There was really nothing redeeming about last night's Orange Bowl until the very end of the program. The game was dominated by Iowa's defense, but it was their quarterback who stole the show by giving a speech for the ages....

USA! USA! USA! There were a few people who thought he was celebrating the United States' win in the World Junior Hockey Championships, but I have a different idea. Stanzi was just reiterating to Chris Myers that jokes about terrorists will not be tolerated in this great country.

At the start of last year's NFL season, ESPN moved just about their entire operation to Green Bay for the first Monday nighter of the year. Well the "Leader" is planning to do the same thing for the World Cup next June, but with a small catch. It won't be one day....it will be for an entire month! Yes, all World Cup programming will be coming to you live from South Africa from June 11th to July 11th. Via ESPN PR....

ESPN will present all of its 2010 FIFA World Cup television studio programming from site in South Africa, offering U.S. sports fans the most comprehensive news and information coverage throughout the month-long soccer showcase (June 11 – July 11, 2010). Coverage of the quadrennial global event will include SportsCenter segments, nightly World Cup Live, and pre-, halftime and post-match shows, with additional studio programming and World Cup-branded segments, totaling more than 65 hours of coverage, originating from two sets in and around Johannesburg.

A trio of top-tier ESPN hosts, Chris Fowler (college football, Grand Slam tennis), Bob Ley (SportsCenter, Outside the Lines), and Mike Tirico (Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Final Four, major golf championships), will serve as on-site FIFA World Cup studio hosts. ESPN’s “game around the game” approach to South Africa 2010 will include live and taped segments that will air on ESPN International’s 13 localized versions of SportsCenter in eight different languages across the world.

South Africa 2010 will mark the first time in ESPN’s 30-year history that the entirety of its FIFA World Cup studio programming will originate on location from the site of the host country. Highlights of planned programs and 2010 FIFA World Cup-branded segments:

- SportsCenter at the FIFA World Cup;
- World Cup Live – the daily, 30-minute news, highlights and analysis program (30 episodes) aired each night of the tournament on ESPN or ESPN2;
- Live 30-minute pre-match, halftime (15 min.) and post-match shows on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2;
- World Cup segments on ESPNEWS, First Take on ESPN2, and Outside the Lines.

It's always a good idea to be live at the event you're covering, but that certainly can't be cheap, especially when you're traveling halfway around the World. Also, if you're looking for three hosts for the coverage, you can't ever go wrong with Fowler, Tirico and the great Bob Ley. Great move by ESPN, if you ask me.

Everyone was all a buzz yesterday during the Confederation Cup finale on ESPN, and while the U.S. choked away a 2-0 lead, the team did it's job by getting people excited about a possible World Cup run in 2010. One of the more opinionated people throughout the tournament was ex-player Alexi Lalas, and he sat down "On the DL" to talk about what it all means....

“It’s unrealistic, and unfair to a certain extent, for a team to do well in a couple of games – and very well against some very, very good teams – and then automatically say that we can win a World Cup.

“We can win a World Cup, but the reality is, tomorrow we can go out and play Spain and lose 5-0. Tomorrow we can go out and play Brazil and lose 5-0. On the day, the team was better than Spain, and that’s what’s the most important. But you also had an incredible perfect storm to get the team to that point. You can’t count on that happening in a World Cup.”

And what, as American soccer fans, and those who hopped on board this weekend to ride the recent success of the United States’ team, should we take from the Confederations Cup?

“I think the best part of this whole thing, in terms of the Confederations Cup, is that we’ve finally seen a positive message sent to not just US Soccer fans, but sports fans in general that even are coming to it late, that this is a team that when playing against the best, can bring a heart and a spirit. For a while, we weren’t quite sure.

While that's obviously the right way to look at things, unfortunately Americans just don't think that way. Even Lalas himself said earlier in the interview, that people in this country want things "right away". Soccer is just setup so different than what the average American is used when it comes to Sports, and patience isn't one of our stronger suits.

After all of the hype this run garnered, we still have to wait a year for the World Cup, and unfortunately if the U.S. Men perform like they did last go around....the Sport won't really be talked about for another four years. That isn't to take anything away from the performance of this team at all. But rather just the way things are, and always will be, when it comes to Soccer.

