Thank goodness I have ESPNU now. The last three years, I haven't been able to watch any of the March Madness....umm, madness....on the channel, but that will all change this year. On Friday, October 16th, ESPNU will air it's annual Midnight Madness romp from 9pm to 1am (simulcast on ESPN from 11:30 to Midnight), and will feature a record nine teams. Lowell Galindo will be hosting, Andy Katz and Adrian Branch will be your analysts on set, and a slew of reporters will be chipping in from the nine schools. Here's your list....

Connecticut (Gampel Pavilion)- Doug Gottlieb
Duke (Cameron Indoor Stadium)- Jay Williams
Georgetown (McDonough Arena)- Lou Canellis and Bill Raftery
Kansas (Allen Field House)- Dave Armstrong and Fran Fraschilla
Kentucky (Rupp Arena)- Dave LaMont and Jimmy Dykes
Michigan State (Breslin Center)- Stephen Bardo
North Carolina (Dean Smith Center)- Rob Stone and Hubert Davis
North Dakota State (Bison Sports Arena)- Jim Barbar
Washington (Bank of America Arena)- Steve Physioc and Steve Lavin

This has been a while in the making, but ESPNU and Comcast have finally reached an agreement to bring the network onto to the masses. The channel will not only be added to the channel, but you also won't need the sports package to get it. And there's more! As a Comcast subscriber, you'll even be able to access ESPN360 for free, right before the start of the Football season. Here's a little letter that the folks at ESPNU sent out this morning, detailing the move....

Dear Colleague ~

We are thrilled to share that ESPN has secured two new significant distribution agreements for ESPNU with Comcast and DIRECTV. Comcast will launch ESPNU in a majority of its cable systems in time for the start of the college football season on its Digital Classic level of service. ESPNU will widen its distribution to DIRECTV's CHOICE™ programming package beginning July 1. Through both agreements, ESPNU will now be available to more than 46 million college sports fans across the country. Attached are the press releases with more details about each deal. Please feel free to share with your respective constituencies.

In addition, Comcast will also make ESPN360.com, ESPN’s broadband network, available to its high-speed Internet customers for no additional charge through Comcast.net, which reaches 17 million unique users per month, also in time for this year’s college football season.

We would like to thank you and the entire sports information community for supporting ESPNU since its launch on 03-04-05. You have been instrumental in helping us educate college sports fans about the brand. We look forward to its continued growth and serving our audience with compelling content from your conference 365 days a year.

Sincerely,
The ESPN Communications College Sports Team

Now that's some good news to start the day. I've been begging for ESPNU for years, and the two sides have finally figured out a good deal for both parties. Now if Comcast and the NFL Network could follow suit, everything will be peachy.

(Thanks to reader JR for the tip)

It wasn't that long ago that we were sharing with you the Super Bowl Edition of channel's that randomly switch to porn, and today we've got the ESPNU edition for you. Via Deadspin....

There can't be that many people watching ESPNU at 3:17AM, but on Saturday there was at least one, and he got a little surprise while hunting for a late-night sports fix (very NSFW).

An insomniac Deadspin reader was flipping through the channels in his south Texas abode early Saturday morning (or late Friday night, if you prefer) when this not-unpleasing-to-the-eye image gave him pause. Thankfully, for the good of humanity, he had a camera handy. Either Time Warner Cable is having trouble keeping the porn out of their non-porn feeds or an ESPNU employee was making a strong statement about Duke basketball.

Well that's certainly unfortunate. Although, I'm pretty sure that less than ten people were watching ESPNU at three in the morning. The bigger question though, is how this actually happens. I've never seen anything like this happen on my cable, and of course, am completely jealous of said accounts.

If you would like to see the porno, feel free to click over to Deadspin. It is definitely NSFW though.

ESPNU/Time Warner Cable Experiencing Technical Difficulties, Porn (NSFW) (Deadspin)

This news came down yesterday, and I chose to pass on it because the day was already pretty ESPN heavy, but today is a different day (and a slow one at that). ESPN is reportedly in discussion with cable carriers about offering an ESPNU for ESPN Classic trade. Via John Ourand at SBJ....

Executives in Bristol are set to allow cable and satellite distributors to swap ESPN’s classic sports channel for its college network, ESPNU, which they hope presents a newer, hipper alternative to Classic’s staid, dated programming.

