Here's the essential part of the announcement:

The Cleveland Cavaliers and FSN Ohio have reached a new, long-term television rights agreement that greatly expands the 17-year relationship between the team and the network, it was announced today by Steve Liverani, Vice President and General Manager, FSN Ohio, and Len Komoroski, President, Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena.

Under terms of the agreement, FSN Ohio has acquired the rights to televise 70 Cavaliers games per season, beginning with the 2006-07 campaign, an increase of 30 games per season over the current agreement. The new agreement also calls for five of those 70 games to be simulcast on WUAB TV43. Financial terms were not disclosed.

[R}eturning next season is CAVALIERS COUNTDOWN, providing fans with commentary, features and in-depth pregame coverage of the Cleveland Cavaliers, 30 minutes prior to every game telecast. Wrapping up the action is CAVALIERS IN THE POST, a postgame show featuring highlights, interviews and analysis immediately following each telecast. And rounding out FSN Ohio’s Cavaliers coverage is CAVALIERS FAST BREAK, a Cavaliers-produced show featuring all the behind-the-scenes information a true fan needs.

FSN did not release the names on its announcing team, or exactly which games it will carry. That will come later, possibly next week.

About 15 minutes ago, CBS finally came on with coverage of the Bridgestone golf championship here in Akron. I'd be pretty excited to watch — except CBS is running tape-delayed coverage from much earlier today (nor, at this point, does it have a graphic onscreen identifying this as taped coverage). Because of worries about the weather, which has included rain here and there, the final round started early at Akron, with even the marquee names on the course before CBS started its telecast. So I've been following the tournament a bit online, and even more via live coverage on XM radio's Channel 146.

Since I spend a lot of my weekends out and about, XM has become ever more of a blessing for following national sports; I listened to a bunch of last weekend's PGA on XM as well. But it's been even more valuable today because CBS served its other corporate commitments (like a tennis preview) before getting to the golf. And, if it was airing on cable somewhere else, I could not find it this morning. So XM's broadcast (which was also available online at http://www.pgatour.com/mm/xmplayer/xmlive.html) kept me happy on the road. And now that I'm home, I'm sticking with XM. The end is sounding dramatic, and I don't want to miss it.

Oh, I may still watch some of the CBS telecast because I haven't had a chance to hear everything — I missed a stretch where Tiger Woods rallied because I was doing the week's grocery shopping — and because there are some shots I'd like to see as well as having heard. But I won't watch nearly as much TV as I might have if the network was giving me breaking news.

As has been mentioned, well, just about everywhere, the Cavaliers are working out a deal with FSN Ohio that would give the cable service almost all of the Cavaliers' games by 2007-08. I can already hear the complaints from people who expect to have some sports on local broadcast — much the way Indians fans howled when the team moved to FSN (and later to SportsTime Ohio, known to many viewers as "Where is that thing?").

But if I were king, I might make a different suggestion — one that would mute the screaming and give a boost to local broadcasters. Let FSN Ohio have most of the games, but make a deal with a local broadcaster for some kind of package of Saturday-night games.

The network affiliates would probably leap for it, since Saturday's an entertainment dead zone where the networks are concerned. (NBC and CBS stack in reruns, ABC is going with college football that night in the fall, The CW doesn't even program it and Fox has its reality tandem of "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted.") The schedule includes some decent teams — even if you just do road games, so as not to diminish the Saturday-going-out crowd at the Quicken Loans And Even Quicker Dumping Michael Reghi Arena.

Seems like a good idea all around.

Earlier today I wrote a couple of stories for tomorrow's Beacon Journal about being at the ESPYS. Here are the backstage highlights:

–  The red carpet is one long haul. According to notes handed out to reporters, a celebrity walking the red carpet passed, in order, platforms for ESPN News, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, The Insider, Good Morning America, Cold Pizza, ESPN 360, ESPN.com and E!, among others. After all of those, they hit an area for print and radio writers; papers on the ground marked precious locations by the red-carpet rail for different organizations. And banked at different spots along the way were photographers.
   "It was so hot," said Danica Patrick, "and I was wearing silk."
   The stars also walked by a cheering section encouraged by announcements of which star was coming. LeBron James arrived a little more than 10 minutes after the two-hour red-carpet ceremony began but received the biggest ovation I heard during that time. (The arrival of Janet Jackson and boyfriend Jermaine Dupri was a very close second.) And, while some players could walk down the red carpet in a few minutes, James appeared to be stopped by every crew, taking more than 20 minutes to finish the walk.
  Because of all this, celebrities were highly selective about talking to people in the print and radio sections. Singer Vince Neil and comedian Kathy Griffin (who confided that she hates sports) were among the chatty folks. James walked past with a wave — although, once he was out of the sun, he paused to talk to some regular fans and even to pose for a few pictures.
  Those who did talk also risked getting caught by a crew from Howard Stern's show. I couldn't hear the questions, but some would look stunned and walk away after a moment. Others chatted away, including Kurt Warner and Doug Flutie. Flutie's reponses were especially funny to hear: "No. No. No. No. …"

