The To-Do List
1. Best in the West?
The Rangers have won five in a row to pull even with the Angels atop the AL West. The division co-leaders open a three-game set Monday in Anaheim (10:05 p.m. ET, FSW).
2. Serena stays up Late
Serena Williams swings by the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday to chat about her latest Wimbledon triumph. The 11-time Grand Slam champion has already spiced up the late-night circuit in '09, toppling Jimmy Fallon in beer pong during his first week on the job.
3. Staples Center hosts Jackson service
The home of the Lakers and Clippers plays host to Michael Jackson's memorial service Tuesday, with the nearby Nokia Theater accommodating the overflow crowd. Not one of the lucky 8,750 to nab tickets out of the reported 1.6 million who applied? (And can't afford the five-figure price tag on eBay?) Just catch it from the couch: Five different networks -- NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! -- are planning live coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET.
4. The BCS goes to Washington ... again
One week after writing an essay for Sports Illustrated asking whether the BCS violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has scheduled a hearing Tuesday before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights (2:30 p.m. ET, C-SPAN). The Senate is also hosting a Webcast of the hearing.
5. U.S. soccer team goes for Gold
On the heels of its stirring runner-up finish in the FIFA Confederations Cup, the U.S. men's national team is dialing up a younger lineup for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial regional tournament that started over the weekend. The U.S., which opened with a 4-0 victory over Grenada on Saturday, faces Honduras on Wednesday at RFK Stadium (9 p.m. ET, FSC) and meets Haiti on Sunday at Foxborough Stadium (7 p.m. ET, FSC).
6. Bruno busts out
A sure bet for the summer box office drops in 2,700 theaters nationwide Friday, when protean comic Sasha Baron Cohen brings his flamboyant Austrian fashion journalist to the silver screen. For an appetizer, the Borat star makes a Tuesday appearance on Letterman.
7. Cardinals, Cubs renew rivalry
One of the National League's marquee rivalries gets the Game of the Week treatment Saturday when the first-place Cardinals meet the Cubs at Wrigley Field (3:10 p.m. ET, Fox). The Friendly Confines seldom live up to their handle when St. Louis comes to town, not when "Cardinals Take It In Their Pujols" T-shirts are the de riguer attire.
8. NASCAR takes Chicagoland
NASCAR's top circuit swings through the Windy City with Saturday's LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (8 p.m. ET, TNT). Can outspoken 24-year-old Kyle Busch speed to a repeat of last year's Joliet victory?
9. UFC hits the century mark
They're billing UFC 100 as the biggest event in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar facing interim title-holder Frank Mir, welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre meeting contender Thiago Alves and Michael Bisping squaring off against Dan Henderson in a high-profile middleweight showdown. Stuck on the East Coast and can't make it out to Las Vegas? The viewing party at New York's Radio City Music Hall is your next-best option.
10. Tomorrow's stars today
You need to stay up late this week if you're a college basketball junkie looking to satiate your hoop fix. New Zealand is playing host to the FIBA U19 World Championship, where a team of America's collegiate stars -- including Duke's Seth Curry, Pittsburgh's Ashton Gibbs and Butler teammates Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack -- has started 4-0 start in group play. The U.S. wraps up the preliminary round Tuesday against Puerto Rico (3:30 a.m. ET, FIBATV.com), with visions firmly set on Sunday's championship game (3:30 a.m. ET, FIBATV.com).