As part of the offer, ESPN also is looking for added distribution for its Spanish-language channel, ESPN Deportes, and its broadband network, ESPN360.

An interesting wrinkle to ESPN’s proposal would allow operators to move ESPN Classic to a sports tier, where it would be ESPN’s first channel to reside on the traditionally low-penetrated mantle.

Right now, ESPN Classic is in more than 63 million homes, typically on analog and digital basic tiers.

By contrast, ESPNU is in about 25 million homes, mainly on digital basic tiers, and ESPN Deportes is in fewer than 5 million homes. ESPN360 has not yet been able to reach carriage deals with the top cable operators, though it has reached broadband agreements with Verizon and AT&T.

Though ESPN executives have spent the last several weeks pitching this plan to cable operators, talks are expected to heat up this week as the cable industry gathers for its annual trade show in Washington, D.C.

What a great idea. I'm one of the few people that probably buy the entire Sports package from Comcast (keep your boos to a minimum), and to this day, I've yet to receive ESPNU. At the present time, I get four different FOX Sports channels, Gol TV, The Tennis Channel and Horse Racing TV, but no ESPNU. I pray that my cable carrier takes them up on this deal, and post haste.

ESPN to offer Classic-for-ESPNU swap (Sports Business Journal)

I still think that on the surface "National Signing Day" is ultra-creepy, but for those of you that want to know the latest recruit to attend your College/Alma Mater, you've got plenty of options. Last year ESPN had a grand total of seven hours of coverage, but this year that wasn't enough! No sir, we're talking nine....count them....nine hours of teenagers announcing the school they'll be attending next semester. Not only that, but you also get Tommy Tuberville as an analyst!!!

This year, former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville will join ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo on the primary set of the Signing Day special along with ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. analysts Tom Luginbill and Todd McShay, and ESPNU college football analyst Charles Arbuckle. Tuberville will provide his analysis from a coach’s perspective to give viewers an in-depth look into the recruiting experience. Additionally, David Amber will anchor another news desk at the Charlotte studios that will track notable developments and offer further analysis and commentary from two more ESPN Scouts, Inc. analysts -- Craig Haubert and Bill Conely. The show will also integrate fan comments from ESPN.com and ESPNU.com and will feature a matrix graphic that will display constant updates of school recruiting classes.

Several players ranked by the ESPNU 150, a nationwide ranking of top prep football prospects compiled by ESPN Scouts Inc., are expected to announce their college decision live during the show, including #2 Manti Te’o, OLB (Punahou HS - Honolulu, Hawaii); #4 Dre Kilpatrick, CB (Gadsden HS - Gadsden, Ala.); #9 Jelani Jenkins, OLB (Good Counsel HS - Wheaton, Md.); #24 Marlon Brown, WR, (Harding Academy - Memphis, Tenn.); #27 Sam Montgomery, DE (Greenwood HS - Greenwood, S.C.); #29 Frankie Telfort, OLB (Gulliver Prep School - Miami, Fla.); #35 Xavier Su a Filo, OT (Timpview HS - Pleasant Grove, Utah); #39 Darren Myles, Jr., S (Carver HS - Atlanta, Ga.); #66 Kendall Kelly, WR (Gadsden HS - Gadsden, Ala.) and #71 Bryon Moore, Jr., ATH (Narbonne HS - Harbor City, Calif.).

I still think nine hours of coverage is insanity, but whatever floats your boat. Oh and if you're like me, and you still don't get ESPNU, here are a few websites you can check out throughout the day....

Decision Day (ESPN)
Signing Day (Fanhouse)
The Wire (Rivals)

ESPN pimps everything from cell phones and clothing, to movies and film festivals, so it isn't a surprise that there will soon be an ESPN-themed High School in New York City. Wait, that actually is a surprise. I take that back. The "Leader" will be working with the city to create something called B.O.S.S., or the "Business of Sports School", and it will be opening its doors this September. Via the Associated Press....

NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN and the New York City Department of Education are teaming up to create a new high school focusing on the business side of sports.

The Business of Sports School, or BOSS, will open in September with 81 ninth grade students.

The school plans to emphasize real world skills through mandatory internships at companies like ESPN The Magazine, ABC Sports, and VitaminWater.

The school is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's push to modernize outdated vocational or trade schools.

