The Boston Bruins are on home ice, and looking to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Finals tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. The historical track record of Finals suggests that while Game 3 per se doesn’t mean a whole lot, coming from 3-1 down hasn’t happened since 1942, at least not in the championship round. Expect a lot of urgency from Chicago tonight, as Game 4 from Boston Garden keys Wednesday’s daily sports TV action, at 8 PM ET on NBC. TheSportsNotebook’s NHL analysis will be on hand tomorrow to sort it all out.
The legacy of LeBron James begins a two-part test tonight in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. If the Miami Heat lose tonight, and the San Antonio Spurs wrap up the NBA title in six games the blame in this series will be placed on LeBron’s shoulders. Unlike a lot of cases, where that blame is woefully misplaced and rooted in absurd expectations, there’s no denying that LeBron’s on-again, off-again play is the biggest reason his team has lost three of the first five games to the Spurs.
If the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals have been any indication, get ready for a long Monday night. The Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins hook up for Game 3 of the Finals, and the first two have seen a combined four overtime sessions. The series is tied at a game apiece, and tonight’s battle in Boston will begin at 8 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.
Those who aren’t into hockey have a nice set of options on Monday’s daily sports menu. You can catch the team with the best record in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals, as they host the Chicago Cubs at 7 PM ET on ESPN.
What a weekend of championship action across the sports spectrum is ahead. From hoops to hockey to golf to baseball. From the rains of Merion to the fields of Omaha, to the Riverwalk of San Antonio to the shores of Lake Michigan, the stakes are high. Okay, enough melodrama, let’s get to the weekend in daily sports TV action, going one time slot at a time…
SATURDAY EARLY: U.S. Open golf coverage is on NBC, starting at noon ET, and this will be all-day stuff on both Saturday and Sunday. By 3 PM ET, the College World Series starts up in Omaha, with Oregon State-Mississippi State on ESPN2. An hour later, and its major league baseball. MLB Network has split coverage of Red Sox-Orioles and Giants-Braves starting at 4 PM ET.
Friday has a pretty quiet schedule for TV daily sports. Unless, that is, you’re a golf-lover, and you can spend all day watching the second day of the U.S. Open on ESPN. Or, if you’re stuck at work, just make sure you don’t know the results and then tune into the same network at 8 PM ET for a “Best of the U.S. Open” feature.
