Centre Daily Times from State College, Pennsylvania • 26

1 1 Sports C8 Centre Daily Times Wednesday December 6 2006 wwwcentredailycomsports DirecTV to take NASCAR fans inside the car well provide a way to follow the race like never before said Scott Greenstein president of Entertainment and Sports Dick Glover vice president of broadcasting and new media for NASCAR said the DirecTV and Sirius deals show how committed the sport is to providing new and exciting ways for fans to enjoy it have always tried to be out front in bringing innovation into how our sport is covered" Glover said long been our tradition to work with telecasters to get our fans into the cars and closer to the action This is the natural By jama Fryar The Associated Press CHARLOTTE NC The sport that already offers unprecedented fan access is going one step further in 2007 allowing DirecTV viewers to watch an entire NASCAR race from behind the wheel NASCAR HotPass will debut on DirecTV at the Daytona 500 in February and offer fans at home the opportunity to watch a race from a vantage point Subscribers will have access to five channels dedicated to individual drivers who will change every week Each channel will have up to sue cameras and two isolated announcers focusing solely on one driver for an entire race Viewers wiO have access to in-car audio communication realtime statistics and cameras covering every angle from inside the race car to the pit box and all around the track HotPass is the brainchild of Fox Sports chairman David HilL was this moment for me when the lights went on and I thought This is why NASCAR is so popular because you can buy a seat and sit down and watch your guy go round and said Hill who worried his network coverage was lacking because it didn't showcase the incar conversations between a driver and team That audio is avail able to fans at the track through scanners and Fan-View devices but offered to television viewers one fell swoop it was so obvious and I couldn't believe I hadn't picked up on it Hill said had to find a way for the fan to sit there and watch his car for an entire He tried the idea in 2005 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he had multiple cameras follow winning driver Tony Stewart from flag to flag He liked the results bpt still felt the effort was missing perspective So Hill tried it again at Las Vegas in March adding two dedicated announcers to the Dale Earnhardt Jr coverage The announcers explained everything Earnhardt was doing debated strategy called pit stops and even chatted with the driver during cautions Pleased with the effort Hill took it to NASCAR which awarded DirecTV a three-year contract But with NASCAR's TV ratings declining Hill knows HotPass is a risky venture DirecTV must persuade fans to pay $99 for a season pass with no guarantees on which drivers will be featured Hill is hopefol the behind-the-scenes access will entice fans to sign up for the venture which will require an addition- al 70 at-track employees and 10 announcers a big he admitted we are quietly confident the encouraging thing is that no one has said this is a really stupid idea So we sort of belimre it will be like pet rocks hula hoops and yo-yos brand new but people will say Tve got to have DirecTV isn't the only medium offering new access next season Sirius Satellite Radio plans to offer 10 driver channels that will combine die overall race broadcast with driver-to-pit crew chatter in 2007 layering the driver chatter over the race broadcast and alternating between the two NHLROUNDUP end six-game slide Thrashers rallied for a season-high fifth straight win Marian Hossa sewed his league-leading 21st goaL Glen Metropolit also scored and had two assists for the Thrashers who rallied after trailing 20 Wild 3 Blackhawks 2 ST PAUL Minn Pierre Marc-Bouchard scored the winning goal in a shootout and the Wild snapped a fourgame losing streak Brian Rolston and Todd White also scored for die Wild and goalie Manny Fernandez stopped 27 shots for his first victory since Nov 1L Red Wings 5 Blues 1 ST LOUIS Pavel Datsyuk got his first goal in 16 games and added an assist and the Detmt Red Wings spoiled the retirement of Brett Hull's jersey The pregame ceremony marking the retirement of the No 16 sweater Hull wore during his 11 years in St Louis delayed the start by nearly an hour Blue Jackets 3 Avalanche 0 DENVER FredrikNorre-na got his second straight shutout and the Bluejackets won in Denver for the first time in franchise history Norrena finished with 42 saves including 21 in a barrage in the second period PENNSTATEDIGEST card is the batde PGAQ-SCHOOL Golf Championships Then it goes to PGA Tour winners over the last two years followed by players who take one-time exemptions for career money Next up are the players who finished in the top 125 on the money list Throw in a handful of guys who were granted medical exemptions the leading money winner from the Nationwide Tour and then the newcomers finally get their shot And a pecking order for them too First in line is the winner of Q-school followed by the No 2 player from the Nationwide Tour money list The spots alternate between the two groups the rest of the way down And why Merrick wisely decided to go back to work when his season was over He would have been the 40th player on the list of newcomers Instead he will be somewhere around No 10 That could be the difference between playing in the Sony Open or waiting a month to get his first start It could be the difference between playing as many as five times on the West Coast or playing twice over Nets since they acquired Ron Artest from Indiana on Jan 26 2006 Artest was inactive with a sore lower back Rockets 118 Warriors 90 Tracy McGrady scored 31 points and dished out seven assists and Yao Ming added 27 points to help the Rockets get die win Chuck Hayes grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and Juwan Howard added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets who shot 54 percent against die worst defense Houston won for the sixth time in seven games Monta Ellis scored 19 and Baron Davis added 18 for the Warriors Having a only half By Doug Fatguson The Associated Press Making it to the PGA Tour is no longer good enough Any other year John Merrick might have taken off the last month to celebrate his season He won a Nationwide Tour event as a rookie and