New Television Network to Focus on College Sports

A 24-hour television network focusing exclusively on college sports will debut April 7 on satellite television provider DirecTV.

College Sports Television will be the first network of its kind and will largely be dedicated to providing coverage for Olympic-related sports such as baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer and ice hockey. It will also broadcast selected college football and basketball games that do not fall under regional or national television deals with over-the-air and cable networks.

“This is a significant agreement because DirecTV will be our largest distributor, enabling us to deliver the best of the best in college sports to fans and alumni nationwide,” Brian Bedol, co-founder and president of CSTV, said Tuesday. The network will reach an estimated 11 million homes across the nation. No details were released on the length of the partnership.

Bedol said daily programming will be a combination of live events, studio-produced shows focusing on scores and highlights, and taped programming. The network has secured long-term agreements with 30 conferences, including the Big East, Big 12 and Big Ten.

Additionally, CSTV will be the home to all Notre Dame athletics other than football and men’s basketball, with live and classic events televised Sunday nights.

“Notre Dame is important in terms of it being a national university with 100,000 or so alumni,” network Executive Vice President Chris Bevilacqua said. “With its vast archive, it gives us great access to great quality programming.”

The network’s first program will be a college basketball review show right after the men’s national championship game.

At least eight college baseball games are on the initial schedule, including UCLA at Stanford on May 17 and at least one game in the Miami at Long Beach State series, May 22-24. The UCLA-Arizona softball game May 9 will be televised.

Other events include the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball final April 26 and the conference’s semifinals and final in women’s water polo May 11.

“A lot of these sports get no coverage at all,” Bedol said. “I would hope that over time, we would be a natural home for some of those championships as well as some of the early rounds in other sports.”

-- Eric Stephens

Tennis

Top-seeded and defending champion Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia lost to Paola Suarez of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the Sarasota (Fla.) Clay Court Classic.... This year’s French Open men’s winner will earn $915,180 and the women’s winner will earn $892,300. Total prize money will be $14.2 million.

Football

Denver Bronco receiver Ed McCaffrey, 34, is recovering from hernia surgery March 18 at Philadelphia and is expected to return to full workouts in eight to 12 weeks.

The NCAA has granted Utah running back Marty Johnson a two-year eligibility extension because of medical problems that have sidelined him much of the last two seasons.

Johnson has sat out all but three games because of rib and knee injuries since he joined the Utes in 2001.

Miscellany

Olympic gold medalist Diana Munz won the women’s 800 meters freestyle in the U.S National Spring Swimming Championships at Indianapolis.

Munz, 20, has 21 national titles, second-most among active swimmers behind Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, who has 25.

Thompson plans to compete in the 50 meters only. Munz has three more events -- the 200, 400 and 1,500 free. She’s seeded No. 1 in all of them except the 200, in which she ranks second to Lindsay Benj.

NASCAR said it made a mistake at Texas Motor Speedway when Matt Kenseth was allowed to keep the race lead even though Jeff Gordon had passed him under a caution flag Sunday.

Gordon passed Kenseth to retake the lead before they crossed the start-finish line.

Busch series driver Chad Blount was docked 25 points by NASCAR, Todd Braun lost 25 owner points and crew chief Patrick Donahue was fined $5,000 because the rear hubs in Blount’s car were improperly modified for a race Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears was named winner of the fourth annual Eagle One-Shav Glick Award.

The award, named partly in honor of the longtime Times motor racing writer, will be presented before the NASCAR Winston Cup Auto Club 500 on April 27 at California Speedway.

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T.J. Simers has the day off.