On the DL Podcast - Episode 199 (On the DL)

I, and millions of people, gave the United States zero chance against Spain today. Well thanks to an early goal by Jozy Altidore, and some great defense in the second half, the United States ended Spain's fifteen game win streak with a 2-0 win. Here are your highlights....

How David Villa didn't score seven goals today is beyond me, but we'll take it for sure. Great play by Onyewu and Howard, and the Americans' dream run will continue on this Sunday in the Finals, versus the winner of Brazil and South Africa.

I have no idea how this happened. Well actually I do, but I still don't believe it. The United States was barely alive in the Confederations Cup, thanks to an upset of Italy by the Egyptians, and somehow all the stars aligned for the Americans to advance. What were those stars you ask? They needed a win over Egypt by three goals and a Brazil win over the Italians by three or more as well. Here are some highlights and the closing moments of each match....

What a crazy group that was. You could of had a situation where three teams in the round robin would have had six points. Instead, a team somehow advanced with just three, and the World Champions were eliminated in the process. Just a great win for the Americans, but there is some bad news. They now have to face Spain, who boasts a current world-record win streak of fifteen games in a row.

Giuseppe Rossi was born in New Jersey, but decided to try his hand with the Italian National Team (his father is an Italian citizen). After a great first half from USA, Rossi and the Italians turned on the juice and were easily able to dispatch of the Americans, who were down a player due to a terrible red card call in the first half. Here are your highlights....

GO BACK TO JERSEY! In all seriousness, the kid looks amazing and the U.S. Team should find a way to pay him off and get him back home. As far as the game goes, I enjoyed the entire contest, but I honestly had to mute it in the second half because the fans decided to continuously play these horns that turned the stadium into what sounded like a beehive.

I'm sure most people didn't have much hope for USA, given the group that they're in, but I thought they had a shot there for a second. One of these days, we'll be allowed to play Italy with eleven players.

Not that a Final Four of Cuba/Japan, Korea, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, wouldn't have drawn ratings, but ESPN has to thank their lucky stars for David Wright this morning. Wright hit a walk-off single, which sent the U.S. onto Los Angeles for the semifinals, and subsequently gave ESPN a huge ratings boom this weekend. Here's your highlight....

The U.S. and Venezuela play tonight for seeding on the MLB Network, but the semifinals will be on ESPN this weekend. If USA wins they'll be playing Saturday night at 9pm, if they lose their game will be 8pm on Sunday. The Finals are Monday night at 9:30pm.

Team USA Walks Off to Stay Alive in the WBC (The Sporting Blog)

I think it was about a year ago when Dan Patrick had William Shatner on and made him recreate some of the most famous Sports calls ever. Well one of the ones he did that day was Al Michaels' "Miracle On Ice" call and Michaels just happened to be the DP Show today and of course Dan just happened to have the clip handy. Here's what went down....

Too funny. In fact I think William Shatner should put out a full length CD of the calls. I'd buy it.

Dan Patrick Interviews (SI)

The NBA Stars are still making the Talk Show rounds following their gold medal win in the Olympics, and last night it was Kobe Bryant's turn. He appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show to talk about China, President Bush, the VMAs and his viral videos (Kimmel adds a nice twist to the original one)....

That John Stockton line cracked me up and I guarantee that it was Chris Bosh who asked President Bush for the free gas card. One of the reasons that I wanted to show this though was to bring up how crazy Team USA is being marketed right now. It's been a few weeks since the Olympics ended and the guys are still making their rounds. Just about the whole team was on Oprah, Lebron is playing H-O-R-S-E with random people in Venice, CA. and Kobe is intro'ing Britney at the VMAs and doing the Talk Show circuit. I don't think the NBA could have planned this offseason better if they tried.

Let them shut me down for posting this one. 118-107 is your final and Team USA Basketball has been officially redeemed....

I have to admit that I got a bit teary eyed when all of the players went over and shook Doug Collins hand after the buzzer. Even though I've heard Collins tell the '72 Games story about a million times, it's good to know that these players know their roots. Just a great run for a great team. I'm proud to be an American, proud to be an NBA fan and proud that this team got their Gold.

