Derrick Rose in a Night at the Oprah (And Other Sports Events That Got Bumped)
In 2010-11, Derrick Rose starred as the NBA's MVP.
But in a scene with Rose and the Chicago Bulls, he plays a supporting role to Oprah Winfrey.
Winfrey's presence is so strong she caused the NBA to rewrite its playoff script for tonight's Eastern Conference Finals game between the Bulls and Miami Heat.
However, the situation between the NBA and Oprah is just the most recent example of sports and entertainment going head-to-head.
U2, WWE, Yanni, Monster Trucks and even the G20 Summit have all played recent roles in the rescheduling of key sports events.
And it all traces back more than 40 years ago to a girl named Heidi.
Oprah Takes No Bull from the NBA
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Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals was scheduled for May 16.
But the NBA rescheduled the opening game between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat to May 15.
Not due to weather or illness.
The crew of Oprah is taking over the the United Center on May 16 to prepare for the taping of the two-part, Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular on May 17.
Even David Stern yielded to her. That's because in this showcase, he's merely the commissioner.
Oprah is the producer.
The director.
And the head screenwriter.
In this Hollywood script rewrite, Derrick Rose, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will be spectacular one day before Oprah.
Fortunately for Stern, he will not have to move any more games.
Game 2 is scheduled for May 18.
By then, Oprah and her star-studded friends will have vacated the United Center.
NBA Wins Smackdown with WWE
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Unlike the situation with Oprah, the NBA was able to hold its own against the World Wrestling Federation.
During the NBA playoffs in 2009, the Carmelo Anthony-led Denver Nuggets won their first round series against the New Orleans Hornets and then their Conference semi-final series against the Dallas Mavericks.
That set up a Western Conference Final series against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The first two games were played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The next two games were scheduled for the Pepsi Center in Denver.
In addition to dropping two of the first three games to the Lakers, the Nuggets faced another problem in Game 4.
Pepsi Center on May 25 was already sold out for World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw.
WWE refused to move, claiming they had the date reserved since Aug. 15, 2008.
The ensuing hissy fit included this observation from WWE chairman Vince McMahon:
“Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25 date for a potential playoff game."
Before the situation necessitated a smackdown in the ring, McMahon announced that he was accepting an offer from executives at the Staples Center for the use of the venue.
Monday Night Raw played before a raucous L.A. crowd and a solid TV audience on USA Network.
The Nuggets defeated the Lakers before a sold-out Denver crowd and a strong TV audience on ESPN.
So call this one a draw.
Even You, Too, Will Call Them the Seattle Marlins
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U2 is among the most impactful bands in music history.
They not only make great music, but take stands on global social and economic issues.
When the U2 360° Tour hits Miami's Sun Life Stadium on June 29, it will take the usual two-to-three days prior to the event to set up the band's massive stage.
Which means that the Florida Marlins three-game home series against the Seattle Mariners had to be relocated.
The games on June 24-26 will now be played at Safeco Field in Seattle.
Where the Marlins will be the home team.
MLB is not alone in having to vacate due to U2.
The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game, scheduled to be played on June 25 at Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium, is getting a two-day U2 makeover in preparation for a June 26 concert at the venue.
This year’s game will be played June 25 at Kelly/Shorts Stadium at Central Michigan University.
U2 is not scheduled to play the halftime show.
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Turnabout Fair Play in U2 Universe
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However, it's not always U2 that gets its way.
U2's 360° Tour concert scheduled for Sept. 25, 2009 at Giants Stadium, the former home to the NFL's New York Jets and Giants, was pushed back to Sept. 23.
The reason for the change: Roadies needed two days to disassemble U2's stage.
And the New York Jets had a home game against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 27.
Score one for Gang Green and their No. 1 fan, Fireman Ed (pictured).
Actually two: The Jets defeated the Titans, 24-17.
When Phillies Fans Rooted for the 'Visiting' Team
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The annual G20 summit brings together heads of government from around the world, where they discuss economic situations.
It also attracts a massive number of people who hit the streets to support or decry those in attendance.
In 2010, the G20 summit was held in Toronto from June 25-27 at the Toronto Convention Centre, across the street from the Toronto Blue Jays' Rogers Centre.
Those also were the dates the Philadelphia Phillies were coming in to play the Blue Jays.
In order to avoid a chaotic situation, MLB sent the Blue Jays to Philadelphia, where they took the field at Citizens Bank Park as the home team.
It also ruined a special homecoming that Toronto fans had in store for Philadelphia pitcher Roy Halladay (pictured), who was in his first season with the Phillies after 12 seasons with the Jays.
The Phillies wore their road jerseys. The Jays wore their home jerseys.
As an American League interleague series, the DH was also in place.
It was an extremely rare case of the Philadelphia fans cheering for the "visiting team."
The support for the "visitors" was a success. The Phillies won two of the three games, which went down as road wins.
Yet, not everyone was happy to miss out on the event in Toronto.
"When I heard we were there at the same time [as the G20 Summit] I was like, 'Oh, sick! We get to be in the city while every single high-powered political figure is there,'" said the Phillies Shane Victorino. "But playing at home is nice."
