Riggo on FOX, NBC Gets a New Years Gift, Washington Talking Playoffs while Baltimore talks new coach

Friend’s of the column John Riggins and Dave Sims will be working the Orange Bowl game tonight in Miami . Riggins will join the FOX pre game show with Chris Rose and Jimmy Johnson. For Riggo it is a bit of nostalgia as he will watch his Kansas Jay Hawks take on the local favorite Virginia Tech at 8pm on FOX. The last time that Kansas played in the Orange Bowl game John Riggins was on the team.

Dave Sims will be doing the play by play of the Orange Bowl game for XM Sports and it can be heard on channel 144 and then catch him Monday night doing the BCS Championship game also on XM-144.

Sam Flood the executive producer of The NHL on NBC must have been a very good boy this year. The
Pittsburgh
–
Buffalo
game got the highest rating in the United States in over a decade.

The NHL Winter Classic, broadcast New Year’s Day on NBC, earned a 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share (1-4:45 p.m. ET), the best overnight NHL regular season rating in more than a decade (Feb. 3, 1996 on Fox, six-game regional, 3.0/7). The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in the first U.S. outdoor game in NHL history. Twenty-year-old Sidney Crosby, the NHL’s reigning MVP, scored the game-winning goal in a shootout.

The overnight rating also surpasses Wayne Gretzky’s last game, which was broadcast on Fox (April 18, 1999, 2.5/6).

If the NHL does not make this an annual affair then they are crazy! It was great TV and gave us a break from some boring college bowl games.

NBC did an outstanding job of coverage and lets hope NHL does an outdoor game in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detriot, Chicago, Boston, New York, Philly and DC in rotation. Or maybe just pick two or three cities and make it their New Years Day kick off event. NBC has proven that people will watch now it is up to the league to follow their lead.  

In the tale of two cities in Washington CSN leads the way with WUSA9, NBC4, FOX5, ABC7, Triple X ESPN and Sports Talk 980AM all in Redskins playoff mode.

CSN the Official Cable Home of the Redskins has plenty of extra coverage set up for the big game Saturday in Seattle .

Here is a schedule so you don’t miss anything:

Thursday, Jan. 3: SportsNite has live reports from Seattle as well as exclusive interviews and features.

Friday, Jan. 4: SportsNite: Redskins Playoff Edition will air live from 7-8:30 p.m., with an hour and a half of features and playoff coverage from Seattle and the Comcast SportsNet studios with special guests throughout the evening. .

Saturday, Jan. 5: An hour and a half of live coverage with Redskins Kickoff from Seattle leading up to gametime. Redskins Post Game Live immediately follows the game with live coverage of Gibbs’ press conference. The show features interviews with Johnson and Jenkins live from Seattle and analysis from the Post Game Live crew including Hernandez, Brown and Mitchell.

 Meanwhile in
Baltimore
they aren’t going to the playoffs but they are looking for a head coach and so ESPN 1300AM, WNST and WBAL are all in full time coach watch mode.

Plenty of good idea’s from the fans but funny thing about hiring and firing coaches and players, it always comes down to the team. The Ravens will get their man but it may take till after the Super Bowl to get it done.