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Who knows TV better than us? As America's largest online DISH Network dealer, we've got the inside dirt on the channels, shows, and events that keep you tuned in.
 Living in New York, you learn that everything is possible and none of it should be surprising. 1977, especially, was one of those wild and crazy years that New Yorkers learned to expect the worst. From blackouts and riots, to colossal heat waves, it seemed like it couldn’t get worse for the city. It did, if you added a drawn-out bitter race for the Mayor’s office between the political heavyweights, Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch. To top it all off, the city was introduced to one of the most prolific serial killers in history, David Berkowitz. Berkowitz, better known as Son of Sam, claimed he took his instructions from a barking dog when he stalked young woman at night, with his weapon of choice in hand. By the time the police was led to Berkowitz, 13 people had been shot, six killed, and his only response, “What took you so long?” This recipe for mayhem even stretched out onto the New York Yankees baseball field, or as it was known then, the Bronx zoo.
Mirroring the city, the Yankees were in turmoil. They began the year in one of the most disappointing fashions. Not only were they fighting to stay out of last place, but they exposed themselves to a daily dose of media coverage highlighting the tug of war between the three biggest egos and the strongest wills to ever wear the famous pinstripes. It was a season long soap opera between the owner George Steinbrenner, Manager Billy Martin, and their superstar outfielder Reggie Jackson.
When Reggie Jackson was traded to the Yankees, no one but Steinbrenner was satisfied. Martin didn’t feel Jackson quite fit the team’s mold, and felt snubbed when the Boss took him in anyway. Reigning MVP, Thurman Munson, as well as against the trade because he was promised he would always be the highest paid Yankee. And so the three-ring circus began, as Jackson not only added an outsized contract, and an even bigger ego, but added enough skill to take the limping Yankees to the World Series.
Inspired by the best-selling novel written by Jonathon Mahler, ESPN takes this drama, set to the background of NYC mayhem, and puts on the big screen. The Bronx is Burning, in an 8-episode mini-series, captures every details of the fiery 1977 Yankees season. Catch the latest episode every Tuesday at 10pm. (Don’t worry, if you missed the first few episodes, ESPN has weekly reruns.) (Channel 140/Available in Americas Top 100 and higher) The mini-series is just as seducing as the characters, as the superb acting mixed with an interesting non-fiction storyline, is enough to stimulate anyone, even if you’re not a big baseball fan.
While the Bronx is Burning takes you back in time, witness how players this sensational season are writing history. For instance, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke the home run record, surpassing legend Hank Aaron, with over 755 home runs. Mr. Hotshot himself, Alex Rodriguez of the infamous New York Yankees, as well became the youngest player thus far (a few days older than 32) to hit 500 home runs. At the rate he’s going, he will without a doubt knockdown Bonds to the snatch the Home Run King title. To add to this season’s baseball milestones, Tom Glavine of the New York Mets, won his 300th game as a pitcher. Not only have a handful of left-handed pitchers been able to accomplish this outstanding achievement, but it seems that Glavine might be the last to this for many years.
The Yankees, as well, can’t seem to get out of the spotlight as they made the most impressing jump to the top. They began the season losing game after game, reaching rock bottom. Distraught fans watched as their team lagged behind 13 games behind the Red Sox, looking as if they will never make the playoffs. Now the men in pinstripes crawled their way back to the top, inching closer and closer to making the playoffs.
You can catch all this excitement on ESPN or Dish Network's special programming in MLB Extra Innings – all the action your home stations don’t cover and up to 60 regular-season games per week!
Baseball season may be in high swing, but if you’re tired of watching the Yankees get slaughtered game after game, then you need to save yourself the heartache and find another sport to watch. (YES Network Channel /Available in America’s Top 100 and higher) I suggest Cricket, which is the 3rd most televised sport and is played in 220 countries, is actually a bit like baseball. Teams bat in consecutive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team in the infield, attempt to dismiss the run and bring an end to the batting team's innings. Instead of a pitcher, there’s a bowler who runs and then throws the ball towards the batsman who will try to hit it.
You’re in luck, because the new season of Cricket has just arrived, as it precedes the Cricket World Cup 2007 that was played just a few months ago. In fact, it seems that even the Yankees could learn a thing or two from the World Cup match, especially from the Indian Cricket team. You see the Indian team and the Yankees have quite a few things in common. For one, the Indian team is one of the highest paid national sports team in the world, much like how the Yankees are the highest paid baseball team. Just like the Yankees have made it to the World Series continuously, the Indian team, as well, have been in their fair share of World Cup matches.
Unfortunately, the Indian team is still licking their wounds from their terrible loss in this year’s World Cup. The Indian team, hit rock bottom, when they lost to Bangladesh in the opening game of the Cricket World Cup. The Bangali Tigers, who are rather a mediocre team, played far more superior to their Indian counterparts. The damage was done, as the loss proved to be a major setback. Critics were slamming their performance left and right, and their fans were losing hope.
The new season of Cricket opened with 3 One-day Internationals and two test matches between India vs. Bangladesh. The trip across the border to Bangladesh was essential in getting the team back on track and to regain some confidence. While Indian fans had only revenge in mind, the Indian team was desperately looking to redeem themselves. Climbing back from the bottom, India, with a little luck, won the Test Series 1-0 and the one-day series 2-0. The man of the hour had to be batsman, Dinesh Kartik, who I’m sure was feeling a little love struck, having just gotten married to his childhood sweetheart days before the test match. His outstanding performance had given the Indian team the lead, and he was even announced Man of the Match.
So what can the disillusioned Yankees learn from the Indian Cricket team? Well one, they need a lot of luck to get them out of their second to last place standing. Perhaps A-Rod needs real love, not like the one he gets from his "lady friend", to get him playing back to normal. Finally the Yanks might have their fair share of critics but the ball game isn’t over and they have time to get their confidence back and their winning streak in gear.
