Thursday night Hokies

Hokie fans get to start the weekend early the next two weeks.
Virginia Tech hosts North Carolina on ESPN Thursday Night football, and next week visits East Carolina on Thursday. Which means plenty of time to see what other teams are up to on Saturday.
ABC features USC and Texas again in prime time - Texas at Oklahoma State and USC at Oregon. In the late afternoon time slots, ACC country will see Miami at Wake Forest. Other choices are Michigan visiting Illinois, Kansas at Texas Tech and California at Arizona State.
Notre Dame goes prime time for its meeting with Washington on NBC. In the SEC, it's the big Georgia-Florida game from Jacksonsville.
ESPN offers undefeated Iowa hosting Indiana at noon, followed by Northwestern-Penn State with South Carolina-Tennessee in prime time. ESPN2 has Purdue at Wisconsin at noon, and ACC country gets Michigan-Illinois from the ABC offerings.
West Virginia teams get ESPN airtime in unusual time slots this weekend. The Mountaineers visit South Florida Friday, while Marshall takes on Central Friday Sunday night.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Comcast has Missouri visiting Colorado at 1:30 p.m. Versus features Nebraska visiting Baylor at noon, followed by UNLV visiting undefeated TCU.
MASN's afternoon kicks off with Rutgers facing Connecticut, followed by Presbyterian at Liberty. (Yes, the Blue Hose vs. the Flames). They pick up Louisiana Tech at Idaho when that contest concludes.
Trick-or-treating and the World Series go together, right? The Phillies host the Yankees in Game 3 Saturday night, with the series continuing through November 5 if necessary. Then it's only three months or so until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
The Phillies' presence in the playoffs made the day for FOX football. Their doubleheader features the Giants at Eagles early, moved from 4:15 p.m. to make room for baseball. The NFL then moved Brett Favre's return to Green Bay into the second slot to show to most of the country. (Carolina-Arizona only goes to Arizona and the Carolinas).
CBS has the undefeated Broncos at Ravens. NBC takes off Sunday night for the World Series, while ESPN has the Saints hosting the Falcons Monday night.
NASCAR's Chase for the Cup heats up with a trip to Talladega Sunday on ABC.
ESPN's Friday Night NBA doubleheader features the Bulls taking on the Celtics early, followed by the Mavericks at Lakers. TNT's Thursday doubleheader is Spurs at Bulls followed by Denver at Portland.
The Wizards are in Atlanta Friday on Comcast, then have New Jersey Saturday for their home opener.
The Capitals visit Atlanta Thursday, host the Islanders Friday and Columbus Sunday afternoon.
The MLS playoffs have begun, and ESPN2 shows Houston at Seattle Thursday at 10 p.m. In case the Hokies, the NBA or Game 2 of the World Series don't catch your interest.

NFL across the pond

We're trying to excite Europe about American football. And we send the winless Buccaneers over there?
The troubles of NFL scheduling Sunday's game in London features the New England Patriots (good choice) against the Bucs (9-3 at one point last year, now 0-10 since) on CBS. Sorry, Brits, but we tried our best.
It's a rough football weekend locally. The Ravens have a bye, the Redskins play Monday night against the Eagles and the Hokies are off.
FOX has the doubleheader this weekend, and Fishersville viewers should get Vikings at Steelers early and Falcons at Cowboys late. NBC's Sunday night game matches the Cardinals and Giants.
ESPN starts the college football weekend in North Carolina, with the Tar Heels hosting Florida State. Rutgers faces Army on ESPN2 Friday.
Saturday, Notre Dame hosts Boston College on NBC. The Eagles won big at home after losing big at Virginia Tech the prior week. Which team will show up against the Fighting Irish?
Tennessee visits Alabama for CBS' game of the week. Wonder how this week's referees will do?
ABC's late afternoon contests include Clemson at Miami, Penn State-Michigan, Oklahoma at No. 25 Kansas and Oregon-Washington. In primetime, the choices are Texas at Missouri and Oregon State-USC.
The day on ESPN starts with Minnesota facing Ohio State and offers Florida-Mississippi State in primetime. ESPN2 has Illinois-Purdue at noon and Auburn-LSU at 7:30 p.m.
The ACC game of the week features your league-leading Virginia Cavaliers (didn't think I'd be writing that this year) hosting Georgia Tech. Virginia has not lost a conference game. Everyone else has. Unbelievable.
Versus has a tripleheader, starting with Oklahoma State at Baylor at noon. Air Force faces Utah at 4, then TCU meets BYU.
MASN has South Florida visiting Pittsburgh at noon, followed by Coastal Carolina at Stony Brook. Comcast has James Madison at William & Mary at noon, and joins Arizona State at Stanford at the conclusion of the ice hockey and soccer games.
The countdown to the World Series continues with Game 5 of the American League series Thursday on FOX. The Phillies await the winner for the World Series, starting Wednesday on FOX.
Over on four wheels, NASCAR hits the short track at Martinsville Sunday at 1 p.m.
The NBA season starts Tuesday, with the Wizards visiting Dallas on Comcast Sportsnet. TNT has a doubleheader that night, with the Celtics at Cleveland at 7:30 p.m. followed by the Lakers vs. Clippers.
The Capitals hit the road for games vs. Atlanta Thursday and the New York Islanders Saturday. They'll be on Versus Tuesday, hosting Philadelphia.
The MLS has two games on ESPN2 as its' regular season concludes - Chivas USA at Chicago Thursday and New England at Columbus Sunday.

