Play it forward: Dec. 27-Jan. 2 on your sports calendar

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Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

MONDAY

NFL: New Orleans at Atlanta, 5:30 p.m., ESPN:

image_7441708.jpgThe 12-2 Falcons hold a two-game lead over the 10-4 Saints in the AFC South but a New Orleans victory. Falcons QB Matt Ryan also has a 19-1 record at home -- he was injured the last time the Saints came to town and left with a 26-23 victory on their way to the Super Bowl.

NHL: Kings at San Jose, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

The first of two games in one week against the surging Sharks, but each of them are in different calendar years. Weird.

NBA: Clippers at Sacramento, 7 p.m., Prime:

The Clippers' two-game road winning streak could be the longest since Bob McAdoo was brave enough to be a Buffalo Brave.

College football: Independence Bowl, Shreveport, La.: Air Force vs. Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ESPN:

Independent thinkers will find something else to do today.

TUESDAY

duncan1.jpgNBA: Lakers at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m., Channel 9:

Obviously, scheduling the Heat on Christmas Day was set up as a trap game for the Lakers, who were looking ahead to their first meeting of the year with the Spurs. Tim Duncan's guys have put together the best record in the league thus far by . . . we'd tell you, but it'd be boring. Even more strange, the Clippers actually handed them one of their three losses this year.

NHL: Ducks at Phoenix, 6 p.m., Prime:

In their last meeting, Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made 39 saves and handed his former team a 3-0 shutout.

College football: Champs Sports Bowl, Orlando: West Virginia vs. North Carolina State, 3:30 p.m., ESPN; Insight Bowl, Tempe, Ariz.: Missouri vs. Iowa, 7 p.m., ESPN:

The Hawkeyes geared up for their trip to Tempe by suspending receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos when police found out he had unlawful possession of perscription drugs and was "keeping a drug house." He's Iowa's career leader in receptions and receiving yards, an All-Big Ten first-team pick with 10 TDs this year.

WEDNESDAY

pac10.jpgCollege basketball: UCLA vs. Washington State, Pauley Pavilion, 8 p.m., FSW; USC vs. Washington, Galen Center, 7:30 p.m., USCTrojans.com:

So this time next year, the Bruins and Trojans could be opening the Pac-12 regular season against Utah and Colorado?

NBA: Lakers at New Orleans, 5 p.m., Channel 9:

The Hornets have enough problems just looking for an owner. The league runs the show now, with Jerry Buss technically funding a 1 / 31 share of it. But don't beat yourself up over that.

NBA: Clippers vs. Utah, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime:

Nope, not interested.

NHL: Kings at Phoenix, 6 p.m., Channel 13:

When they last met at the Coyotes place in late October, there was an announced crowd of only 6,706.

glassjpg.jpgCollege football: Military Bowl, Washington, DC: Maryland vs. East Carolina, 11:30 a.m., ESPN; Texas Bowl, Houston: Baylor vs. Illinois, 3 p.m., ESPN; Alamo Bowl, San Antonio: Oklahoma State vs. Arizona, 6:15 p.m., ESPN:

That game in San Antonio . . . shouldn't USC be there? Illinois is back in the postseason action for the first time since the 2008 Rose Bowl against the Trojans.

THURSDAY

NHL: Kings vs. Philadelphia, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

FIrst of eight in a row at home through Jan. 15.

College football: Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, Tex.: Army vs. SMU, 9 a.m., ESPN; Pinstripe Bowl, New York: Syracuse vs. Kansas State, 12:20 p.m., ESPN: Music City Bowl, Nashville: North Carolina vs. Tennessee, 3:40 p.m., ESPN; Holiday Bowl, San Diego: Washington vs. Nebraska, 7 p.m., ESPN:

Not enough bowl games here played in baseball stadiums. Try harder.

FRIDAY

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NBA: Lakers vs. Philadelphia, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

If this one goes into a couple of overtimes, it could spill into 2011, and Larry Brown will be waiting to replace Doug Collins.

College basketball: UCLA vs. Washington, Pauley Pavilion, 1 p.m., Prime; USC vs. Washington State, Galen Center, 3 p.m., FSW:

These four will meet again at the end of the regular season, with it matters for Pac-10 tournament seedings.