finished 21st on the money list to earn a promotion to the big leagues Instead he kept his game sharp and headed off to Q-school one of the most grueling weeks in golf The idea was to improve his position so he couid get into more tournaments at the start of next year was an easy Merrick said Monday evening after hie tied for fourth The tough part is figuring out what the new Fed ExCup will mean for players like Merrick and 60 other newcomers who earned their cards either through Q-school or through the Nationwide Tour money list and now wonder how many chances they will get to tee it up The pecking order for filling out fields in PGA Tour events starts with major champions over the last five years and recent winners of big events like the Tour Championship and World NBAROUNDUP leads Mavs Blazers stopped a five-game losing streak Randolph finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds less than a year after scoring a career-best 37 in the same building Suns 127 Kings 102 Steve Nash had an NBA season-high 20 assists and the Suns won their seventh straight game Leandro Barbosa scored 26 points and Nash came within two assists of a career high aet in the 140-133 loss to die New York Knicks mi Jan 2 That also was the last time an NBA player had 20plus assists in a game according to die Elias Sports Bureau Phoenix product Mike Bibby scored 21 for the Kings who have lost four straight games their longest skid top Pens AP PhotoGane Puskar Nowitzki The Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD NJ Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and Josh Howard added 23 to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 92-75 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night A night after their winning streak was snapped at Washington die Mavericks were in front from the start and pulled away in die fourth quarter Howard and Nowitzki led the surge scoring all of points in a 13-4 run that gave the Mavericks an 88-71 lead with 3:10 left Trail Blazers 88 Pistons 85 AUBURN HILLS Mich Zach short jumper put Portland ahead with 216 seconds to go and die Trail Panthers The Associated Press PITTSBURGH Olli Jokk nen's first road goal of the season helped the Panthers stop a six-game losing streak as the Panthers beat the Penguins 3-2 on Tuesday Minutes after Sidney Crosby tied the game at 2-2 in the third period with a highlight-reel goal for the Penguins Jokinen's slap shot from above the right circle on a power play won it for Florida Senators 4 Islanders 2 UNIONDALE NY Dany Heatley scored twice and Jason Spezza had three points to lead the Ottawa Senators to their fifth straight win over the New York Islanders 4-2 on Tuesday night Spezza set up first-period goal and defenseman Joe mamadvantage tally in the second restored Ottawa's two-goal lead Spezza netted his 13th goal late in the middle frame to make it 20 Sabres 4 Lightning 1 TAMPA Daniel Briere had three goals including two during a threegoal first period for die Eastern Conference-leading Sabres Thrashers 5 Maple Leafs 2 TORONTO Vyacheslav Kozlov scored two of Atlanta's five thirdperiod goals and the Krieger Gray From CDT staff reports UNIVERSITY PARK Two Penn State women's soccer standouts have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of 2006 All-America squad Senior captain Ali Krieger was selected as a first team All-American for the second straight year and sophomore Sheree Gray received her first selection a third team honor selection makes her the ninth All-American in Penn State women's soccer history and she and honor are the 19th and 20th All-America honors in the program's 12year history Penn State is one of eight teams nationally with two or Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby heads to the penalty box after taking a third-period penalty against Florida on Tuesday The Panthers beat the Penguins 3-2 named to All-America team more All-Americans this year Swimming Alderman Earns Big Ten Diver of the Week Award UNIVERSITY Penn State senior diver Mike Alderman was named the Big Ten Diver of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday after he swept both diving events at last dual meet win over West Chester The defending Big Ten champion in the one-meter Alderman has achieved NCAA Zone qualifying scores on both the one and three-meter boards this season Womens Basketball Rene Portland Call-In Show kicks off UNIVERSITY PARK Rene Portland Call-In Show will open its third season Tuesday Dec 5 from 6 to 7 pm on die Sports Jam Networic The show which will originate from the Bryce Jordan Center airs on Tuesday evenings on WMAJ 1450 throughout the regular season Lady Lions play-by-play announcer Jerry Fisher cohosts the show with Portland Fans can call in questions at 800-731-1787 and those with a Penn State All-Access subscription can also access the audio feed at GoPSUsportscom January CISCO CCNA Bootcamp Jan 22-26 9am-5pm $2250 A PC Technician Jan 15-31 6pm-9pm M-Th $1700 Developing ASP Net Web Aps Jan 8-31 6-9pm MW $1200 Implement Support Win XP Pro Jan 15-25 M-TH Manage Maintain Windows 2003 Server Feb 12-27 M-TH $1750 Certified Network Defense Architect Feb 12-16 M-F $2500 inS WPSU-TV LifeLink PSU Penn State Hospitality Services congratulates WPSU-TV and State College Area School LifeLink PSU for their Mid-Atlantic Emmy award in the documentary category for the production: PSU: A Road to Independence" The documentary tells the story of a unique opportunity for older students in the State College Area School District with special educational needs Ordinarily many of these students would attend high school until the age of 21 Most of them would not go on to college and would never have the opportunity to interface with 18- to 21 -year-old peers However through a partnership with Penn State University The Penn State Hfctzel Union Building and the Special Education and Rehabilitation Services programs in the Penn State College of Education these students take college classes participate in many common college activities and gain critical life skills with age-appropriate peers The production traces the individual stories of a core group of students participating in thia project their difficulties their triumphs and their dramatic personal growth as they work toward independence Classes Now Forming For in I 1HE NitianyLion INN The Penn Stater wwwsouthhillsedu WUli.