So the payback to all of you not living in east coast standard time is a live gold medal basketball game tonight that isn't starting at 2:30 in the morning (the start time for us East Coasters). NBC, for once, plans on airing the USA-Spain game tonight (tomorrow in Beijing) live in all parts of the country.

Sure the game is going to be on awfully late in most States outside of Hawaii, but if you're a night owl and a Basketball fan, you should be able to make it through the whole thing. Who hasn't gone to bed at 4:30am (Okay, don't answer that)? Here are your start times for the game and while NBC has made terrible scheduling decisions for those destinations out West, at least they're getting one right before the Closing Ceremonies.

Eastern- 2:30am
Central- 1:30am
Mountain- 12:30am
Western- 11:30pm
Alaska- 10:30pm
Hawaii- 8:30pm

I still haven't decided what my plans are for the evening, but if I'm up, you might see something in this spot early Sunday morning.

NBC's Coverage of The Beijing Olympics Has Been...Slightly Better (Bleacher Report)

Right at about 10:20am eastern standard time, I got about seven or eight emails asking me what channel the USA-Argentina game was on. I replied that it should be on both the HD Basketball channel and NBC. A few more messages trickled in and I immediately knew what had happened.

NBC has once again decided to not air an event live anywhere but the East Coast and the rest of the Country has to sit through three hours of the Today Show before getting to watch the game.

NBC has already started to receive praise from major media outlets (of course on the East Coast) for their coverage of the Game, but I really wish that some of the bigger papers rethink their position. Just because they covered Michael Phelps for five or six days, and he broke a record, is no reason to ignore everything else. If anyone from the West Coast wants to chime in, I'll add your comments below. We know NBC is reading now, don't we?
_______________________________

Via BF- "Once again NBC decides to fuck more then half the nation in the ass by not televising the USA vs Argentina basketball game live to anyone except the EST. You know the Today Show is so damn important. God, does NBC suck!"

Via JT- "I cannot believe they did this again, and without warning."

Via JS- "Unfreakingbelievable."

illini81887- Game is going to be tape delayed here as well in the Midwest. What a freaking joke, just show it on USA or MSNBC."

Mike- "I'm in Chicago and it's tape delayed as well. Just appalling."

KB- "I'm in Chicago. I'm so sick of NBC's crap coverage, I hate to say it, but it might be a plus if ABC/ESPN took over the coverage. Per NBC "We are just about ready for the Tip Off of the Argentina/Redeem Team game". What crap."

Tyler- "I just read over on Sports Media Watch that Denver (mountain time zone) has had the highest Olympic ratings of any of the major US cities. Imagine what those ratings would be if NBC would show those of us in the west some live (actually live--not just "was live EDT"). In this day and age and with the amount of money they are spending on these Olympics, there is no excuse to not show major events live in all time zones."

Brent- "This is such a joke. I'm at work anyway, but the game should be available to those who want it. NBC has seriously dropped the ball here, and has really decided to screw half a continent. I just don't get it."

Anon- "This is embarrassing. The whole world is watching this event LIVE and half of America has it on a %^&$# tape delayed. Who are the direct people responsible for this decision? What would the outcry be if this happ'd on the West Coast."

TZ- "It should also be noted again that unless you're with one of the huge cable companies like Comcast or Time Warner, you have to lie about your provider and zip code to watch the game live on NBCOlympics.com."

Daniel- "The only common-sense thing to do is to tape-delay it to tonight in primetime. But no, NBC decided to punish the 97% of those who would want to watch this game but have a job. What does NBC have against employment? Are they secretly pandering to the blogging crowd, noted for being jobless?"

Anon- "Couldn't they show it live for the people that want to watch it live. Then show it on tape delay on USA or CNBC instead of whatever crap they are running during the day on those channels? Or just the opposite. They could show it live on USA or CNBC or MSNBC and then show it on tape delay on NBC. Why wouldn't that make sense?"

Dan- "hear that peacock? i'm not watching anything you broadcast AND i'm going to your your competitors and thanking them for coverage YOU purchased. Oh yeah, when it comes to the closing ceremonies, i'm going to grab them off bittorrent on monday. how's that taste?"

