Since we don't have the old afternoon saloon's Critic at XXL, A couple of things I heard today from the 2 races and John Saunders from Sports Reporters on ESPN this morning.

First John Saunders, He says he knows hockey and the first thing I hear when he talks about the Blackhawks, nobody thought they would make it to the Finals going into the season, what, when they were talking about Game 7 last year between the Penguins and Red Wings, I heard Jay Mariotti say, well next year will be the Blackhawks. If you watched last year, you would know they were a favorite to make the finals.

Then late in the show, Saunders said that Danica Patrick had an unsuccessful year in Nascar, she only ran I think 3 races, she didn't leave IRL, what's he thinking.

For people that watched the Indy 500, Marty Reid said this twice, reading a promo for ESPN baseball, he said watch Rangers-Twins tongiht and the Phillies-Braves on Tuesday, so you can watch a game tonight and tommorow. There is no Monday, probably the guy who wrote the promo, so you can do it the first time, but the second you have time to change.

To the next race and for the people that watched the Coke 600, Darrel Waltrip said some crazy things. When he is talking about Nascar, he goes the ratings are up, I know there is some people that don't care about ratings, but I don't know what Waltrip is seeing, but everything I read says that 1 race viewership was up over a year ago and this will probably be FOX's worst ratings for Nascar. Then, during the race, Johnson spins a little and puts Hamlin in the grass and at caution, Waltrip says that Johnson may be looking for a little payback, Hamlin did nothing to Johnson and Waltrip says that. We watched when it happened, not the best video shot, but he sees it and he says it's Hamlin fault, what was he watching.

A little long, but some things I heard people say today.

For the record, John Saunders happens to be from Canada, so you'd think the ESPN veteran would know something about hockey, even if he's not necessarily covering that sport these days for the "Worldwide Leader in Sports". At the same time, where the hell has he been? ESPN has literally shoved Danica Patrick down America's throat since she joined NASCAR, albeit on a very limited basis in the Nationwide Series.

ESPN's sister network did it again yesterday during ABC Sports' prerace coverage of the Indianapolis 500! Besides continuing to tease viewers with those idiotic GoDaddy.com commercials, Danica was interviewed by "Good Morning America" host and former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Robin Roberts! Cross promotion? Are you kidding me? Danica should be concentrating all her damn time WINNING RACES! She's the most overhyped athlete I've seen in years watching sports and I can't say I'm surprised she's a failure!

I think the reason we get Danica Patrick pushed on us is sadly she is probably the IRL's biggest star, in her first Indy 500, she led some laps and the race got a high rating. I was listening to some guys on the radio from Indy, saying that really the 2 big stars where Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan. If one of those 2 win Indy, that's a big story, not Helio if he won having 4 wins and being the 4th person to do it.

Shark, you are 100% right that she should focus on winning, but what I have heard that from people that follow this, that her team Andretti-Green racing has some issues and not the best right now, she maybe thinking, I can put a good run at Indy, make the money now with endorsements, and worry about racing later.

What annoys me about the national media types, and I don't think John Saunders is alone in this, is that ESPN continues to shove Danica Patrick, LeBron James, Brett Favre, the Red Sox/Yankees "rivalry" and others that we in Chicago don't give a damn about!

Well Shark for you, the Danica Patrick love may be ending for some people.

For the second straight year, overnight ratings for the Indianapolis 500 dropped to record low levels.

The 2010 Indianapolis 500, won by Dario Franchitti, drew a 4.0 overnight rating on ABC Sunday afternoon -- down 5% from last year (4.2), down 22% from 2008 (5.1) and down 17% from 2007 (4..

The 4.0 overnight is the lowest for the Indianapolis 500 since the race began airing live in 1986.

Sunday's race will likely finish as the lowest rated Indianapolis 500 ever. Final ratings for the race typically drop from the overnight, meaning the race will more than likely finish below 4.0 -- the current record low, set by last year's race.

Dayton, OH, was the highest rated of the markets that aired the race live, with a 9.3. Louisville (8.4), Ft. Myers/Naples (8.4) and Orlando (7.2) followed.

The race drew a 12.3 in Indianapolis, where it aired on tape-delay.


Now one of those guys that you say Chicagoans don't give a damn about could be a Bull next year, but yes you are right on everything you put. Although, I will add that ESPN does have a stake in all those things, because they televise the NBA, NFL, MLB, and the Indy 500, along with NASCAR and Nationwide series.

Reents, if Blackhawks' Chairman Rocky Wirtz has his way, he'll twist NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's arm to get the NHL off of VERSUS and back on ESPN & ESPN2. VERSUS has one year left on their U.S. deal as the NHL's national cable partner.

do the quotes insinuate there is no actual rivalry between those teams?

Ask longtime ESPN "Sports Reporter" and Boston Globe sportswriter/columnist Bob Ryan. For the longest time, Bob didn't think there was a "rivalry" between the Red Sox & Yankees. He mentioned them in the same breath as the "hammer and nail"...

Shark, it wouldn't suprise me if the NHL is off versus, the NHL is on a little run here with getting people to watch, the numbers aren't beating the NBA numbers, but the NHL viewership is up, some of the games, versus has had the most viewers ever watch the games, so ESPN may jump on this and make a bid for them, the only question from ESPN's side, they are going to make a run at the Olympics, would they still go after the NHL?

Reents, if ESPN makes another run at the NHL when their VERSUS deal expires after next season, I've got to think that they'll get out of the NASCAR business when their deal expires.

