2005 Ad

[1] MARCH 2005

All times Eastern

WED 2

NFL free agents go on sale. Here's the thing about free agents. They aren't free. The question is: Who will roll out the dough-re-mi for Drew Brees, Drew Bledsoe and Drew--make that Shaun-Alexander?

FRI 4

ESPNU launches at 7 p.m. with a preview of the 847,000 conference tournament basketball games that will be shown on the Worldwide Leader's networks over the next week-plus. Former Dream Job winner Mike Hall will be your host.

SUN 6

Anyone who says the ACC isn't the best there is in college hoops must be smokin' some wacky tobaccy. If we're lucky, the title will be on the line with Duke at North Carolina (4 p.m., CBS) and Wake Forest at N.C. State (8 p.m., FOX Sports Net) on the last day of the regular season.

SUN 6

* Mexico 200 (3 p.m., FOX). The Brickyard, Talladega Superspeedway, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez-hey, great racin's great racin'. It's the first Busch Series points race held outside the United States in, well, ever.

MON 7

Yankees at Red Sox. Because no love is lost, even when these titans clash for two innings with their starters and seven with guys no one's ever heard of.

* Adrian. Adrian! Tonight could be the greatest night in the history of your life with the debut of The Contender (9:30 p.m., NBC), a Mark Burnett-styled reality show in which Sugar Ray Leonard and the great heavy-weight Sly Stallone will drop knowledge on fight-game hopefuls.

SUN 13

A dream double double dip--the SEC (1 p.m.) and Big Ten (3:30 p.m.) tourney title games on CBS, with the ACC (1 p.m.) and Big 12 (3 p.m.) biggies on ESPN.

* The best part of the Selection Sunday show (6 p.m., CBS)? Watching the committee chair squirm as he pretends the Big 12 and Big Ten games ended early enough to be accounted for in the NCAA Tournament seeding process.

THU 17

NCAA men's basketball tournament begins (noon, CBS). What big dance will you do to get out of work? Tipoffs at 12:01, 12:02, 12:03, 12:03 1/2 ...

* Lakers at Heat (8 p.m., TNT). Somebody better have been fired for scheduling Shaq-Kobe II opposite the NCAAs.

SUN 20

On the agenda at the NFL owners meetings opening at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua on Maul: officiating, TV contracts, golf, umbrella drinks, massages and shuttling Bill Bidwill to and from the Super 8.

TUE 22

Dagnabbit, where'd I throw that visor? Steve Spurrier makes his quarterbacks wish they were never born as suddenly relevant South Carolina opens spring drills.

SAT 26

NCAA Tournament regional finals (4:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., CBS). What are they calling these regions this year, anyway--Chicago and Albuquerque? I don't care. I'm calling 'em Midwest and West.

SUN 27

NCAA Tournament regional finals (2:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m., CBS). The last two Final Four spots get settled in Syracuse and Austin. "Austin Region"--isn't he a B-movie action hero?

TUE 29

Does it get any bigger than Ron Zook's first spring practice at Illinois? Predicted score: Blocking Sleds and Tackling Dummies 14, Illini 6.--Steve Greenberg

[2] COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Replay is on the way

The movement for instant replay throughout college football gained momentum last week when the Mountain West Conference announced it would use replay for the 2005 season. Why was this significant? Because the biggest replay hurdle has been cost concerns. If the MWC--a mid-major---can afford it, what conference can't?

The next hurdle: Because each conference is tinkering with different ways to implement a replay system, how will replay be used in nonconference games? It's likely the system will match the officiating crew. In other words, if an ACC crew is officiating a game between Ohio State and Texas, ACC replay rules will be in effect.

There will be subtle differences in how replay is implemented. The SEC, for example, wants to give head officials the authority to call for a review, unlike in the Big Ten, where an official in the press box has complete control.--Matt Hayes

[3] CLEAN AND SIMPLE

The NFL is out in front on supplements, too

While major league baseball is swollen with credibility issues after Jose Canseco's accusations regarding performance enhancers, the NFL quietly has become more credible. Last year was the first year NFL players could take supplements that were endorsed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

More than 900 NFL players requested and received products from sports supplement giant EAS as part of the league's label certification program, according to former NFLPA president Trace Armstrong, who initiated the program. And for the first time in anyone's memory, not one player used the "dirty supplement" excuse for a failed drug test.

When a player wants a supplement, he calls a toll-free number or sees a representative from his team. He has a choice of 10 products. EAS provides the supplements free of charge.

The program protects players, teams and the league and has helped clean up the supplement industry. Yet Major League Baseball and the NCAA have resisted invitations to be a part of what the NFL has started.--Dan Pompei