| TV-RADIO NOTEBOOK: NFL is very fortunate how schedule plays out
In the spirit of this holiday season, let us resolve to take NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at his word regarding the eight-game NFL Network schedule that began Thursday night with the Colts-Falcons. That means we will stipulate to Goodell's assurances that the NFL did not rig the schedule to ensure the league-owned network would have attractive matchups and, more importantly, games it could employ to apply maximum pressure on cable carriers that don't carry the service, such as Time Warner, Charter and Cablevision. And so, given that assumption, we are left to conclude that the NFL this season is not conniving, merely fortunate. Next Thursday, NFL Network will air Packers-Cowboys, a potential preview of the NFC title game. The game will air on over-the-air TV in the teams' home cities but not in some of their most important secondary markets � among them Waco, Austin and San Antonio, all serviced by Time Warner Cable, and Madison, Wis., a Charter Cable market.
Fans are losers in NFL Network impasse
The NFL knew it had something special when its scheduling formula spit out a Packers-Cowboys matchup this season. While the league could never have anticipated they would rank as the top teams in the NFC, it did know the value of tradition and could document each team's enormous drawing power on national television. So when the schedule maker divvied up 2007 games among the league's television partners, it decided the Packers-Cowboys would not go to Fox, the network of the NFC, or the prime-time packages on NBC or ESPN, a trio which anted up $2.41 billion in rights fees this season. Instead, the NFL delivered the game to its own fledgling NFL Network, which will deliver the game to only one-third of the country. It's part of the league's plan to help transform an ugly duckling into a cash cow.
Charges pondered in children's brawl on ice
TORONTO -- A shocking on-ice brawl involving eight-year-old hockey players over the weekend had officials denouncing their coaches yesterday and a passionate defender of children's sport comparing the intense spirit of competition that apparently fuelled the fight as borderline "child abuse." NHL hockey dad Emile Therien said he can hardly believe that young children would even be involved in an out-of-town tournament such as the one in Guelph on the weekend, where the unsavoury scrap took place. "It's unbelievable that you let eight-year-old kids play at such a high competitive pressure level," said Therien, former president of the Canada Safety Council, who called for an end to competitive leagues for children under the age of 12. "It smacks of everything that's wrong with hockey in this country, minor hockey." The fight erupted Friday between members of the Duffield Devils and Niagara Falls Thunder during a novice AAA tournament.
Flyers hit quarter in stride
The Flyers reach the quarter mark of the season with today's Black Friday matinee against the Washington Capitals. So, where is John Stevens' team right now? It already has seven more wins than it had last season at this point. This is Game 2 of a five-game segment that closes out November. "We're pretty happy where we are right now," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "Our team can get better; we can play better. I expected us to win games, and we have. But it's time to get it going." The feeling on the team and staff is that the Flyers' true face still hasn't appeared. Some players, such as Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall, need to boost their games. Carter, in particular, began the season with four goals in his first seven games but has just one goal in his last 11. "I was happy with the start; I got some bounces and things going my way," Carter said.
Canadian Olympic athletes to be paid for medal wins
Canadian athletes that reach the podium at any future Olympic Games will be financially compensated up to $20,000 per medal, officials said Monday. The new Athlete Excellence Fund was announced in Ottawa by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). Canadian athletes will receive $20,000 per gold medal won at any Olympic Games, said the COC. Silver winners will be compensated $15,000 per medal and bronze winners will earn $10,000. "We've had a program of subsidizing athletes in the past but we've never recognized the medal wins with specific dollars," COC president Michael Chambers told CTV Newsnet on Monday. He said countries like the U.S., Australia, England, France and Spain already give their athletes money if they win at the Olympics.
WORKING O.T.: Cavs without the Sideshow; Van Gundy tells Murray to keep his mouth shut
According to 76% of respondents to a poll at pistons.com, the Cleveland Cavaliers are De-troit Bask-et-ball's biggest rival, easily outpacing the Bulls and Heat. You wouldn't know it by the fact that several hundred tickets remain for tonight's rivalry game at the Palace (available through Ticketmaster, pistons.com or by calling 248-377-0100). But it's evident there are a fair number of Pistons fans still smarting from last season's ouster in the Eastern Conference finals. .
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