The Lineup: Monday, June 24

Author:
Mike Bebernes
Publish date:
Jun 24, 2013

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Today, do what Americans do best: Consume. (All times Eastern)

Starter

NHL Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins, 8:00p.m. (NBC & NBC Sports Live Extra)

The spring TV season officially ended last night with the finale of Mad Men. The spring sporting season could come to a close tonight if Chicago takes this one. My personal conspiracy theories for the big twist include the reveal that Patrick Kane switched names with someone while deployed abroad at youth hockey camp and that Tuukka Rask has actually been dead the whole time.

Reserves

NCAA Baseball College World Series Finals Game 1: Mississipi State vs. UCLA, 8:00p.m. (ESPN)

108 to 0. That's the gap in national championships in all sports between the Bruins and Bulldogs. In fact, this baseball team is the first Mississippi State squad in any sport ever to reach a final game. It almost seems mean for UCLA to win the CWS, until you remember that a championship this year gets them only halfway to catching nemesis USC and their 12 baseball titles.

MLB San Francisco Giants vs. L.A. Dodgers, 10:00p.m. (ESPN)

With a 2.96 ERA and 79 Ks in 91 innings, South Korean ace Hyun-jin Ryu has been a revelation in his first season with the Dodgers. Considering that success, it seems like he's missing out on some serious sponsorship opps by electing not to scream "Hadouken!" every time he throws a pitch.

Starting for the Giants when they face L.A. and Hyun-jin will be Madison Bumgarner, a perfectly fine pitcher whose name does not easily lend itself to video game puns.

Soccer U20 World Cup, coverage starts 10:47a.m. (ESPN2 & ESPN3)

The Americans looked like a reasonably decent squad for a minute before being bulldozed by the transcendently talented Spanish team. Next up the Yanks face France, against whom they may stand a chance (inadvertent rhyme). If nothing else you'll want to catch the later games to check out Spanish striker Gerard Deulofeu, who does filthy things like this:

Tennis Wimbledon Early Rounds, 7:00a.m. (ESPN, ESPN2 & ESPN3)

Wimbledon organizers couldn't give Novak Djokovic a bye all the way to the final, but they did give the No. 1 seed the next best thing: a draw with Andy Murray (No. 2 seed), Roger Federer (No. 3) and Rafael Nadal (a controversial No. 5) on the other side of the bracket. Djoker will get to relatively coast while that trio feasts on each other before one of them has to face him. It's Serb-ival of the fittest (or the most generously seeded).

TV Collegiate Women's Sports Awards, 8:00p.m. (ESPNU)

A quantitative approach to the gap between women's and men's sports coverage has not been particularly flattering for the nation's top media outlets. Logging some time with this awards show may be the best way for you to prepare for, say, the new women's soccer professional league; if nothing else, you should at least come away conversant on the subject of Stanford star Teresa Noyloa. The winner of athlete of the year is awarded with the Honda Cup, which may not be as flashy as other trophies, but makes up for it with reliability and low maintenance costs.

Deep Bench

TV White Men Can't Jump, 8:00p.m. (NBC Sports)

Sit back and marvel at the fact that with all of his well-documented drug use, Woody Harrelson is NOT the actor from this film to have done jail time. Wesley Snipes' character Sidney Deane spits some of the best trash talk ever put onto film, surpassed only by Gregory Peck's jive talking lawyer Atticus Finch.