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ThisWeek — August 15, 2011

Posted by Editor • August 15, 2011 • Printer-friendly

SPANISH SUPERCOPA

ESPNHS, NFL, MLB & MORE

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Spanish Supercopa to Feature Premier Matchup on ESPN Deportes  and ESPN3.com
contact: gabriela.nunez@espn.com 
The 2011 Supercopa de España will continue on E SPN Deportes and ESPN3.com with the second game of the two-legged matchup between Barcelona and Real Madrid of Spain’s top division soccer league. The game will air Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 5 p.m. ET from Barcelona, Spain.  Special pre- and post-game editions of  Fuera de Juego, hosted by Fernando Palomo, will bring exclusive live discussion and highlights of the game, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., on ESPN Deportes.  The first match on Aug. 14 ended in a 2-2 tie.

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ESPNRISE.com Becomes ESPNHIGHSCHOOL.com
contact: colleen.s.lynch@espn.com 
As ESPN centralizes its high school coverage under the ESPNHS banner to better serve teen athletes and fans of high school sports, the digital platforms formerly known as ESPN RISE are being rebranded today. ESPNRISE.com is now ESPNHIGHSCHOOL.com, offering rankings, event coverage and pro advice across multiple sports. Facebook pages are facebook.com/ESPNHS and facebook.com/ESPNHSgirl. The Twitter handle is @ESPNHS. The mobile text program can be accessed by texting GUY or GIRL to 27473. DyeStat.com, the leading website covering high school track, field and cross-country retains its name within the ESPNHS digital network and may be accessed via ESPNHIGHSCHOOL.com.

The rebranding of ESPN’s high school initiatives to ESPNHS signifies a collaboration of efforts across digital media, television, radio, event and print platforms for the company to better serve high school student-athletes and fans.

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Woody and Mangini Make Their ESPN Debuts 
contact: bill.hofheimer@espn.com 
Two of ESPN’s newest NFL analysts, Damien Woody and Eric Mangini, make their debuts this week. Woody, the two-time Super Bowl champion offensive lineman who played for the New York Jets last season, starts today (Aug. 15) on NFL Live, SportsCenter and other programs. Two days later, former Jets and Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini makes his first on-air appearance. He will provide analysis on NFL Live and other programs on both Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 17-18).

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Division Leaders – Diamondbacks/Phillies - to Collide on Wednesday Night Baseball
contact: ben.cafardo@espn.com; nate.smeltz@espn.com 
The NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Howard will host the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks and Justin Upton, Aug. 17, on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball. Providing commentary will be Dave O’Brien, analyst Chris Singleton and reporter Pedro Gomez. Wednesday Night Baseball is also available on ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

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ESPN Roundtable College Football: Blueprint for Change
contact: michael.c.humes@espn.com 
The five-part College Football: Blueprint for Change roundtable special – examining a variety of topics surrounding college football and propose a potential blueprint for change – will continue this week on SportsCenter and College Football Live. In addition, ESPN will dedicate the entire Outside the Lines episode Sunday, Aug. 21, at 9 a.m. to Blueprint for Change, providing a compilation of the five SportsCenter segments and concluding with a potential blueprint consensus for change.

ESPNU will televise an original one-hour College Football: Blueprint for Change show Sunday, Aug. 21, at 3 p.m. with an encore presentation at 8 p.m. 

Rece Davis will serve as host with ESPN college football analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Urban Meyer, Mark May, Mike Bellotti, Robert Smith and Rod Gilmore; ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas; current college football coaches Nick Saban (Alabama) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma); former BIG EAST commissioner Mike Tranghese; and current Tennessee athletic director Joan Cronan.

A release with full details and quotes is available on ESPN MediaZone.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Michigan on ESPN
contact: andy.hall@espn.com 
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues on ESPN with a live, flag-to-flag telecast of the Pure Michigan 400 race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., on Sunday, Aug. 21. NASCAR Countdown airs at noon with the green flag at 1:16 p.m. Analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree  join Allen Bestwick in the booth to call the action. NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Nicole Briscoe with analysts Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty.

