By JOHN C. COTEY, Times Staff Writer
Published July 22, 2005
CHECK IT OUT
TOUR DE FRANCE, OLN, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: Stage 20 will air live 8:30-11:30 a.m., and that should be Ivan Basso's last chance to catch Lance Armstrong. Typically, the last day is mere formality, but starting at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, you can watch the world's greatest cyclist win the world's greatest bike race for the last time.
NHL TOTAL ACCESS ... LORD STANLEY'S SUMMER, SUN SPORTS, MONDAY AT 8 p.m.: Hockey's back. Are you pumped up yet? No? Me, neither. But this will help. Produced by the NHL in association with the Lightning, this one-hour special follows Dave Andreychuk, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Jay Feaster and Craig Ramsey as they enjoy their day with the Stanley Cup.
NIGHTLINE, CH. 28, WEDNESDAY, 11:35 p.m.: The news show will bring viewers "Unfinished Business: An Ironwoman's Story", the story of 30-year-old Sarah Reinertsen and her quest to complete the Hawaii Ironman (a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run). After failing last year, Reinertsen is training for the October race with hopes of becoming the first amputee woman to finish it. Reinertsen was born with a tissue deficiency that led to amputation of her left leg at age 7.
AVP BEACH VOLLEYBALL, CH. 8, SAT.-SUN at 4:30 p.m.: Big news: The women now get to play on Sunday instead of Saturday. The switch - traditionally the men go last - was announced this week as AVP commissioner Leonard Armoto said, "We wanted to capitalize on the recent spike in popularity of the women's game and the star power of Misty May and Kerri Walsh." So, is "star power" what the kids are calling bikini uniforms?
REAL SPORTS, HBO, TUESDAY, 10 p.m.: The 100th episode of what is arguably television's best sports magazine show will feature legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully; the agent who threatens to wreck football, Drew Rosenhaus; the sad tale of Evander Holyfield's continuing pursuit of boxing (or dancing, take your pick); and cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who is under two-year suspension for suspected cheating.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
ESPN is close to acquiring the rights for a second season of The Contender, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Last season, The Contender aired on NBC and did well, but was not renewed. ESPN Original Entertainment Executive Producer Will Staeger said, "It's very possible that (The Contender) could be paired with a boxing dramatic series." That series is being written by John Eisendrath, who created and produced the ill-fated Playmakers.
Ahmed "Hollywood" Kaddour will become the first contestant from The Contender to return to boxing when he fights on Showtime at 11 tonight.
Greg Norman will be compete in his first Champions Tour event when ABC Sports broadcasts the Senior British Open on Saturday from 2:30-4 p.m. and Sunday from 2-3:30 p.m.
RATINGS AND STUFF
The 2005 World Series of Poker debuted Tuesday on ESPN to solid ratings in the Tampa Bay market, posting a 1.65 rating, or 27,000 households. But viewers didn't stick around; ESPN aired a rerun episode of its poker drama series Tilt afterwards, and the ratings fell off the chart, posting an 0.2, meaning about 24,000 households changed channels.
Final-round coverage of the British Open on Sunday posted a national rating of 4.6, the highest final-round rating at the British Open since 2000 and - duh! - the last time Tiger Woods won there. Locally, the final round had a 4.4 rating.
NASCAR's race from New Hampshire Sunday was decisively the weekend winner. Despite being on TNT, the race posted a 6.4, meaning 33,000 more households tuned in for the race than for anything else in the sports TV world.
HBO Sports says that Saturday's Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor middleweight championship produced 350,000 pay-per-view buys, generating $17.5-million in revenue.
THE LAST WORD
Keyshawn Johnson (when asked on the Best Damn Sports Show Period if he is better than Terrell Owens): "Terrell Owens obviously has a lot of good numbers, but I've won the Super Bowl." Translation: No, but my team was better than his.
