What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:
1
One year from right now, we’ll be through the first weekend of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia … weather permitting (it’s been kinda warm there recently).
Here’s a little tidbit to keep in mind: NBC is still going to tape-delay major events for primetime. There is a 12-hour time difference after all.
Yeah yeah, we know. But in this day and age WHY???
Well, as NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus told Newsday: “Thirty million people a night voted to watch us (last summer) when they already knew what was going on.”
OK, fine. We know the Vancouver-Portland TV market is huge ratings for primetime Winter Olympics.
Still, it probably won’t do any good to send harsh complaints to NBC for more live TV.
“We are not going to be bullied, but we are respectful of our audience’s point of view,” Lazarus said.
2
March Madness can’t come soon enough. With all the upsets of highly ranked men’s basketball teams going on, it appears as if the NCAA field of 68 teams won’t exactly come with an overwhelming favorite.
We like the chaos.
3
Somewhat notable from the world of tennis, this past weekend was the first round of the Fed Cup. It’s the women’s version of the Davis Cup but with a slightly different format.
The United States almost came away with an upset at Italy, forcing the Italians into a deciding doubles match. Italy has the world’s top-ranked doubles team, so you can deduce who won that.
What was notable was the U.S. women’s doubles team consisted of two naturalized citizens: Varvara Lepchenko (born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan), and Liezel Huber (born in Durban, South Africa).
For more Talking Points, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/talkpoints360