–  It's no picnic when you win an award, either.   OK, you  did get one of this big ESPY trophys and a gift bag from the "diamond gift lounge." But here was what happened to people after they won: an official ESPY photo with the presenters, sound bites for ET, GMA, Access Hollywood and Extra, a stop at the diamond gift lounge with a sound bite for E!, the press room, the photo room and then a last sound bite for *li The Insider. *lf
     I spent the ceremony in the press room, a noisy area accommodating radio, print reporters, TV crews and one woman who spent a lot of time complaining that she didn't know who any of the athletes were. The ceremony was on monitors, but those were muted when winners came in to talk.
One reporter asked almost every winner about the best advice he or she had ever received. Some asked about music (Dwyane Wade listened to Eminem before playoff games), or clothes (Danica Patrick was in Dolce & Gabbana).
  Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the man behind CSI and Pirates of the Caribbean, was asked about Pirates' record-busting grosses as much as about Glory Road, which won the ESPY for best movie. ("Glory Road wasn't a huge success," he said, " but it was a meaningful picture for me.")  But Bruckheimer knows how the game is played; the real-life Texas Western players portrayed in Glory Road talked to the press first, with Bruckheimer following, so the players got their own share of press time without being overshadowed by the producer.
  Again, different stars had different reactions to the ritual. Shaun White, for one, seemed happy to talk as long as anyone listened. So did Andre 3000. And Alonzo Mourning was still emotional when he arrived. When Mourning was dealing with his kidney transplant, Lance Armstrong had been especially supportive. But they had never met before Wednesday night, and Mourning was moved when Armstrong paid tribute to him onstage.
  — The ESPYS have a dress code. The stars of the ESPYs don't.   "Dress is Formal," said the notes to reporters. "No Exceptions. No jeans, tenis shoes, t-shirts, flip-flops, shorts, etc."  Now, "formal" no longer means a tuxedo; I got by with a jacket and tie, and was still better dressed than some.  In the press room, a cameraman carped about having worn long pants as a result while seeing plenty of his red-carpet counterparts in shorts.
  Celebrity fashion, though, varies. Plenty of stars dressed up, but actor Matthew McConaughey, a friend of Armstrong's, didn't even have his shirt tucked in as he ambled down the red carpet — and he had a comparable sloppy-casual air for the telecast.
     — Lance Armstrong was happy as a host.  "It felt good," he said after the ceremony. "I was into it. I was really into it." And he was genuinely surprised by a bit where Will Ferrell serenaded him. "We rehearsed the whole show (but) they wouldn't let me see that piece. It was the first time I heard it."
  I asked him if he thought people would be surprised by his opening monologue — since I thought some of the jokes were PG-13.
  "Really?" he said with a sly grin. "Well, if (people) lived with me, they would know that was actually a step down, from R."
 
  Update: I also wrote a piece about press-room comments of interest to Northeast Ohio sports fans. You can find it here.

If you're looking for my (still expanding) notes about Katie Couric, they're in the "Katie, Katie, Katie" post below.

As for this item, back when NBC made a deal for Sunday night NFL games, I noted that it received the all-important "flexible scheduling" option. That meant the network wasn't stuck with one game that, as the season progressed, could prove to be a dog (the way ABC's "Monday Night Football" had to operate.) Instead, it will have some flexibility, so it could air a game involving playoff-contending teams and increase viewer interest.

How's flexible scheduling going to work. What follows are explanatory notes sent out by the NFL. It shows that NBC has options, but that CBS and Fox can still protect some games. Here's the text from the NFL:

The NFL this season will implement for the first time in its history a primetime “flexible scheduling” element on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17.

Flexible scheduling will ensure quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and give surprise teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

The 2006 NFL schedule will list start times for all Sunday games during the “flex” weeks as 1:00 PM ET, except for games played in the Mountain or Pacific Time zones, which will be listed at 4:05 PM ET or 4:15 PM ET. 

The NBC Sunday night time slot for “flex” weeks will list teams as “TBD.”

Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved.  Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights.

Just as the six major college football conferences have done for many years, the NFL now will have additional flexibility to move the start times of games on Sundays, using a 12-day notice format.

For example, a game scheduled for Sunday, November 26 could move from a 1:00 PM ET kickoff to an 8:15 PM start, but the change would be made and announced no later than Tuesday, November 14.

The NFL has commonly moved games between 1:00 PM ET and 4:15 PM ET (eight times last season) on Sunday afternoons.  The new practice allows the NFL to employ flexible scheduling to include one of its primetime package of games – on Sunday evenings.

