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SI View The Week in TV Sports
Highlights
SUNDAY 4/1
Rangers vs. Blue Jays
ESPN 4 PM The 2001 season kicks off in San Juan, where the Puerto
Rican promoters of the game boasted that the First Dubya would be
on hand to see the team he once owned vie for the season's first
W, but the White House nixed that. So with George W. absent, the
only Bush that fans at Hiram Bithorn Stadium will see is Toronto
second baseman Homer. If that's not enough of a thrill, Puerto
Rican heroes Ivan Rodriguez (from Vega Baja) and Carlos Delgado
(from Aquadilla) should provide plenty of excitement.
TUESDAY 4/3
Lakers at Jazz
TBS 8 PM Old couples are supposed to bicker constantly, while
newlyweds are all lovey-dovey. Tell that to these Western
Conference rivals. Karl Malone and John Stockton have been in
Utah for 16 years, and they're coexisting as blissfully as ever.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, in only their fifth season
together, have been like Frank and Estelle Costanza. The result:
Through Sunday the Jazz was looking down the standings at the
Lakers.
THURSDAY 4/5 AND FRIDAY 4/6
The Masters
USA 4 PM Should Tiger Woods go on from these two opening rounds
to win the Masters, the hot 19th-hole topic will be whether his
feat of winning four majors in a row constitutes a Grand Slam.
The question might be rendered moot by Friday afternoon, though.
Woods shot himself out of contention last year by opening with
rounds of 75 and 72. He did play the final 36 holes in a
tournament-best seven under, though, so if he gets off to a good
start this year, the folks at Augusta National might want to go
ahead and have him fitted for a new green jacket.
Don't Miss
SATURDAY 3/31
Men's Final Four
CBS SATURDAY 5:30 PM; MONDAY 9 PM The eyes of the nation, at
least those eyes not in the heads of people who picked Iowa State
and North Carolina in their pool, will be on the Metrodome to see
which team prevails. For all the tournament's early-round upsets,
the Final Four will be contested without a Cinderella. Two No. 1
seeds (Duke and Michigan State), a No. 2 (Arizona) and a No. 3
(Maryland) make up the field. That doesn't mean there can't be a
storybook finish: The Wildcats, led by guard Jason Gardner
(above), would love to win one for coach Lute Olson, who lost his
wife of 47 years, Bobbi, to cancer on New Year's Day. Should
Arizona win, let's hope that when its players snip those nets,
they don't accidentally clip forward Eugene Edgerson's righteous
'fro.
ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
COLOR PHOTO: DAVID E. KLUTHO
COLOR PHOTO: AP PHOTO/CHRIS O'MEARA
THE ZAPPER
Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich (CBS Sunday 4:30
pm). This documentary is loaded with Pistol wizardry, including
pictures of Maravich as a seventh-grader playing for his high
school varsity.... The latest from Survivor creator Mark
Burnett--Eco-Challenge: Borneo, a 320-mile adventure race--will be
shown on USA (Sunday through Wednesday, 8 p.m.).... What fight
were they watching? Last week 2% of the voters on hbo.com/boxing
during the Arturo Gatti-Oscar De La Hoya bout scored Round 1 for
Gatti, who narrowly survived a knockdown and suffered a deep gash
under his right eye.