College football: Meineke Bowl, Charlotte, N.C.: Clemson vs. South Florida, 9 a.m., ESPN; Sun Bowl, El Paso, Tex.: Notre Dame vs. Miami, 11 a.m., Channel 2; Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tenn.: Georgia vs. Central Florida, 12:30 p.m., ESPN; Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Atlanta: South Carolina vs. Florida State, 4:30 p.m., ESPN:

See, USC did make it to a bowl game.

SATURDAY

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NHL: Washington at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m., Channel 4:

The fourth year of a televised outdoor hockey game, this one inside the Steelers' NFL home of Heinz Field, shows that things have snowballed. Even up against the day of college football. "New Year's will never be what it once was when all the consequential bowls had greater cache," said Bob Costas, the host for this event. "Each of them now is reduced somewhat by the presence of the BCS championship game. They all kind of fade a little. This might not have been possible 10 years ago to put anything against the lineup. Now the landscape has changed. Because the Winter Classic has worked out so well the first three years, it can more than hold its own." So can the HBO "24/7" series leading into this. All three previous episodes are played on the network from 7-to-10 a.m. Check 'em out.

NHL: Kings vs. San Jose, Staples Center, 6 p.m., FSW:

There's an outdoor sheet of ice at LA Live just waiting for a game to break out. Meanwhile, Jim Fox must break out his lucky loud New Year's Day jacket.

new_years_baby.jpgCollege football: TicketCity Bowl, Dallas: Texas Tech vs. Northwestern, 9 a.m., ESPNU; Capital One Bowl, Orlando: Florida vs. Penn State, 10 a.m., ESPN; Outback Bowl, Tampa, Fla.: Alabama vs. Michigan State, 10 a.m., Channel 7; Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Fla.: Michigan vs. Mississippi State, 10:30 a.m., ESPN:

See what Costas was talking about?

College football: Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Texas Christian, 2 p.m., ESPN:

Refrain from being badgered into watching this affair between the Big Ten tri-champ (it lost to Michigan State) and the highest-ranked, non BCS-title team that the Rose Bowl had to take. Talk about ruining a tradition beyond repair.

College football: Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, Ariz.: Connecticut vs. Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m., ESPN:

How much Bailey's Irish Cream does it take for a viewers to get through a UConn football game? That Outback Bowl out back in Tampa could have swapped out the participants and perhaps saved itself for some better prime-time-ish viewership.

Mixed martial arts: UFC 125 in Las Vegas:

Frankie "The Answer" Edgar, coming off back-to-back wins over BJ Penn, defends his title in a rematch against undefeated No. 1 contender Gray "The Bully" Maynard in the main event. They're also throwing in a featherweight co-main between title holder Jose Aldo and Josh "The Fluke" Grispi.

SUNDAY

NFL: San Diego at Denver, Channel 2, 1 p.m.:

On the last day of the regular season, all 32 teams play, and both Fox and CBS have two games. There's a good chance you'll also see Oakland-Kansas City (Channel 2, 10 a.m.) and St. Louis-Seattle (Channel 11, 1 p.m.).

NBA: Clippers vs. Atlanta, Staples Center, 12:30 p.m., Prime: Lakers vs. Memphis, Staples Center, 6:30 p.m., FSW:

At least have the Jumbotron show NFL games to the fans in the stands that mean something.

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The Media Learning Curve: Dec. 17-24

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2011.jpg

John Ourand at the Sports Business Journal offers a list of sports media predictions for 2011.

If we didn't agree with most of them, we'd have avoided repeating them here (and wishing we only thought of them first):

3913048.bin.jpg== The NFL will decide to expand to an 18-game season, selling a new package to a cable network. And once the league's current TV deals end in 2013, NFL Network will wind up with a full season's worth of games. The NFL will carve out another 18-game schedule that it will shop to Comcast (who'll put it on Versus), Turner and Fox (for FX).

== The NHL will split its media rights package between ESPN and Comcast (on behalf of Versus and NBC).

== Comcast will pay less but still pick up the Olympic rights for the 2014 and 2016 Games (for NBC)..

== ESPN gives up on plans for a 24/7 3-D channel.

