Leftover Monday and Tuesday Press Releases

Catching up with the press releases from the last two days. Let's get cracking and then I'll do the links.

First, ESPN says the viewership for the Little League World Series was up from last year.

Little League World Series Viewership Up Sharply Across ESPN Networks

ESPN’s opening weekend coverage of the Little League World Series averaged 1,056,000 viewers for eight telecasts, a 60 percent increase over last year’s opening weekend average of 660,000 viewers for six telecasts. The corresponding household impressions are up 52 percent (837,000 in 2009 vs. 549,000 last year) and the rating is up 50 percent (0.9 this year vs. 0.6 in 2008).

ESPN2’s four telecasts are averaging a 1,219,000 viewers, up 137 percent over the 514,000 viewers last year. ESPN2’s 0.9 rating are an increase of 125 percent (vs. 0.4 rating in 2008) and household impressions are up 122 percent (898,000 vs. 405,000).

Collectively, ESPN and ESPN2’s Little League World Series coverage generated five telecasts posting a 1.0 rating or higher over the opening weekend. ESPN360.com’s usage was an increase of 545 percent in total hours during the Little League World Series’ opening weekend when compared to the same weekend in 2008.

ABC’s Saturday broadcast (Warner Robins, Ga. vs. Staten Island, N.Y.) posted a 1.3 overnight rating, up 160 percent over the comparable 0.5 overnight rating a year ago. Sunday’s Little League World Series broadcast on ABC (Russellville, Ky. vs. San Antonio) generated a 0.9 overnight rating, an increase of 29 percent over last year’s 0.7 overnight rating.

ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage from Williamsport, Pa., is coming off momentum built during the Regional Finals, which demonstrated significant audience growth including:

ESPN

• Five telecasts up 19 percent in households (708,000 vs. 596,000 for five telecasts in 2008);
• a 0.7 average rating, an increase of 17 percent over last year’s 0.6 rating;
• up 14 percent in viewership (889,000 viewers vs. 779,000).

ESPN2

• three telecasts up 55 percent among households (721,000 vs. 465,000 for three telecasts in 2008);
• an increase of 53 percent among viewers (972,000 vs. 635,000);
• up 40 percent in rating (0.7 vs. 0.5 last year).

Little League World Series action will continue throughout the week – all 32 games available in HD – including the semifinals and final this weekend (Aug. 29-30) on ABC.

Here's what ESPN will cover in motorsports this week.

Motorsports This Week on ESPN

NASCAR Goes North of the Border for Montreal Event

The only international event on NASCAR’s calendar happens this weekend as ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a live, flag-to-flag telecast of the road course race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. NASCAR Countdown begins ESPN2’s coverage on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 2 p.m. ET, and the race’s green flag is at 2:48 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

Marty Reid will be lap-by-lap announcer with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Shannon Spake.

ESPN2 airs same-day coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying from Montreal on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 9 p.m.

NASCAR Now Airs Tuesday-Friday This Week

NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program, will air Tuesday through Friday of this week with 30-minute episodes hosted by Mike Massaro. The program airs at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and at 6:30 p.m. Friday following live LPGA golf coverage on ESPN2.

The weekly Monday roundtable edition of the program will not air on Monday, Aug. 31, due to ESPN2’s live coverage of U.S. Open tennis. The roundtable will return the following Monday with discussion of the Labor Day weekend NASCAR events at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Massaro, Allen Bestwick and Nicole Manske and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Spake and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

NHRA Sportsman Action Airs Sunday

Although the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series has the weekend off, drag racing fans can watch action from the NHRA Sportsman Series on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. The program includes highlights from the recent event in Reading, Pa.

ESPN2 will air more than 10 hours of coverage of drag racing’s biggest event, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, over Labor Day weekend.

On Thursday, ESPNU debuts SEC Weekly, the first program that will air under ESPN's new contract with the Southeastern Conference.

SEC Weekly Debuts on ESPNU on Thursday, Aug. 27

On Thursday, Aug. 27, ESPNU will debut its new studio show SEC Weekly. The one-hour program will air Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. throughout the academic year and will cover SEC sports, including sport-by-sport previews, reviews, specials and features on student-athletes. The show will be hosted by Cara Capuano, who will anchor, and new analyst Matt Stinchcomb, a former University of Georgia All-America and NFL player.

The first edition of SEC Weekly will preview the SEC Eastern Division and showcase the defending national champion Florida Gators and their senior quarterback Tim Tebow. The inaugural show will also take a look at first-year coach Lane Kiffin and his Tennessee Volunteers, and the Georgia Bulldogs’ fifth-year senior quarterback Joe Cox. The show will also feature a profile on Georgia football legend Herschel Walker and women’s soccer player Carrie Patterson.

SEC Weekly is a product of ESPN’s landmark 15-year agreement with the Southeastern Conference. ESPNU will complement the show with SEC telecasts including football, basketball, Olympic sports and select conference championships.