Really? I was all set to make fun of this whole thing, but that actually sounds pretty darn cool. I would have killed to join a school like that when I was young, and to give kids internship opportunities like that in high school, is definitely going to help them when they get to College.

There is one problem though. How are they ever going to field a good Sports team with a school full of team managers?

ESPN to help create NYC sports-themed high school (AP)

Ahh ESPNU Campus Connection Week. Where young aspiring broadcasters and production folk get the wonderful opportunity to work with the best in the business! College kids from all walks of life get to participate in broadcasts across the Country, and some are actually pretty good on-air. In fact you wouldn't even know there was a difference between the amateurs and the pros, unless you were paying really close attention....


Those Jounralism Majors are getting such a great opportunity and hands on experience during CC Week! All kidding aside though, I think it's a great idea and would have jumped at the chance when I was back in School. Hey, and for all we know, that could have been a full-time, 40-year old ESPN employee who doesn't know how to spell Journalism.

(Thanks to ML for the screenshot)

Obviously they should be promoting what's arguably the best matchup of the College Football season, but I haven't seen them go to this degree before. Even with playoff games in professional Sports. First off they've dubbed it "The Collision In The Coliseum" and they've made a crawl for info on the game for the bottom of the screen. They're also hyping the game on both Sports Center and First Take multiple times a day, showing clips of former players Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter talking bets and now ESPNU plans on starting coverage on Friday with something called “Walk ThrU” at 1pm....

As a prelude to No. 5 Ohio State at No. 1 USC live Saturday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. on ABC and ESPN Radio, ESPNU’s Walk ThrU special will highlight several college football moments from the Buckeyes and Trojans’ past and present, including the 1985 and 1990 Rose Bowl matchups between both schools. Coverage begins Friday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m.

In addition, ESPNU will continue to utilize Campus Connection students during the college football season. All weeklong, a student from Ohio State and USC will provide student perspectives from the campuses leading up to Saturday’s matchup. USC vs. Ohio State Walk ThrU Schedule...

Fri., Sept. 12

Ohio vs. Ohio State (2008)- 1pm
USC at Virginia (2008)- 3:30pm

Sat., Sept. 13

USC vs. Arizona State (2005)- Midnight
Michigan vs. Ohio State (2006)- 3am
2006 Heisman Presentation (Troy Smith)- 6am
2005 Heisman Presentation (Reggie Bush)- 7am
1985 Rose Bowl: USC (20) vs. Ohio State (17)- 8am
1990 Rose Bowl: USC (35) vs. Ohio State (26)- 10am

Again, not a bad idea at all, but I can't remember them hyping a game to this degree in quite awhile. Well maybe the Michigan-Ohio State game back in 2006, when it was #1 vs. #2, but other than that I can't think of one.

I still don't know anyone without Verizon FIOS that has ESPNU but for the precious few of you that do, you'll be happy to know that the network is now in HD. ESPNU will be ESPN's fourth network in HD and will feature over 200 events in HD over the next year....

ESPNU will kick off its fourth season of presenting live college football games with the launch of its new high definition network, ESPNU HD, on Thursday, Aug. 28. The first ESPNU event to be televised in high definition will feature a college football matchup between the SEC’s Vanderbilt and the MAC’s Miami (Ohio) in prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET. The network will showcase more than 70 live college football games, with all of its Thursday and Saturday telecasts in HD.

On Monday, Aug. 11, the 24-hour college sports network will begin its college football studio coverage with seven preview shows featuring all six BCS conferences, plus a one-hour show (Aug. 17 at 10 a.m.) highlighting all the other Division I schools and conferences. ESPNU anchors Lowell Galindo and Mike Gleason will alternate hosting the one-hour shows and will be joined by returning college football analysts Mike Gottfried and Tom Luginbill, as well as newcomers and former college (Nebraska) and NFL teammates (Carolina Panthers) Mike Minter and Mike Rucker.

Interesting cast of characters there, and here are your announcers for the 2008 College Football Season....

Thursday Night: Charlie Neal and Jay Walker
Saturday (Noon): Dave Armstrong and Larry Coker
Saturday (3:30pm): Doug Bell and Charles Arbuckle
Saturday (7pm): Clay Matvick and David Diaz-Infante
Saturday (10:30pm): Dwayne Ballen and Eddie Robinson Jr.

