Category: Sports

Stanley Cup finals start tonight
RALEIGH, N.C. – The first game of the best of seven Stanley Cup final is slated for tonight in Raleigh, N.C. The Carolina Hurricanes advanced to the final by eliminating Buffalo while Western champ Edmonton knocked out Anaheim.
On the eve of the NHL championship opener Sunday, the Edmonton Oilers were adjusting to the weather down South, where temperatures in the upper 80s felt more like a day at the beach than a skate on a frozen pond.
“We just flew in, so we don’t really have a feel of the atmosphere here,” said Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish, whose team sought an extra day of refuge in New York during an extended layoff before heading North Carolina on Sunday.
The Carolina Hurricanes’ road to the finals, meanwhile, took a detour on Sesame Street. A Muppet-themed ice show at its home arena ó the site of Game 1 on Monday ó forced Carolina to shift practice to the training rink.
Detroit, Denver or Philadelphia this is definitely not.
“It’s a little bit of a different venue here than maybe what is the norm in the Stanley Cup finals,” MacTavish said.
Different is what the NHL wanted when it fought for a new deal with players. Owners demanded a salary cap to ensure that 30 teams could not only survive financially but also have a realistic chance to play for the Stanley Cup.
After a yearlong lockout, two small-market teams are the only ones standing as was the case two years ago when Tampa Bay edged Calgary in Game 7.
“You can’t judge it yet,” Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said. “You have to wait until three years from now. Edmonton and Carolina are in the finals this year, but there is a very fine line from winning and losing this year. There’s really good teams that missed the playoffs.”
The Oilers did their part in taking out the best one that got in: Edmonton squeaked into the playoffs during the final days of the regular season and then eliminated the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in six games.
Small market success stories are nice, but they don’t capture much attention in the United States ó where hockey has fallen even further off the map than before the lockout. Television ratings in the first year of deals with cable partner OLN ó which will show Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven series ó and network carrier NBC have been minuscule.
“There’s teams that are more popular in this league such as Detroit and Colorado and probably the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers,” Rutherford said. “But the fact of the matter is when you get into June, it’s basically those two markets that have the most interest whether it’s small markets or big markets.”
After dispatching Detroit, the Oilers knocked out San Jose and Anaheim to become the first No. 8 seed to reach the finals since the league adopted the current postseason format in 1994.
By beating Anaheim in five games, the Oilers have been waiting around for over a week. The layoff will have reached eight days by the time the first puck drops.
“It’s really starting to hit home now that we’re here,” top defenseman Chris Pronger said. “It’s pretty tough when you’re at a neutral site.
“Sometimes you forget how hard it was to get here. We kept kind of picking up steam as we went along and went series-to-series. We’re just harnessing that and getting that edge back and making sure that we’re focused.”
The Hurricanes weren’t a popular preseason pick. Since their surprising run to the 2002 championship round, Carolina hadn’t even made it back to the playoffs.
In his first full season behind the bench, coach Peter Laviolette get his message across quickly. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 14-3-1 mark and established that they were for real.
They never faltered, and had a shot at the top seed in the East until the final day of the season. Carolina settled for second place, but it never hurt them. The Hurricanes didn’t have to face No. 1 Ottawa, so they held home-ice advantage in every round.
Even though the former Hartford Whalers are in the finals for just the second time in franchise history, they are by no means satisfied.
“I don’t think at one point did anybody in our locker room or myself say we want to be conference champs,” Laviolette said.
Edmonton was the epicenter of hockey in the late 1980s, when Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier owned the NHL and the Oilers won five titles in seven years. They are in the finals now for the first time since the last championship in 1990 ó two seasons after Gretzky was traded away in the sport’s biggest deal.
Ryan Smyth, an Alberta native, joined the team he always wanted to play for in 1995 ó less than a year after Edmonton chose him with the sixth pick in the draft. He has spent his entire career there and saw action in only 44 postseason games until this special run.
