denver was granted the 1976 Winter Games: The city had to give up the Games after Colorado voters rejected a $5 Million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Don’t let history repeat it’s self.

2. Tokyo: I think Tokyo has a good plan and would be a good host; they have not held the games since 1964. Tokyo could suffer from the fact that Beijing hosted the Games last year. It will not be the first time the games have been staged on the same continent within eight years. According to the BBC, of the 34 planned venues, 23 already exist with many venues used during the 1964 Games are set to be refurbished. As Japan is one of the first countries to come through the recession, the government has already put the budget for construction and infrastructure aside. The city has also successfully staged the 2002 World Cup Final and has a ton of experience hosting other worldwide championships, including the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

1. Rio: I would love to see the Olympics for the first time in South America. Can you imagine Beach Volleyball on Copacabana Beach? Rio hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, which was called the “best in history” it will also host the World Cup in 2014. According to the bid website, they plan to stage all the competitions inside the city that will make it easy to get to for fans and media alike. I think it would be fun to go to Brazil.

Sunday was week 3 of the NFL season and was one of two weeks that the NFC played teams in the AFC teams stadiums, because of this the Patriots played on the FOX network. Usually they are televised on CBS. FOX usually shows the New York Giants. This week the Pats and Giants played at the same time and according to Doug Stewart of FOX61 in CT the network in New York decided that the station got the Giants. This meant I don’t see the Pats beat the Atlanta Falcons. As you can expect, I was furious. Doug did say that they made every attempt to satisfy the wishes of their viewers and sometimes they have been successful, but, not this time. I should have caught that FOX61 was going with the Giants game earlier in the week, the schedule come out on Wednesday, I should have made alternate plans, like going to Massachusetts to my cousin’s house. This is the only time this situation will happen this season. Thank god.

This Weekend

This weekend the event I am looking forward to is the National Rugby League Grand Final from Australia @11 A.M. Sunday October 4 on Spike. I have watched a little of the first few weeks of the playoffs and I’ve got to tell you it put football to shame. Rugby League is one of the toughest sports in the world, the players don’t wear any protection. I don’t understand all the rules yet but it is a very exciting sport. Check it out, I know I will.

See you next week, if not before

Jamie Lazaroff

The view from my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:33:00 +0000

I’M back and better than every. I have a new computer and ready to go.

A story that caught my eye this week is a story out of St Joseph Missouri. At the end of a High School football game that was a shutout. Benton High School coach Dan McCarmy asked the opposing team to give up the shutout because he want to run a special play for an athlete with Down Syndrome.
I was out raged to see the coach say he do not what any physical contact. It’s football, that’s a physical game. I understand that Matt’s father is a high school athletic director and all his brothers and sisters play sports, but there are other sports that are not as physical. The different from this story and the Jason McElwain story,(the young basketball player with autism from NY state in 2006) the defense was called off but Jason had to shot the ball and did not have a guarantee that it would go in. This is a heart-warning story and it’s great to see the Maryville team and fans showed so much support and sportsmanship but I don’t like that the touchdown was not earned.
Last week I went to a Minor League Baseball game in Norwich CT. It was game one of the Easter League Championship series. I had a great time and Minor League Baseball is one of the most inexpensive experiences in all of sports. This week it was announced that the Defenders are officially moving to Richmond Virginia next season. Norwich has had a team for 15 years. From 1995 to 2002 the former Norwich Navigators was a double A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In 2003 the San Francisco Giants was the parent club. In 2006 there name was change to the Connecticut Defenders.
I think there are a lot of reasons for this move. When the team was with the Yankees, they did well because fans could follow the players to the Major Leagues. They can’t do that with the Giants because they’re a West Coast team and they’re in the National League. I also think that Northern Connecticut is a basketball area. I believe that attendant for baseball started to go down when the WNBA Sun came to team in 2003.

An update of a story I brought you last week. Plaxico Buress was sentenced to two years in prison for violating New York's stringent gun laws.