Want to watch replays of the India vs. Bangladesh match and the rest of the season’s edge-of-your-seat live games? Then order it now on Dish Network’s Pay-Per-View (Channel 457/471).
Tennis isn’t purely a game about the mechanics of serving or hitting the ball to an opponent. Rather, it’s a twisted mind game – a battle of wits, where the key to success is the ability to read and exploit a rival’s mental weakness. We see the epitome of this strategy in the classic match between the world’s No. 1 Roger Federer against the world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in finals of Masters Series Event in Hamburg, Germany. This was the sixth meeting between the two on clay with Nadal winning the previous five matches. My money was placed on Nadal, who came into the finals in Hamburg riding an astonishing 81 match win streak on clay that dates back to April 2005, including winning 13 titles.
Hamburg proved to be a different story. Roger Federer came out on top with an absolute dominating performance as he beat Nadal 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Federer knew if he wanted to win he had to play with a different formula against the world’s No. 2. He controlled the match by dictating play and by focusing on penetrating his heavy ground strokes deep towards the middle of the court and finishing off the points at net either with a volley or forcing Nadal to come up with a passing shot.
In a prior engagement between the two, Federer tried to beat Nadal with angles and force Nadal out wide, which didn’t work due Nadal’s great speed and defensive play. Changing the strategy and playing the ball deep towards the middle, handcuffed Nadal and forced him to play on his heels most of the night due to his long looping strokes. It was the controlling nature that put Federer on top in Hamburg starting with his serves. Roger put in an impressive 74 percent of his first serves during the second set which turned the match around, which allowed Federer to grab a crucial shift of the momentum in the match. Federer stole the match and every ounce of momentum that was left in the third set, by using an overall attacking and blistering approach. In the first point Federer made to great sliding volleys with the second one going past Nadal to take 15-0 lead. On the next point Federer snapped a blazing forehand in the opposite corner off of Nadal’s return of serve, and at 30-15 kicked a second serve out wide which took any remaining wind the Spaniard had in sail. Once Federer took at 3-0 lead in the third set it was clear Federer was in control, and it was smooth sailing after that as he took the final set 6-0, and finally got a much needed win on clay against Nadal.
Federer’s win over Nadal in Hamburg set up an interesting story and perhaps a rematch of last year’s Final at the French Open, which starts next week. It will be interesting to see how Rafael Nadal responds at Roland Garros after his recent loss, where he has been champion for the past two years. One would wonder if Nadal would come even stronger with a week of rest and not having the winning streak hanging over his head. On the other side of the story, Federer is coming to the French Open with a much-needed win on clay, where he has been struggling all year long. The confidence boost for Federer might be what he needs to put him over the top this year and finally win the only major that has eluded him thus far. The stage is set for another potential match up between the world no. 1 and world no. 2 in the finals on the major stage of Roland Garros, which can be seen on the Tennis Channel (DISH channel 400). The Tennis Channel provided by DISH Network airs all the tournaments for both the men’s and women’s tennis tours, Davis Cup matches from around the globe. Moreover, the channel airs everything about tennis from classic matches from years past to instructional videos to improve your game, a must have for all tennis fans.
With the start of the baseball season comes a flood of predictions for the World Series hopefuls. Of course we can analyze every player’s stat and every team’s budget, but at the end, the season always shells out a few surprises. The Yankees are a perfect example. Clearly they were everyone’s pick as contenders for the Championship. An all star line up and the biggest budget in baseball, Steinbrenner’s Yankees had the perfect formula for success, right? Sure until possibly their egos were so big that they failed to realize they were losing game after game, falling last place in the American League East Division.
With such a crippling start of the season, it must have become routine for Yankee fans to sit on the edge of their seats mumbling prayers under their breath for a miracle. On Sunday afternoon, their prayers were answered. During the 7th inning stretch in the game between the Yankees and Mariners, pitcher Roger Clemens announced to the thousands in Yankee Stadium and the millions watching at home, that he was coming back to the Bronx; making it the second time that Clemens wears the famous pinstripes. People in the stadium, along with everyone else watching on the YES network, must have been absolutely flabbergasted when the announcement was made. With Joe Torre on the hot seat and George Steinbrenner sweating bullets during each game, we all expected this mega-million team would pull something big to save themselves and their image. This miracle cost them a mere $28 million.
The Yankees eventually beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0, but how much of an impact will the Rocket have on the pin-striped Yankees? Given, the Yankees haven’t lived up to their full potential yet. Many excuses including lack of healthy pitching can be attributed to the early struggles. But putting the past behind us, the question remains, can a 44 year-old former all-star find the magic to help lead this team back to the playoffs and win another championship? I have my doubts. They obviously have a frightening offense that instills fear in any opposing pitcher. But so far, none of their starting pitchers have stayed healthy, which is a big reason why they have a 16-17 record. So can the Yankees rely on a 44 year-old to remain healthy from now until October? It’s a very tough call to make, but the Yankees are certainly gambling with their team’s future. Shelling out $28 million, while having their fingers crossed, they can only hope that the Rocket leads them to the World Series one more time.
Clemens is without a doubt a great player, but then again the stats tell a slight different story. Even though on the Houston Astros last season, he had 102 strikeouts in 113 innings, he also had a mediocre 7-6 record. When he was on the Yankees he had a very disappointing 4.35 Earned Run Average. The last time he made the playoffs with Houston, he injured himself in a pivotal Game 2 and gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and lost the game. So, even though it’s a Rocket Re-Launch, it’s a possibility that the gas tank maybe running on low.
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