“We worked hard to get here and we don’t want to pass up this great opportunity,” the 30-year-old forward said. “It takes a long road to get here it doesn’t come very often. I think we’ve got to take full advantage.”
While the Hurricanes still have eight returning players from the 2002 squad, Michael Peca and Dwayne Roloson are the only Oilers with finals experience.
In fact, these teams aren’t even familiar with each other. With a new schedule created to emphasize more local rivalries, the Oilers and Hurricanes didn’t meet this season ó only the second time that has happened to Stanley Cup finalists since 1927.
“I knew they were going to do some damage in the playoffs,” said Hurricanes forward Mark Recchi, making his first finals appearance since winning the Cup with Pittsburgh in 1991. “Obviously, they were fighting to get in but looking at the left side, the two teams that I wouldn’t want to face is Edmonton and San Jose.”
It’s easy to say that now that Carolina isn’t staring at Detroit, Colorado, Calgary or Nashville ó the West’s top four teams who were all knocked out in the first round.
Even the Oilers don’t think they’ll surprise the Hurricanes.
“I don’t think there is any sneaking up at this point,” said Edmonton center Fernando Pasani, who has an NHL-best nine playoff goals. “We know their tendencies, they know ours.”

Italy bids ciao to Games
Led by snow explorers with a white horse symbolizing victory, the Olympic closing ceremony began in grand style at Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy, Sunday.
Canada had a star turn in the ceremony, as the next Winter Games will be in British Columbia in 2010.
Canadian opera star Ben Heppner sang a stirring rendition of Canada’s national anthem, which started the section of the program that signifies the countdown to Vancouver.
Heppner, an internationally renowned tenor, performed the anthem a cappella joined by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police honour guard. Heppner’s performance led to the passing of the Olympic flag by Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino to Vanvouver mayor Sam Sullivan.
Canadian pop superstar Avril Lavigne rocked Stadio Olimpico in a special eight-minute celebration.
The theme of the closing ceremony is Carnivale Italiano, the Italian masked festival that included performances by some of Italy’s most famous circuses. Popular Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is the headline performer.
Following the Italian national anthem, the flag-bearers of each nation entered the stadium simultaneously.
Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen had the honour of leading Canada into the closing festivities as its flag-bearer. The news came to no one’s surprise as the 26-year-old Winnipeg native won a Canadian record five medals and is the nation’s most decorated Olympian with six career medals.
In his final speech to the Italian people, IOC President Jacques Rogge closed the Torino Olympics by saying “these have been wonderful, fantastic Games.” In grand tradition, he then called on the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Vancouver for the 21st Winter Olympics.
Some 2,000 performers took part in the ceremony. It’s expected this closing ceremony was viewed by a television audience of 500 million people.

Jet-lagged Canadians beat Italy
It seemed all Canada needed to find its game was a scare by a motivated Italian team Wednesday morning at Palasport Olimpico arena.
Jarome Iginla scored two power-play goals to lead Canada to a 7-2 win over Italy as the team opened defence of its Olympic gold medal.
The Canadians looked sluggish and confused early as they missed passes and good scoring opportunities.
The result was only a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period on Iginla’s goal. He took a perfect pass from Todd Bertuzzi and then one-timed a shot from the slot to beat Italian goaltender Jason Muzzatti at 5:33.
Italy scored the tying goal on the power-play just 43 seconds into the second period that shocked Canada and prompted the home crowd into loud chants of “Italia, Italia,” after Giulio Scandella directed a shot to the Canadian net that beat goalie Martin Brodeur.
The mometum didn’t last as Dany Heatley scored a power-play goal to give Canada a 2-1 lead a 1:12 later.
Heatley’s goal seemed to settle the Canadians en route to five unanswered goals. Winger Todd Bertuzzi, who had two assists in the game, said his Canadian team wasn’t unnerved by the Italian goal.
“Not at all, not with the amount of character we have,” Bertuzzi told CBC Sports.
“We know what we have to do, we came out strong in the second period, we kept building and building, our passes got better and we started scoring goals.”
