Sports

Carlos Espinosa is the Director of Golf for the City of McAllen. The face of golf in the Rio Grande Valley for the last 20-plus years, Espinosa is a graduate of the University of Houston, which has produced golfers such as Fred Couples and Steve Elkington. Espinosa was an All-Southwest Conference selection in 1985 and helped the Cougars win the NCAA title before turning professional in 1986. Espinosa earned over $1 million dollars and won 23 Mexican PGA Tour events. He also qualified for the 1993 U.S. Open and was a member of Mexico’s World Cup teams in 1988, ‘90 and ‘92.

Espinosa has been the director of golf for the City of McAllen since May 12, 1999. He is based at Palm View Golf Course in McAllen, which will host this week’s Jalapeño Duramed FUTURES Tour Golf Classic.”*

Miguel Tejada returned to where he began his career, ready to face many of his former fans with a clear conscience.

Last month, Houston’s star shortstop told the Astros he’s actually 33, two years older than what the Oakland Athletics and everybody else thought when he signed with the organization in 1993 to escape the poverty he grew up in back home in his native Dominican Republic.

Tejada, the 2002 AL MVP, will turn 34 on May 25.”*

After waiting 10 years to be called up from the minors, Luis Maza was understandably eager to put on a big league uniform for the first time. Which is why he showed up early at Milwaukee’s Miller Park on Monday.

Problem was, the Dodgers weren’t scheduled to play there until Tuesday.

“A guy met me at the door and said, ‘No, today St. Louis is playing. Tomorrow your team plays,’ ” Maza said.

So a stadium attendant put him back in a taxi and sent him off to the Dodgers team hotel. But give Maza points for enthusiasm.”*

What Hunter and his employees are hearing from the Latino community is painfully obvious, but not easily deliverable under the MLS structure. He speaks of getting a player who will help “move the needle.”

“They want players from Mexico that are young, that are exciting on the field,” Hunter said. “If I could wave a magic wand, they’d say, ‘Well, next month bring us (Omar) Bravo, (Ramon) Morales, (Oswaldo) Sanchez.’ And then you’re a smart guy. As you know in MLS, you just can’t make moves like that.”*

The Cuban national judo team returned home Monday without one of its stars, whose weekend disappearance fueled speculation that she is defecting.

Yurisel Laborde, a two-time world champion and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, was not with the team Monday when its flight left Miami International Airport. She has not been seen since disappearing Sunday after competing in the Pan American Judo Championships.”*

Israel Hernandez has felt a strange stew of emotions simmering in his gut. He came to Miami to coach against his former comrades on the Cuban judo team. But he also came to reunite with them, to share beers and memories. He came to beat them, and to embrace them.

Hernandez has done both. On Friday, his athlete Valerie Gotay upset Cuban world champion Yurileidys Lupetey and went on to win the Pan American Championships gold medal.”*

The Boston Red Sox and Telemundo New England announced today that the Red Sox Report, the Emmy nominated television show, will now be seen in close to 270,000 Hispanic television homes on Telemundo New England as Reporte de los Red Sox. Reporte de los Red Sox will be broadcast to all four of Telemundo’s New England broadcast markets and will reach approximately 1 million Hispanic viewers as estimated by Nielsen Universe.

Red Sox Report, which currently airs on the New England Sports Network (NESN) on Sunday nights, will be re-edited in Spanish by Telemundo New England who will add a Spanish speaking on-air and voiceover presence. Reporte de los Red Sox will also feature special segments aimed towards Hispanic viewers and is slated to air weekly on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. starting May 7, 2008.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to provide our weekly television programming for the first time to the vibrant Hispanic community in New England,” said Chuck Steedman, Vice President/Fenway Enterprises and Broadcast Services for the Boston Red Sox. “This venture gives us a consistent opportunity to interact with our Hispanic fans and provide them an opportunity to look behind-the-scenes on a weekly basis.”

Telemundo is the nation’s second largest Spanish language TV network. Telemundo New England services the Boston (WNEU), Providence (WRIW), Hartford (WRDM) and Springfield (WDMR) markets with a mixture of network and local news and community affairs programming. “We are delighted to bring the Red Sox Report to our audience and advertisers for the first time in Spanish here in New England. We look forward to a long term partnership with the Boston Red Sox,” commented Michael Gillespie, Senior Vice President of Telemundo New England, ZGS Communications.

