NFL Network, still available only to DirecTV subscribers, will air an eight-part series, How They Were Built, explaining how each team constructed its current roster, starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The show reviews team drafts, trades, free-agent acquisitions and coaching changes over the past decade. Each one-hour episode focuses on a division and looks at how each team bettered itself or shot itself in the foot with personnel moves.
Former Buc general manager Rich McKay is one of the analysts.
The look at the NFL South, featuring the Bucs, is scheduled for April 9.
Packers leading off MNF, technically
The NFL opens again on a Thursday, kicking off its 35th anniversary with a rematch of the AFC Championship Game between Indianapolis and Super Bowl champion New England Sept. 9 on ABC.
But the actual Monday night opener on Sept. 13 pits Super Bowl runnerup Carolina against Green Bay. The rest of the schedule will be released later.
Look alikes?
ESPN announced this week that J.K. Simmons and Elizabeth Mitchell have been cast as Dale Earnhardt's father and wife for the made-for-television movie 3, based on the life and career of the late NASCAR star.
Simmons is best known for playing Aryan leader Vern Schillinger on the HBO series Oz and newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson in Spiderman, as well as playing smaller roles in dozens of television shows and movies.
Mitchell's breakthrough performance came opposite Angelina Jolie in the HBO movie Gia. She also played the recurring role of Dr. Lagaspi on ER.
The two-hour movie premieres at 9 p.m. Dec. 11 on ESPN. Shooting begins April 14 in Charlotte and Atlanta.
Spring into football
Starting Monday, ESPN's SportsCenter presents a five-part series (through Friday) profiling spring football at five schools: co-national champions LSU and USC, Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia.
The series is reported by College GameDay's Kirk Herbstreit and provides a look at the teams' spring practices and interviews with the coaches.
The series airs on all editions of SportsCenter. The first profile on LSU debuts at 6 p.m. Monday.
Blast from the past
Erin Andrews, former Lightning and Storm sideline reporter for Sunshine Network who left to be the studio host for Atlanta Braves telecasts on TBS, has been replaced by Marc Fein.
Andrews, a Bloomingdale High and Florida graduate, did not have her contract renewed by TBS for a third season. According to TBS, it wanted someone with a stronger baseball background and more hosting experience.
Peddle power
Outdoor Life Network had such success with its Tour de France coverage last year that it debuted a half-hour weekly program, Road to the Tour, at 9 p.m. Thursdays. The show features reports from correspondents within the camps of top Tour contenders Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, Levi Leipheimer, Roberto Heras and Joseba Beloki as they prepare for this year's race.
