March Madness: Sand Soccer
/TV Events More Important than the #SheBelieves Cup Final
Anytime four of the top five teams in the world gather to compete, it’s a big event. Unless it’s the recently-crowned FIFA World Cup Champion United States Women’s National Team and top competitors Germany, France and England.
The final match of the She Believes Cup features the USWNT and Germany. The last time they met, more than 50,000 fans were present, awaiting a victor who’d advance to the World Cup Final. The subsequent Final drew almost 27 million TV viewers in the US—the largest TV audience for a soccer match in US history. So, there’s very little interest in watching such a match, for sure.
This time, the scarcely-available ESPN3 network has the game. It’s also available via live stream on an app, though my unscientific sample of speedy FIOS Internet returned only an intermittently watchable program during the previous streaming broadcast. At times, the game appeared to be shot through a rainy window. Once, a ladybird beetle (ladybug) landed on the camera lens. All expense was spared to bring as small an audience as possible to these games. Clearly, something is more important.
Here's a list of all of the critically important programs airing on the various broadcast and sports networks from 7:30—9:00 EST in the Northeast that must be more important than Women’s Soccer. Somehow. To Somebody. Somewhere.
Network Program
CBS Jeopardy! (new), Survivor (new)
ABC Inside Edition (new), The Middle (re-run), The Goldbergs (re-run)
NBC Extra (new), The Voice (new/recap show)
FOX TMZ (new), Rosewood (new)
USA Law & Order: SVU (re-runs)
ABC and ESPN frequently share sports coverage, but those re-runs are pretty important. USA, an NBC property, would surely have tanked the ratings by dumping two season 14 installments of the omnipresent cop drama.
Sports Network Program
ESPN NBA Basketball (Memphis v. Boston)
ESPN Goal Line ESPN Buzzer Beater
ESPNEWS SportsCenter, SportsCenter, SportsCenter
ESPN U Big 12 Basketball (OK State v. Kansas State)
ESPN 2 ACC Basketball (GA Tech v. Clemson)
ESPN SEC SEC Now, SEC Basketball (Auburn v. TN)
CSN (Comcast) NBA Basketball (Memphis v. Boston) Sweet! Twice!
FS1 Big East Basketball (DePaul v. Georgetown)
FS2 UFC Reloaded (re-run, two men fighting in Japan)
NBCSN NHL Live, NHL Hockey (Chicago v. St. Louis)
CBSSports Patriot League(!) Basketball (Holy Cross v. Lehigh)
BeIn Sports Real Madrid TV Hey, it’s soccer.
"Grass-like" Green Sand Pit photo courtesy of Hope Solo via Twitter, yesterday. Another quality pitch for the best teams in the world.