Only live games will be in HD on the network, but that should be a great number of the contests, and they've got some good games to check out this season. Their schedule is highlighted by games featuring Boston College, Connecticut, Florida State, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, and UVA. More announcing schedules to comes as they are released.

(Via ESPN PR)

Don't get me wrong I love me some Cinco de Mayo, but I don't think I'm going to be dropping everything to watch ESPNU's celebration of the event. The channel is planning on airing various College Football and Basketball games in which prominent players in the game wore the jersey number five. I'm not kidding....

The Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, Monday, May 5, ESPNU will air several games showcasing players who have worn No. 5. The stunt will end with a game featuring basketball star O.J. Mayo. Schedule:

9 a.m.- Edgerrin James: Miami vs. UCLA (1998)
11 a.m.- Donovan McNabb: Syracuse vs. Virginia Tech (1998)
1 p.m.- LaDainian Tomlinson: TCU vs. East Carolina (1999 Mobile Bowl)
3:30 p.m.- Reggie Bush: USC vs. UCLA (2005)
6:30 p.m.- Darren McFadden: Arkansas vs. South Carolina (2005)
9 p.m.- Christ Lofton: Florida vs. Tennessee (2008)
10:30 p.m.- O.J. Mayo: USC vs. Arizona (2008)

My favorite part of the whole release is that they openly call it a "stunt". I would watch these games but the marketing behind it seems like a bit of a stretch. If they're doing that then shouldn't they do something cheesy for the Kentucky Derby? Wait, they are???

To commemorate this weekend’s Kentucky Derby, ESPNU will televise a slate of games from the 2007-08 season featuring the University of Louisville Saturday, May 3.

12 a.m.- West Virginia at Louisville (Football)
3 a.m.- 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Semifinal: Louisville at West Virginia (Women’s Bsketball)
4:30 a.m.- Marquette at Louisville (Men’s Basketball)
6 a.m.- Syracuse at Louisville (Men’s Basketball)
7:30 a.m.- Louisville at Marquette (Men’s Basketball)
9 a.m.- Notre Dame at Louisville (Men’s Basketball)
10:30 a.m.- Georgetown at Louisville (Men’s Basketball)
7 p.m.- Rutgers at Louisville (Football)

Well then.

(Via ESPN PR)

I'm a huge fan of rowing when the Olympics start, well that and kayaking (those fake rapids are wicked tough to navigate), and ESPNU is going to get us ready for said rowing by airing the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race this weekend...

ESPNU has extended its agreement to exclusively televise the Oxford vs. Cambridge University Boat Race in the United States through 2009. ESPNU will televise the 2008 race live Saturday, March 29, at 12:45 p.m. This will mark the second year in a row the network has televised the event.

As part of the ESPNU Campus Connection initiative, two students from Cambridge, Dave Billings and Spencer Hunsberger, will provide online content capturing the atmosphere and experience leading into the race. Both students are oarsmen in the Cambridge backup (Goldie) boat.

I know ESPN does a great job working with Universities on getting students involved in the telecast, but even if you were a student on the rowing team...don't you think you'd want to do a Syracuse Football game or something (anything other than rowing)?

Now if we could get some Darts and Archery on ESPNU it would be just like the original ESPN. Good times.

(Via ESPN PR)

I would almost certainly be watching this to see who Maryland draws in the first round, but alas...I don't get ESPNU. So not only will ESPN have four hours of coverage of the NCAA Tournament it will add another hour for the NIT. Good times. Here's their schedule if you plan on not watching CBS on Selection Sunday....

ESPNU Bracketology with Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Bob Knight (5pm)
ESPN Radio Selection Sunday (6pm)
ESPN and ESPNU Bracketology with Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, and Bob Knight (7pm)
ESPNU and ESPN2 NIT Selection Show with Mike Gleason, Adrian Branch and Andy Katz (9pm)
ESPNU Bracketology with Lowell Galindo, Adrian Branch, and Andy Katz (9:30pm)

Good lord I'm excited. Even though I'll be watching CBS....sorry ESPN.

So yesterday ESPN tore it's way through seven hours of National Signing Day coverage and people are rightfully a bit weirded out by the whole thing. Even ESPN's own employees....