Joseph- "Living in SoCal what I find ironic is that I'm currently watching MSNBC's post-game coverage of the game (highlights, interviews, analysis) before the game has even come on the air on our NBC affiliate!"

Ken B.- "How about the fact that we have to sit through at 15 minute "halftime" that could be easily fast forwarded since its on a tape delay."

David T.- "The sad thing is that this is NBC's MO. They do this for Wimbledon and the French Open in the summer. They "play" it as though it is live but it's obviously not. So I not really suprised to hear they are doing it to the rest of the country."
_____________________

P.S.- Man, I feel so bad for everyone. I'm not going to do a live-blog or provide any updates so you people that want to watch it live can. Keep the emails and comments coming.

Update: I just remembered that reader Brent L. sent an email to NBC during the Phelps nonsense and thought I'd share the email addy he used....

Brian Walker- NBC Olympics spokesman in Beijing
brian.walker@nbcuni.com

NBC Prepares To Screw West Coast Viewers The Rest Of The Olympics (Awful Announcing)

Why not a pseudo little live-blog this morning? If anyone's around feel free to comment and I'll follow with some videos following the contest.

8:15- Close game early on. The U.S. leads by only three halfway through the first. Howard is settling in down low (Bogut has two fouls) but Australia is nailing their threes.

20-17 with 2:50 left in the first. There's been a couple of shots by the Aussies early as well. Something to keep in mind.

"Stop being stupid. You're making dumb plays"- Coach K via Craig Sager

2:20- Australia's point guard, Patty Mills (St. Marys) is giving Team USA's guards some problems early and it might be time to bring in Chris Paul. We were tied, but Anthony hit a three to give "Redeem" the lead back

24-21 (under a minute left in the first)

2:24- The U.S. is 4-11 from the FT line early as well. Mills hits a beautful running layup and gets fouled, but misses the free throw. Paul drives and is hammered at the buzzer....no call.

25-24 U.S. at the end of one

8:28- We start the second quarter with an obligatory Michael Phelps story from Sager and Wade completes a three-point play. Bogut looks terrible by the way. Australia is still bumping and it's about time to start hitting back.

30-26 with 9 minutes left

8:33- Patrick Mills again! He takes it right at Chris Bosh for two. Bosh misses another throw and the U.S. is shooting somewhere in the teens from the line. Wade to James....Slam! Bogut finally scores but Kobe follows on the other end with a dunk. Kobe again with a behind the back fake and a layup.

37-30 USA with 6:30 left in the second

8:39- Bogut with an and one and I'm thinking that I shouldn't have called him out. Doug Collins tells us that USA has 10 offensive rebounds and I thank him for the stat. James gets a layup and was fouled but no call. Lead is nine and Bogut dribble off of his fat thigh out of bounds. Layup for Newley of AUS and the lead is seven. Kobe misses a three and Anderson hits for the Aussies. James and one!

"Pure strength and power for Lebron James."- Mike Breen

Bron misses and Anthony is hammered. Here we go! Some pushing and shoving after the play between Worthington and Howard.

45-36 USA with 4 minutes left in the second

8:44- AUS gets a couple of throws, but Kobe gets another and one as he blew past Mills....ANOTHER MISSED FREE THROW! Good lord. James misses a three. Eight point lead. Prince with a steal and Lebron again...he can't be stopped down low today (or tonight). Under two to go. Newly drafted Houston Rocket, Mike Newley hits a three. Another U.S. miss but Mills misses a three.

50-43 U.S. under a minute to go

8:47- Aww...a great shot of Chris Collins in the stands. Doug swoons. Kobe with a fadeaway, Newley misses a three and AT THE BUZZER!!!!!!! GOOD! Deron Williams with a three. Whew.

55-43 USA at the half

9:05- Second half is underway and Kobe starts it with a three. That's good because the U.S. is 10-20 from the line. Melo for three! Here comes the run. Lebron with the steal! Dives out of bounds!!! Bryant to the line. Now that's the hustle we need.

62-43 U.S.

9:09- Jason Kidd with a layup and Mike Breen says they're pulling away. Way to jinx it Mike. Or not....Kobe and one.

