Courtside Post

by A.J. Puzzo

“Right now the NCAA is building over 400,000 future professionals, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports.”

Yes, we’ve all seen the NCAA’s latest TV spot run during this year’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. And yes, we all understand the purpose of the ad. But what about those gifted NCAA athletes that do go pro in the sport of their expertise? What about the ones that roll the dice on a dream that more than likely will die by age 30? Are they doomed to burn their peak earning years as foolish kids in their early twenties?

By Carson Tigges

A soft opening, a sneak peak, a glimpse of the future – whatever you call it, Target Field is now officially a baseball facility.

The brand new home to the Minnesota Twins was finally used for its main purpose Saturday, hosting its first ever baseball game – a contest between the University of Minnesota and Louisiana Tech.

The Twins opened the doors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a total of 37,757 fans paying $2 a head to get their first look at the Twins’ new digs.

by Spencer Loomis

Clearly the press has been anything but positive for Tiger Woods since his Thanksgiving debacle but the old adage seems to be proving true: any publicity is good publicity.

Golfsmith, the nation’s largest golf retailer, has reported that sales of Tiger Woods brand apparel through Nike are up 8% in the last five months compared with the same five month period from a year ago. From October 1st, 2009 through March 13th, 2010 Golfsmith sold 9,564 TW brand items; up from 8,855 from the same dates the previous year.

Check out this video of Erin Andrews doing the foxtrot with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, whom she has denied having a romantic relationship with. So far, the couple has earned a score of 44 through two rounds. Only two groups have higher totals then them.

By Carson Tigges

So who is Mikhail Prokhorov?

In short, the Russian billionaire is a self-made entrepreneur climbing all the way to No. 40 on Forbes’ list of the richest men in the world. Prokhorov built his fortune – estimated anywhere between $9.5-17 billion – as a leading industrialist in Russia’s precious metal sector. He is the former owner of Norilsk Nickel and current chairman of Polyus Gold – Russia’s largest gold producer – and president of Onexim Group.

So why is his name in the sports section?

by Spencer Loomis

Erin Andrews has become ESPN’s most recognizable female face during the last six years with her popularity being bolstered by her current appearance on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and the scandal surrounding peephole camera footage of Andrews nude in her hotel room that made its way on to the internet. Well the relationship between Andrews and ESPN’s parent company ABC/Disney could be coming to an end shortly following her stint on the popular celebrity dance series.

by Spencer Loomis

Direct TV and ESPN are already the leaders in the sports programming industry. Together the companies are set to launch the first ever 3D sports network this June. ESPN 3D will feature at least 85 live sporting events during its first year beginning with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The channel will air up to 25 live World Cup matches like fans have never seen before kicking off with a match between Mexico and host country South Africa on June 11.

by CSP Guest Contributor Andrew S. Rockoff

Ted Leonsis is not a politician and doesn’t have anything to do with public policies, our health care situation or even education, but he is on his way to becoming one of the most powerful men in Washington DC. Is it good or bad for any single sports market to be owned by one man, especially in a city like DC?

by Emmett Jones

ESPN is taking the long-standing success, Monday Night Football, and is moving it across the pond; programming wise, at least. Monday Night Football will debut on ESPN UK on September 14th, at 1am GMT. The games will be televised live, with a re-show occurring the following day. Not surprisingly, ESPN and NFL big-wigs are pretty excited.

By Brittni Michaelis

Mikhail Prokhorov, the 44 year-old Russian billionaire and future New Jersey Nets owner, sat down last night for an interview with Steve Kroft and 60 minutes. The self proclaimed adrenaline junkie and sports addict flew Kroft to his home country of Russia and introduced him to the lifestyle that he is accustom to living.