ESPN MidWeek – February 24, 2010
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ESPN: MOST INNOVATIVE
COLLEGE BASKETBALL, NBA, NASCAR & More
- Men’s College Basketball: Top 10 Teams in Action
- ESPN to Televise Alabama Spring Football Game
- Women’s College Basketball: Four of Top 25 teams in Action, including No. 1 Connecticut
- NBA: Four Games Sunday, Highlighted by Kobe vs. Carmelo
- Evernham, Craven, McGee at NASCAR Now Roundtable
- AVP Tour Secures Two-Year Telecast Deal with ESPN and ABC
- Antonio Escalante Headlines ESPN Friday Night Fights
- PBA Lumber Liquidators 67th U.S. Open Live Sunday
ESPN: MOST INNOVATIVE
ESPN Chosen Most Innovative Company in Sports
contact: dave.nagle@espn.com
Fast Company Magazine has named ESPN the Most Innovative Company in the sports industry. Said the magazine:
The most powerful brand in sports media continues to expand and experiment aggressively. Last year, it acquired the rights to air English Premier League games, its first stab at a major market in Europe, home to several hundred million soccer fans; opened the ESPN Innovation Lab outside Orlando to develop new broadcast technology; took on cash-strapped newspapers by launching local sports sites in Chicago, Boston and elsewhere; began working with the Wharton School to develop new data-measurement tools that analyze ESPN's multiplatform audience; and made a huge foray into documentary film, hiring 30 indie filmmakers -- from Friday Night Lights’ Peter Berg to our February cover boy, Steve Nash -- to create 30 sports documentaries for the Disney-owned network's 30th anniversary.
A busy year!
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Men’s College Basketball: Top 10 Teams in Action
contact: michael.c.humes@espn.com
ESPN’s men’s college basketball schedule for early next week will include several telecasts featuring ranked teams. Highlights:
- ESPN’s Big Monday BIG EAST telecast March 1 will pit No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West Virginia at 7 p.m.
- Three Super Tuesday telecasts, March 2, will include a ranked team, highlighted by two in the top 10: No. 8 Villanova at Cincinnati at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and No. 9 Ohio State against Illinois at 9 p.m. on ESPN. In addition, ESPN will televise No. 20 Vanderbilt at Florida at 7 p.m.
- On Wednesday, March 3, ESPN will showcase No. 5 Duke at Maryland in an ACC contest at 9 p.m.
| Date | Time | Matchup | Network |
| Mon, March 1 | 7 p.m. | No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West VirginiaSean McDonough, Jay Bilas & Bill Raftery | ESPN / ESPN360.com |
| 7 p.m. | Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson StateAnthony Calhoun & Stan Lewter | ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | Oklahoma at No. 21 TexasBrent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe | ESPN / ESPN360.com | |
| 9 p.m. | North Carolina A&T at Morgan StateCharlie Neal & Dennis Felton | ESPNU | |
| Tue, March 2 | 7 p.m. | No. 20 Vanderbilt at FloridaBrad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Jeannine Edwards | ESPN / ESPN360.com |
| 7 p.m. | No. 8 Villanova at CincinnatiJohn Saunders & Fran Fraschilla | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
| 7:30 p.m. | South Florida at DePaulJim Barbar & Brooke Weisbrod | ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | Illinois at No. 9 Ohio StateDave O’Brien, Steve Lavin & Erin Andrews | ESPN / ESPN360.com | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Louisville at MarquetteLou Canellis & Mike Kelley | ESPNU | |
| Wed, March 3 | 7 p.m. | Connecticut at Notre Dame& Digger Phelps | ESPN / ESPN360.com |
| 7 p.m. | Wake Forest at Florida StateMike Patrick & Len Elmore | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
| 7 p.m. | Alabama at South CarolinaCarter Blackburn & Litterial Green | ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | No. 5 Duke at MarylandDan Shulman, Jay Bilas & Erin Andrews | ESPN / ESPN360.com | |
| 9 p.m. | Oklahoma State at No. 23 Texas A&MRon Franklin & Stephen Bardo | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
| 9 p.m. | Virginia at Boston CollegeDan McLaughlin, Tim Welsh & Andy Katz | ESPNU |
ESPN to Televise Alabama Spring Football Game
contact: michael.c.humes@espn.com
ESPN will televise the University of Alabama’s annual A-Day Game final spring practice Saturday, April 17, at 3 p.m. from Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will mark the second consecutive year ESPN has televised the game.