"Kobe has just played for a minute and a half."- Mike Breen

Pretty sure you meant sat Mike....okay, he corrected himself. Nielsen gives Carmelo a shot in the chest and Australia still hasn't scored. 26 point lead as Kobe hits another three. A 14-0 run to start the quarter.

69-43 with 6 minutes left.

9:14- Mills hits a three and he's looked awfully good today/tonight. He's their backup point guard too. Lebron and one....it's officially a blowout.

"This is the Lebron we don't see much in Cleveland."- Doug Collins

Amen Doug. Amen. (Bill) Worthington with a dunk on a follow for Australia and I wasn't aware anyone on the team could dunk. We sure as hell know Bogut can't. And right on cue, Bogut is shown icing his knees and is done for the night. James with the no look to Bosh....SLAM!

73-50 USA

9:17- Dwyane Wade banks in a three from the corner and I'm going to call this one over myself at this point. The lead is 30 with 2 minutes left in the third.

"Did I see that he scored 37 in his first game in College?"- Doug Collins on Patrick Mills

It was his fourth game, but great recall there Dougie Fresh. Seville hits a three for AUS but Prince answers on the other end.

85-55 with 1:30 left in the third

9:22- Seville with a four point play and he jaws with Wade. Again....Mills with the drive. Oop to Prince and then Bosh swats a three attempt out of bounds.

That's the end of the third. U.S. won that quarter 34-18 and they lead 89-61.

9:30- The fourth starts rather slow but Deron Williams finishes a nice layup. Kobe hits one from the Water Cube and the lead is 31. AND KOBE AGAIN! He's got 25. This Ingles kid for Australia is pretty good. Only 20 years old and he adds a dunk and three to his Olympic resume.

101-70 with 6 minutes left

9:35- Ingles with another three. Outside of the guy Marlowe with the blond faux-hawk....he's my favorite player. AND AGAIN FOR INGLES!!! Redd hits a three. I'm also a big fan of Australia's yellow lowtops. Sporty.

106-78 with 4 minutes left

9:40- Deron Williams misses a layup after a nice pass from Paul. Boozer looks like ass and Newley takes it to Prince and gets to the line. Good draft pick by the Rockets but that's nothing new for them overseas. Nielsen is in there still throwing bows and the U.S. needs to just chill out.....or just foul the shit out of him. Good job Carlos Boozer.

Mike Breen thanks the interns....that's nice. Under two. Boozer scores and that means everyone on the team has scored. Mills and one. Look out WCC! Whoa....Australia has a guy that looks just like Brent Barry. Put him in!

116-85 Final

Key Players:

Lebron James- 16pts, 9 rebs, 3 asts, 4 steals
Kobe Bryant- 25pts, 5 rebs
Carmelo Anthony- 15pts, 5 rebs
Patrick Mills- 20pts
Joe Ingles- 11pts in 10 mins
Brad Newley- 10pts

(Highlight video coming shortly)

The "Redeem Team" was taking on Germany this morning in a game that didn't really matter in the standings, but that didn't seem to let slow them down in the least. USA seemed to want to make a statement before elimination play gets underway on Wednesday, and that they did with a 105-57 win over Dirk and Germany.

Dwight Howard had about fifty dunks during the game but it was Lebron's jam in the third quarter that sent the loudest message (2:10 mark). Here's a little montage for everyone (Thanks to With Leather for the save after the vid was taken down)....

(Video Removed)

Team USA just plowed through the opening rounds by an average margin of victory of just over 30ppg, but the team who gave them the biggest challenge in warm up play waits in the Quarterfinals. Australia (who was missing Andrew Bogut at the time) had USA scared through most of their exhibition game in Shanghai two weeks ago, but the U.S. pulled out an eleven point win.

It should be an interesting game with the rematch coming early Wednesday morning (either 8 or 10:15am). I should be around to have videos from the game as it goes along.

Germany Capitulates To U.S. Assault (With Leather)

So I turned on the Team USA-Greece game a bit late but as it turns out, I did so just in time. Watch Dwyane Wade on the steal with the sick pass to Kobe for the oop and then follows that up with another ridiculous pass to Dwight Howard for the jam....

