SI View The week in TV sports
Saturday 1/31
GOLF
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
O'Meara mirror on the wall, who's the fairway-est of them all?
Is it you, Mark (below), five-time winner and defending champion
of this event? Or is it your Orlando-area neighbor, Tiger Woods,
who this year will be paired with his dad, Earl, instead of
Kevin Costner (half of a twosome with John Cook)? In Tiger's
favor: Cameras, whose clicking and whirring visibly upset Woods
last year, are banned from the gallery. Among the celebs, should
Jack Lemmon make the cut for the first time in 24 years, he may
allow Ving Rhames to shoot his final two rounds.
CBS, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, 3 PM
Wednesday 2/4
PRO BASKETBALL
Bulls at Jazz
Anthropologists' Special--THE MAILMAN (Homo Malonus):
Hyperbiceped 1997 NBA MVP Karl Malone, who scored a game-high 35
points in Utah's 101-94 win in Chicago last Sunday. THE RODMAN
(Homo Philo): Multihued, single-faceted Chicago forward Dennis
Rodman, who through Sunday led the league in rebounding (15.3
per game). THE SUPERMAN (Jordanus Unstoppablus): Michael Jordan,
who scored 38 points the last time he played at the Delta
Center, in Game 5 of last June's NBA Finals, and who again was
leading the NBA in scoring (29.5).
TBS, 8 PM
HOCKEY
Flyers at Stars
Mike Modano (above) is the Star stud on a team that is anything
but star studded. Modano, a 6'3" center, was leading surprising
Dallas (at week's end an NHL-best 32-11-8) in scoring with 45
points (17 goals, 28 assists) and in women's-magazine photo
shoots (three in three years, for Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle and
Marie Claire). Two weeks ago Philadelphia added right wing
Alexandre Daigle, whose own star has fallen since he was the top
pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 1993 draft, to its stellar
lineup that includes left wing John LeClair and center Eric
Lindros.
ESPN2, 8:30 PM
Thursday 2/5
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Duke at North Carolina
It's ACC basketball, bay-bee! No. 1 (through Sunday) versus No.
2! Duke's diaper dandies, the B&B boys--no, I'm not talking
about bed & breakfast, bay-bee! I'm talking big men Shane
Battier (right) and Chris Burgess--invading the Dean Dome to
take on the Tar Heels' PTPers Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison
(page 94)! And, ohh, what kind of a super job is Bill Guthridge
doing in replacing the Legend, Deano Smith? (You gotta believe
that Dick Vitale hasn't been this juiced since Rogaine announced
that its new formula grows 45% more hair.)
ESPN2, 9 PM
Friday 2/6
WINTER OLYMPICS
OPENING CEREMONIES
If Hollywood were producing this spectacle, Godzilla and Pat
Morita would team to battle Rodan and Abe Vigoda (not Japanese,
he just needs the work), after which Godzilla would light the
torch with his breath. Instead, athletes from a Winter
Games-record 72 nations will march into Minami Nagano Sports
Park to watch sumo wrestler Takanohana stomp the ground to ward
off evil spirits. Will it work? We'll have an affirmative answer
if Gen X freestyle skiing reporter Kennedy mysteriously
disappears.
CBS, 8 PM
All times Eastern. Schedules are subject to change.
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BURGESS [Mark O'Meara golfing]
COLOR PHOTO: DAVID E. KLUTHO [Mike Modano]
COLOR PHOTO: GRANT HALVERSON/AP [Shane Battier in game]
THE ! ZAPPER
Spice Girls or ice girls? It's your choice. Either see
Spiceworld at the movies or watch 1994 Olympic figure skaters
Nancy Kerrigan (Victim Ice) and Tonya Harding (Lead Pipe Ice) in
a joint interview (Breaking the Ice, Fox, Thursday, 8 p.m.).
Also this week: Skater Ekaterina Gordeeva stars in a wistful
docudrama woven around her relationship with late husband and
partner Sergei Grinkov (My Sergei, CBS, Wednesday, 8 p.m.)....
Why did NBC Sports high commander Dick Ebersol let his network's
33-year NFL partnership end with a moronic post-Super Bowl promo
involving John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun)? Maybe NBC West
Coast prez Don Ohlmeyer thought it was funny.