SI View The Weeks in TV Sports

Highlights

SATURDAY 12/22

Dolphins at Patriots
CBS 1:30 PM Here's a story of a man named Brady/Who keeps finding
ways to get to the end zone/He's nine and three as a
starter/Pretty soon he'll lead the East all on his own. That's a
very Brady way of saying the AFC East lead is up for grabs at
Foxboro Stadium, where second-year New England quarterback Tom
Brady (third in the AFC with an 88.1 rating) tries to reverse the
result of his second game as a starter--a 30-10 loss to Miami on
Oct. 7.

TUESDAY 12/25

Raptors at Knicks; 76ers at Lakers
NBC 6 PM Although it once employed the X-Man (Xavier McDaniel),
New York hasn't been the X-Men when it comes to Xmas: The Knicks
have lost their last four Christmas Day games. Santa Stern will
provide NBA fans with some additional holiday cheer in the second
half of this evening's doubleheader when Shaquille O'Neal and
Kobe Bryant welcome Allen Iverson (at week's end, the league's
leading scorer with a 27.8 point average) to the Staples Center
for a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

SATURDAY 12/29

The Bear: The Legend of Coach Paul Bryant
CBS 2:30 PM "The only higher-ranking name in the state back then
was God," says Auburn alumnus Bo Jackson of Bryant's status in
Alabama during the Bear's tenure, from 1958 to '82, as coach of
Crimson Tide football. In yet another marvelous documentary from
Black Canyon Productions, which earlier this year produced the
enthralling Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich, the
life and times of the man with the houndstooth hat are examined
over 90 minutes, from his Depression-era Arkansas roots to the
six national championships he won at Alabama.

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

COLOR PHOTO: TOM DIPACE

Don't Miss

THURSDAY 1/3

Miami vs. Nebraska
ABC 8 PM Here's what fans in Oregon and Colorado are thinking:
You can't spell BCS without BS. While the No. 2 and No. 3 teams,
respectively, in the human (AP and Coaches) polls are relegated
to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 (ABC, 4:30 p.m.), the fourth-ranked
Cornhuskers can earn the national title with a win over the No. 1
Hurricanes at the Rose Bowl. Lost amid the cacophony of criticism
about the Bowl Championship Series is the appeal of a game
pitting the AP's first-team All-America all-purpose back,
Nebraska's Heisman winner Eric Crouch, against its second-team
All-America quarterback, Miami's Ken Dorsey (above). Another
fascinating element: whether the Huskers' Black Shirt defense can
dent a stalwart Miami offensive line that gave up only two sacks
this season.

The Zapper

The Golf Channel has lost its Chris Berman. Last week it took
Peter Kessler off the air because of disagreements over creative
control of the shows he hosted, Golf Talk Live, Academy Live and
Viewer's Forum. Kessler, with the Golf Channel since its 1995
inception, remains under contract but is permitted to look
elsewhere. His amiable yet authoritative style will be missed....
With ABC/ESPN poised to win rights to NBA games beginning next
season, here's a terrifying thought: If Dick Vitale gets juiced
for Diaper Dandies, how bonkers would he go for a Kobe
Bryant-Tracy McGrady shootout?