Ratings for NASCAR broadcasts have been down, regardless of the network, and I've got to think ESPN/ABC in particular might want to bail out of their contract in the next year or two. I've got to think FOX Sports & Turner/TNT Sports will be the only 2 outlets carrying NASCAR in their next TV deal.

Reents, if ESPN makes another run at the NHL when their VERSUS deal expires after next season, I've got to think that they'll get out of the NASCAR business when their deal expires.

Ratings for NASCAR broadcasts have been down, regardless of the network, and I've got to think ESPN/ABC in particular might want to bail out of their contract in the next year or two. I've got to think FOX Sports & Turner/TNT Sports will be the only 2 outlets carrying NASCAR in their next TV deal.[/quote]

Shark, I am wondering how long Fox stays with Nascar, because like you put the ratings are not good, USA today is reporting the Coke race this past weekend tied the INDY 500 in ratings, and add to that the baseball ratings have not been that good for Fox lately, the only decent weekend they had was when they had the games at night.

I wonder if in a couple of years, Fox will have to make a choice between MLB and Nascar, if the ratings don't pick up and I hate to say it I don't see much happening to change, becaue you have to think if Brees is healthy, the Saints and Steelers will beat the World Series game when they go against each other this season, I think the Cubs is the only team their that could save baseball, but they way there going, no.

Shark, you have probably heard of Colin Cowherd, and he was saying when it was Phillies-Rays in the series that he hoped it was a long one, because I guess the ratings were bad and Fox was losing money and when stuff like that happens, your World Series goes to TBS.

I've heard of Colin Cowherd, reents, and I've seen the video version of his ESPN Radio show "The Herd" from time to time on ESPNU, DIRECTV 614, now available in HD. He's also on "SportsNation" weekdays at 3p on ESPN2HD along with Michelle Beadle. Michelle's the lovechild of WWE diva Trish Stratus & actress Cameron Diaz.

Anyway, you mentioned FOX Sports and losing money. Those seem kinda foreign to News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch. As a result of corporate cutbacks, you may have noticed that FOX cut back on its pregame show during its Saturday afternoon broadcasts. Jeanne Zalasko & Kevin Kennedy were let go from its MLB/FOX pregame show 2 years ago. FOX also no longer broadcasts the pre from their Hollywood studios but from the ballpark with Chris Rose covering the tabs in a much shorter pregame.

Good plug for Cowherd, don't see the Trish Stratus in Beadle, but hey Beadle is a hottie. I don't watch much of the Saturday baseball games, but did anybody notice they don't do a pregame. I don't want to see Chris Rose on t.v. at all.

It's kinda a weird on the baseball, ESPN televises more game, FOX and TBS have 1 day a week, and they get all the playoff games, almost like college basketball.

For the kind of $$$$ FOX Sports spends on MLB, Chris Rose doing 5 or 10 minutes of "pregame" Saturday afternoons is a waste of time. Chris is not much better as a PBP voice either. By the way, Brian Anderson, not the ex-White Sox outfielder, but the PBP of the Milwaukee Brewers is now Turner/TBS Sports' #1 MLB voice Sunday afternoons? Are you kidding me?

I may have to watch a TBS, who is Brian Anderson, of course where I am at, since it has been Cubs, White Sox, and Reds, those games are blacked out. I had the Reds-Cardinals game blacked out tonight.

Well since we were talking about Nascar and MLB on Fox,

Regional MLB action featuring Cardinals/Cubs drew a 1.9 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, even with last year's comparable window. Of the eight MLB telecasts on FOX this season, four have drawn less than a 2.0 overnight rating. (Sports Business Daily)

Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 drew a 4.0/9 final rating and 6.5 million viewers on FOX, down 15% in ratings and 14% in viewership from 2008 (4.7, 7.6 mil), and down 11% and 13%, respectively, from 2007 (4.5, 7.5 mil).

Last year's race was rained out and run on Memorial Day, earning a 3.3 rating and 5.3 million viewers.

Excluding last year's race, this marks the lowest rating ever for the Coca-Cola 600 on FOX, and the lowest rating for the race overall since 2000 (3.4 on TBS).

Additionally, this is the least-viewed edition of the race since at least 2002 (viewership prior to '02 was unavailable).

To put the numbers in perspective, the race drew a 6.1 rating and 10.2 million viewers as recently as 2005.

Despite the declines, Sunday's race will likely finish as the second-highest rated, second-most viewed sporting event of the three-day Memorial Day weekend (Sat-Mon), behind only Lakers/Suns Game 6 on TNT (4.8, 8.2 mil).

Also, how much is Danica Patrick helping,

Ratings for the crown jewel of open wheel racing hit an all-time record low.

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 drew a 3.6 fast-national rating and 5.8 million viewers on ABC, down 10% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (4.0, 6.3 mil), down 22% and 20%, respectively, from 2008 (4.6, 7.2 mil), and down 16% and 10%, respectively, from 2007 (4.3, 6.4 mil).

This marks the lowest rated, least-viewed Indianapolis 500 since the race began airing live in 1986, surpassing the previous record low set last year. Additionally, this is the first time that the race has drawn fewer than 4% of U.S. television households.

Ratings and viewership for the race have declined by over 40% since 2005, when hype surrounding Danica Patrick lifted the numbers to a 6.5 rating and 9.7 million viewers. This year's 3.6 also marks a 62% decline from the 9.4 the race drew in 1995, the last year before the IRL/CART split.

For the seventh time since 2002, the Indianapolis 500 was outdrawn by the Coca-Cola 600 in ratings (by 11%) and viewership (by 13%). This, despite the fact that the Coca-Cola 600 hit a 10-year low in the ratings.

he Danica Patrick love may be ending for some people!

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