SI View The Week in TV Sports

Highlights

SATURDAY 9/30

Wisconsin at Michigan
ABC NOON We're not The Shoe Box, but sizing up their season thus
far, it seems to us that the Badgers prefer a trail shoe.
Wisconsin (3-1) has come from behind in three of its four games,
in all of which the Badgers played undermanned because of
NCAA-imposed suspensions on 26 players for accepting unduly large
discounts on sports apparel from The Shoe Box. As for the
Wolverines (3-1), junior quarterback Drew Henson, whose footwear
needs include baseball spikes and football cleats, is expected to
make his first start at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

SUNDAY 10/1

Giants at Titans
FOX 1 PM Now playing at a theater near you: Dismember the Titans,
in which a chain-saw-wielding psychopath, frustrated in his
feckless attempt to butcher U.S. Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton in
a Nike ad that was zapped from the air, redirects his lunacy
toward the AFC champs from Tennessee. Our madman gets one glimpse
of Titans defensive end Jevon (the Freak) Kearse, whose 14 1/2
sacks last season tied the NFL rookie record, and promptly
retires.

TUESDAY 10/3

Baseball Division Series
ESPN 1 AND 4 PM, NBC 8 PM; WEDNESDAY, ESPN 1 AND 4 PM, FOX 8 PM;
THURSDAY ESPN 4 PM, FOX 8 PM; FRIDAY ESPN 4 PM, NBC 8 PM Thanks
to the incessant promo spots during the Olympics, I'm already
sick of NBC's Ed--and it hasn't even debuted. (I prefer his equine
namesake.) As for long-running programs, the Braves have advanced
to the last eight National League Championship Series.

Don't Miss

SATURDAY 9/30 AND SUNDAY 10/1

Olympic Games
NBC, CNBC AND MSNBC (TAPE DELAY) The star of these Games?
Australia, the Down Under-land wonderland whose first two letters
are the symbol for gold. (Is it just us, or have the clouds above
Sydney gone on holiday?) Saturday offers finals in men's soccer
(MSNBC, 10 a.m.), women's volleyball (NBC, noon) and women's
(NBC, noon) and men's basketball (NBC, 7 p.m.), expected to
feature the U.S. and Gary Payton, above; plus, on the track (NBC,
7 p.m.), all four relays and the women's 1,500-meter final.
Before Sunday night's closing ceremonies tune in for gold medal
matches in men's water polo (MSNBC, 8 a.m.) and boxing and men's
volleyball (both NBC, 11 a.m.), as well as the men's marathon
(NBC, 7 p.m.).

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

COLOR PHOTO: MANNY MILLAN

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT CLARK

THE ZAPPER

On Friday's Olympic coverage, NBC broadcast priceless shots of
Amy Van Dyken of the U.S. shaking her head at Inge de Bruijn's
50-meter freestyle world record in a heat, but commentators Dan
Hicks and Rowdy Gaines chose not to mention that Van Dyken's
contempt reflected an unsubstantiated belief among many swimmers
that de Bruijn's time was drug-aided. On Saturday, not only did
Hicks and Gaines address the issue, but after the Dutch swimmer
had won gold, poolside reporter Andrea Joyce politely confronted
her with the drug rumors. It was a golden turnaround for the
broadcast team.