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SI View The Week in TV Sports
Highlights
SATURDAY 4/7
Prince Naseem Hamed vs. Marco Antonio Barrera
TVKO (PPV; $39.95) 9 PM After a month of training at a desert
estate in California, flamboyant featherweight champion Hamed
has devised an elaborate plan of attack for what is widely
acknowledged as the toughest challenge of his career. "I will
come into the ring, flip over the top rope and then take the
brother out," he boasted recently. Against Barrera (52-3, 38
KOs), a three-time champion from Mexico known for his relentless
body blows, the preposterous, preening Hamed (35-0, 31 KOs) had
better bring more than his trademark leopard-print shorts, or he
may be the brother taken out.
TUESDAY 4/10
The Iditarod
USA 8 PM Ten days of grueling sledding in Alaska's annual
Anchorage-to-Nome race--completed last month--is condensed into
two suspenseful hours of Mush Madness. This year's storyline
focuses on Montana's Doug Swingley, the only non-Alaskan to win
the Iditarod, who was trying to keep his team on the trail as he
aimed for his third straight title.
WEDNESDAY 4/11
Stanley Cup Playoffs
ESPN2 7:30 PM, 10:30 PM; ESPN 10 PM Questions to ponder as the
NHL postseason begins tonight and continues on Thursday (ESPN,
7:30; ESPN2, 7:30 and 10:30): Can Mario's magic make up for the
Penguins' lack of goaltending? Can anyone stop the red-hot Devils
and Avalanche? Finally, with the Maple Leafs on the verge of
clinching a playoff berth as of Sunday, will Toronto forward-goon
Tie Domi, who threw down a Flyers fan in Philly last week, move
up in weight class for Domi versus Zamboni?
Don't Miss
SATURDAY 4/7-SUNDAY 4/8
The Masters
CBS SATURDAY 3:30 PM; SUNDAY 4 PM Eighties hair band Nelson sang
Can't Live Without Your Love and Affection, and the same can be
said of CBS's feelings about Nielsen, the television ratings
service. When Tiger Woods (above) won the Masters in 1997, the
network had the highest final-round rating of the '90s (a 14.1)
and the fifth highest in history. Combine Tiger's telegenic
appeal, his recent consecutive victories at the Bay Hill
Invitational and the Players Championship, and his quest for a
fourth straight major, and the ingredients exist for an even
bigger Nielsen bonanza. The network's dream date? A final round
playoff between Woods and, say, defending champion Vijay Singh.
ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK
THE ZAPPER
It was bad enough that CBS relegated last Saturday's Ericsson
Open women's final between Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams
to tape delay. Worse, with Capriati about to serve for the match
at 5-4 in the third set, host Bill Macatee announced, "Because
of time constraints, we're going to have to move ahead to the
third-set tiebreak." Confoundingly, CBS then showed what would
have been a heart-stopping 12th game (in which Capriati had five
championship points) had viewers not known a tiebreaker would
ensue. Double fault!
