WBGR examining problem> Wire feed error kept Bruins games off air

Even though most of them aren’t even aware he owes them an apology, James McLeod – owner and general manager of Bangor television station WBGR – wants to apologize to area Boston Bruins fans.

It seems WBGR had local TV rights to all of the games broadcast by Boston flagship station WSBK (Channel 38) this past season, but never aired a single one.

“We did have the rights up here, but we couldn’t get the feed ironed out,” McLeod explained. “It’s an issue of getting the signal here from a third party. By the time we got the whole thing worked out with WSBK, we were halfway through the season.”

McLeod said the main problem with getting the broadcast feed from the third party carrier was timing.

“On both sides, we didn’t allow ourselves enough time to get it ironed out and before we knew it, the season was over,” he said.

McLeod said WBGR plans to air Bruins games next season and will make sure the feed logistics are ironed out well before the start of the season in October.

`Pirate’ radio station

So why did the Portland Pirates switch radio stations once the AHL Calder Cup playoffs began?

Two days after the second-seeded Pirates were upset three games to one by the No. 3 Worcester Ice Cats in the first round of the playoffs it’s now a moot point, but the reason is simple. The Pirates’ flagship station – WZAN (970 AM) in Portland – is also the Portland Sea Dogs flagship station. So once the Sea Dogs’ season began last week, Pirates games were moved to WZAN sister station WGAN (560 AM).

“That actually works out better for us since WGAN has a greater listening area,” said Greg Post, director of communications. “We’ve had this arrangement for the last four years.”

Lacrosse pros on ESPN

ESPN2 will give Major League Lacrosse – a new professional lacrosse league – a visibility boost by broadcasting the second game of the MLL’s Summer Showcase on July 17.

ESPN2 will air the July 15 game from Philadelphia’s Villanova Stadium on a delayed basis at 1 p.m. two days later. The showcase is an all-star tour featuring 40 of the world’s top lacrosse players which will be stopping in prospective MLL cities such as Boston, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., this summer. The tour will run from July through August with games primarily on Friday and Saturday nights.

The league itself, founded by former Cortland State lacrosse player Jake Steinfeld (yes, the “Body by Jake” Jake Steinfeld), is scheduled to debut in 2001.

Are you ready for some football?

If you can’t quite make it until September for your football fix, Fox Sports Net New England is airing NFL Europe games from April through June each Saturday at 1 p.m.

The 11 telecasts began Saturday and run through the World Bowl on Sunday, June 25. As a complement to its game of the week schedule, FSNNE will air a weekly highlights show from each of the league games during halftime.

If that’s not enough, cable and satellite TV viewers can also catch Arena Football League games on The Nashville Network each Thursday (or Friday) night through July 20. Tonight’s game is Grand Rapids at Milwaukee at 8 p.m. The matchup on July 13 has some local flavor as the New England Sea Wolves host Arizona at the Hartford Civic Center. The only non-Thursday telecasts are Friday, June 16, and Friday, July 7. All broadcasts start at 8 p.m.