Articles by Ryan Berenz

About Ryan Berenz

Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.

2011 NCAA Tournament TV schedule

March 14, 2011 Ryan Berenz

College basketball fans get their first look at the revamped NCAA Tournament, which now features a 68-team field and a new “First Four” round of games, beginning Tuesday, March 15, in Dayton, Ohio, on truTV. Eight teams play March 15-16 for the right to advance to the Second Round (which was previously known as the First Round) March 17-18. Got that? As part of a new 14-year, $10.8 billion TV rights deal with CBS and Turner, CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV combine forces to provide full, live national TV coverage of every tournament game. The NCAA Tournament begins in earnest […]

ESPN’s Selection Sunday includes “The Fab Five” documentary

March 10, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz While CBS has the rights to air the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Selection Show that reveals the 68-team field for the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the ESPN networks won’t be outdone on Selection Sunday. Coverage begins on Sunday, March 13, at 11am ET on ESPN2 as they countdown the hours to selection time on College GameDay. Once CBS has gone off air at 7pm ET, ESPN will examine the brackets and preview the teams and matchups on Bracketology Presented by Staples. Following the tournament selection coverage, ESPN airs The Fab Five, a two-hour documentary on Michiganplayers Juwan Howard, […]

2011 NCAA Tournament selection show on CBS

March 10, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz It begins! The 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament starts with Selection Sunday, in which many learned men go into a room together and come out with the brand-new field of 68 teams. CBS will air the revelation of the brackets on Sunday, March 13, at 6pm ET, with the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show. (ESPN has plenty of its own Selection Sunday coverage.) Here are the programming details from CBS: CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS BEGIN “ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR” WITH “NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW” ON SUNDAY, MARCH 13 ON CBS CBS Sports Broadcasts Exclusive, […]

HBO presents “Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV” documentary March 12

March 9, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz The new HBO Sports documentary Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV, premiering Saturday, March 12, at 9:3pm ET, looks at the success and controversy of the UNLV men’s basketball team during head coach Jerry Tarkanian’s tenure from 1973-1992. Tarkanian led UNLV to the Final Four four times and won the 1990 NCAA championship. But Tarkanian spent much of his time as coach battling with the NCAA over recruiting violations. Here are full details and highlights from HBO: HBO SPORTS® DOCUMENTARY RUNNIN’ REBELS OF UNLV, THE STORY OF A COLLEGE BASKETBALL DYNASTY AND ITS CONTROVERSIAL COACH, JERRY TARKANIAN, DEBUTS MARCH […]

Sunday MLB on TBS early 2011 schedule

March 9, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz I usually forget that TBS airs Major League Baseball outside of October. TBS is back this season with its schedule of Sunday afternoon games beginning April 3 at 2pm ET with the Boston Red Sox at the Texas Rangers. For those tired of the constant media barrage of Yankees and Red Sox, TBS did you no favors. Six of the nine games announced involve either the Yanks or Sox, and the Phillies are on the schedule twice. I guess if you want to maximize viewers, Pirates vs. Marlins isn’t going to cut it. The TBS schedule through […]

2011 MLB Spring Training games on ESPN

March 2, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz ESPN’s 2011 coverage of Major League Baseball begins Thursday, March 3, at 1pm ET with the Spring Training game between the Detroit Tigers and the Atlanta Braves. The game features the debut of the new Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team of Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine. ESPN and ESPN2 combine to televise 10 Spring Training games in 2011 (click here for additional Spring Training games on MLB Network). Here’s the release and schedule from ESPN: ESPN’s New Sunday Night Baseball Team to Debut March 3 New Monday & Wednesday Night Baseball & ESPN Radio Squads […]

Cartoon Network presents the Hall of Game Awards Feb. 25

February 25, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz Cartoon Network’s first awards show, the Hall of Game Awards (Feb. 25 at 7pm ET), honors the best in sports as chosen by young fans in a few fun and kid-friendly categories. Skateboard legend Tony Hawk hosts the awards show, which also includes appearances from such pro athletes as Drew Brees, Shannon Brown, Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer, Arian Foster, Rick Fox, Zachary Gordon, A.J. Hawk, Dwight Howard, Terrell Owens, Venus Williams and Tiger Woods. NBA great Magic Johnson receives the first-ever “Gameblazer Award” lifetime achievement award. Also, First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on the telecast to […]

Where to watch the BNP Paribas Showdown tennis event

February 25, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz Tennis fans will get a treat on Monday, Feb. 28, as the BNP Paribas Shows exhibition tennis event takes place live at Madison Square Garden on ESPN.com and ESPN2. Two of the greatest rivalries in tennis will get relived as John McEnroe faces Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras takes on Andre Agassi. The event is part of “Tennis Night in America,” which grows youth participation in the sport of tennis. Here’s the complete release and details from ESPN: ESPN Networks to Present BNP Paribas Showdown Live Feb. 28 Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi live on ESPN2 & […]

Take back that Oscar!: The least deserving Academy Award winners

February 24, 2011 Ryan Berenz

There are some Oscar winners no one would dispute. The Godfather. Denzel Washington. Meryl Streep. Then there are others that make you scratch your head. And still others that make you want to take those envelopes and rip them into little pieces, then stomp them into the ground until they are all but forgotten. We’ve compiled some of our nominees for the most egregious offenders over the last two decades, with the hope that we won’t look back on this year’s Academy Awards (Feb. 27 on ABC) — and find more to add to the list: Best Supporting Actress: Kim […]

2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Daytona 500 airs Feb. 20 on FOX

February 18, 2011 Ryan Berenz

By Ryan Berenz The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicks off the 2011 season with its biggest race, the Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway, on Sunday, Feb. 20, on FOX. There are plenty of questions heading into the season: Will the sport’s TV ratings improve? Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually win a race? Will Jimmie Johnson take his dominance of the Sprint Cup to six straight titles? Questions start getting answers as Johnson, Earnhardt, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and other stock car stars fire up their engines at Daytona. Earnhardt won the pole position, […]