Red Sox Report is produced by Red Sox Productions, the club’s internal television and video production department. The show goes behind the scenes with Boston’s historic baseball team to tell all the stories from the field, the ballpark and the community, throughout New England and across Red Sox Nation. It originally debuted on Boston’s WSBK-TV in April, 2004; and also aired over the air in Providence, RI and Portland, ME. The show transitioned to NESN in April, 2006, and has aired year-round since. It has been nominated for seven Boston/New England Emmy Awards since 2005.

Reporte de los Red Sox will be available throughout New England via cable on the following Telemundo New England channels:

In the Boston market (WNEU): Charter Communications – Channel 99; Comcast – Channel 10, 14, 17, 19, 53,95 and 96; Metrocast Cablevision – Channel 19; RCN – Channel 16; TDS Cable – Channel 22; and Time Warner – Channel 15

In the Hartford market (WRDM): Comcast – Channel 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20

In the Providence market (WRIW): Cox Cable – Channel 54; Starlight Communications – Channel 4

In the Springfield market (WDMR): Comcast – Channel 11, 18; Charter Communications – Channel 96

Telemundo New England is owned by ZGS Communications, a Hispanic-owned broadcasting company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia that owns and operates the largest group of Telemundo affiliate television stations. WNEU Boston, WRIW Providence, WRDM Hartford and WDMR Springfield are proud of their commitment to service, local programming, community outreach, and the celebration of Hispanic culture and heritage. Telemundo, a U.S. Spanish-language television network, is the essential entertainment, news, and sports source for Hispanics. Broadcasting unique national and local programming for the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, Telemundo reaches 93% of U.S. Hispanic households in 142 markets.

Editor’s Note: A title graphic of Reporte de los Red Sox and a segment of the show is available for download on ftp://public-affairs.redsox.com. Username: publicaffairs Password: redsox2008″*

Delgado swatted No. 435 to move past Juan Gonzalez on the all-time list for Puerto Rican-born players, but few here in the States seemed to take notice. Even Carlos Beltran, who also is Puerto Rican and one of Delgado’s closest friends, didn’t know what he had done until he told him at dinner that night.

“It’s a great, great accomplishment,” said Beltran, who has 238 homers. “With all of the great players that have come from Puerto Rico, I know it means a lot to him. But I believe his goal is 500. That’s a lot.”"*

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Inside a warehouse that sits in a rugged area near the border between Los Angeles and Glendale, filming was underway in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most vigorous effort yet to tap a wider Spanish-speaking audience.

“El Octagono,” an hourlong Saturday night series set to debut Saturday on the cable network Galavision, will include fighter interviews, highlights and mixed martial arts education for Latino fight fans who traditionally have flocked to boxing.”*

Jose Canseco, the former AL MVP who made millions during his baseball career, has had his home foreclosed.

Canseco told the syndicated TV show “Inside Edition” that he walked away from his $2.5 million, 7,300-square foot home in suburban Encino because it didn’t make sense to continue making payments.”*

Juan Pablo Montoya looks as comfortable in front of the camera as he does at 190 mph. That’s good, because NASCAR’s first Latino success story on the track is making inroads as a marketing star on the TV screen.

Last Friday Montoya was a featured pitchman on QVC’s For Race Fans Only, following Cup champion Jimmie Johnson to the stage as host Dan Hughes hawked 1/24- scale replicas of NASCAR race cars, starting at $69.75.”*

Less than 100 days before the start of the Beijing Olympics, Mexican track and field remains roiled in turmoil and political infighting with two men now recognized by competing bodies as president of the country’s athletics federation.

Last month, Eduardo Jimenez was appointed interim head of the Federacion Mexicana de Atletismo (FMA), replacing Mariano Lara, whose nearly five-year reign was marked by charges of incompetence, negligence and fraud. But on Sunday, after Antonio Lozano was elected president of the FMA in a vote held by the umbrella organization overseeing all of Mexico’s sports federations, Jimenez, with the support of the Mexican Olympic Committee, refused to step aside, making it unclear who, if anyone, is calling the shots.”*

Nicole Castrale grimaced ever so slightly. She was too polite to sigh or roll her eyes, though you suspected she might like to do both.