Baseball's Final Four

At least it's not Yankees-Red Sox again.
The American League championship series starts Friday on FOX, and there's a chance the winner won't be from the AL East. But the Yankees do have home-field advantage over the Angels.
Games 1 and 2 will be Friday and Saturday in New York.
Over in the National League, the Dodgers host the Phillies Thursday and Friday on TBS. The series shifts to Philadelphia Sunday for three games.
If we're lucky, we'll have our World Series pairing by next Thursday.
Washington football fans aren't lucky this weekend. The Redskins host the winless Chiefs at 1 p.m., so CBS covers that game. FOX won't show a 1 p.m. game against that, so instead it's the Eagles at 1-4 Oakland. Double yuck. The second game on CBS is Buffalo at the Jets, unless you want to watch the winless Titans at New England.
While watching these luckless teams, remember most of the FOX world will be watching the battle of unbeaten teams - Giants at Saints (including Fishersville, thankfully). CBS gives widespread coverage to the Ravens at Brett Favre's latest team.
NBC's Sunday night game features the Bears at Falcons, while the unbeaten Broncos visit San Diego on Monday night.
It's a big rivalry weekend in college football. Southern Cal visits Notre Dame, with NBC providing coverage, while the Red River rivalry of Texas and Oklahoma goes on at noon on ABC. The late afternoon ABC choices are California at UCLA, Texas Tech at Nebraska and Minnesota visiting Penn State and Boston College-N.C. State for the ACC zone.
CBS offers Arkansas at top-ranked Florida.
ESPN starts the weekend Thursday with Cincinnati at South Florida, then has more Big East action Friday with Pittsburgh at Rutgers.
Saturday, it's Iowa at Wisconsin at noon and South Carolina taking on Alabama in prime time.
ESPN2 has the Hokies at Georgia Tech at 6 p.m., followed by Missouri at Oklahoma State. At noon, it's Northwestern at Michigan State.
Wake Forest against Clemson is the ACC game of the week Saturday at noon.
Versus has a tripleheader starting at 12:30 p.m. - Princeton at Brown, followed by Colorado State vs. TCU and Stanford at Arizona. Comcast offers a CAA contest between Richmond at Maine, then joins the Washington-Arizona State game after Capitals ice hockey.
MASN gives you more Big East, with Louisville facing Connecticut. Then it's off to C-USA, with Rice at East Carolina at 3:30 p.m., followed by Navy's visit to SMU at 8 p.m.
NASCAR races on Saturday night this weekend, with ABC covering the Charlotte race.
The Capitals have two home games this week - Thursday vs. San Jose and Saturday vs. Nashville - on Comcast SportsNet. Versus has the ice hockey coverage Monday and Tuesday, with Sharks at Rangers followed by Blues at Penguins.

A new football league

Who says there's too much football on TV?
Not the founders of the United Football League, who have four teams and a contract to show games on Versus. The first contest comes Thursday with the California Redwoods facing the Las Vegas Locomotives.
The head coaches you'll recognize - Jim Fassel and Dennis Green - from NFL gigs and Coors Lite commercials. Maybe a few players, if you're intense fantasy players.
Instead, you can watch college football on ESPN. Nebraska opens its Big 12 season at Missouri Thursday. Friday, it's Louisiana Tech at Nevada.
Saturday night, you have two college games to choose from. CBS offers top-ranked Florida against No. 4 LSU (don't celebrate too much) while ABC has Michigan visiting Iowa.
The late afternoon time slots have Alabama at Mississippi on CBS, and four choices on ABC - Connecticut at Pittsburgh, Baylor at Oklahoma, Oregon at UCLA and Wisconsin at Ohio State. Ohio State will be shown in most of Virginia, but if I visit my in-laws I'll be treated to Pittsburgh.
Saturday on ESPN starts with Auburn at Arkansas, and Colorado takes on Texas in prime time. ESPN2 has Purdue at Minnesota at noon and Georgia Tech at Florida State at 8 p.m.
Virginia Tech's homecoming game vs. Boston College gets to be the ACC game of the week.
Now that baseball is done, MASN has a football doubleheader - West Virginia vs. Syracuse from the Big East at noon and East Carolina at SMU at 8 p.m. ComcastSportsnet comes close to town, televising Richmond at JMU.
On Versus, Iowa State takes on Kansas at noon.
The Redskins again face a winless team Sunday, traveling to Carolina on FOX. Locally, CBS will offer Cincinnati at Baltimore early and New England at undefeated Denver late.
Monday Night Football visits Miami again as the Jets take on the Dolphins, while NBC's Sunday game features 4-0 Indy at 0-4 Tennessee. Not what they expected when they made the schedule.
TBS has all four playoff series filling its schedule this weekend. You have two games Friday and Saturday, starting at 6 p.m., and either two, three or four games Sunday. Then the leagues alternate nights playing through Wednesday.
NASCAR continues its Chase for the Cup, this week at California Sunday on ABC.
Versus offers ice hockey Monday and Tuesday nights, and this week it's Calgary at Chicago followed by Detroit at Buffalo. The Capitals are on Comcast for home games against the Rangers Thursday and the Devils Monday, along with Saturday's visit to Detroit.
NBC shows the President's Cup - the Ryder Cup's little brother - all weekend.

