SI View The Week in TV Sports

Saturday 6/13

WNBA, Liberty at Comets

When the Houston Comets defeated the New York Liberty 65-51 for
the WNBA championship last August, Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes
had a triple bagel: no points, no rebounds and no assists in
five minutes. There's zero chance she'll put up such
well-rounded but dismal numbers in this rematch, which is
Houston's season opener. Swoopes, the 1993 NCAA Player of the
Year and one of the WNBA's most celebrated players, missed the
Comets' first 19 games last season because she was pregnant, but
her performance in Houston's two preseason games this year
suggests that she's back to her pre-prenatal form. A healthy
Swoopes and the re-signing of reigning MVP and league scoring
champ Cynthia Cooper (left) give the Comets one of the WNBA's
most potent duos. With Houston in such fine shape, the message
for Rebecca Lobo and her Liberty teammates is clear: New York,
we have a problem.
NBC, 4 PM

Stanley Cup Finals, Capitals at Red Wings (Games 3 and 4)

At last, some good news from the nation's Capitals. Washington,
which has long been hockey's most reliable choke, for the first
time earned a berth in the tussle for Lord Stanley's trophy. In
this series, the seat of power is between the pipes. The Caps'
Olaf Kolzig has had a monster postseason, giving up just 1.69
goals per game. During the Western Conference finals, Detroit
goalie Chris Osgood (left) mixed the ridiculous (giving up a
90-footer in overtime of Game 5) with the sublime (shutouts in
Games 1 and 6). The Red Wings are favored to repeat as NHL
champs, but in sports as in politics, it's dangerous to count
out the underdog. Just ask President Dewey.
ESPN, SATURDAY AND TUESDAY, 8 PM; FOX, GAME 5 (AT DETROIT IF
NECESSARY), THURSDAY, 8 PM

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Patrick Charpentier

De La Hoya's recent fights have been a lot like Hanson
concerts--they've attracted hordes of squealing teenyboppers but
have been short on talent. Since his shaky-but-unanimous
decision over Pernell Whitaker last year, De La Hoya has
defeated three lugs, and in this mandatory defense of his WBC
welterweight title he faces a fourth in Charpentier, the No.
1-ranked contender from France. Until De La Hoya gets in the
ring with IBF champ Felix Trinidad, fight fans will continue to
tune him out faster than you can say "MMMBop."
HBO, 10 PM

MONDAY 6/15

World Cup, U.S. vs. Germany

Forty years ago the Kingston Trio sang, "Hang down your head,
Tom Dooley/Hang down your head and cry." If the U.S. should
somehow win its first match in la Coupe Mondiale, their captain,
Thomas Dooley, might shed a few tears of joy. Dooley, the son of
an American serviceman, was born in Bechhofen, Germany, and
played in the Bundesliga for nine seasons. He immigrated to the
U.S. in 1992 and played for America in the '94 Cup. Shortly
after being named U.S. captain in May, Dooley said, "If we beat
Germany, I'm going to fly to Berlin and get a car and an
American flag and drive through the whole country waving it." No
doubt with his head held high.
ABC, 2:45 PM

THURSDAY 6/18

U.S. Open First Round

Roy McAvoy, Kevin Costner's character in Tin Cup, praised the
Open as the world's most egalitarian tournament, and no Open
course has been friendlier to no-names than the Olympic Club in
San Francisco. In 1955, Jack Fleck caught Ben Hogan on the back
nine on Sunday and won the playoff. In 1987, Scott Simpson won
his only major. What no-name will break out this year? How about
Jeff Maggert (left)? His game is tailored for Olympic's narrow
fairways and wrist-breaking rough, and unlike Roy McAvoy, he
knows when to take a drop.
NBC, 3 PM; ESPN, 5 PM

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN W. MCDONOUGH [Cynthia Cooper in game]

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID E. KLUTHO [Chris Osgood in game]

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID WALBERG [Jeff Maggert golfing]

THE ! ZAPPER

And we thought nothing could be more painful than watching The
Larry Sanders Show end.... We know we're supposed to like
Arli$$, which is about the dirty dealings of a David Falk
wannabe and features top jocks like Michael Irvin and Dave
Winfield acting as if they're acting, but it's about as funny
as, well, David Falk. (This season's second episode, which airs
on HBO Sunday night at 9:30, concludes with one of Arliss's
football-playing clients being felled by a spinal-cord injury.)
HBO, we've got three words for ya: Hank Kingsley spin-off.

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.