After all, Castrale was here Monday to talk about the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika, where not quite a year ago the 29-year-old California native won the first LPGA title of her seven-year career. Many of the questions she fielded, though, were about the player who finished second: Lorena Ochoa.”*

I saw them on the Tonight show last night and knew instantly that they were going to be one of my top stories for today. Awesome.

Dubbed the “First Family” of Taekwondo, siblings Jean, Steven, Mark and Diana Lopez are all bound for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China (to be broadcast exclusively on NBC Universal) — and with 100 days until Opening Ceremonies, they will take to the couch on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (Monday - Friday, 11:35 p.m. - 12:37 a.m. ET on NBC). On Tuesday, April 29, the Lopez family of Sugar Land, Texas will talk to Leno about their passion for the sport and how it feels to bring sibling rivalry to a whole new level.The Lopez family is already in the history books when they all won World Championship titles in 2005, a feat no other family has ever accomplished. Now they are making history again by becoming the first family to have three siblings competing on the same U.S. Olympic Team since 1904, plus being the first to also have four family members at the same Olympics in the same sport. Steven, Mark and Diana will be competing under the guidance of their older brother Jean Lopez who will be serving as the head coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Taekwondo team, a role he also served at the 2004 Olympic Game in Athens, Greece.

When his father enrolled him in a local Taekwondo school, little did Jean Lopez know that the sport would become a family passion. He was the first in the family to get involved with the sport and over the years, he has been a mentor and coach for his younger siblings.

Steven Lopez is the most recognizable athlete in the family and in the sport of Taekwondo. Not only was he the first person to win an Olympic gold medal for Taekwondo (the sport was not a full medal sport in the Olympics until 2000), he is now a consecutive Olympic gold medalist, taking home the prize again in 2004. He will be looking for his third straight this summer in Beijing.

The two youngest Lopez siblings are Mark, who began the sport when he was 5-years-old, and sister Diana, who sites brother Steven as her favorite athlete. They make the 2008 games a family affair and create another piece of history as they join their older brother on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

Other guests on the April 29 show include Dr. Phil McGraw and musical guest Natasha Bedingfield.

As previously announced, NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the most ambitious single media project in history and more than the combined total of every Summer Olympics ever televised in the United States. The Beijing Olympic Games will begin August 8, 2008, with unprecedented around-the-clock coverage and, for the first-time ever in the U.S., live streaming Olympic broadband video coverage on NBCOlympics.com.

“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” is from Big Dog Productions in association with Universal Media Studios. Debbie Vickers is the executive producer.

For artwork from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” please visit the NBC press website at www.nbcumv.com.

CONTACTS:

Tracy St.Pierre, NBC Entertainment Publicity, (818) 840-3648, tracy.stpierre@nbc.com

Cecil Bleiker, Lopez Family Manager, (719) 330-2062, cbleiker@yahoo.com

Ann Bleiker, Lopez Family Manager, (719) 330-4293, ableiker@yahoo.com

Bill Kellick, USA Taekwondo, (719) 866-3626, bill.kellick@usa-taekwondo.us”

Appealing to the growing and established Hispanic markets in Houston and South Texas, the Houston Astros and television partner FSN Houston today announced that they have joined forces to produce and televise 15 Astros games in Spanish in 2008.

The Spanish-language broadcasts will be original productions separate from FSN Houston’s telecasts and will be carried on secondary FSN Plus channels on cable systems in Houston and South Texas markets. They also will be made available to DirecTV and Dish Network. Veteran announcer Rene Cardenas, who pioneered Astros Spanish-language radio broadcasts when the team debuted in 1962 and is considered the dean of Major League Baseball Spanish announcers, will team with Raul Saenz to call the games. Spanish graphics will supplement the broadcasts.

The first Astros Spanish-language telecasts are scheduled for May 7 and May 8 against the Washington Nationals. Spanish-language Astros games will be shown throughout the season with six in May, four in June, two in July, two in August and one in September.