Iginla’s second goal with the man advantage gave Canada all the insurance it would need.
He took a nifty cross-ice pass from Joe Sakic and wristed a shot to the short side past Italian goaltender Jason Muzzatti at 6:04.
While motivated by the crowd, the Italians were undisciplined as Canada’s speed produced three goals on the eight chances on the power play.
Canadian coach Pat Quinn’s decision to put Iginla, Bertuzzi and captain Sakic paid off in this game as the three combined for five points.
“We all play similar roles on the power play,” said Bertuzzi. “Me and Jarome are better suited for around the net and in the corner. It was pretty easy, especially [playing with] Jarome and I tried to get him the puck in the slot and worked off Joe.”
Shane Doan, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Joe Thornton scored Canada’s other goals, while forward John Parco tallied for Italy’s second goal.
Despite Canada’s immense advantage in talent and 50-20 edge in shots, Italy worked hard and Muzzatti made several key saves.
The Italians are making only their third Olympic appearance in hockey. They participated in the 1948 and 1956 Winter Games.
Italy does have some players with limited NHL experience.
Muzzatti, a former Calgary Flames first-round pick, had his only NHL shutout in 1996 when he stopped all 40 shots to lead the Hartford Whalers to a 1-0 win over a young Martin Brodeur and the hometown New Jersey Devils.
“It was a tremdous challenge for us,” said Muzzatti, who gained a lot of respect from the Canadian team. “My boys worked so hard to keep it at [7-2]. There’s a lot of people at home saying prayers in Toronto and I think they helped me keep it to seven.”
The win gives Canada its 91st Olympic victory, the most by any coutnry.
Canada’s next game is Thursday (CBC, 2 p.m. EST) against Germany.

Super Bowl Ratings 2nd Only to ‘M-A-S-H’
NEW YORK – The Pittsburgh Steelers’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl was watched in an average of 45.85 million homes, the second-highest total in television history behind the final episode of ‘M-A-S-H’ in 1983.
Pittsburgh’s 21-10 victory Sunday got a 41.6 preliminary national rating, Nielsen Media Service said Monday, up slightly from the 41.1 rating last year. The share remained the same at 62.
The game was watched by an estimated 141.4 million people in the United States, ABC said, the second-highest total to view a program behind the 144.4 million who tuned to New England’s victory over Carolina in the 2004 Super Bowl. That number estimates the total amount of people to watch the game at any point.
The estimated average of 90.7 million people √≥ or the estimated number of viewers throughout √≥ was the largest Super Bowl audience since the Steelers last played in the title game in 1996, a loss to Dallas that attracted an average of 94.1 million people watching. This year’s audience was 5 percent bigger than the 86.1 million people who watched the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles last year.
In 1983, the final episode of `M-A-S-H’ was watched in an average of 50.15 million homes.
Super Bowl viewers feasted on another halftime show controversy, when the NFL briefly shut off Mick Jagger’s microphone to avoid sexually-suggestive lyrics in two Rolling Stones songs. ABC also scored solid ratings for an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” following the game.
While the Steelers won by 11 points, the game wasn’t really decided until the final five minutes or so, which kept the audience attracted, said Larry Hyams, ABC research executive.
“The Super Bowl obviously is a national event and people are going to tune in regardless of whether the teams have national appeal,” Hyams said. “It’s up to the game to hold the audience.”
The Super Bowl is traditionally the biggest television event of the year. The Academy Awards, jokingly called the Super Bowl for women, often comes in second; last year, 41.5 million people saw the Oscars.
Pittsburgh had the largest Super Bowl rating (percentage of all sets, whether on or off) of any media market, with a 57.1, Nielsen said. Seattle followed directly behind with a 55.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” episode after the game was seen by 38.1 million people, Nielsen said. That’s 15 million more than has ever watched a single episode of the medical soap. It was the most-watched entertainment program of the season so far √≥ even beating “American Idol.”
Since 1991, only two post-Super Bowl programs have drawn a bigger audience: “Survivor” in 2001 and “Friends” in 1996. It was solid exposure for a series that has already been growing in appeal during its second season.