Last year’s A-Day Game drew a crowd of 84,050 fans. The school set a college football record in 2007 with a capacity crowd of 92,138 attending to watch head coach Nick Saban’s first A-Day at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Women’s College Basketball: Four of Top 25 teams in Action, including No. 1 Connecticut
contact: jenny.zimmerman@espn.com
Judgment Week continues as ESPN2’s upcoming women’s college basketball schedule will include four games featuring five Top 25 teams, including four of the top 10 and one game with two Top 25 teams: Big Monday features No. 1 Connecticut squares off with No. 8 Notre Dame on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
Schedule
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup / Commentators | Networks |
| Sun, Feb 28 | 3 p.m. | No. 9 FSU at MarylandPam Ward & Rebeca Lobo | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
| 5 p.m. | Kansas at No. 17 BaylorBeth Mowins, LaChina Robinson | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com | |
| 6 p.m. | Mississippi at No. 4 TennesseeSam Gore & Abby Waner | ESPNU | |
| Mon, Mar 1 | 7 p.m. | Big Monday: No. 1 UConn at No. 8 Notre DameBob Wischusen, Carolyn Peck & Rebecca Lobo | ESPN2 / ESPN360.com |
NBA: Four Games Sunday, Highlighted by Kobe vs. Carmelo
contact: nate.smeltz@espn.com or mark.d.mandel@espn.com
On Sunday, Feb. 28, ESPN presents four games, including Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angles Lakers at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. Mike Breen will call the action with analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Lisa Salters. Also, Phoenix visits San Antonio at 1 p.m. on ABC, while two games will be televised on ESPN: Miami at Orlando at 7 p.m., and New Orleans at Dallas at 9:30 p.m.
Evernham, Craven, McGee at NASCAR Now Roundtable
contacts: andy.hall@espn.com or george.mcneilly@espn.com
Analysts Ray Evernham and Ricky Craven and ESPN The Magazine’s Ryan McGee will be panelists for NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program Monday, March 1, at 5 p.m. on ESPN2 with host Allen Bestwick. The program’s weekend edition airs Sunday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Nicole Briscoe hosts.
AVP Tour Secures Two-Year Telecast Deal with ESPN and ABC
contact: kimberly.jessup@espn.com
ESPN and ABC reached an agreement with the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour to televise events through the next two years. The agreement includes 13 AVP telecasts in 2010, four on ABC and nine on ESPN2. The schedule totals more than 19 hours of live HD coverage for the season, including the Tour Championship in Chicago, giving the AVP its most consistent television footprint. Coverage will begin with the Tour’s season opener in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Sunday, April 18, at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
ESPN’s multimedia coverage of the AVP will include six hours of action on ABC and 13.5 hours of men’s and women’s weekend action, live streaming of the matches on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s 24/7 broadband sports network, and up-to-the-minute scores via the ESPN ScoreCenter mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
2010 AVP Schedule
| Date | Time (ET) | Match / Location | Networks |
| Sun, Apr 18 | 5:30 p.m. | Women / Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, May 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Men / Santa Barbara, Calif. | ESPN2 / ESPN2HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, Jun 6 | 2 p.m. | Women / Huntington Beach, Calif. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, Jun 6 | 4 p.m. | Men / Huntington Beach, Calif. | ABC / ABC HD |
| Sun, Jun 20 | 2 p.m. | Women / Virginia Beach, Va. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, Jun 27 | 2 p.m. | Women / Belmar, N.J. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, Jul 18 | Midnight | Men / Hermosa Beach, Calif. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD |
| Sun, Jul 25 | 4 p.m. | Women / Malibu, Calif. | ABC / ABC HD |
| Sun, Jul 25 | 11 p.m. | Men / Malibu, Calif. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com |
| Sun, Aug 22 | 4:30 p.m. | Women / Manhattan Beach, Calif. | ABC / ABC HD |
| Sun, Aug 29 | 1:30 p.m. | Men / Chicago | ABC / ABC HD |
| Sun, Aug 29 | Midnight | Women / Chicago | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD |
| Sun, Sep 19 | Midnight | Flex / Hermosa Beach, Calif. | ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD |
Antonio Escalante Headlines ESPN Friday Night Fights
contact: doug.grassian@espn.com
In the Feb. 26 edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, the IBF No. 5-ranked Antonio Escalante (21-2, 14 KOs) of El Paso, Texas, will look to defeat Miguel Rowan (28-6, 20 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Escalante was born in Ciudad Juarez, and the 10-round featherweight affair will originate from El Paso. Escalante has won his last seven bouts, while Rowan lost his last fight. ESPN2 will televise the match, along with the undercards, beginning at 9 p.m. Joe Tessitore, who recently received the Sam Taub Award for Broadcasting Excellence, will host while Teddy Atlas will offer his unique insight. Joining ESPN’s Brian Kenny in the studio during breaks in the action will be Andre Ward, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist.
PBA Lumber Liquidators 67th U.S. Open Live Sunday
contact: kimberly.jessup@espn.com
The finals of the PBA Lumber Liquidators 67th U.S. Open will air live Sunday, Feb. 28, at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN from Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. ESPN’s Rob Stone will call the action with analyst Randy Pedersen. The tournament began Tuesday, Feb. 23, with the top four advancing to the finals.
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