== Versus will change its name to something that incorporates the NBC Sports brand. Something like "The NBC Sports Network" or "SNBC." With a couple of Notre Dame football games farmed out to it.

== CBS College Sports will expand its programming lineup beyond just college sports.

== Fox will roll out more regular-season prime-time baseball games. And possibly signed Jon Miller to call games.

== Small sports channels will lose subscribers. Distributors ill drop channels that don't attract viewers.

== NASCAR TV ratings have hit bottom.

Jim Gray, you take it from there.

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Following up on today's column on how ABC and ESPN eats up Christmas Day NBA games (linked here), there's more to fill in:

== The graphic included in today's print edition that goes with the lead media story reads like this:

How the Lakers have done from a viewership standpoint by appearing on every ABC Christmas Day games since 2002:

Year and Opponent: Game rating (Homes) vs. Final ABC NBA season rating

2002 vs. Sacramento: 4.5 (7.4 million) vs. 2.7
2003 vs. Houston: 4.1 (7.1 million) vs. 2.4
2004 vs. Miami: 7.3 (13.1 million) vs. 2.3
2005 vs. Miami: 4.8 (8.1 million) vs. 2.2
2006 vs. Miami: 3.5 (5.4 million) vs. 2.0
2007 vs. Phoenix: 3.5 (5.9 million) vs. 2.2
2008 vs. Boston: 5.3 (9.9 million) vs. 2.4
2009 vs. Cleveland: 4.4 (8.3 million) vs. 2.3
Note: All eight games were the highest-rated of that NBA regular season on ABC.

== ESPN Radio sends Kevin Calabro and analyst Dr. Jack Ramsay to call Saturday's Lakers-Heat game.

The rest of the day's ABC/ESPN NBA lineup:
Stuart Scott, Magic Johnson, Jon Barry and Mike Wilbon do the ABC pregame show.
Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown do Boston-Orlando for ABC (11:30 a.m.)
Dan Shulman and Doris Burke call the Chicago-New York game for ESPN (9 a.m., a noon tipoff at Madison Square Garden), which will also be on ESPN 3D.
Mark Jones and Tim Legler do the Denver-Oklahoma City game for ESPN (5 p.m.), while Terry Gannon and Fran Fraschilla are at the Golden State-Portland game for ESPN (7:30 p.m.)

== ESPN Classic offers a 12-Hour NBA Christmas Marathon that starts today at 9 a.m. with the Denver-Oklahoma City game from 2009 and includes the '04 Lakers-Heat overtime game (5 p.m. Saturday) and the '09 Lakers-Heat game where Kobe Bryant's last-second shot wins it (8 p.m.).

== The NFL TV schedule the rest of the way this weekend for L.A.:

=Saturday:
= 4 p.m., NFL Network: Dallas at Arizona (with Bob Papa, Joe Theisman and Matt Millen).

=Sunday:
= 10 a.m., Channel 11: San Francisco at St. Louis (with Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa) instead of Detroit-Miami or Washington-Jacksonville. CBS also has N.Y. Jets-Chicago (with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms), Tennessee-Kansas City, Baltimore-Cleveland and New England-Buffalo in this window.
= 1 p.m., Channel 11: N.Y. Giants at Green Bay (with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) instead of Seattle-Tampa Bay.
94975901.jpg= 1 p.m., Channel 2: San Diego at Cincinnati (with Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker) instead of Indianapolis-Oakland (with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf) or Houston-Denver.
= 5:15 p.m., Channel 4: Minnesota at Philadelphia (with Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Andrea Kremer)

=Monday:
= 5:30 p.m., ESPN: New Orleans at Atlanta (with Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski).

== Remember the 2010 NAPT Bounty Shootout poker tournament that took place at the Crystal Casino in mid November? Neither do we, but ESPN2 will televise it Sunday at 6 p.m.

== HBO replays seven of the year's best fights (that it covered) starting Monday at midnight and playing out over four nights. It begins with Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley and concludes with Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito (Thursday, 10 p.m.)

Your eBay holiday bargain of the week: 33 Dodger bobbleheads for $1,250

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you are the bobble.jpgOr best offer?

It's a posting by someone named supermexxicn13, a top-rated seller with hundreds of previous sales. And he's got every Dodger bobblehead given away at Dodger Stadium over the last 10 years.