At halftime, Jagger was silenced during portions of the songs “Start Me Up” and “Rough Justice.” An NFL spokesman said the band knew ahead of time that the league √≥ still skittish over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction from two years ago √≥ wouldn’t accept the particular lyrics.
“It wasn’t that big of an issue for us,” said Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president, who said the league wanted to make the halftime show family entertainment.

No Superbowl snub for Stevie Wonder
There’s no controversy, Stevie Wonder said.
The Motown legend appeared at a news conference Thursday featuring the Super Bowl pregame performers.
Before a reporter could ask a single question, Wonder lifted his microphone up and said: “If we didn’t want the Stones, we wouldn’t be here. We want the Stones.”
In the weeks leading up to Sunday’s game at Ford Field, some Detroiters, including Aretha Franklin √≥ who sat beside Wonder Thursday √≥ complained that the city’s Motown legacy was being snubbed with the choice of the Rolling Stones as the halftime entertainment.
Wonder put that to rest, saying he didn’t “have a problem with the Stones.”
“They even recorded two of my songs,” he said with a smile.
The Stones were scheduled to speak to the media at a news conference later Thursday afternoon.
Wonder will play a 12-minute set before the game, and Franklin will team on the national anthem with singer Aaron Neville, keyboardist Dr. John and a 150-member Detroit-based choir.
Wonder, a 21-time Grammy winner who was born in Saginaw, will join with singers John Legend, India.Arie and Joss Stone for the pregame show. They are expected to perform some of Wonder’s hits, as well as other Motown hits. In addition, the Four Tops will also perform prior to kickoff, but they will not be carried live on the ABC broadcast.
Neville said he was thrilled at the opportunity to perform alongside Detroit’s own “Queen of Soul.”
“I’m like a schoolboy about it,” he said. “I have butterflies.”
Neville, a New Orleans native, predicted the anthem would be a “bit of New Orleans and Motown mixed together.
Franklin talked about being asked in the past to perform at the Super Bowl and how excited she was to finally be able to do so in her hometown.
Near the end of the news conference, Franklin was asked whether she was surprised the big game was returning to Michigan, considering the subzero temperatures that plagued the 1982 game played at the Pontiac Silverdome.
Her reply: “I never knew it came the first time.”

NBC unveils Sunday night NFL plans
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Nine months before it takes over the Sunday night NFL game from ESPN, NBC is making more moves to brand that night its own.
NBC Sports said Wednesday that the name of the studio show will be “Football Night in America.”
NBC’s multiyear rights deal begins in early September with a Thursday night extravaganza and game. The details of the first Sunday night game won’t be announced until April, but the four-hour coverage will be anchored by NBC Olympics and sports personality Bob Costas.
He also will host the studio show, which NBC Sports said is the first primetime Sunday broadcast TV show about the NFL. The one-hour show will begin at 7 p.m. ET, around the same time games on CBS and NBC will conclude. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
Several other pieces of the broadcast already are in place, with the naming of John Madden as on-air analyst and Cris Collinsworth as in-studio analyst. A play-by-play announcer hasn’t been picked, though the natural — Al Michaels — agreed during the summer to remain with ABC and move to ESPN when it takes over “Monday Night Football” in the fall.

Stones Roll to Super Bowl
The British have always been better at that whole propriety thing.
Maybe that’s why, for the second post-Janet year in a row, the NFL has chosen across-the-Pond entertainers to headline TV’s most watched event of the year.
The Rolling Stones have been tapped to headline the Super Bowl XL Halftime Show, it was announced Tuesday by the NFL and ABC, which is broadcasting the big game Feb. 5 at Detroit’s Ford Field.
“We are thrilled to perform for millions of fans at one of the most exciting and highly anticipated sporting events of the year,” the band says in a statement.
The sentiment was echoed by the Super Bowl brain trust.