Time for baseball postseason

I got out of the newspaper business before baseball added the third round to the postseason. Boy, was I glad.
From 1988 to 1993, every October meant waiting for the baseball game to end. Our press deadline was supposed to be 11:30 p.m., but deadlines meant nothing to baseball. Rarely was the 8 p.m. game done with time to spare.
The press room and mailroom guys who come upstairs and join us in the editor's office, where the TV was turned to the game. The ninth inning almost always seemed to last forever. Another sports guy was a Pirates' fan, and 1992 really killed him. I still remember his reaction when Sid Bream rolled around the bases to win Game 7 of that year's National League series.
TBS now does the first round, so newspapers can breath easier on deadlines. The first two days have games at 2:30, 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. You get two games on the sports page and mark the other one late. And you can relax and go home.
Instead of all Yankees at 8 p.m., this year it's Yankees at 6 p.m.
The Rockies visit the Phillies for afternoon games Wednesday and Thursday, while the Cardinals at Dodgers close out the first night and get the 6 p.m. game Thursday. The Yankees picked starting their series on Wednesday, giving the Twins very little time to recover from Tuesday's extra-inning win in the division-deciding game.
The Red Sox and Angels play the late games Thursday and Friday.
Game 3 of the National League series are Saturday, and schedules Sunday through next Wednesday depend on how the series go.

Hockey's back

Drop the puck on the ice hockey season.
Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals open play Thursday against Boston, the first game in Versus' opening night doubleheader. San Jose at Colorado is the nightcap, and there's two more games Friday afternoon - Florida vs. Chicago at noon and Detroit/St. Louis at 3.
ComcastSportsnet has the Capitals home opener Saturday vs. the Maple Leafs.
The start of ice hockey means baseball's regular season is done. So this weekend is your last chance to catch the Nationals (at the Braves on MASN) Orioles (vs. Blue Jays on MASN2).
FOX picked up Saturday's Nationals-Braves game for its coverage, hoping Atlanta stays in the wild-card race - not very likely Thursday afternoon. The Royals at Twins and Phillies hosting the Marlins have also been selected for the time slot.
ESPN will show the White Sox taking on the Central-Division leading Tigers Friday, and TBS has the Dodgers-Rockies on the slate for Sunday.
The most anticipated NFL game of the early season comes Monday night, when Brett Favre and the Vikings host the Packers. NBC has a rematch of the AFC championship, with the Chargers in Pittsburgh Sunday night.
Sunday afternoon's schedule for Fishersville has the Ravens visiting the Patriots for their Weekend in New England. FOX has the doubleheader, with the Buccaneers at Redskins early and Cowboys at Broncos late.
For those who want to watch Virginia en route to its possible 0-12 season, the Cavaliers' game with North Carolina will be the ACC game of the week.
ESPN kicks off the football weekend Thursday when Colorado visits West Virginia. Friday there's Big East action, as Louisville hosts Pittsburgh.
Saturday's play begins with Wisconsin meeting Minnesota at noon, and the primetime game features Auburn at Tennessee. ESPN2 offers Arkansas State at Iowa at noon and Texas A&M vs. Arkansas at night.
ABC's prime time game offers USC at California, scheduled before Oregon slammed the Bears around last Saturday, and Oklahoma at the Miami Hurricanes. In its afternoon slot, ACC country will get Florida State at Boston College. Other areas of the country get Penn State at Illinois or UCLA taking on Stanford.
NBC has Notre Dame hosting Washington, while CBS brings you LSU at Georgia.
MASN jumps into the college football scene with a doubleheader - South Florida at Syracuse at noon, followed by Liberty hosting West Virginia Wesleyan.
Versus starts the day in the Ivy League with Penn at Dartmouth at noon. William & Mary vs. Villanova follows, with Oregon State visiting Arizona State at 6:30 p.m.
ComcastSportsnet has Alabama at Kentucky at noon, followed by New Hampshire facing Towson.
NASCAR makes its lone visit to Kansas Sunday at 1 p.m. on ABC.
The MLS regular season is drawing to a close, and Friday Chicago visits Los Angeles on ESPN2.
The WNBA Finals continue Thursday in Phoenix, with Game 3 set for Indiana Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.