This Saturday, HBO debuts another installment in its critically acclaimed 24/7 series involving Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez.

HBO SPORTS’ ALL-ACCESS SERIES MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 DEBUTS AUG. 29, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

HBO Sports’ Emmy^®-winning “24/7” reality franchise returns with MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7, a four-episode, all-access series debuting SATURDAY, AUG. 29 (10:15-10:45 p.m. ET/PT). Episodes two and three debut on subsequent Saturdays – SEPT. 5 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) and 12 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) – while the finale debuts FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 (9:30-10:00 p.m.), just one night before the Sept. 19 pay-per-view showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez. All four episodes will have multiple replay dates on HBO, and the series will also be available on HBO On Demand.

Episode #1

Debut: SATURDAY, AUG. 29 (10:15-10:45 p.m. ET/PT)

Undefeated Floyd Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) blazes through training camp in Las Vegas after nearly two years away from the ring, while Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) conducts his regimented training in the familiar confines of Mexico City, Mexico.

On Saturday, Sept. 19 at 9:00 p.m. (ET)/6:00 p.m. (PT), HBO Pay-Per-View presents “Mayweather vs. Marquez,” live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The “24/7” franchise earned three Sports Emmys^® in 2008 and four in 2009, one for “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7” and three for “Calzaghe/Jones 24/7.” MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 is the sixth installment of the franchise.

The executive producers of MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; producers, Abtin Motia and Thomas Odelfelt; coordinating producer, Dave Harmon; writer, Aaron Cohen. Liev Schreiber narrates.

The Big Ten Network has unveiled its women's college basketball schedule.

Big Ten Network to Televise 30 Conference Women’s Basketball Games This Season

Schedule also includes nine Big Ten Tournament games

CHICAGO – The Big Ten Network will televise 30 conference women’s basketball games this season, and all of these contests will be available in high definition.

The conference schedule opens in grand fashion on Sunday, Dec. 6, with a quadruple-header of games, beginning with Indiana at Michigan State at noon ET, followed by Wisconsin at Ohio State, Penn State at Minnesota and Michigan at Iowa.

During the conference season, the network will typically air games on Thursdays and doubleheaders on Sundays.

“The Big Ten Network will have significantly more women’s basketball than any other network, on all of our platforms,” said Big Ten Network Mark Silverman. “If you’re a fan of women’s basketball, between our games and our studio analysis, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for on the Big Ten Network.”

For the third straight year, the Big Ten Network will televise nine Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament games, including the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. Coverage begins with the first game of the tournament at noon ET on Thursday, March 4, from Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

In 2009-10, the network also will stream approximately 100 additional conference and non-conference games. That schedule will be available on www.BigTenNetwork.com prior to the season.

The Big Ten Women’s Show also returns with host Lisa Cornwell, airing at 10 PM ET on Monday nights. The program offers an unprecedented level of in-depth analysis and feature stories on Big Ten women’s athletics.

2009-2010 BIG TEN NETWORK

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

All times Eastern

Sunday, December 6 12:00pm Indiana at Michigan State

2:00pm Wisconsin at Ohio State

4:00pm Penn State at Minnesota

6:00pm Michigan at Iowa

Monday, December 28 6:30pm Minnesota at Purdue

Thursday, December 31 TBD Indiana at Purdue

TBD Michigan at Michigan State

Sunday, January 3 12:00pm Michigan State at Indiana

Thursday, January 7 7:30pm Purdue at Wisconsin

Sunday, January 10 12:00pm Indiana at Penn State

4:30pm Minnesota at Illinois

Thursday, January 14 7:30pm Purdue at Minnesota

Sunday, January 17 12:00pm Iowa at Purdue

2/4:30pm Indiana at Ohio State

Thursday, January 21 7:30pm Purdue at Michigan State

Sunday, January 24 12:00pm Indiana at Michigan

Thursday, January 28 7:30pm Minnesota at Ohio State

Sunday, January 31 12:00pm Ohio State at Indiana

5:00pm Northwestern at Wisconsin

Thursday, February 4 7:30pm Iowa at Ohio State

Sunday, February 7 4:30pm Michigan State at Iowa

Thursday, February 11 7:30pm Purdue at Ohio State

Sunday, February 14 12:00pm Northwestern at Michigan State

2:30pm Ohio State at Minnesota

Thursday, February 18 7:30pm Minnesota at Iowa

Sunday, February 21 12:00pm Minnesota at Indiana

5:00pm Purdue at Illinois

Thursday, February 25 6:30pm Wildcard

Sunday, February 28 2:00pm Wildcard

4:00pm Wildcard

2010 BIG TEN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (Indianapolis, Ind.)

Thursday, March 4 Game 1 12:00pm TBD

Thursday, March 4 Game 2 2:30pm TBD

Thursday, March 4 Game 3 5:00pm TBD

Friday, March 5 Game 4 11:30am TBD

Friday, March 5 Game 5 2:00pm TBD

Friday, March 5 Game 6 6:00pm TBD

Friday, March 5 Game 7 8:30pm TBD

Saturday, March 6 Game 8 5:00pm TBD

Saturday, March 6 Game 9 7:30pm TBD

And LeBron James and the notorious Buzz Bissinger have collaborated on a new book.

