Busy weekend on tap for 2 local TV stations UM men, Super Bowl keep WVII, WFVX on toes

It’s going to be a busy sports weekend for Bangor television sister stations WVII (Channel 7) and WFVX (Ch. 22).

Black Bears basketball and the Super Bowl take center stage, but that’s in addition to professional golf and the National Basketball Association.

For the third straight season and sixth time in the last eight years, WVII will air America East basketball regular season games involving the University of Maine as well as postseason games (which station officials hope will involve Maine).

Sunday afternoon’s men’s game between Binghamton University and Maine at Alfond Arena in Orono will tip off the schedule at noon. Other live AE telecasts will follow, although the Northeastern at Maine women’s game on Feb. 15 will air on a tape-delay basis at 10 p.m. on Fox Network affiliate WFVX due to primetime network programming obligations. The game is scheduled to air live, however, at 7:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Net New England.

The action will shift to the playoffs in March as WVII will air both the AE men’s semifinals (at Vestal, N.Y.) on March 6 and the women’s championship game on March 12. WFVX will broadcast the AE women’s semifinals on March 11 from Hartford, Conn.

The games are produced by America East, which makes the broadcasts available to local and regional stations and networks. Bangor TV station WABI (Ch. 5) is also airing Maine basketball action in February with the men’s regular season finale against Vermont at Alfond Arena on Feb. 27.

As far as Super Bowl coverage goes, Fox’s pregame show kicks off at 2 p.m. – nearly 41/2 hours before the game’s scheduled 6:18 p.m. kickoff, also on Fox. If 2 p.m. is a little early for you to be ready for some football, you can always watch the L.A. Lakers-Houston Rockets game on WVII at 3:30 p.m.

Broadcast for the Sirius Pats fan

In addition to Westwood One’s radio network and local affiliates like Bangor’s WZON (620 AM), there’s another option for football fans who can’t get to a TV set Sunday night.

If you don’t mind paying out a few extra bucks, the Sirius satellite radio network is airing live Super Bowl coverage, and Patriots fans will be especially excited as they can listen to WBCN Patriots Rock Radio Network announcers Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti call all the action. Philadelphia fans can also listen to the game broadcast by the Eagles flagship station through Sirius, which requires a tuner that is plugged into your home or car’s audio systems and a monthly subscription to the service. It acts just like satellite TV service.

There’s also another way to listen to Gino and Gil besides living within a 100-mile radius of Foxborough, Mass. According to WBCN morning show host Bill Abbate, who was nice enough to e-mail this information along, all Super Bowl ticket holders will be given a radio with five different closed circuit settings: Westwood One, Fox Network’s TV feed, a Spanish broadcast, the WBCN feed, and the Philly flagship station feed. As cool as this is, it’s easily the most expensive option for those wishing to listen to longtime announcers Santos and Cappelletti.

OLN focuses on biathlon

The third season of the Biathlon World Cup on the Outdoor Life Network debuted Wednesday night and will continue for the next 10 weeks.

The first show featured the men’s 7.5 kilometer x 4 relay from Beitostolen, Norway. Although none of the action will originate from Maine Winter Sports Center venues in Presque Isle or Fort Kent, many of the Europeans involved in the World Cup circuit have competed in Maine and should be familiar to local enthusiasts.

According to Kent Gordis, Biathlon World Cup producer, more than 1.7 million viewers tuned in to watch OLN’s biathlon coverage last year, making it the highest-rated series in its slot on the network. Biathlon is the highest-rated winter sport on TV in Europe and regularly draws a 30 share in Germany, Europe’s largest TV market.

Bowdoin on the Net

The NESCAC women’s basketball game between Bowdoin College and Wesleyan University tonight will be aired live on the Internet by d3hoops.com. The game, which starts at 7:30 p.m., can be accessed by logging onto this site: http://d3hoops.com/audio/

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net