How awesome was that? I'll try to keep you updated as the game goes on but the U.S. looks on point early. With that said, Greece was hanging in there for awhile, with open jumpers and layups, but it's 51-32 Team USA at the half after a great run to end the second quarter.

Update: USA 74-54 at the end of three.

Update #2: Okay that wasn't close at all....FINAL- USA 92, Greece 69

(More dunks coming after the game)

How about that for a headline? I'm not sure if Craig Sager knew he didn't know he was doing an interview, or he just didn't care, but DC Sports Bog has some hilarious quotes from the TNT and Olympic sideline reporter....

And what about wearing the outfit? Does it, like, offend your sensibilities?

Oh my God! It's terrible! I've got to wear this little vest bib! I'm getting a lot of grief from the NBA players. You know, 'Where's your sport coat, where's your tie?'

Yeah, do you feel naked or something?

I mean, it's comfortable, but I wish I could liven it up a little bit.

There's no way to accent it at all?

The only thing I can do is have this [belt] and have a matching thong. That's about the only thing I can do.

This is the greatest interview, by a longshot, that I've done since I've been in Beijing. Is it hard for you to get as pumped as you would at an NBA game? Because you know, for a lot of [the preceding game] it was pretty quiet out there.

I'm just so used to NBA games where I go anywhere I want. You know, I go in the huddles, I interview the coaches. Here, I'm stuck in that pigpen, so I can't get out, and then I've got to wear this [expletive].

Awesome. So you don't care if I say that you have a blonde fetish?

Oh no. Everybody knows that. EVERYBODY knows that. Bud Light and blondes. So there's a Hooters here, I went to Hooters the other day in Beijing. I've been to probably 250 Hooters across the country and world. It's the only Hooters I've ever been to that didn't have any Bud Light or blondes. I was very disappointed.

The whole interview is just full of tidbits like those above and certainly worth a read. Sager also talks about dance teams, his wife being twenty one years his younger and his Olympic wardrobe. Simply epic and you have to wonder if Craigers had one too many Sakes at lunchtime.

Bud Lights and Blondes: Five Minutes With Craig Sager (DC Sports Bog)

A ton of you commented on how awesome it was for NBC to bring back the old NBA on NBC theme for the Olympics and I couldn't agree more. Here is the intro to the game and you can hear the Tesh theme rocking in the background....

Man that took me back. The only thing missing were those cheesy graphics slowly morphing together on screen. Bravo NBC, now just get Tesh to play it live.

Okay, made a few changes to the layout, got rid of the bolding, and added a what to look for section. Hope this is easier to read.....

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10- DAY 2

Live Events To Look For:

USA Basketball vs. China (Live), Swimming Gold Medal Finals (Live), Tennis (Live- James Blake and Serena Williams), Soccer (Live- USA vs. Netherlands, Italy vs. South Korea, Argentina vs. Australia)

NBC and NBC HD

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Men's Basketball – USA vs. China* (Mike Breen, Play-by-play - Chris Carrino, Play-by-play - Mike Crispino, Play-by-play - Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Eric Collins, Play-by-play - Teresa Edwards, Analyst - Doug Collins, Analyst - Ann Meyers, Analyst - Bob Salmi, Analyst - Craig Sager, Reporter)
Swimming (Dan Hicks, Play-by-play - Rowdy Gaines, Analyst - Andera Kremer, Reporter)
Men's Beach Volleyball – Gibb/Rosenthal (USA) vs. Boersma/Ronnes (NED) (Chris Marlowe, Play-by-play- Karch Kiraly, Analyst - Heather Cox, Reporter)
Men's Water Polo – USA vs. China (Bob Fitzgerald, Play-by-play - Wolf Wigo, Analyst
Croatia vs. Italy)
Women's Cycling – Road Race (Pat Parnell, Play-by-play - Craig Hummer, Play-by-play - Kenan Harkin, Analyst - Paul Sherwin, Analyst - Marty Snider, Reporter)
Rowing (Tim Ryan, Play-by-play - Yaz Farooq, Analyst)

7:00 p.m. – Midnight

Swimming – Gold Medal Finals* (Dan Hicks, Play-by-play - Rowdy Gaines, Analyst - Andera Kremer, Reporter)
Men's 100m Breaststroke, 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Women's 100m Butterfly, 400m Freestyle
Women's Gymnastics – Team Competition
Women's Diving – Springboard Synchronized Gold Medal Final

(Note: LIVE Swimming Semifinals Men's 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke & Women's 100m Backstroke)

12:35 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.