THEY WERE TEAMMATES…BROTHERS…CHAMPIONS.

THEY WERE INVINCIBLE.

SHOOTING STARS

Bestselling Author Buzz Bissinger and NBA Superstar LeBron James Team to Tell a Story of Friendship, Loyalty, Virtuosity and the “Fab Five”

Once again, Buzz Bissinger brings readers a fascinating and inspiring story of realizing a dream, years in the making. The bestselling author of Friday Night Lights has teamed with the Cleveland Cavalier superstar to chronicle LeBron’s youth in Akron, Ohio in SHOOTING STARS (The Penguin Press, September 8, 2009).

While the name “Shooting Stars” refers to LeBron’s youth basketball team, the book is the account of five talented young men—Romeo Travis, Willie McGee, Sian Cotton, “Little Dru” Joyce and LeBron James—who were all searching for something as children in Akron. Whether it was acceptance, respect, companionship, loyalty, or an attempt to put Akron on the map, these young men found it on the basketball court and with each other. Theirs is a story of commitment, love, fun and friendship that lead to three state high school titles and a national championship. These young men played for the pure love of the game and the joy of their camaraderie.

LeBron shares the worries and dreams that each boy brought to the group, and revisits a time period when he strode onto the national stage with the help of four brothers supporting him every step of the way. Amid the distractions (ESPN cameras at practice, LeBron on the cover of Sports Illustrated), pressure (Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson in the stands at their games, talk of LeBron being a #1-caliber pick as a high school junior) and media attention (invitations for interviews from David Letterman, Regis and Kelly and Oprah Winfrey), the bond between these five friends grew stronger. Nobody could beat them. They had heart. They had character. They were invincible.

“Shooting Stars is the compelling and often poignant story of

a remarkable group of young men….”—Bob Costas

Bissinger captures their story as very few writers could. Like great fiction, a star is born among a group of friends and everything changes. The world intrudes. And as they all try to hang on to the bond they all share, they know that when that clock hits zero, it will never be the same. Bissinger elicits true emotion from LeBron as he extols time and time again on “the beauty of dreaming” on the precipice of huge contracts and media mayhem.

In SHOOTING STARS, James and Bissinger also cover,

* LeBron’s temporary foster family—the Walkers—who taught him some important lessons.

* Stories from LeBron’s AAU youth team: “The Shooting Stars”.

* How the “Shooting Stars” and their families were criticized by Akron’s black community when they decided to attend a majority white Catholic school instead of the majority black high school they would have attended.

* Little Dru Joyce’s virtuoso performance against Greeneview in the finals of their undefeated freshman season. He went 7 for 7 from three-point range and scored 21 points in just 10 minutes on the court.

* Controversial coach Keith Dambrot, the Fab Five’s first coach at St. Vincent’s who left after their sophomore year and second consecutive state title.

* The epic and well-publicized match their senior year with arch-nemesis and perennial basketball powerhouse Oak Hill.

* How the attention—at least the positive attention—was intoxicating for the teenage LeBron.

* The circumstances surrounding the allegations that LeBron was exploited by his school, coaches, merchandisers and the media while he was still in high school.

* The Phil Knight vs. Sonny Vaccaro saga in signing the hoop phenom to a sneaker contract.

* A play-by-play of their heartbreaking loss to Catholic school Roger Bacon in the state finals their junior year.

* LeBron’s dealings with Ohio High School Athletic Association Commissioner Clair Muscaro: “a hard lesson on the ways of the adult world.”

* The Hummer debacle as well as the incident with the throwback jerseys.

Bissinger and James work in perfect harmony in SHOOTING STARS. The story is an exceptional one and demanded that it be told by an exceptional storyteller. It is. SHOOTING STARS provides a narrative that should be universally appreciated whether readers follow LeBron James or the NBA or neither.

Friendship…loyalty…virtuosity...“SHOOTING STARS”.

“We remain a family, wherever our paths take us.

We remain the Fab Five.”—LeBron James

“We all we got.”—Sian Cotton

“In the Olympics, LeBron was a star, a leader, and the ultimate teammate.

He helped our team become a family. Reading Shooting Stars taught me how he became that kind of a teammate…. What an amazing story.”—Mike Krzyzewski

About the Authors

LeBron James plays for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003-2004 and NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008-2009.

Buzz Bissinger is the author of A Prayer for the City, the New York Times bestseller Three Nights in August, and Friday Night Lights, which has sold almost 2 million copies to date and spawned a film and a TV series. He is a contributing writer for Vanity Fair.

One more press release post and I'll be all caught up.