Sunday afternoon games, as in the past, can still be moved between 1:00 and 4:05 or 4:15 ET.

In Week 17, in order to ensure a Sunday night game with playoff implications, the decision to move the start time may be made on six days notice.

CBS and FOX will each be able to protect a total of five games in the seven weeks of flexible scheduling, but not more than one game in any week. 

During the 2005 regular season, the NFL conducted a study with mock flexible scheduling. An eight-person task force consisting of team executives, one from each division, was consulted on a weekly basis.  In addition, television network partners and the NFL’s broadcasting department participated weekly in the process.

SportsTime Ohio, the new TV overseer of the Cleveland Indians, hoped that the Adelphia/Time Warner merger would happen soon enough that its deal with Time Warner would also apply to the other cable system. But STO said it was talking to Adelphia just in case the merger didn't move quickly enough, and here are the key sections in the announcement of a deal:

SportsTime Ohio and Adelphia of Northern Ohio today announced that the new Indians television network will air on Adelphia beginning Thursday, March 16th with the telecast of the Spring Training Indians vs Minnesota Twins game at 8 p.m. The pre-game show will air at 7:30 pm. …

Adelphia customers will be able to view Cleveland Indians games on the following channels:

Cleveland and suburbs: Channel 17

Ashtabula Area: Channel 30

Lorain Area: Channel 23

Macedonia Area: Channel 97

Port Clinton Area: Channel 17

Adelphia subscribers in Northern Ohio will see five spring training games, 130 in-season games during the 2006 season and other original local programming centering on the interests and passions of Northern Ohio sports fans.

Now these guys need to complete deals with the satellite-dish services…

Hello to everyone who is here because of the link from www.tvtattle.com. (And thanks, Tattle, for linking to my late-night ravings about "Lost," found below under "Ladies and Gentlemen, M.C. Gainey.") Feel free to browse.

But in this post, I am going to another topic. About a year ago, I wrote a column about an FSN special showcasing a Rock Paper Scissors tournament. Yes, you read that right. And it was eerily fascinating television, applying all the cliches of sportscasting to an event you wouldn't usually think of as a made-for-TV sport. I could not find the column in the Beacon Journal's online archive but there was a blogger who saved it. (Note, the blog contains some strong language.) You can read it by going here and scrolling down to the section titled "Reaching A New Low."

Anyway, it appears that isn't the end of RPS on TV. Check out this story (which I found on TV Tattle,  by the way): A&E/RPS.

The press release from the RPS organization behind this event is here.

We finished that Alan Rickman Christmas double feature on Christmas Eve with a big dose of "Die Hard" and successfully fought the urge to watch "Love Actually" again. Caught a little of the Browns-Steelers, but it's not easy to stay interested in a game once it's 20-0 and feels much worse than that sounds.

Church service that evening, which turned out a bit differently than I expected. I had agreed to help out a little, but found that I had been enlisted as the balcony usher, and so had my own little flock — about 15 people — to tend to. Also unexpected: How protective I felt about them during the service. But it's still a challenge to navigate steps in the dark while carrying a large, lit candle.

Not much TV on Christmas Day. The one big viewing was of "Tommy Boy." Not a Christmas movie, but still a very funny one.

And now it's Monday. Vacation continues, but I am starting to get ready for the rest of the year. Just packed up the Christmas CDs and cassettes, for instance. After relaxing for a couple of days, I feel as if I should be doing something, and I suspect there will be lots of viewing today.

The Motor City Bowl, with the University of Akron playing, is on the list, and I've set the recorder for Monday Night Football. It's the last telecast of the season, and for now ABC's last regular-season game (since that the NBC/ESPN deal kicks in next year). So it is a milestone of sorts.

But how deeply has anyone cared about MNF since the Cosell/Meredith/Gifford era ended? As more than one person has noted, in those days, it didn't matter if the game was good or bad, because you were intriqued by the announcers; for the last many years, the game was paramount.

Besides, I have to think that at some point ABC will try to get back in the game, and not just by having the deal for its corporate sibling, ESPN. CBS lost its old football deal to Fox, then grabbed NBC's share of the pie. NBC made a lot of noise about not wanting football, then grabbed a package of prime-time Sunday games beginning next season. And in doing so, it got the NFL to agree to flexible scheduling, letting NBC have some playoff-significant games late in the season instead of sticking it with whatever the preseason schedule determined; the latter approach was the one ABC had to accept, and it did not accept it happily. Now that flexible scheduling is agreed to for prime time, who's to say ABC won't chase it the next time a football package is available?

And suddenly all that thinking feels too much like work. Let me get back to fun. Go Zips. Fear the Roo.