“We are excited to welcome one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands in history to the Super Bowl,” says Steve Bornstein, the NFL’s executive vice president of media, and the man in charge of the event. “As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl this season, it is fitting we work with the Rolling Stones whose music has thrilled audiences around the world for years.”
The performance will cap the Stones’ season-long promotional deal with the NFL and ABC. The band had earlier created multiple segments and intros for the entire 2005-06 season of Monday Night Football.
Sir Mick and his mates will follow in the footsteps of fellow knight Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle’s halftime extravaganza, though watched in part by more than 133 million viewers in the U.S., generated more headlines for its lack of headline- (and breast-) grabbing theatrics than for its entertainment value.
The NFL went with the decidedly uncontroversial McCartney as part of the damage control from the previous year’s highly scrutinized, fine-inducing, wardrobe-malfunctioning Janet Jackson show.
News of their Super Bowl duties marked the second big announcement of the day for the Stones, who earlier revealed plans for a European summer tour, kicking off May 27 in Barcelona.
The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang tour is set to hit more than 20 countries in 30 days, and like its North American counterpart, several hundred audience seats are expected to be built into the stage for each performance.
The seemingly unstoppable group just released Rarities: 1971-2003, a collection of hard-to-find B-sides, live recordings and remixes jointly put out by Virgin Records and Starbucks’ Hear Music. The Stones’ also recently made available a limited edition version of their current album, A Bigger Bang, with expanded audio and video content.
Meanwhile, the band continues on the North American leg of its latest road show, which runs through Dec. 3 in Memphis.

White Sox Win 1st World Series Since 1917
HOUSTON – The Chicago White Sox are World Series champions again at last, and yet another epic streak of futility is not just wiped away but swept away.
After seven scoreless innings, Jermaine Dye singled home the only run in the eighth, and the White Sox beat the Houston Astros 1-0 Wednesday night to win their first title in 88 years.
Just a year ago, the same story line captivated baseball when the long-suffering Boston Red Sox swept St. Louis to capture their first title in 86 years.
Who’s next, the Chicago Cubs, without a championship since 1908?
It was the third title for the White Sox, following wins in 1906 and 1917. And it was the first since “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the “Black Sox” threw the 1919 Series against Cincinnati.
In the Windy City, where the Cubs have long been king, Chicago’s South Side team for once trumped its North Side rival, no small feat for the Sox.
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf once said he’d trade all six of the Chicago Bulls’ NBA titles for a single Series ring, a statement he now regrets. No swap is needed now: He’s got the prize he dreamed of since he was a kid growing up in Brooklyn.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said during the regular season that he might retire if his team went on to win the Series, and now he’ll have to reveal that decision.
Chicago’s sweep, its eighth straight postseason win, made it only the second team to go through the postseason 11-1 since the extra round of playoffs was added in 1995, joining the 1999 Yankees. But the White Sox fans didn’t get to enjoy a single celebration in person: the division title and all three rounds of the postseason were won on the road.
Houston, which finally won a pennant for the first time since it joined the National League in 1962, became the first team swept in its Series debut.
On a night when pitching dominated, winner Freddy Garcia and Houston’s Brandon Backe pitched shutout ball for seven innings, with Backe allowing four hits and Garcia five. They each struck out seven.
Brad Lidge, Houston’s closer, came in to start the eighth, and Chicago sent up Willie Harris to bat for Garcia.
Harris lined a single to left leading off, and that led to Houston’s downfall. Scott Podsednik bunted a difficult high pitch in front of the plate, and the speedy Harris took second on the sacrifice. Carl Everett pinch hit for Tadahito Iguchi and grounded to second, moving Harris to third.
Dye, the Series MVP, swung and missed Lidge’s next pitch, took a ball, then grounded a single up the middle, clapping his hands as he left the plate. Harris trotted home from third, and the White Sox celebrated in the third-base dugout.
But it wasn’t quite over yet.
Cliff Politte relieved to start the bottom half and hit Willy Taveras on the hand with one out. Politte bounced a wild pitch on his first offering to Lance Berkman, moving Taveras to second, then intentionally walked Berkman, nearly throwing away the next pitch.