In Houston, the games will be carried on Comcast Cable channel 76, which is available to digital cable customers (see schedule below for other markets).

“The Houston Astros are thrilled at the opportunity to provide Spanish-language broadcasts to markets all across Texas,” said Houston Astros Senior Vice President Communications Jay Lucas. “We will provide an excellent product to our Spanish-speaking fans by combining an outstanding broadcast team in Rene Cardenas and Raul Saenz with FSN Houston’s high-caliber production quality. We’re happy to be able to offer this product to fans that have been among the most passionate and devoted to our team throughout the history of our franchise.”

“The Houston Astros are one of the most aggressive teams in Major League Baseball to reach out and market to their Spanish-speaking fans and we’re excited to help them target their fan base,” said FSN Houston Senior Vice President/General Manager Steve Tello. “The Astros recognize the importance of the Hispanic community and have developed a plan that appeals to their growing Spanish audience.”

According to the most current U.S. Census figures, Houston is the fourth largest Hispanic market in the country with a population of 730,865. Hispanics make up 37.4 percent of the Houston market, while 1.1 million Hispanics live in surrounding Harris County. In the Astros’ extended fan base outside of Houston, Hispanics are the majority of the population in six markets, led by Laredo (94.1%), Brownsville (91.3%), McAllen (80.3%), El Paso (76.6%) San Antonio (58.7%) and Corpus Christi (54.3%). With a Hispanic population of 671,394, San Antonio ranks as the nation’s fifth largest Hispanic market.

Fans in those markets will be treated to one of the most prolific Spanish announcers in baseball as Cardenas returns to the Houston broadcast booth. The native of Nicaragua began his Major League Baseball career in 1958 when the Los Angeles Dodgers named him their first Spanish-radio announcer after the team moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Recognizing the success Cardenas achieved connecting with Spanish-speaking fans in Los Angeles, the Astros hired him in 1962 to direct their Spanish broadcasts when Houston was awarded a major league franchise. He spent 15 years with the Astros and eventually moved to Arlington in 1981 to become the Texas Rangers’ first Spanish broadcaster before returning to Los Angeles in 1982 to call Dodgers game in Spanish until 1998. In 2000 Cardenas was inducted into the Nicaraguan Baseball Hall of Fame. He currently writes a popular sports column for La Prensa and the Astros Spanish-language website and Astros magazine.

Cardenas will work with Saenz, a well-known Texas broadcaster who also serves as analyst on University of Texas football Spanish-radio broadcasts and the Dallas Mavericks Spanish radio network. Since 2004 he’s anchored sportscasts for Dallas-Fort Worth Univision affiliate KUVN where he won a Lone Star Emmy award for Best Sports Story in 2005. Saenz started the first Spanish play-by-play radio broadcasts for the San Antonio Missions Double A minor league baseball team in 2002, and has been sports director at Telemundo affiliates in Houston and San Antonio.

2008 FSN Houston Astros Spanish Language Television Schedule (All times listed are Central)
Day		Date		Opponent		Time
Wed.		May 7		Washington Nationals		7:00 p.m.
Thu.		May 8		Washington Nationals		7:00 p.m.
Tue.		May 20		Chicago Cubs		7:00 p.m.
Wed.		May 21		Chicago Cubs		7:00 p.m.
Thu.		May 22		Philadelphia Phillies		7:00 p.m.
Fri.		May 23		Philadelphia Phillies		7:00 p.m.
Fri.		June 13		New York Yankees		7:00 p.m.
Sat.		June 14		New York Yankees		6:00 p.m.
Fri.		June 27		Boston Red Sox		7:00 p.m.
Sat.		June 28		Boston Red Sox		6:00 p.m.
Fri.		July 18		Chicago Cubs		7:00 p.m.
Sat.		July 19		Chicago Cubs		6:00 p.m.
Fri.		Aug. 1		New York Mets		7:00 p.m.
Sat.		Aug. 2		New York Mets		6:00 p.m.
Fri.		Sept. 12		Chicago Cubs		7:00 p.m.

