This a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter throughout the week.
Total time: 429.75 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 327.25
TIME DEVOTED TO INDIVIDUAL SPORTS
MLB: 112.75 (34.5%) (last week: 28.6%)
NFL: 100 minutes (30.6%) (last week: 41.4%)
College football: 46.5 (14.2%) (last week: 9%)
SportsCenter staples*: 30.5 (35.25 (10.8%) (last week: 8.8%)
NBA: 19.75 (6%) (last week: 1.7%)
Other sports: 9 (2.8%) (last week: 6.4%)
NASCAR: 1.75 (0.5%) (last week: 3.1%)
NHL: 1.25 (0.4%) (last week: 0.5%)
Golf: 1 (0.4%) (last week: 0%)
*-Includes things like the "Top 10," "Encore," "What 2 Watch 4," etc.
MOST-COVERED TEAMS BY SPORT
San Francisco Giants (MLB): 95.25 (29.1%)
Denver Broncos (NFL): 26.5 (8.1%)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (college football): 8.5 (2.6%)
Los Angeles Lakers (NBA): 7.75 (2.4%)
New York Islanders (NHL): 0.5 (0.2%)
MOST-MENTIONED SPORTS FIGURES
Rather than break down the amount of time a specific athlete or figure was covered, we counted how frequently names were mentioned in the transcripts from the week. The 15 most-mentioned sports people for Oct. 19-25.
Barry Zito: 58
Robert Griffin III: 48
Jay Cutler: 46
Pablo Sandoval: 45
Justin Verlander: 37
Marco Scutaro: 33
Eli Manning: 30
Ryan Vogelsong: 25
Matt Cain: 24
Colin Klein: 21
Cam Newton: 19
Kyle Lohse: 18
Peyton Manning: 17
Kenny Guiton: 16
Brandon Marshall: 15
CUMULATIVE STATISTICS: Jan. 7-Oct. 25
Total time: 18,849.5 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 14,192.75
MLB: 2,838.5 (20%)
NBA: 2,719.75 minutes (19.1%)
NFL: 2,783.75 (19.6%)
SportsCenter staples: 1,927.75 (13.6%)
Other: 1,688.5 (11.9%)
College basketball: 1060.25 (7.5%)
College football: 716.75 (5.1%)
NHL: 456.75 (3.2%)
Notes:
The Giants came back, and John Kruk knew it all along: The now-champion San Francisco Giants made the World Series after coming back from down 3-1 against the Cardinals. Since the Tigers swept the ALCS, San Francisco received nearly 30 percent of SportsCenter's total airtime last week. Much of that airtime was given to the Baseball Tonight crew. Presented below are analyst John Kruk's thoughts on the eventual outcome of the series, These are actual quotes:
Oct. 18: (Giants Down 3-1)
Karl Ravech: "Is it over?"
John Kruk: "It doesn't look good and Lance Lynn won 18 games but didn't pitch good either as a starter in his start and Barry Zito, you don't know what you're going to get but you can't count out the heart of champions. The Cardinals are champions so to me it is over."
Oct. 19: (Giants Down 3-2)
Ravech: "Do you believe the Giants can come back now?"
Kruk: "Absolutely they can. Because they got their best pitcher going in the playoffs right now in Vogelsong in Game 6. And Matt Cain in Game Seven. You know what he can do. And inn that ballpark, yeah, they got a chance."
(Wednesday's SportsCenter ended before the completion of Game 6.)
Oct. 22: (Giants win 4-3)
Kruk: "The pressure of the situation got to some of the Cardinals' players and they did not make plays. Kyle Lohse couldn't grab the ball in Game 7. David Freese couldn't get Angel Pagan out at home. Those aren't unearned runs but could have been if they made the plays."
In a span of five days, Kruk went from saying the Cardinals were going to win since they'd been there before, to suggesting that David Freese succumbed to the pressure of the postseason. The same David Freese who had one of the greatest postseasons in baseball history, who singlehandedly saved the Cardinals from elimination in the World Series just a year ago. He couldn't handle the pressure.
Rick Reilly continues to be on your TV: The Monday Night Football crew was in Chicago for Bears-Lions last week, so Rick Reilly had the chance to do another smear-job on Jay Cutler and disguise it as a comedy piece. The whole report, which lasted nearly seven minutes (including the roundtable discussion afterwards), was focused on why Cutler always sulks and pouts on the football field. Reilly stated that everyone in Chicago loves Jay, and the least he could do is show some appreciation for the fans who really love him by smiling and looking like he's having fun.
"There's 50 shades of Jay, and they're all morose."
The pun is the highest form of humor.