SI View The Week in TV Sports
Highlights
SATURDAY 5/27
Red Sox at Yankees
FOX 1 PM How would you like to be Derek Jeter's agent, Casey
Close, right now? Close--whose client learned the hard way that
there's a difference between quality abs and quality ABs--plans
to meet with Yankees boss George Steinbrenner next off-season
after Jeter's one-year, $10 million contract expires. Close may
mention that when shortstop Jeter missed eight games through May
21 with a strained abdominal muscle, New York went 2-6. Before
No. 2 bats number 2 against Boston, he'll host the all-new This
Week in Baseball (Fox, 12:30 p.m.). How about that?
SUNDAY 5/28
Indianapolis 500
ABC 11 AM Which two-time winner of America's most celebrated auto
race makes his return to Indianapolis after a five-year hiatus?
Is it, a) Al Unser, b) Bobby Unser, c) Al Unser Jr. or d) Wes
Unseld? The correct response is c, and, yes, that's our final
Unser. After five Brickyard-deprived seasons while driving on the
CART circuit (see Feuds, Indy Racing), Little Al, who wore a milk
mustache here in 1992 and '94, joined the Indy Racing League this
winter.
MONDAY 5/29
NCAA Lacrosse Championship
ESPN 10:55 AM Top-ranked Virginia (13-1), the defending national
champ, has one loss this season: a 13-12 overtime thriller to No.
2 Syracuse (also 13-1), last year's runner-up. Cavaliers
defenseman Ryan Curtis's mom misplaced her wedding ring during
last season's final but continued watching the game. The
Cavaliers and the Orangemen seem destined to advance beyond
Saturday's semis (ESPN2, 12 p.m.) and renew their vows today.
Cardinals at Diamondbacks
ESPN2 4 PM Two teams whose approach to the game is as subtle as
Joanne Worley on a mochaccino binge. Plenty of noncaffeinated
blasts available here with St. Louis's Mark McGwire (18 homers,
tops in the NL as of Sunday) and Jim Edmonds (13) and Arizona's
Steve Finley (16). Yo, heads up in the pool!
TUESDAY 5/30
Stanley Cup Finals, Game 1
ESPN 8 PM Eight months later, the NHL transforms from "All Skate"
to "Couples Skate." As of Sunday it was unclear who would tango,
although the Flyers had a 3-1 lead in their series.
Don't Miss
SUNDAY 5/28
NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 4
NBC 3:30 PM The next judgment-call foul in Arvydas Sabonis's
favor will be the first. The Trail Blazers' 7'3", 292-pound
center from Lithuania (above, right) absorbs more pounding than
your average breakaway republic yet always seems to be on the
wrong end of a block-charge whistle. In Portland's four
regular-season games against the Lakers, the 35-year-old Sabonis
shot seven free throws to L.A. center Shaquille O'Neal's 42.
Moreover, Sabonis accrued five fouls in three of those meetings.
If the Blazers are to prevail in the battle of the league's top
two teams, Sabonis must achieve glasnost with the refs.
ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN W. MCDONOUGH
the zapper
Both ABC and NBC had the proper people fortuitously miked last
Saturday. ABC's Al Michaels spoke to Jerry Bailey, atop Red
Bullet, no more than two minutes before the start of the
Preakness Stakes. Bailey and Michaels resumed their confab so
soon after Red Bullet's victory that it seemed the last horse had
not yet crossed the wire. Meanwhile, in the Blazers-Lakers game
on NBC, miked referee Ron Garretson could be heard telling
Portland's Steve Smith why he had just ejected Smith's teammate
Rasheed Wallace.... Beginning on Monday, early rounds of the
French Open can be seen live daily (USA, 10 a.m.).