Women's Volleyball – USA vs. Cuba* (Paul Sunderland, Play-by-play - Kevin Barnett, Analyst)
Swimming – Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals (Dan Hicks, Play-by-play - Rowdy Gaines, Analyst - Andera Kremer, Reporter)

CNBC and CNBC HD

Midnight – 4:30 a.m.

Men's Tennis – Blake (USA) vs. Guccione (AUS)* (Barry MacKay, Play-by-play - Jimmy Arias, Analyst)
Boxing – 64kg, 69kg Competition* (Bob Papa, Play-by-play - Teddy Atlas, Analyst - Jim Gray, Reporter)

4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Boxing – 64kg, 69kg Competition (Bob Papa, Play-by-play - Teddy Atlas, Analyst - Jim Gray, Reporter)

USA and USA HD

2:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Men's Soccer – USA vs. Netherlands* (JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play - Glenn Davis, Play-by-play - Adrian Healey, Play-by-play- Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play - Marcelo Balboa, Analyst - Brandi Chastain, Analyst - Shep Messing, Analyst - Lori Walker, Analyst)
Argentina vs. Australia
Men's Basketball – Lithuania vs. Argentina* (Mike Breen, Play-by-play - Chris Carrino, Play-by-play - Mike Crispino, Play-by-play - Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Eric Collins, Play-by-play - Teresa Edwards, Analyst - Doug Collins, Analyst - Ann Meyers, Analyst - Bob Salmi, Analyst - Craig Sager, Reporter)
Spain vs. Greece(LIVE)
Women's Tennis – Serena Williams (USA) vs. Govortsova (BLR)* (Barry MacKay, Play-by-play - Jimmy Arias, Analyst)
Women's Badminton – Lee/Mangkalakiri (USA) vs. Jiang/Li (SIN) (Jim Kozimor, Play-by-play - Steve Kearney, Analyst - Bill Clement, Analyst)
Equestrian – Dressage (Kenny Rice, Play-by-play - Melanie Smith-Taylor, Analyst)
Women's Archery – Team Gold Medal Final (Joe Castellano, Play-by-play - Denise Parker, Analyst)
Men's Weightlifting – 56kg Gold Medal Final (Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Shane Hamman, Analyst)
Women's Weightlifting – 53kg Gold Medal Final (Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Shane Hamman, Analyst)

MSNBC

5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Men's Soccer – Italy vs. South Korea* (JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play - Glenn Davis, Play-by-play - Adrian Healey, Play-by-play- Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play - Marcelo Balboa, Analyst - Brandi Chastain, Analyst - Shep Messing, Analyst - Lori Walker, Analyst)
Men's Volleyball – Bulgaria vs. China (Paul Sunderland, Play-by-play -Kevin Barnett, Analyst)
Women's Field Hockey – USA vs. Argentina* (Mike Corey, Play-by-play - Nick Conway, Analyst)
Men's Tennis – Federer (SUI) vs. Tursunov (RUS) (Barry MacKay, Play-by-play - Jimmy Arias, Analyst)
Men's Shooting – Trap Gold Medal Final (Bill Clement, Play-by-play - Shari LeGate, Analyst)
Men's Water Polo – Hungary vs. Montenegro (Bob Fitzgerald, Play-by-play - Wolf Wigo, Analyst
Croatia vs. Italy)
Badminton (Jim Kozimor, Play-by-play - Steve Kearney, Analyst - Bill Clement, Analyst)
Men's Handball – Croatia vs. Spain (Andrew Catalon, Play-by-play - Dawn Lewis, Analyst)
South Korea vs. Germany