“ESPN and USA Today are just all over this stuff like it’s the NBA Draft. I have always found it repulsive on some level. It's just disgusting the way they get so hyped up over this stuff and it’s just hype”- Michael Wilbon on PTI

They wanted to make it so much like the draft that they even stole the graphics from the process. It wasn't that they did a bad job covering the event, it was just that it was skeevish and downright boring. There were no real surprises and it came across as a bunch of kids not prepared for the media looking awkward and nervous. Via Patrick McManamon at Ohio.com...

ESPN actually promised seven hours of coverage of National Signing Day on ESPNU.

Now . . . ESPN is a master at hiring former players or coaches, dressing them up in a suit, teaching them to gesture with their hands and then having them sit and babble incessantly about the sport they used to play.

Evidence? Sean Salisbury.

But to sit a bunch of talking
heads up at a set for seven hours and talk about the decisions of 17- and 18-year-olds seems to have taken the ESPNization of the nation to new and ridiculous heights.

Look up ESPNization — a new word mind you — and the definition is simple: Taking any event, no matter how small, and treating it with seriousness light years beyond it's due.

Glad to see the rest of the world is catching on. Not every show is like this of course, but we're approaching dangerous territory when ESPN airs the MLS Draft and National Signing Day within a few weeks of each other.

In all seriousness I watched about 45 minutes before becoming completely confused about what was going on. At one point Mike Gottfried said something about Missouri and three other dudes jumped all over him for some reason. Just random and pointless.

(Oh and nice jab at Salisbury, Mr. McManamon...+1)

It's too early to turn teenagers into celebrities (Ohio.com)

I never thought I would live to see the day that a High School student would be on television signing a piece of paper nevermind that this practice would get 7 hours devoted to it. But alas, here we are.

Tomorrow is National signing day and ESPN is pulling out all the stops. I almost wish I had ESPNU to watch how they plan on filling those seven hours. Here are some of the highlights you can watch for if you do...

ESPNU will headline ESPN’s robust multimedia coverage of National Signing Day Wednesday, Feb. 6, with a seven-hour special, ESPNU Recruiting Insider: National Signing Day Special presented by 76 from noon to 7 p.m. ET. The show will be highlighted by exclusive live player announcements from several players ranked in the ESPN 150, including #2 Julio Jones (Foley HS, Ala.), #4 Terrell Pryor (Jeannette HS, Pa.), #9 Darrell Scott (St. Bonaventure HS, Calif.) and #28 Brandon Harris (Booker T. Washington HS, Fla.). Lowell Galindo, ESPNU’s primary anchor, will host with Mike Gottfried, Dave Ryan and ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. analysts Tom Luginbill, Todd McShay and Craig Haubert.

I love the use of the word robust in that release. I would have gone with "over-the-top", but robust works. Sounds like fun though...wait there's more?

* ESPN2 will televise a special hour-long edition of College Football Live at 2 p.m., with studio host Dari Nowkhah and analysts Jesse Palmer and Robert Smith, and will then simulcast ESPNU’s coverage from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

* There will also be some elements of National Signing Day on SportsCenter and First Take.

* ESPNEWS will begin coverage Tuesday, Feb. 5, with live updates from Luginbill, who will provide analysis on the 2008 recruiting class during the HotList from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

* ESPN Radio will offer its listeners coverage of National Signing Day through several of its most popular franchises, including Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Mike Tirico Show and SportsNation.

* New to the ESPN family, RISE Magazine, one of the nation’s largest high school sports publications, will provide in-depth coverage of National Signing Day on RISEMAG.com, focusing on the top 25 recruits in each of the 25 markets that RISE publishes regionally customized issues.

....and my personal favorite....

* Mike Golic Jr., son of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning co-host Mike Golic, will be in studio at 7:05 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, National Signing Day, to officially sign his letter of intent to play at Notre Dame.

I was just asking myself today how I could get more Notre Dame in my daily routine. This will do just fine.

(Source: ESPN PR)

I didn't think it could get anymore obscure then televising the WNBA Draft, NFL Combine, and/or the NBA D-League Draft, but alas....that moment is upon us. ESPN is televising the selection show for the DII and DIII Football Playoffs. Seriously...

ESPNU will televise the NCAA Division II-III Selection Show, live Sunday, Nov. 11, at 11:30 a.m. The 30-minute show will be hosted by Mike Gleason with Pat Coleman and ESPN Scouts Inc. recruiting analyst Craig Haubert. They will announce the 24-team brackets for the Division II Football Championship and the 32-team field for the 35th Annual Division III Football Championship.