FSN Plus Astros Spanish Language TV Affiliates:
Market		Cable System		Channel
Aransas Pass		Cable One		20
Austin		Time Warner		77
Beaumont-Port Arthur		Time Warner		15
Brownsville		Time Warner		78
Bryan-College Station		Suddenlink		22
Columbus		Time Warner		79
Corpus Christi		Grande Communications		38
Corpus Christi		Time Warner		6
El Paso		Time Warner		24
Georgetown		Suddenlink		95
Gonzales		Time Warner		75
Harlingen		Time Warner		78
Houston		Comcast Cable		76 (digital basic)
Hilltop Lakes		DMS Cable		39
Kerrville		Time Warner		63
Lampassas		Suddenlink		2
Laredo		Time Warner		16
Lufkin		Suddenlink		15
McAllen		Time Warner		78
Nacogdoches		Suddenlink		14
Port Lavaca		Cable One		20
San Antonio		Time Warner		50
San Marcos		Grande Communications		80

“*

During the past two weeks, three players tried out for and failed to latch onto both the Galaxy and Chivas USA.

Their impact was most miniscule, their imprint as long-lasting as the blades of grass they ran on.

That Yordany Alvarez, Yenier Bermudez and Jose Manuel Miranda were even able to try out for Major League Soccer clubs was a magnificent accomplishment. They were part of the seven members from Cuba’s Under-23 team who left the squad and left their country behind when they defected during Olympic qualifying in Tampa, Fla., in March.”*

Two-Time world champion, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, has been nominated as one of the 2008 Most Influential Latinos (MIL) of Silicon Valley by the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA, Inc). His nomination and selection as one of the (MIL) of Silicon Valley is in the ranks of other incredible Latino leaders and influencers within the region. “*

Boxing ain’t baseball. Budweiser and Everlast notwithstanding, brands have generally been wary about associating with a sport with poor reputation among the general market, and questionable promotional value because of bad fights and meaningless titles.

They may be changing. With the booming interest in the fight game among Hispanic consumers, and with the first Mexican-American-run fight promotion company founded by a star who transcends the sport, at least one brand–Cerveza Tecate, imported by Heineken USA–is boosting its presence in boxing.”*

Administrator4: Oscar is here and will start answering your questions now.

maromero: Oscar, how do you feel coming into this fight Saturday—you previous fights have gone sour.

Oscar De La Hoya: I feel better than ever, knowing these are my last three fights. I’ve prepared myself to giove it my all.

javier urquiza: Will you fight Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito after you beat Floyd Mayweather?”*

ESPN Deportes ofrecerá cobertura exclusiva del partido de las selecciones de Colombia y Venezuela a llevarse a cabo el miércoles 30 de abril a las 10 p.m. ET., en el estadio Alfonso López en Bucaramanga, Colombia.

El venezolano Richard Méndez (jugada-a-jugada) y el colombiano Oscar “Trapito” Restrepo (análisis), estarán a cardo de narrar el partido para ESPN Deportes.

###

Contactos de prensa:

ESPN Deportes: Santa Brito llamando al 212.456.0252 o enviando un correo electrónico a santa.brito@espn.com

“When asked whether it would be easier for Ochoa to win corporate sponsorships if she were living in the U.S., Hambric responded, “You bet.”"

Everyone has something to say (don’t you?): Read more quotes

So did you know this? If you didn’t, perhaps you could send it to someone you know to help spread the knowledge and please tell them about HispanicTips.

View more “Did You Know?” facts in our “Did You Know?” section

As part of its continued efforts to bring the excitement of boxing directly to Hispanic adults in the U.S., Cerveza Tecate announces its multi-platform campaign in support of the highly-anticipated May 3 match between Oscar de la Hoya (38-5, 30 KO’s) and Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KO’s). Touted as De la Hoya’s “Homecoming” to the Los Angeles boxing ring after a seven-year absence, the bout will showcase the raw talent and passion of the sport to 35,000 spectators at the Home Depot Center and to thousands of HBO at-home viewers. “*

Add another Dallara and driver to the grid beginning with the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

Pacific Coast Motorsports owner Tyler Tadevic and representatives of the Mexico City Tourism Board announced at a news conference April 23 in Mexico City that it will enter the IndyCar Series for the remainder of the season with Mario Dominguez driving the No. 96 Visit Mexico City/PCM car.”*