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I just watched this on ABC. California (Berkely) was playing the University of Tennessee (at Cal). The conversation happened around 5:50 local time. Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, and the sideline reporter named Lisa were discussing a bunch of Berkely students who were living in trees outside the stadium. Lisa: "Well Brent as you were mentioning, about those folks up in the trees, the reason that they're so upset is that, the University of California, has proposed a $125 million dollar project. They want to build a training facility for the athletes here at the University of California, and they want...

ABC Sports, which once defined sports television and was the home of Roone Arledge, Jim McKay, “Wide World of Sports,” Howard Cosell, 10 Olympics and Mexican cliff diving, died yesterday after one final big gulp by ESPN. Skip to next paragraph The sports division that was nurtured to prominence through Arledge’s production vision and deal-making savvy had been in fading health and recently lost the rights to “Monday Night Football.” ABC Sports was only 45. “My heart just weeps for Roone’s legacy,” said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports, whose career started as an Olympic researcher at ABC Sports...

I'm not much for vanities, so please forgive me this one. Why isn't ABC showing the Indy 500 in Hi Def? Did they have technical difficulties, or did someone at ABC sports decide it wasn't important enough? I personally couldn't care less who wins Indy, my style of racing starts this afternoon at 5pm, but I thought it would be cool to watch Indy in Hi Def. After listening to the media pundits imply that Indy is so much more sophisticated than NASCAR, you would think they would spend the money to broadcast it at the highest level possible. Almost...

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer February 9, 2006 AP - Feb 9, 2:33 pm EST More Photos NEW YORK (AP) -- Al Michaels was traded from ABC to NBC for a cartoon bunny, four rounds of golf and Olympic highlights. The rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a bunny created by Walt Disney in the 1920s before he invented Mickey Mouse, were transferred from NBC Universal to The Walt Disney Co. as part of the agreement to release the broadcaster from his contract with ABC and ESPN. "As the forerunner to Mickey Mouse and an important part of Walt...

ABC TV's Monday Night Football promotion is like a restaurant that tries to attract customers by telling you how entertaining its waiters are. Then when one of them keeps dropping dishes, management will bring in a new one, and then another, all the time keeping the pitch going about how this is a promotion not to be missed. The food? Naah, nobody cares about that. It's our waiters they're interested in, our stars.The sick thing is that journalists buy into this nonsense ... TV columnists, molders of public opinion. I've already begun to read the hand-wringing about the departure of ABC...

From its inception, ABC's “Monday Night Football” was a risky experiment that defied American sports tradition. From Howard Cosell's pontification to Don Meredith's down-home songs to Dennis Miller's arcane analogies, it dominated TV viewing in homes and bars across the nation. The broadcast was a hodgepodge of personalities and indelible images, defining moments and follies, eye-popping on-the-field performances and the kind of impromptu silliness that only sheer boredom can create. In short, it was exactly what ABC Sports boss Roone Arledge hoped it would be. It was theater. Television sports reaches the end of one era and the beginning of...

New England Patriots at New York Jets

ABC Sports replaced veteran Indianapolis 500 announcer Paul Page, known as the Voice of the 500, with Todd Harris in an effort to boost buzz and ratings. The network described Harris, 39, as one of the "most respected young talents" in broadcasting. Page, a 28-year broadcast veteran, told his hometown Indianapolis Star he was "terribly disappointed" by ABC's move. "I love doing the Indy 500," said Page, 59, who will handle other sports duties for ABC and ESPN. "It's all I ever really wanted to do." It was the second time ABC pulled Page from the broadcast booth. Page joined...

The Packers-Bears game last Monday night only reinforced how far the ABC telecast of the game has fallen. When I was growing up, MNF was one of the highlights of my week. The excitement of the game was heightened by the broadcast team of Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. But it was Cosell, more than anyone, who gave the broadcast the feeling of an "event" instead of just a game. You loved him or you hated him, but you had to watch him. Over the years ABC has thrown different formulas on the wall, and this year's version...

The debut of ABC's NBA telecasts, largely depicted as a "loss leader" for the network, turned out to be no leader at all Wednesday night as a double-header wound up in third place with an average 3.6 rating and a 7 share, falling behind the umpteenth rerun of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on CBS (4.3/9) and a repeat of The West Wing on NBC (4.0/7). The top-rated show of the night was a rerun of NBC's Law & Order (6.8/13), which gave NBC a slight edge in the overall ratings for the night, as it scored a 4.8/10 to CBS's...