SI View The Week in TV Sports

Highlights

SATURDAY 5/20

Preakness Stakes
ABC 4:30 PM Currently only two animals are so inextricably
linked to both celebrity and victory: Fusaichi Pegasus, the
impressive Kentucky Derby winner, and Triumph, the Insult Comic
Dog. The latter, whose ribald humor has transformed NBC's Late
Night into the Canine O'Brien show, displays an affinity for the
palindrome "poop" and animus toward other sock puppets. The
former favors the winner's circle (five wins in six starts) and
appears unconcerned with what should be a sparse field--perhaps
as few as seven entrants--for the 1 3/16-mile race at Pimlico.

NHL Eastern Conference Final, Game 4
ESPN 7 PM Gomez, meet LeClair. "LeClair?! Morticia, you spoke
French!" Pucker up, hockey fans. Devils center Scott Gomez,
likely winner of the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, must be
a fester in the Flyers' defense if the Devils are to have a
chance at kissing the Stanley Cup. Philadelphia may be in the
lurch without first-line center Eric Lindros and perhaps
second-line center Keith Primeau, each of whom was suffering from
the aftereffects of a concussion. On Sunday (ABC, 3 p.m.) the
Stars visit the Avalanche in Game 4 of the West final.

SUNDAY 5/21

NBA Playoffs
NBC 12:30 PM and 3 PM Watching Gladiator last weekend, wondering
if the luxury-box level at the Roman Colosseum was called the
Caesarean Section. Also musing on whether any of the four
conference semifinal Game 7s scheduled for this weekend--the
West's on Saturday, NBC, 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.; the East's
today--will come to pass, or will be replaced by the opening
games of the conference finals. Through Sunday the Knicks and
Heat, whose previous pandemoniac postseason meetings surely
inspired Gladiator's carnage-laden opening battle scene,
appeared most likely to stage their own do-or-die epic. At
halftime of today's 3 p.m. game, the NBA draft lottery will be
held.

THURSDAY 5/25

Indy 500 Carburetion and Pit Stop Competition
ESPN 3 PM If you tune in to only one carburetion and pit stop
competition this year, this is it. At the Brickyard
fleet-fingered pit crews will vie to change tires and pump fuel
as fast as humanly possible. May we suggest as appropriate theme
music Sade's Smooth Carburetor? We make fun, yes, but maybe by
watching we'll learn something that will come in handy next time
we pull up to the self-serve pump.

DON'T MISS

WEDNESDAY 5/24

UEFA Champions League Final
ESPN2 2:30 PM The reign, for Spain, flows mainly near the Seine.
Iberian clubs Real Madrid (with netminder Benjamin Bizzarri,
above) and Valencia stage a last tango in Paris as the City of
Lights hosts soccer's premier non-World Cup event. Real Madrid,
winner of this tournament a record seven times since its 1956
inception, is led by its striking striker, Raul, who has scored
nine goals in his 14 tournament games. In the tradition of
world-class soccer stars, Raul partied hard for a few years
before marrying a top model (Mamen Sanz--not to be confused with
the pantomime troupe). Valencia's best, midfielder Mendieta, is
the son of a former Real Madrid goalkeeper.

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

COLOR PHOTO: GREGG NEWTON/REUTERS

THE ZAPPER

Lisa Guerrero, cohost of Fox Sports Net's Sports Geniuses, joins
longtime TV news anchor Hugh Downs and actor Bill Pullman in
Egypt for Valley of the 10,000 Mummies (Fox, Tuesday, 8 p.m.,
live). The intrepid and unlikely trio will open a tomb that may
contain the world's largest collection of preserved corpses this
side of the Geniuses contestant pool.... Giants defensive back
Jason Sehorn, who in March proposed to actress Angie (Law and
Order) Harmon on The Tonight Show, exploits another opportunity
to appear on TV without having to play football when he competes
in ABC's The Superstars (May 27, 4:30 p.m.; May 28, 3:30 p.m.),
which was taped in Jamaica.