You got your NBA and your NHL finals, but the eyes of the world are on Germany.
The FIFA World Cup, soccer’s summit, starts Friday and runs through July 9. While it’s a sports blip in the U.S., it borders on athletic jihad on the rest of the planet.
Host Germany takes on Costa Rica in the tournament’s opening match (10 a.m. Friday, ESPN2 and KCEC-Channel 50). The U.S. team doesn’t play its first match until Monday, against the Czech Republic (10 a.m., ESPN2 and Channel 50), with Dave O’Brien and Marcelo Balboa making the call.
Other U.S. pairings are against Italy (12:30 p.m. June 17, ABC, ABC HD) and Ghana (10 a.m. June 22, ESPN, ESPN HD).
Because of the time difference, all 64 matches shown live on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will air during the day.
XM Satellite Radio broadcasts every matchup in English (Channel 148) and Spanish (Channel 147), and “World Cup This Morning,” a wrap-up, at 4 a.m. weekdays on Channel 148.
By the way, bet the ranch on Brazil.
Meanwhile, the NBA Finals begin tonight with Miami at Dallas (7 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7).
Want a prediction? Check out this out-on-a-limb pick from television analyst Hubie Brown: “I think it’s a toss-up. The Dallas Mavericks have proven they can win big games on the road. Miami is playing their best basketball of the season.”
At last, hockey’s Stanley Cup is on a channel that isn’t OLN. Carolina and Edmonton meet in Game 3 of the Cup finals (6 p.m. Saturday, KUSA-Channel 9) with the Oilers in precarious shape after losing their starting goalie in Game 1.
NASCAR buried
A puzzler from a fan who can’t figure out why NASCAR’s Saturday night races suddenly switch to Spanish on his radio.
The answer: They don’t. According to Ron Nickell of KRCN 1060-AM, which carries the races, the station powers down at sunset, and when nearby KMXA 1090-AM, which is also supposed to cut power, doesn’t, the latter’s signal overwhelms KRCN in some parts of the metro area. The station has complained to authorities.
Around the dial
In case you were keeping score (or even if you weren’t): The AFC Championship game matching Denver and Pittsburgh had more TV viewers than the “American Idol” finale, 39 million to 36.4 million. … “Cheap Seats,” the weird and wonderful send-up of sports highlights shows, hosted by the brothers Sklar, back for a fourth season (9:30 p.m. Mondays, ESPN Classic). … Sirius Satellite Radio carrying every game of the NBA (Channel 120) and NHL finals (Channels 125 and 123). … Quotable: “First and foremost, the World Cup should be a festival of football.” Franz Beckenbauer
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