Morgan Ensberg flied to right-center, dropping him to 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the Series, and Chicago brought in left-hander Neal Cotts to face pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino, who hit a broken-bat grounder to shortstop.
Juan Uribe charged in, backhanded the ball by the grass and threw hard to first, beating Vizcaino by half a step.
After Chicago wasted a leadoff double by A.J. Pierzynski in the ninth, Jason Lane lofted a 3-2 pitch off Bobby Jenks into short center for a single leading off the bottom half.
Brad Ausmus sacrificed and pinch-hitter Chris Burke fouled out to Uribe, who fell into the left-field seats as he leaned in to make the grab. Uribe ran to the mound with the ball and gave Jenks a slap.
Orlando Palmeiro then pinch hit, and grounded to short for the final out and the White Sox poured out of their dugout and jumped around the mound.
Houston was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position on the night and 10-for-48 (.208) in the Series, and Lidge fell to 0-2 in the Series and 0-3 in the postseason.
After Chicago’s 14-inning, 7-5 win that lasted a Series-record 5 hours, 41 minutes and ended at 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, the crowd was more subdued at Minute Maid Park. Most of them had to know that no team has ever overcome a 3-0 Series deficit.
Chicago stranded runners in three of the first four innings, including Podsednik after a two-out triple in the third, but Backe’s changeup got stronger, and he struck out five straight √≥ one short of the Series record √≥ following Dye’s leadoff single in the fourth.
He retired 11 batters in a row before Aaron Rowand’s two-out single in the seventh, and Joe Crede followed with a drive high off the out-of-town scoreboard in the left-field fence, missing a home run by a few feet. Rowand, who had slowed slightly just before getting to second, was held up at third.
After a conference at the mound, and with Everett on deck as a potential pinch-hitter, Houston elected to pitch to Uribe, the No. 8 hitter, instead of intentionally walking him and forcing Chicago to decide whether to bat for Garcia. Backe fanned him on his final pitch and skipped off the mound before high-fiving teammates.
Houston, meanwhile, went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the first six innings. The Astros stranded runners on second base in the first two innings. With two on and one out in the sixth, Ensberg struck out and after Mike Lamb was intentionally walked to load the bases, Garcia struck out Jason Lane.
Notes: The record of six straight strikeouts was set by Cincinnati’s Hod Eller against the White Sox in 1919 and matched by Baltimore’s Moe Drabowsky in 1966 and St. Louis’ Todd Worrell in 1985.

A new script for Fox, ESPN as baseball playoffs begin
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – It’s a postseason with all the elements: big-market teams, some of the game’s greatest stars, a Chicago White Sox team trying to end its own curse and a possibility for a rematch between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
Eight teams — also the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves — will vie in the Divisional Series that begins Tuesday on Fox and ESPN.
“We’ve been saying for years — you can’t script October,” Fox Sports president Ed Goren said. “For two years going into three, baseball has provided sports fans, I think, with memories for a lifetime.”
Fox and ESPN, which have TV rights to the postseason, see plenty of possibilities that could boost ratings. There’s the curse of history that has denied the White Sox a World Series win since 1917 as the South Siders are hoping for some Red Sox magic this year. There’s the redemption sought by the Cardinals, who were swept by the Red Sox in last year’s Series. And there’s the always potent ratings combination of the Red Sox and Yankees, the two teams with arguably the most national appeal.
“You could write so many story lines on October 3,” Goren said. “We’ll just see how they play out.”
“It probably worked out in terms of ratings and interest the way it did,” said Tim Scanlan, senior coordinating producer of ESPN’s Divisional Series baseball coverage. ESPN’s telecasts begin Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT with the Cardinals-Padres; it continues at 4 p.m. with the Red Sox-White Sox.
Fox’s primetime game will be the Yankees-Angels from Anaheim. Fox has the choice to pick its primetime game.