By it now for $1,250 (an average of $37.87 a statue). Or make a more normal bid (linked here).

Shipping is free.

If you need a checklist, here it is:

2001:
Tommy Lasorda 4/4/2001
Kirk Gibson 6/9/2001
Fernando Valenzuela 7/29/2001

2002:
Paul Lo Duca 5/31/2002
Shawn Green 7/18/2002
Hideo Nomo 8/24/2002

2003:
Eric Gagne 5/2/2003
Brian Jordan 7/1/2003
Fred McGriff 9/12/2003

2004:
Eric Gagne 4/30/2004
Don Newcombe 7/23/04
Don Drysdale 8/20/2004

2005:
Cesar Izturiz 6/1/2005
Jeff Kent 9/29/2005

2006:
Ron Cey 6/2/2006
Fernando Valenzuela 6/23/2006
Steve Garvey 7/28/2006


2007:
Nomar Garciaparra 4/26/2007
Rafael Furcal 7/6/2007
Russell Martin 8/2/2007
Tommy Lasorda 9/14/2007

2008:
Joe Torre 4/25/2008
Takashi Saito 6/5/2008
Brad Penny 7/25/2008
Joe Beimel 8/21/2008

2009:
Casey Blake 5/20/2009
Manny Ramirez 7/22/2009
Matt Kemp 8/19/2009
Manny Ramirez 9/16/2009

2010:
Andre Ethier 5/18/2010
Jonathan Broxton 6/8/2010
James Loney 7/20/2010
Matt Kemp 8/17/2010

Not included: The Dodger Dog Bobblehead, which goes for $30 in this eBay auction (linked here)

The dates for the 2011 bobblehead giveaways:
May 17
June 1
June 14
July 7
July 26
August 9

Keep up with all that is Dodger bobblehead at this site (linked here)

And where to find that Dodger bobblehead T-shirt above (linked here)


Play it forward: Dec. 20-26 on your sports calendar

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(AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Connecticut celebrates in the final seconds of its 81-50 win over Ohio State in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

MONDAY

NFL: Chicago at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN:

NEW8240324532f15df0e6a7067003f9e.jpgWhy wouldn't the Vikings have moved this to, say, their future home of L.A.? Paramedics will be standing by with snow shovels and chest paddles to treat those who needed to be here. Our plans include smuggling some Peppermint Schnapps into our living room.

NBA: Clippers vs. Minnesota, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime:

Somehow, Kevin Love's T-wolves made it out of the Twin Cities just in time. The Clippers' home losing streak sits at just three for the time being.

NHL: Ducks at Boston, 4:30 p.m., Versus:

Nothing like a little national exposure for the Anaheimers.

TUESDAY

Women's college basketball: Florida State at UConn, 4 p.m., ESPN2:

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after an historic Win No. 88 in a row on Sunday: "If we were fortunate enough to win Tuesday night, that just means we did something in women's basketball that's pretty special."

College basketball: UCLA vs. Montana State, Pauley Pavilion, 7:30 p.m., BruinTV.com:

It should be noted: After a four-game losing string, this Bruins team is just 85 wins from tying their school winning streak.

4e239e4d10700215df0e6a7067003506.jpgCollege basketball: USC at Tennessee, 4 p.m., Prime:

Vols hoops coach Bruce Pearl said it about the press he's received in the wake of an eight-game SEC suspension for recruiting violations: "What I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook. I miss Lane Kiffin." That's just as hilarious as the way Pearl's team has been playing lately. The former No. 7 Vols (7-2) followed a win over then-No. 3 Pitt with head-scratching upset losses to Oakland and Charlotte. See if Pat Summit has any answers.

NHL: Kings at Colorado, 6:30 p.m., Prime:

The Kings finish their roller-coaster roadie against an Avalanche team they knocked off, 6-4, back in late October, when Brad Richardson, who started the night with 30 career goals in 254 games, got his first NHL hat trick. Richardson, who missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, has been activated in time for this one. Marco Sturm could also be available by this one. Good deal. The Avs have been hot.

NBA: Lakers vs. Milwaukee, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

Check your tickets again. This is against "MIL," not "MIA." A huge difference.

