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Friday TIME: US | UK WEATHER: US | UK HOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD "Life in the UK" American Groups Essential Contacts Money Education Driving WHAT'S ON US Group Events Diary Dates Music Live FEATURES Politics blog SPORTS Features Sideline blog NFL Draft THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE |
SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale Sofa–bound Sport The absence of meaningful gridiron usually has me turning to other sports from March to August (and with apologies to CFL and AFL fans, NASN's gridiron coverage outside of college months doesn't give me the kind of immersion I crave). Inevitably my Spring substitute is basketball, not just March Madness — which was more 'meh' than 'mad' this year thanks to an all–No.1 final four — but the British Basketball League. Yes, I'm banging the BBL drum again. I realize it isn't the NBA, and neither is it the NCAA, but it's as much of a fun evening or afternoon as the Brits have ever managed while emulating a US–associated sport. The product is family–oriented, affordable, and very accessible, with home–town players usually hanging around long after the game to chat and sign with the fans. And now, the BBL is televisual too. With Mrs Football now so advanced in pregnancy that she's in danger of generating her own gravitational field (and yes, I do suffer for my turns of phrase), we haven't been traveling too far from our home deep in the English countryside, so Setanta Sports have been supplying our weekly BBL fix. This past week we thoroughly enjoyed watching the Guildford Heat and Worcester Wolves go at it. It was hardly a nail–biter, 106–79 to the Heat, but Guildford's three–point feast was the kind of one–sided entertainment you can still enjoy when a team are simply playing hot. At this point I apologize to anybody growing suspicious of my journalistic neutrality. Guildford Heat are simply a joy to cover. The organization is as media–friendly as they are family friendly, in no small part to having a coach such as Paul James, who impresses me every time I speak with him or hear him coach. It also helps that the Heat are vaguely in my own region of the country — were I in the North East, for example, I might be glowing about the equally professional and consequently successful Newcastle Eagles. I'm becoming equally impressed with Setanta's TV's BBL show. They may not be one of the most famous names in broadcasting — and that may change — but their live coverage of the Heat and Wolves was a gem of a show. The cameraperson stayed with the ball, the superbly sharp replays only missed a couple of moments, and the commentary team both before and after the game were informed and perceptive, and no, I'm not getting paid to say this, it's just so VERY refreshing to see a 'domestic' league covered so well. I hope Setanta are getting the ratings they deserve for such a neat little show. There was a decent stretch of time after the game for interviews with players, and during time outs the camera joined the huddle to hear what the coaches were saying. Sitting on our own sofa recognizing half of The Spectrum crowd in the cut–away shots, the Setanta coverage of the Guildford game made us feel we'd hardly missed out at all. It managed that rare televisual feat of conveying the home court atmosphere. Tonight (Wednesday April 16), two of the best match up as the Milton Keynes Lions visit the Plymouth Raiders (live on Setanta 2, 7.30pm). It isn't exactly the NBA playoffs, but if your don't have the time (or the time–shifted lifestyle) for endless early–hours coverage, the BBL on Setanta is an engaging mid–week diversion at a sensible hour. The other big TV/Sports announcement of the past few weeks was that Formula One auto racing would return to the BBC after its decade long sojourn on ITV. I can remember a certain amount of trepidation when the sport first moved to the commercial channel — would they stick an advert in just when it got to the good bit? In the end, viewers were rewarded with three layers of presenters — studio, pit lane interviewers and commentary team — where the BBC had offered only a two–man commentary. ITV even adopted the BBC's former commentary team of Martin Brundle and the legendary Murray Walker (since retired). Now the BBC has the daunting task of matching the new standard. None the less, I welcome F1 back on the BBC. With most sports coverage now tucked out of the way on subscription channels (no wonder the nation's getting obese), it's good to see more sport creeping back onto the 'Beeb', as with this past weekend's Masters coverage. No matter whether we still have to watch ex–soccer star Gary Lineker incongruously anchoring Formula One as well as golf, at least the BBC can stop trying to fill the 'competitive events' gap with celebrity dancing. |
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