Glen Mason a Terrific Analyst

July 3, 2008

You had to see this coming, the placement of the Iowa-ISU football game on the Big Ten Network.

The BTN announced its early season schedule Tuesday. The Hawkeyes will play Maine and Florida International at 11 a.m. Week 3, the Hawkeyes will host Iowa State at 11 a.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Elizabeth Conlisk, VP of communications for the BTN, wouldn’t reveal where the Iowa-ISU game fit in the TV pecking order for week 3. ABC gets the top pick of Big Ten games. It globbed onto Oregon at Purdue, an attractive interdivisional matchup.

“We’re very happy with all the Iowa games that we’ll have on,” Conlisk said. The BTN has six Iowa games, including 11 a.m. games against Northwestern and at Michigan State and a 6 p.m. kickoff against Minnesota in the UM’s finale in the Metrodome.

ESPN or ESPN2 ended up with Florida Atlantic at Michigan State. Iowa-ISU and the rest (all D-minus scrimmage material) are on BTN.

I’m thinking Iowa-ISU was the second pick. Even with both teams coming off subpar seasons, it’s an interdivisional intrastate game that carries a bit more cache than FAU-Michigan State. (Although, FAU is coming off a Sunbelt Conference title.)

So, just as it sits at the table with Mediacom — Conlisk said the BTN and the ‘com are negotiating — the BTN plops down a gigantic stack of $100s. Mediacom serves about 75 percent of the state and 110 percent of the state is going to want the Iowa-ISU game. The two have been negotiating for more than a year with no success. Two weeks ago, the BTN and Comcast reached an agreement. Both sides made concessions. At the time, a Mediacom representative said it was a sign of hope. Time will tell.

The two sides are talking and the clock is ticking for the upcoming football season.

Meanwhile, the BTN will kick off some football preview programming with a 5 p.m. show Friday highlighting the conference’s newcomers. At 10 a.m. Saturday, a show on the BT’s running backs will debut. (The Iowa segment will probably be pretty short.) The quarterbacks preview will debut July 12 at 10 a.m.

Conlisk also said the BTN plans to broadcast from open practices in August, just as it did with spring games this March.

The BTN is a pretty good product, though I can’t really comment much beyond football. I think Glen Mason is a terrific analyst. Dave Revsine is an excellent studio host. Gerry DiNardo has been there and done that in coaching, so I respect his opinion. I’ll be interested in seeing what kind of tweaking it does in it second year.

Maybe you guys will get to form your own opinion this year.

Katie Smith Named WNBA Player of the Week

June 9, 2008

Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock and Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury were named the WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, June 2 through Sunday, June 8.

Katie Smith collects her fourth-career Player of the Week award after a week in which she reached the 30-point plateau twice and averaged 27.0 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game and 2.0 assists per game, while shooting 45.8 percent (27-59) from the field and 40.0 percent (12-30) from behind the arc. Powered by Smith’s consecutive 30-point outbursts, the Shock went 2-1 on the week.

Smith’s 33 points in the 77-67 Detroit win over Seattle on June 4 marked her best scoring output as a member of the Shock, tied the team high for 2008 (Deanna Nolan, May 23 at Atlanta) and ranked fifth in franchise history for a single game. With 2:10 remaining in the matchup, Seattle pulled within three points, until Smith countered with a 3-pointer to lengthen the lead and seal the victory.

On June 6 at Sacramento, the two-time Olympic gold medalist drained seven three pointers, one short of tying the WNBA single-game record (8, Taurasi, Aug. 10, 2006). Her seven threes on twelve attempts outscored the entire Monarchs team from long distance (2-13). Early in the contest, she tied the franchise record for points in a quarter (15, first quarter).

A six-time All-Star and two-time member of the All-WNBA First Team, Smith is averaging 16.8 points per game this season to go along with her 3.0 assists per game.

Dallas Clark raises $18k for disaster relief

June 30, 2008

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Indianapolis Colt tight end Dallas Clark has turned his autograph into money for disaster relief in Iowa.

The former University of Iowa football standout signed autographs Sunday at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, asking people to donate $20 to help Iowans affected by flooding and tornadoes.

After signing autographs for more than four hours, Clark, a Livermore, Iowa native, raised more than $18,000.

Clark, who still lives in Livermore part of the year, says he wanted to do something to help Iowans affected by the floods and tornadoes.