On Long Island, Neil Best reports ESPN will begin its '18 "Sunday Night Baseball" schedule with the Giants "visiting the Dodgers on April 1, followed by the Mets at the Nationals on April 8." The Mets and Yankees each "will appear only once in the first two months," but both teams will have "more turns in the showcase national game later in the season." Each team is "allowed a maximum of six Sunday night games." The "SNB" schedule last season was "heavily front-loaded with Mets and Yankees games" (NEWSDAY, 12/20).
GETTING A LATE PRESENT: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted NBA viewers will "get a treat on Christmas night" when the "Inside the NBA" studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal will call T'Wolves-Lakers at 10:30pm ET. It is the "first time the quartet has ever called a game together." They will also "handle pregame, halftime and postgame coverage." Turner Sports VP/Production Tim Kiely: "I don’t think there is any kind of standard game anymore. I think people like this kind of broadcast because the players are telling you stuff they were thinking as the ball is being brought up court. Why does it always have to be the announcer tells you what just happened, which you just saw, and then player tells you why it happened in a replay?" (SI.com, 12/19).
COVERING THE ICE: NHL Network will "broadcast live all of the U.S. games" in the '18 IIHF World Junior Championship. Paul Severino will "call each USA game with analyst Dave Starman and reporter Jill Savage." The net will "broadcast 28 games in total," with several games airing "on a tape-delay basis including preliminary round games" (BUFFALO NEWS, 12/20).