Well then. Do you think that College Gameday going to a DIII school this weekend might have something to do with that? Nah....me either.

(Source: ESPN Press Release)

UConn plays it's first game as a ranked team against Rutgers this Saturday night, and no one in Connecticut or Jersey will be able to watch. Well not no one, but very few....the game was picked to be aired on ESPNU by the Leader.

UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway said Tuesday he believes the network is using the game to leverage cable companies to add ESPNU.

Burke Magnus, the vice president and general manager of ESPNU, called that assertion 'ridiculous.' He said the decision to put the game on ESPNU was made before UConn upset South Florida and jumped to No. 16 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

'Our crystal ball works about as well as anyone else's,' he said. 'You can't look at one game in the landscape of all the games that we're doing on all of our networks and single it out as a mistake or some giant ploy against Comcast to leverage them into carrying ESPN. That's just not the way it works.'
Magnus said negotiations with Comcast continue.

Here we go again. I'm almost ready to side with ESPN on this one because it's tough to please everyone. Buuuuut the conspiracy theory of leverage sounds like a good idea, and you have to think ESPN would jump at the chance to get people demanding the U.

UPDATE: Sean O added some context in the comments that I thought I would add to the post....

"As a UConn fan, let me add context. The AD is NOT mad about the UConn/Rutgers game because that was made before the USF game. He is mad about the Nov. 10th game against Cincinnati at ESPNU, and that decision was mad Monday."

UConn Unhappy Over Game On ESPNU (CNN)

Mentioned the other day that the Big Ten Network had a great plan to jump around to five different schools throughout the night during Midnight Madness. Well ESPN is doing the exact same thing. This Friday ESPN will air the MM's of Davidson, Georgetown, Memphis and Southern Illinois. Wait....Davidson? You didn't pick an ACC school at all?!?! I'm surprised. Here's the schedule and the reporters that will be onsite....

7 p.m. – 8 p.m.- Davidson College - Hubert Davis

11 p.m. – 12 a.m.- Georgetown University- Lou Canellis and Bill Raftery

12 a.m. – 1 a.m.- University of Memphis- Pete Pranica and Andy Katz

1 a.m. – 1:30 a.m.- Southern Illinois University- Stephen Bardo

Lowell Galindo and Jay Bilas host the whole shebang, and you'll find it....actually you won't find it because it's on ESPNU. Also, Dickie V isn't involved at all which surprises me.

This time it's good news, but National Media might be a stretch. ESPNU plans to air the first game back for the Duke Lacrosse program after the whole rape issue forced them to shutdown last season.

Now with new coach John Danowski, whose son Matt is a team co-captain, the team will lead off ESPNU's expanded lacrosse coverage. Additions this year include a lacrosse studio show and coverage of all 15 games in the NCAA Division I tournament — including three on ESPN or ESPN2.

The game is against Dartmouth, so there's probably going to be some of this going on. If you get the game....please drink every time the case is mentioned.

I actually have a secret tape of the game coming from a far off land (it's actually from AA operative Emily at Miami of Ohio), so I'll be able to break the whole thing down. From the few people that were watching last night it appears that he held his own, and didn't cry over the Pats loss.

Here are some highlights from SportsBizDaily....

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons provided color commentary alongside play-by-play announcer Rob Stone for ESPNU's broadcast of the St. Mary's College-Univ. of San Diego men's basketball game. Simmons continually remarked on the size of the crowd at Jenny Craig Arena in San Diego: "It's great to be here and watch a basketball game in front of at least seventy-five, eighty people." Simmons even presented a list of ways to get more fans out to the games. One was a suggestion that the team change their name: "I don't like the nickname Toreros. I think it's too hard to say. I would change it to the 'San Diego Zoo.'" Other highlights included the two interviewing a fan at the press booth because he was decked out in licensed apparel from Simmons' hometown team, the Celtics, as well as Simmons opening the game with his best Bill Raftery impression: "San Diego starting out ... IN THE MAN-TO-MAN"

Now the Raftery impression was probably pretty funny, but the San Diego Zoo??? I don't get it. Either way I should have some fun reviewing the tape, and I'll try to get it up on YouTube soon.