TVSquad

Are you like me and you really enjoy the two weeks of U.S. Open coverage that USA Network has every year at this time? Well, don't get too used to it, because after tonight's match (Roddick vs. Djokovic!), the USA Network will no longer carry the annual tournament.

This probably isn't a shock to regular tennis fans, but USA's contract for the U.S. Open is up this year, after 25 years of carrying the two week tournament. Of course, TV fans don't have to worry, because ESPN and The Tennis Channel that will start airing the tournament next summer. I just hope that most of the coverage is on ESPN and ESPN2 because, well, I don't have The Tennis Channel.

Anyone catch the live broadcast of Costas NOW last night? I was lucky enough to get a few tickets and went to the live taping in Manhattan with my girlfriend. And I really do mean lucky. Not only did we get seated in the front row, but we were seated right in front of all the panelists. Everyone. Joe Buck, Cris Carter, Mitch Albom, Mike Tirico, Michael Wilbon, John McEnroe... the list goes on. And of course, Bob Costas was only a few feet in front of us on stage. For a sports and TV fanatic, it was very impressive. So why am I writing about it? The town hall format of the show covered a lot of hot topics in sports, but there were a couple segments that really stood out because they directly relate to what we're doing here at TV Squad -- blogging and athletes' (or in our case TV celebs, writers, and producers) reactions to the media.

If you really think about it, the U.S. Open tennis tournament is a weird television event. Everyone talks about the Super Bowl and it's massive coverage, but it's really amazing that a network actually gives up its entire schedule and devotes all day, every single day, for almost two weeks to a tennis tournament.

But that's what's happening starting today on USA at 11am. The network will have coverage all day until 5pm, then there's a break for dinner or to shower or to run errands or whatever. And then coverage starts up again at 7pm and runs til 11pm (or whenever matches are over). Nice! This continues for the next two weeks. CBS will have daytime coverage on the weekends, including the men's and women's finals.

If you need me for the next weeks, I'll be in front of my TV in my U.S. Open Underoos.

There are exactly two things I like about summer: tennis and baseball. The rest of it can go to hell (and considering the temps it usually feels that way).

Not just playing tennis, but watching it too. ESPN2 begins their daily coverage of Wimbledon this morning at 8am. The network will have 9 hours of coverage today and most days for the next two weeks (except the weekends, when NBC will have coverage during the day). You can follow the action at espn.com or the official Wimbledon site. They're using that Hawkeye system for the first time this year.

And no, that doesn't mean Alan Alda will be making line calls.

A lot of people have been asking what is to become of Day Break now that ABC has pulled it from the air. The word was that the remaining episodes were to be shown on the network's video site. If you were wondering why ABC hasn't made good on putting the new Day Break episodes up yet, TV Guide has an answer. But be warned, it's a pretty stupid one. According to an ABC rep, there are "unforeseen music clearance issues."

As John McEnroe would say, "You cannot be serious." I could understand the holdup with something like the WKRP DVD set because of music clearance issues. When Johnny and Venus were spinning records, nobody had dreamed of what the home video market would become. But given the fact that ABC has been putting a whole mess of their shows, including Day Break, online, how were these issues unforeseen? That's like your car breaking down because of unforeseen cars burn gas issues.

I have no idea what ABC is doing at this point. If the best they have to offer instead of Day Break is repeats of According to Jim and George Lopez, what's the point? The slight gain in ratings still landed them in fourth place, and isn't worth the ill will they are garnering from viewers.

There isn't an event I look forward to more than the U.S. Open (the tennis one, not the golf one). For two weeks, USA has over 10 hours of coverage each and every day, and it's like I'm in a wonderland. I'm glued to the set for two straight weeks, and there's nothing that can pull me away, not even getting a guy who likes to snort coke and make rude sexual remarks to women to host CBS' late night wrapup shows.

The Insider's Pat O'Brien will host CBS' 12:35am daily highlights show the second week of the Open. Ugh.

But whatever. One less thing to watch at 12:35 in the morning I guess. In other news, Diana Ross will sing at the opening night ceremonies, next Monday on USA. The night will include appearances by John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Venus Williams, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and they will rename the tennis center for veteran player Billie Jean King.

I'm not a sports fan, so I never cared much for John McEnroe the tennis player even if I knew enough about him based on his temper alone. He seemed like an odd choice to host his own talk show, but that's exactly what he did on CNBC in 2004 before the network pulled the plug. Why was the show cancelled? Well, there's a number of factors, all of which help to explain... okay, no one watched the show.