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NASCAR Nationwide Series Goes North of the Border to Montreal
contact: andy.hall@espn.com 
The NASCAR Nationwide Series races on the famed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Saturday, Aug. 20, and ESPN will have live coverage. NASCAR Countdown presented by OneMain Financial airs at 2 p.m. and the race starts at 2:48 p.m. Marty Reid will anchor with analysts Rusty Wallace and Ricky Craven.

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Elite 11: The Finals
contact: jennifer.j.cingari@espn.com 
ESPN’s Year of the Quarterback (YQB) initiative will continue this week with the second installment of Elite 11, a two-episode series that chronicles the top high school quarterbacks while they compete in ESPN High School’s Elite 11 regional camps across the country and during finals week at Pepperdine University. After Friday’s Elite 11: The Regionals showed more than 1,000 QBs vying for an invite to finals week, Elite 11: The Finals, which airs Friday, August 19, at 7 p.m. on ESPN, will show the select 24 QBs who were invited out and put to the test, each hoping to be chosen as one of the Elite 11. Click here for photos.

The Elite 11 judging staff, composed of former athletes and recruiting analysts, evaluated each quarterback’s understanding of chalk talk, ability to be coached, and skills on the field based on basic quarterback on-field drills, 7-on-7 play and playbook knowledge. Go behind the scenes with former Super Bowl champion and current ESPN football analyst Trent Dilfer as he runs the QBs through film sessions, meetings and competitions that took place during the week to decide who are this year’s Elite 11.

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ESPN Introduces a “Decent Proposal”
contact: amy.phillips@espn.com 
Jumbotron marriage proposals are never a good idea. But they keep happening.  ESPN celebrates that persistence in a “Decent Proposal,” a new spot from the “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” campaign, which debuts today, August 15.  A 45-second version will air during ESPN’s pre-season telecast, which features the New York Jets versus the Houston Texans.  Wieden+Kennedy New York is the creative agency for the campaign.

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WSOP Main Event Episodes Begin 
contact: bill.hofheimer@espn.com 
ESPN’s weekly packaged shows highlighting the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky continue this week with the first two hours of Main Event telecasts on Tuesday, Aug. 16. At 8 p.m., the action picks up on Day 3 of the competition as the field of nearly 7,000 players – third largest in Main Event history – has been whittled down to 1,866. The chip leader is Player of the Year candidate Ben Lamb, a bracelet winner this summer who also made three final tables. Other top names competing at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas include poker superstar Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jean-Robert Bellande and Robert Varkonyi, among others. At 9 p.m., 2010 WSOP runner-up John Racener runs into trouble and Hellmuth steams about an amateur's play against him, while young tournament pro Shaun Deeb tries to challenge Germany's Max Heinzelmann. The WSOP Main Event shows continue every Tuesday night until the November Nine final table on Nov. 8.

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NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series from Minnesota on ESPN2
contact: andy.hall@espn.com 
The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series races this weekend in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., and ESPN2 will air action from qualifying and eliminations. Qualifying airs Saturday, Aug. 20, at 11 p.m. with eliminations airing Sunday, Aug. 21, at 10 p.m. NHRA fans also can watch the full day of eliminations live on ESPN3.com starting Sunday at noon. Paul Page and analyst Mike Dunn will have the call.

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American Le Mans Series Races at Road America 
contact: andy.hall@espn.com 
Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will be the setting for the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series season and sports car racing fans can watch the four-hour race live on ESPN3.com Saturday, Aug. 20, at 3:15 p.m.  Also from Road America, ESPN3.com will air coverage of qualifying on Friday, Aug. 19, at 2:20 p.m. Highlights from the Road America race will air Sunday, Aug. 21, at 4:30 p.m. on ABC.

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ESPN Deportes E:60 Features 1987 Yugoslavian Soccer Team
contact: gabriela.nunez@espn.com 
The next episode of ESPN Deportes’ Spanish-language newsmagazine, E:60, will chronicle what became of the 1987 Yugoslavian U-20 FIFA World Cup Championship team and how the civil wars of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s impacted these players. The show will also profile Roberta Mancino, an Italian fashion model considered one of the sexiest athletes in extreme sports.  Hosted by Jorge Ramos, Jose Ramon Fernandez and David Faitelson, the show will air Tuesday, Aug. 16, at 9 p.m. Click here for video.

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