Inside Minor League Sports Media

by Walter L. Johnson II
June 12, 2003 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

THE RATINGS ARE IN: The Nielsen numbers for May 26th to June 1st, 2003 had both quarterfinal round showings of the Arena Football League playoffs on NBC finish in the top 15. Sunday's regional action on June 1st, for instance, finished in the top ten, while Saturday's quarterfinal action wound up in a three-way tie for eleventh with the PGA Tour on CBS, as well as This Week in Baseball on Fox. The fact the AFL fared as decently as it did in the ratings is amazing considering that Fox's Saturday Major League Baseball Game of The Week, and ABC's coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals also aired that weekend. I'm sure that last weekend's semifinal games fared just as well or better, with the 'War on I-4' between Orlando and Tampa Bay last Saturday going down to the wire with the Storm escaping with a 60-50 win.

On Sunday, I tuned into the other AFL semifinal game between the Arizona Rattlers and the San Jose Sabercats on the internet via flagship station KTCT in San Francisco, or KNBR 1050 (http://www.knbr.com). Although the Sabercats quest to repeat as Arena Bowl champions fell by the wayside, as the Rattlers won in a rout 66-49, I was impressed by the performance of the play-by-play crew for San Jose, which consists of Bob Fitzgerald and former 49ers defensive standout Keena Turner, who was a mainstay on the Super Bowl championship teams of the 1980's. The Sabercats broadcast sounded as professional as any NFL team on the air. The knowledge of the game among the announcers wasn't too bad, either. Having said that, don't forget to tune into Arena Bowl XVII on Sunday June 22nd on NBC starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

WORLD BOWL THIS WEEKEND: In the meantime, if you want a football fix, watch World Bowl XI on Fox starting at noon Eastern time this Saturday, with the Frankfurt Galaxy facing the Rhein Fire live from Glasgow, Scotland. If you think parity was a big thing in the NFL, it was particularly huge in NFL Europe, as Frankfurt and Rhein actually finished in a three-way tie with the Scottish Claymores for first place with identical 6-4 records. However, a few tiebreakers here and there created an all-Germany affair for the NFLE title, while the Claymores found themselves on the outside looking in. Who knows, maybe some of these players playing in the World Bowl might end up playing in the Super Bowl someday.

WNBA GOES BROADBAND: The WNBA recently announced the addition of its Broadband Season Pass package, which includes a select number of video webcasts, as well as audio webcasts of all 14 teams, home and away, all available through the WNBA website (http://www.wnba.com). Sadly, though, unless you have a valid credit card, (Real Networks doesn't accept ATM or debit cards at this time) and the Real One player, you won't be able to listen to the games. I see no problem having to pay to listen to WNBA action on the web, but limiting subscriptions to credit card seems unfair in my opinion. Oh well, no use trying to beat this dead horse, let's move on. Speaking of which, the Los Angeles Sparks will visit the New York Liberty this Saturday, with coverage on ABC tipping off at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

WORLD SOCCER WEEKLY: If you eat, breathe, and sleep soccer, World Soccer Weekly is the radio program for you. WSW covers all aspects of soccer worldwide, including Major League Soccer. Currently, World Soccer Weekly airs on at least 75 stations, as well as on Sports Byline U.S.A., Sirius Satellite Radio, and American Forces Radio. If you can't find a station in your area that carries World Soccer Weekly, don't worry. Just log on the WSW website at http://www.worldsoccerweekly.com, and follow the instructions to listen live, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern time Monday night, and from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern time Saturday night.

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 12, 2003

• Inside Minor League Sports Media - OSC Original by Walter L. Johnson II

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.