TELEMUNDO

4:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Men's Soccer – Argentina vs. Australia* (JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play - Glenn Davis, Play-by-play - Adrian Healey, Play-by-play- Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play - Marcelo Balboa, Analyst - Brandi Chastain, Analyst - Shep Messing, Analyst - Lori Walker, Analyst)
New Zealand vs. Brazil
Men's Volleyball – USA vs. Venezuela (Paul Sunderland, Play-by-play -Kevin Barnett, Analyst)
Swimming – Gold Medal Finals (Dan Hicks, Play-by-play - Rowdy Gaines, Analyst - Andera Kremer, Reporter)
Men's Basketball – Spain vs. Qualifier (Mike Breen, Play-by-play - Chris Carrino, Play-by-play - Mike Crispino, Play-by-play - Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Eric Collins, Play-by-play - Teresa Edwards, Analyst - Doug Collins, Analyst - Ann Meyers, Analyst - Bob Salmi, Analyst - Craig Sager, Reporter)
Men's Gymnastics (Al Trautwig, Play-by-play - Elfi Schlegel, Analyst - Tim Daggett, Analyst - Andrea Joyce, Reporter)
Women's Beach Volleyball – Talita/Renata (BRA) vs. Candelas/Garcia (MEX) (Chris Marlowe, Play-by-play - Karch Kiraly, Analyst - Heather Cox, Reporter)

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Boxing – Elimination Bouts (Bob Papa, Play-by-play - Teddy Atlas, Analyst - Jim Gray, Reporter)

Midnight – 1:00 a.m.
TBA

UNIVERSAL HD (24-hour MSNBC & CNBC HD Simulcasts and Coverage)

NBC OLYMPIC BASKETBALL CHANNEL

2:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Men's Qualifying Round (Mike Breen, Play-by-play - Chris Carrino, Play-by-play - Mike Crispino, Play-by-play - Pete Pranica, Play-by-play - Eric Collins, Play-by-play - Teresa Edwards, Analyst - Doug Collins, Analyst - Ann Meyers, Analyst - Bob Salmi, Analyst - Craig Sager, Reporter)

2:30 a.m. – 4:15 a.m. Spain vs. Qualifier*
4:45 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. Lithuania vs. Argentina*
6:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Russia vs. Iran
8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Australia vs. Qualifer*
10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. USA vs. China*
12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Angola vs. Qualifer
1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. China vs. USA (2nd half re-air)

NBC OLYMPIC SOCCER CHANNEL

5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Men's Preliminaries (JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play - Glenn Davis, Play-by-play - Adrian Healey, Play-by-play- Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play - Marcelo Balboa, Analyst - Brandi Chastain, Analyst - Shep Messing, Analyst - Lori Walker, Analyst)

5:00 a.m. – 6:45 a.m. Argentina vs. Australia*
7:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. USA vs. Netherlands*
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Italy vs. S. Korea
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. New Zealand vs. Brazil
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Serbia vs. Ivory Coast
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Nigeria vs. Japan
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cameroon vs. Honduras
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. China vs. Belgium

*- Live Events

With all of the random channels NBC has in play, it's tough to even figure when things happened or even if they're live at the time. I think the general rule I'm going to use is that if I haven't seen the clip, I'm posting it.

Your Olympic Video Du Jour for Saturday (last night in China) is Kobe making his way into the Beijing Olympic Basketball Stadium for the Women's game against the Czech Republic. It's already been documented that the USA Men's Team are being treated like rock stars, but this entrance is crazy....

Now that was pretty awesome, and a tad scary that there wasn't more security, but still awesome. I have yet to really get into the spirit of these Games (even though the Opening Ceremony was rather impressive), but come tomorrow morning when USA takes on Yao Ming and China, I think I'll be on board. That game is going to be intense.

Marvin Gaye performed one of the best live renditions of the National Anthem back at the 1983 NBA All Star Game in Los Angeles and Nike has decided to use it for a new Team USA commercial. Via Fanhouse....

Goosebumps. There's a 30-second version and a 60-second version that you will begin seeing on 08-08-08 as well as a two and a half minute version of the commercial will air on August 5th. That extended version will follow the final episode of “Road To Redemption presented by NIKE” on ESPN2.

Marvin Gaye + USA Basketball = Chills (Fanhouse)
Just Do It: Marvin Gaye (Inside Nike)