The Lineup: Wednesday, September 11

Author:
Mike Bebernes
Publish date:
Sep 11, 2013

LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images

Very proud to have qualified as a 2014 World Cup spectator. Send any suggestions to SI.TheLineup@gmail.com. (Bold indicates a national broadcast. All times Eastern.)

Pregame Reads

Everyone is talking about it, so might as well read SI's report on the Oklahoma State scandal.
Dave Zirin of The Nation shows how the NYPD uses sports as a means of surveillance.
S.L. Price writes a stirring tale of Rafael Nadal's victory at the U.S. Open.

Starter

Basketball FIBA Americas Championship Gold Medal Game: Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, 8:00p.m. (ESPN3 & ESPN Deportes)

NBA Players Gustavo Ayon, Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Barea, and Renaldo Balkman battle to be named the best team in the Americas. (Ignoring, that is, the fact that the U.S. is not participating in this tournament. In fact, I believe the championship trophy is in the shape a big golden asterisk.)

Reserves

MLB

Royals vs. Indians, 12:05p.m.

Cubs vs. Reds, 12:35p.m.

Pirates vs. Rangers, 3:45p.m.

Rockies vs. Giants, 10:15p.m.

Yankees vs. Orioles, 7:05p.m.

Padres vs. Phillies, 7:05p.m.

Angels vs. Blue Jays, 7:07p.m.

Braves vs. Marlins, 7:10p.m.

Red Sox vs. Rays, 7:10p.m. (ESPN)

Nationals vs. Mets, 7:10p.m.

Tigers vs. White Sox, 8:10p.m.

Athletics vs. Twins, 8:10p.m.

Brewers vs. Cardinals, 8:15p.m.

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 10:10p.m. (ESPN)

Astros vs. Mariners, 10:10p.m.

Basketball

Eurobasket: Second Round

Latvia vs. Ukraine, 8:20a.m. (ESPN3)

Serbia vs. Belgium, 11:35a.m. (ESPN3)

France vs. Lithuania, 2:50p.m. (ESPN3)

MLS

Chicago Fire vs. Toronto FC, 7:30p.m.

WNBA

Atlanta Dream vs. Connecticut Sun, 7:00p.m.

Phoenix Mercury vs. Chicago Sky, 8:00p.m. (ESPN2)

Paula Piovin of AZcentral.com could have saved herself a whole lot of column space by answering the question raised in the headline of her article "Was Drafting Brittney Griner the Wrong Choice for Phoenix Mercury?" with the simple "No."

The Challenge: Rivals II, 10:00p.m. (MTV)

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, 10:00p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

The Late Show with David Letterman Guest: Keith Olbermann, 11:35p.m. (CBS)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Guest: Jim Rome, 11:35p.m. (NBC)

Warm Up

All Access: Mayweather vs. Canelo, 8:30p.m. (Showtime)

What seems like years of anticipation is finally approaching an end as the latest "fight of the century" will take place on Saturday. Showtime has been kind enough to post a whole ton of videos to Youtube, including full episodes of this show. Episode three's subtitles offered a perfect glimpse of how most people see every word out of Floyd Mayweather's mouth.