“Both games are outstanding matchups,” Goren said Monday. “We will have the Red Sox and the White Sox on our air moving forward, but it was pretty much a tossup. Market size is a factor, but again, you can make an argument that it’s a wealth of riches, whether it’s Yankees-Anaheim or Red Sox-White Sox.”
Not that there aren’t nightmare ratings scenarios even with this crop. Fox and Major League Baseball can’t be happy with the possibility — however small — of a San Andreas Fault Series: the Angels vs. Padres, a small-market team with the worst record of any team in the playoffs.
After the lowest-rated World Series in history between the Angels and San Francisco Giants in 2002, baseball rebounded to score big ratings in 2003 and ’04, particularly built around the thrilling seven-game Yankees-Red Sox series that sent the Yanks to the World Series in 2003 and the greatest comeback in baseball history in 2004 that sent the Red Sox to their first World Championship since 1918.
The postseason rights deal between MLB and Fox ends soon; Goren said he’s interested in getting the deal done as soon as they can. But he didn’t think that another year of big ratings will have an effect on the negotiations.
“There are a lot of positive things happening with baseball,” Goren said. “We have a 10-year history. I don’t see one year making a difference.”

Crucial Blue Jays-Red Sox Game Washed Out
BOSTON – The scheduled game between Boston and Toronto was postponed by rain Monday night, forcing the Red Sox to play a day-night doubleheader and alter their pitching rotation in the middle of a tight pennant race.
The game will be made up Tuesday at 1:05 p.m., and the teams will play again at 7:05 p.m. as scheduled.
With Curt Schilling’s start washed out Monday, Red Sox manager Terry Francona decided to go with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (15-11) in the opener Tuesday, a move made easier by Wakefield’s ability to come back on short rest. Schilling (7-8) is scheduled to pitch the night game.
“We’re doing it now for obvious reasons, rest,” Francona said. “We’re trying to take whatever happens and make it to our advantage.”
The Red Sox, who entered Monday tied with New York atop the AL East with seven games to go, subsequently changed plans for a potential showdown series at Fenway Park this weekend against the Yankees. Schilling was pushed back from Saturday to Sunday to allow for his normal four days of rest. Wakefield is scheduled for Saturday.
Toronto manager John Gibbons will go with the same order of starters Tuesday that were scheduled for the first two games of the series: David Bush (5-10) in the opener and Gustavo Chacin (12-9) in the nightcap. Bush is 0-2 with an 11.70 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season.
Francona was happy the game was called early and Schilling wasn’t forced to warm up a few times. The tarp was never taken off the field, and the postponement was announced by team officials approximately 35 minutes after the scheduled starting time.
“Oh yeah, that’s huge,” Francona said. “That was something we wanted to stay away from. That gets you in a tough situation √≥ up and down, pitch, don’t pitch. He’ll pitch tomorrow and it’s fairly normal, just like having an extra day.”
Toronto has been one of Boston’s toughest opponents this season, winning nine of 14 meetings. The Red Sox play the Blue Jays on Wednesday and Thursday before the highly anticipated three-game series against the Yankees opens Friday night.
“I’ve never been involved in a pennant race, but I think it increases the pressure on them,” Blue Jays first baseman Shea Hillenbrand said. “It’s tough to win two games in one day. We’re feeling good and we’re ready to take on the Red Sox.”
After Francona met the media and explained the change in plans, most of the players were gone from the clubhouse.
“I don’t think it affects us in any way,” Red Sox reliever Mike Myers said. “We’ve still got the same guys going in Game 1 and Game 2. I know history says it’s harder to win a doubleheader, but with what we’re going for I don’t think it’ll affect anything.”
Tickets from Monday’s rainout will be honored for the day game Tuesday.
Schilling, Boston’s postseason star after pitching Game 6 of the AL championship series and Game 2 of the World Series following surgical procedures that sutured a tendon to skin in his right ankle, could be going with a playoff berth on the line Sunday.
“For Curt to have the opportunity, it’s great to have him out there,” Myers said.