Week Ahead
THURSDAY 10/9
Red Bull New York at Real Salt Lake
In the opening match at brand-new Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake (which is 9--10 and in third place in the Western Conference) will try to keep its playoff dreams alive. It will need the hot foot of forward Yura Movsisyan (right), who has three goals in his last four games and was RSL's lone scorer in the first meeting between these teams, a 2--1 Red Bulls win on Sept. 13.
ESPN2 10 p.m.
SATURDAY 10/11
Bank of America 500
Can you say three-peat? It's been a while since anyone in NASCAR has, but Jimmie Johnson has a good shot at becoming only the second driver to win three straight championships. (Cale Yarborough did it from 1976 through '78.) After finishing 10th at Talladega on Sunday, Johnson holds a 68-point lead over Carl Edwards in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
ABC 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY 10/12
Ravens at Colts
Baltimore's second-year running back Le'Ron McClain (left), who's averaging 63 yards, has never rushed for 100 yards in a game. That could change this week: Indianapolis's run defense, which has surrendered 188.5 yards per game, worst in the league, let four backs break the century mark in its first three games this season.
CBS 1 p.m.
TUESDAY 10/14
Sports Soup
The producers of E!'s The Soup turn their snark on the sports world with this twice-weekly half-hour show, which debuts tonight. Host Matt Iseman will poke fun at video clips pulled from games, highlight shows and press conferences; he promises it will be "the Chad Johnson of sports shows—a little obnoxious, usually hilarious."
Versus 10 p.m.
Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod
The documentary series follows seven of the 96 mushers who started the 1,150-mile race through Alaska last March. Among those featured is four-time champ and record holder Martin Buser (right), 50, who explains his Iditarod secret: "I eat beans and rice while my dogs eat steak and eggs."
Discovery 10 p.m.
SI PICK OF THE WEEK
SATURDAY 10/11
No. 3 LSU at No. 12 Florida
After a heartbreaking one-point loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27, Gators QB Tim Tebow declared, "You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season." LSU's Charles Scott (above) might beg to differ. The Tigers workhorse is second in the SEC in rushing, averaging 133.8 yards, and is tied for the conference lead in yards per carry (7.5). Before this season the junior had just one 100-yard game; in '08 he has four. Said Scott, "I'll run it as much as the coaches need me to."
CBS 8 p.m.
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CRYSTAL LOGIUDICE/US PRESSWIRE (SCOTT)
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AL GRILLO/AP (IDITAROD)
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AL MESSERSCHMIDT/GETTY IMAGES (MCCLAIN)
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MELISSA MAJCHRZAK/MLS/GETTY IMAGES (MOVSISYAN)