SI View The Week in TV Sports
Saturday 3/7
BOXING
Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez
!Viva los boxeodores! When Oscar De La Hoya, who's responsible
for two of the three losses these super lightweights and
compatriots have suffered, abdicated his WBC throne last April,
a dream title bout was arranged for Plaza De Toros in Mexico
City. The 35-year-old Chavez (below at left), whose fists of
stone have made him a national legend, boasts a record of
100-2-1 with 83 KOs. In the absence of a Salma Hayek film
festival, expect a sellout of 52,000 to witness the 27-year-old
Gonzalez (42-1), who's also a big puncher (32 KOs), attempt to
win a belt and the hearts of a nation.
PPV ($29.95-$39.95), 9 PM
Sunday 3/8
PRO BASKETBALL
ABL Finals, Game 1
Answer: 14-92. Question: Putting Columbus's point total second,
what's the average score of a Quest game? We exaggerate, but
only slightly. The defending champions lost their 1996-97 ABL
most valuable player, Nikki McCray--the Columbus media guide
cryptically reports she "signed with another pro league"--but
little else. The Quest finished with a 36-8 record while
pounding opponents by an average of 12.5 points, then swept the
San Jose Lasers in last weekend's playoff semifinals. Columbus's
scoring leader, center Katie Smith, averaged only 17.4 points,
but the Quest led the league in fewest points allowed (67.5
average) and most turnovers forced (977). Hoping to sink
Columbus in the best-of-five finals is forward Yolanda Griffith
of the Long Beach Stingers, who swept the Portland Power in the
semifinals. Griffith led the ABL in steals (138) and was second
in rebounding (11.6 average).
FOX SPORTS NET, 6:30 PM
HOCKEY
Penguins at Flyers
Pittsburgh right wing Jaromir Jagr (right) is a latter-day
Phileas Fogg. He recently went around the world in 18 days.
Between the Penguins' 2-2 tie at Ottawa on Feb. 7 and 6-2 win at
Montreal on Feb. 25, Jagr flew across the Pacific to Japan,
where he helped the Czech Republic win an Olympic gold medal,
and then pushed farther westward to Prague to celebrate with
president Vaclav Havel and more than 100,000 other countrymen
before returning to North America. Tonight Jagr will be racking
up frequent Flyer miles, this being Pittsburgh's second game of
a two-night home-and-home series with Philadelphia. Having
scored 71 points in 56 games, Jagr was the NHL's leading scorer
at week's end, and history suggests that Philadelphia won't be
able to keep the well-traveled Czech in check: In 36 career
games against the Flyers, Jagr had 45 points. Meanwhile, Flyers
forwards John LeClair (USA) and Eric Lindros (Canada), whose
Olympic squads missed out on the medals in Nagano, were,
respectively, tied for fourth and sixth in the league in
scoring, having amassed 65 and 64 points.
ESPN, 8 PM
DOCUMENTARIES
Roberto Clemente
Late in the 1972 season Roberto Clemente presciently answered a
question concerning the timing of his 3,000th hit. "God tells
you how long you're going to be here," said the Pittsburgh
Pirates rightfielder, who in the final at bat of his life would
slashed a double for No. 3,000, "so you never know what's going
to happen tomorrow." Three months later, on New Year's Eve Day,
the Great Roberto, age 38, perished in a plane crash on his way
to aid earthquake victims in Nicaragua. In this worthy
warts-and-all, hour-long retrospective hosted by Jimmy Smits
(NYPD Blue), Clemente (at left in the 1971 World Series) is
remembered for his idiosyncrasies (being headstrong and
hypochondriacal) and his ideals. "Everybody looked rumpled next
to Roberto Clemente," says biographer Jim O'Brien. "You couldn't
take your eyes off him."
FOX SPORTS NET, 9 PM
Thursday 3/12
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA Tournament
Tragedy tomorrow, Carmody tonight? Funny things could happen on
the way to the Alamodome (site of the Final Four), especially
during the tournament's 64-team opening round, telecast all
afternoon and evening today and tomorrow. Something familiar:
North Carolina, making its 24th consecutive appearance.
Something peculiar: Princeton, under second-year coach Bill
Carmody, playing the role of overdog. Old situations: defending
champ Arizona, exhibiting its familiarity with every big-dance
step. New complications: UCLA, missing center Jelani McCoy (who
quit the Bruins last month).
CBS, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, NOON, 2:30 PM, 7:30 PM, 10PM
COLOR PHOTO: JED JACOBSOHN/ALLSPORT [Julio Cesar Chavez boxing]
COLOR PHOTO: HERB SCHARFMAN [Roberto Clemente batting]
COLOR PHOTO: TODD WARSHAW/ALLSPORT [Jaromir Jagr]
THE ! ZAPPER
From the land of the midnight sun comes the midnight update.
Beginning March 7, the Outdoor Channel will provide nightly
half-hour updates on the fabled Iditarod dogsled race. Why so
late? Because instead of being beamed by satellite to network
headquarters in California, amateur video of the 1,000-mile trek
from Anchorage to Nome will be flown there. In other words, each
day the taped footage will cover three times as much ground as
the entire race.
ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
