Monday’s Press Releases

I’ve received enough press releases on this Monday to warrant a full post. Sometimes, one press release can stand alone, but in this case, I’ll be more than happy to string a few together.

First, HBO will provide its exclusive replay of the Joe Calzaghe win over Roy Jones, Jr. this Saturday on World Championship Boxing.

HBO SPORTS PRESENTS THE EXCLUSIVE REPLAY

JOE CALZAGHE VS. ROY JONES JR.

SATURDAY, NOV. 15 ON HBO

It’s a special edition of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING when HBO Sports presents JOE CALZAGHE VS. ROY JONES JR., the exclusive replay of their highly anticipated light heavyweight showdown, this SATURDAY, NOV. 15 at 10:15 p.m. ET/ 7;15 P.M. PT on HBO. The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live event at Madison Square Garden in New York, will call all the action. The replay will be available in HDTV.

Carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View, the Nov. 8 fight featured the long awaited ring battle between two future Hall of Famers. Calzaghe turned in a stellar performance, winning a unanimous decision victory. The Calzaghe-Jones fight will be paired with the live HBO telecast of super middleweights as Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy meet in Nashville on Saturday night.

Next, CNN’s John King visits NBA TV tomorrow to demonstrate the Magic Wall technology to Ahmad Rashad. This has disaster written all over it.

MEDIA ADVISORY

CNN’s John King Visits NBA TV Studio on Tuesday for ‘TouchPass’ Demo

CNN correspondent John King to assist NBA TV host Ahmad Rashad with the basics of the touch-screen

CNN’s chief national correspondent John King, fresh off the campaign trail of the 2008 presidential election, will visit the NBA TV studio on Tues., Nov. 11, with a special assignment – teach NBA TV host Ahmad Rashad how to work the NBA TV TouchPass video screen. King, a distinguished journalist who has traveled the world covering both domestic and international stories including six presidential elections, is well known for his mastery of the CNN Multi-Touch wall which he used throughout the 2008 election season. On Tuesday, King will endeavor to impart his knowledge of touch-screen technology to Rashad who has struggled to learn the nuances of NBA TV’s TouchPass high-tech video screen. TouchPass is new to the NBA TV studio and provides a map for announcers to illustrate match-ups and storylines taking place throughout the county with a touch of the screen.

Also on Tuesday, NBA TV’s signature Fan Night, King and Rashad will also be joined by analysts Chris Webber and Gary Payton for NBA GameTime beginning at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the Pregame Show at 8 p.m. ET. The Fan Night matchup begins at 8:30 p.m. ET featuring the second Fan Night selection of the L.A. Lakers @ Dallas Mavericks. Rashad, Webber and Payton will provide studio commentary during halftime and the Postgame Show.

I mentioned this in the Monday links today, but ESPN has unveiled the
Beta version of the new ESPN 360 player.

ESPN360.com Launches Version 2.0 Beta

Sports Broadband TV Network Tips of Hoops Season with NBA, Euroleague and College Basketball

ESPN360.com, the signature broadband sports television network from ESPN, will launch a beta of the 2.0 version of its video player and homepage today. The updated player will feature a cleaner, simpler interface, updated video viewing modes and a number of new features, including: ESPN Conversations that allow fans watching a game to chat with others watching the same game; synchronized live statistics and data (only for select games/sports at first); more complete, sortable and accessible scheduling information; and remote access for fans who receive ESPN360.com via their home Internet service.

“ESPN360.com’s first full year as a live broadband TV network has been an amazing success,” said Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN360.com. “We streamed more than 3,000 live sports events – including some of the biggest events on the global sports scene – and with the release of our enhanced player and homepage the year ahead will be even better.”

ESPN360.com has seen enormous growth and success since its relaunch last September. In September 2008, the total hours spent viewing and unique viewers on ESPN360.com have grown nearly 400 percent (over Sept. 07).

Among the many new features of ESPN360.com version 2.0 are:

Community

• Conversations – Chat with other users watching the same game

Live Stats and Scores

• For select events, ESPN360.com will integrate ESPN Gamecast stats, synchronized to the live video and updated as you watch the game (shows game and team stats, current drive, stat leaders.

** will initially roll out for college football games only, with additional sports/events in weeks ahead.

• A complete scoreboard of up to date scores of other games.

Video Enhancements

• An enhanced “Compact” and “Large” modes feature collapsable Schedule, Game Info and Scoreboard panels;
• Enhanced “Mosaic” features five widescreen capable video screens (main video window and four thumbnails) and easier navigation;
• True Full Screen video capability;
• Improved Fast Forward and Rewind controls, including x2, x4, and x8 speeds.

Schedule Information

• Better organization of events, grouping and sorting by sport, league and date;

New Homepage

• New homepage at www.espn360.com will feature cleaner design, easier navigation and better organized content that allows easier access to schedules, benefits of the service and more;
• Sport-specific pages featuring schedules and information on current and coming events;
• Added advertising inventory and cleaner placement positions.

Finally, the Big Ten Network has a very short blurb on its Basketball Signing Day special this Wednesday.

Signing Day Special airs next Wednesday: The next class of Big Ten men’s basketball stars will be revealed on the Big Ten Network at 6 PM ET on Wednesday, Nov. 12, during Big Ten Tonight: Signing Day Special. Dave Revsine and Jim Jackson will discuss the incoming players and break down which university’s recruiting class will make the biggest impact in 2009-10. The two will be joined for the hour-long show by recruiting expert Dave Telep of Scout.com.

There you have it.