Media Watch

This week story is from Sports Business Journal. This years MLS Cup (Championship Game) will appear in prime time on ESPN.(Nov. 22 at 8:30 P.M.) It will be opposite “Sunday Night Football”. In previously years the game aired Sunday afternoon on ABC. The league and network decided to move the game because the game is being played on the West Coast. This is the problem with MLS; only fans of the two teams will watch the game. You are going up against the NFL. This past weekend “Sunday Night Football” beat the EMMY Awards (24.8 million vs. 12.5 million) in total viewership. MLS needs to shorten up its schedule and cut out meaningless tournaments like Superliga, so the season ends before football starts.

ESPN does do some soccer well. Like I said before there English Premier League coverage is very good. There also do International soccer well. Starting Saturday September 26, there will be again able to prove it. The ESPN family of networks will air all 52 matches of the 2009 FIFA under 20 World Cup. Most matches will be on ESPN360.com but all of the U.S. teams games will be on TV. Saturday’s game will be on ESPN Classic but the two other games in midweek will be on ESPN2. I will keep you updated on team USA. I will be watching!

This weekend

The Australian Football League’s Grand Finale (Championship Game) will be live on ESPN Classic on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 12:30 a.m. (Friday, Sept. 25 at 9:30 p.m. PT). A live simulcast will also be available on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s 24/7 online destination for live sports. I don’t get ESPN Classic or ESPN360.com. I’M bummed; I was so looking for to watching the match.

Until next time America

Jamie Lazaroff

The view from jamie's eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Jman) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Sorry I have not written in a while, I have had a few computer problems. I hope to be back on a regular schedule soon. I would like to update a few stories that are back in the news. “He’s back”, weeks after saying he would not come out of retirement Brett Favre decided to come back and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Why Brett? You have every thing, a Super Bowl title and named league MVP 3 times. What do you need to accomplish next to leave the stage? The only reason I can see is he came back because he loves the spotlight. After last year with the Jets he wants the opportunity to go out on a winning note. Also, the Vikings are a divisional rival of Brett’s old team, the Green Bay Packers and I think he wants to stick it to them for forcing him to retire back in 2008.

An update on the Michael Vick story, he did sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. After some thought I think this is a good move for Michael. The Eagles have a veteran quarterback in Donovan McNabb who will be able to help Michael get his life back in order. The Eagles have already talked about using both QBs at the same time. The team has already had meetings with animal rights groups about having Vick as a spokesman for their organization. Last week, Michael was fully reinstated to play in week 3 of the season by commissioner Roger Goodell.

I would like to comment about the Plaxico Burress story. On Tuesday August 25th, Plaxico gave his first interveiw since that night, and I have a few thoughts about the whole incident. Plaxico came off as the victim of the incident in the intervew. He said “I shot myself but now I’M the one going to jail” I think that before you decide to take a gun with you, you should know the laws of the state or city you are in. By the way because of the incident Plaxico was fired from the Giants and he is not playing this season for any club.

I have been watching ESPN’s coverage of the US Open Tennis Championship which started Monday Aug 31st. This is ESPN’s first year of covering the Open after it was on the USA network for many years. ESPN did there expected great job on tennis. I do like that they have added Mike Tirico to the teleacast. He was one of the hosts and has also called some of the matches. He is a much better than host Chris Fowler who also calls some of the matches. Chris should stick to hosting College Football Gameday. ESPN has also hired John and Patrick McEnroe along with Mary Carillo, this group gives them the best announcers in the business.

A few weeks back, I told you ESPN is bringing back Australian Rules Football. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Spike TV announced it is also bringing back the Australian Rugby League to US TV. Most games will be taped for air at 11 P.M., but the Grand Final (championship game) will be aired October 4th at 11 A.M. I will be watching. By the way I did watch a little of the frist week, I like that Spike used the Australian game announcers. ESPN does the same thing with the English Premier League, I like that as well. I also like that ESPN seems to have dropped the bottom line scoring/news scroll during the English Premier League games. I find the scroll distracting.

Until next time America.
Jamie Lazaroff