College football: Beef 'O'Brady's Bowl, St. P'tersburg, Fla.: L'ville vs. Southern Mississippi, 5 p.m., ESPN:

How many 'postrophies can they get in one lousy b'wl game?

WEDNESDAY

NBA: Clippers vs. Houston, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime:

Can Yao Ming at least visit his favorite Chinatown restaurant while he's in the neighborhood?

58ec93425a46f114dd0e6a706700e1fe.jpgCollege football: Maaco Bowl, Las Vegas: Boise State vs. Utah, 5 p.m., ESPN:

A Pac-10 team could have should have been slotted for this one, but not enough were bowl eligible. Instead, we'll have to accept future Pac-12 participant Utah, against the team that should have been BCS worthy if they had a reliable field-goal kicker. That's the gamble you take in Vegas.

THURSDAY

NHL: Kings vs. Edmonton, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:

These young Oilers have one of the worst records in the league, but they have that No. 1 draft pick, Taylor Hall, right? Continue . . .

College basketball: USC vs. Lehigh, Galen Center, 5:30 p.m., USCTrojans.com: UCLA vs. UC Irvine, Pauley Pavilion, 7:30 p.m., Prime:

Here's the final tuneups for both teams before the Pac-10 season starts. Make it count.

poinsettia-plant.jpgCollege football: Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego: San Diego State vs. Navy, 5 p.m., ESPN:

It's a natural fit, these two, but an unnatural annual event in the bowl lineup.

NFL: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 5:20 p.m., NFL Network:

Neither of these two teams are on Bill Cowher's coaching wish list?

FRIDAY

College football: Hawaii Bowl, Honolulu: Hawaii vs. Tulsa, 5 p.m., ESPN:

It's not an Hawaii home game, it just seems that way. The Rainbow Warriors may someday return to the Sugar Bowl (remember '08, Colt Brennan's team lost 41-10 to Matt Stafford and Georgia). But for now, they'll have to settle for hosting a bunch of travelers from Oklahoma who don't mind roasted pig in a one-horse open lei..

SATURDAY

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NBA: Lakers vs. Miami, Staples Center, 2 p.m., Channel 7:

101124_18.jpgSanta sez: Believe the hype. Snoop Dogg sez: I believe you're in my seat. The NBA has been dreaming of this Christmas, just like the ones it used to know when Shaq came back to L.A. loaded with gifts for the local kids. This time, the Lakers can't really be all that excited to face a squad that may be riding a 14-game winning streak and has been whipping their opponents by nearly 20 points a contest. Yet, can the Wade-James-Bosh trio stand up to the Gasol-Bynum-Artest front line? Let's just make sure no seat cushions are tossed onto the floor. And if this one isn't to your taste, the NBA has four others on TV today: Chicago at New York (9 a.m., ESPN), Boston at Orlando (11:30 a.m., Channel 7), Denver at Oklahoma City (5 p.m., ESPN) and Portland at Golden State (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

NFL: Dallas at Arizona, 4:30 p.m., NFL Network:

Nope, the league's own channel can't flex out of this mess.

SUNDAY

7061292_550x550_mb_art_R0.jpgNHL: Kings vs. Ducks, Staples Center, 6 p.m., FSW:

Even if you believe the numbers -- it's all even in the all-time series now at 43-43-4 after the Ducks took a 2-0 win a few weeks ago in Anaheim -- the fact the Ducks have more Stanley Cup victories in a shorter time frame really gets under the Kings' fans skin. On the day after Christmas, it's back to getting into a fightin' mood.

NBA: Clippers vs. Phoenix, Staples Center, noon, Prime:

In their previous loss to the Suns back on the day after Thanksgiving, the Clippers fell behind by 21 after the first quarter in Phoenix. And some 17,000 Suns fans still witnessed it.

College football: Little Caesars Bowl, Detroit: Toledo vs. Florida International, 5:30 p.m., ESPN:

This could be done in 30 minutes or less.

NFL: Minnesota at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m., Channel 4:

NBC opted out of the previously-scheduled Chargers-Bengals bash for more Favre-Vick panache.

About this blog


Tom Hoffarth writes about sports and sports media for the Los Angeles Daily News.

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