NHL Sends Lil Wayne Rapping
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Lil Wayne is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Bruins, Green Bay Packers and Boston Red Sox. He is often pictured at games cheering on his favorite teams.
However, the rapper was not given a sporting chance by the Los Angeles Kings in April.
The Kings' first round 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff series versus the San Jose Sharks schedule had Game 3 on April 21 at Staples Center.
Lil Wayne already had April 21 booked as part of his sold-out engagement at the venue.
The rapper, who is hot on the charts, got iced and had to move his concert to April 22.
The Kings also got iced on April 21, losing to the Sharks, 6-3.
The Kings then lost the series in seven games.
Lil Wayne plays on.
NHL Silences Political Debate
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The NHL playoffs are so popular in Canada that a French-languge political debate on April 14 was moved to avoid conflict with a televised game between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.
The TV debate featured leading politicians from various opposing parties. It was scheduled to be broadcast on CBC, CTV, Global and TVA in Quebec.
Perhaps the only issues these politicians agreed upon was to reschedule their face-to-face a day earlier so that hockey fans north of the border could see the Canadiens and Bruins face off on TV from Boston.
According to NDP leader Jack Layton, "[A] very large number of people" would choose to watch the game rather than the debate. ”Were I not in this election, I might well make the same decision.”
Fans in Canada were especially pleased with the outcome of the game: Montreal 2, Boston 0.
Score one for the politicians.
NHL Skates off (Key) Versus Yanni
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Musician/composer Yanni has been a global phenomenon for almost two decades.
NHL fans, however, thought his music was off-key during the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Sold-out Yanni concerts at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh in May 2009 could not be moved.
Further adding to the conflict at Mellon Arena during that week were a WWE wrestling event and a show starring comedian Dane Cook.
So the NHL had to reschedule conference semi-final games between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the visiting Washington Capitals.
The new schedule required the teams to play two games in as many nights in two different cities, a situation shunned during the playoffs by all pro leagues.
"It is a shame that both teams will have to play back-to-back games...because the Pittsburgh building—against NHL rules—booked a series of concerts and forced the league to alter the playoff schedule," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis wrote in his blog, Ted's Take. "This is bad for the league, both fan bases and for the players.
Pittsburgh won its home game on May 8; Washington won its home game the next night.
Although the seven-game series, won by Pittsburgh, was played out over 11 days, the teams ended up playing four of those games in just six days.
Nascar, NBA Move to Avoid the Super Bowl
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The NFL is still deciding whether or not to expand to an 18-game season.
But Nascar and the NBA have already flinched.
Beginning in 2012, the Daytona 500 will take place one week later than traditionally run on President's Day weekend,. The event will now run annually on the final Sunday in February.
The date for the Daytona 500 is Feb. 26, 2012. To maintain the end of season schedule, the Sprint Cup off-weekend typically scheduled in March will now be eliminated.
The NBA has also decided to move its All-Star Game one week later, beginning in 2012.
Orlando will host the 2012 event, with the festivities scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 24, and the game itself to be held at Amway Center on Sunday, Feb 26.
In the sports universe, even an NFL in upheaval trumps the NBA and Nascar.
NFL Runs over Monster Jam
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This past season, the NFL's Atlanta Falcons compiled a 13-3 record and earned the right to host a playoff game on Jan. 15.
Good news for Falcons fans.
Not so good news for thousands of fans who had tickets to the Monster Jam Truck Show at the Georgia Show that same day.
The NFL took priority. The Monster Jam Truck Show hit the road, but returned for a rescheduled event on Feb 12.
The Falcons, however, were run over by the Green Bay Packers, 48-21.
Even Voodoo Can't Help AFL Team
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The New Orleans VooDoo of the indoor Arena Football League had a game scheduled against the Pittsburgh Power on April 22, 2011, at the New Orleans Arena.
But the venue's NBA team, the New Orleans Hornets, had a first-round playoff game that same night against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The VooDoo skidooed from April 22 to April 21. They lost to the Pittsburgh Power, 56-49.
But the VooDoo curse lingered for the NBA's home team.
The Hornets and Chris Paul fared no better, losing Game 3 of the series, 100-86.
Baseball Pulls the Plug on Legends of Rock
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The Lake Erie Crushers of baseball's Frontier League had a great season in 2009.
The team was 57-38 and finished second in the East to garner a playoff berth.
The Crushers then went on to defeat the Kalamazoo Kings and the River City Rascals to win the Frontier League championship.
En route, the Crushers also defeated “The Legends of Rock."
The Crushers post-season run smack into a concert also scheduled for All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.
The concert was to be headlined by Chuck Negron (former lead singer of Three Dog Night), Fins to the Left (a Jimmy Buffett Band tribute) and Gregg Rolie (formerly of Santana and Journey).
The Crushers won the game to capture the title.
But not everyone was happy.
In a note posted to Chuck Negro's Web site, a rock 'n' roll fan wrote:
"Chuck Negron and Greg Rolie—or the [Crushers]. I don't know about you but i think that I'd tell the [Crushers] to play on the road instead. I also like minor league baseball, but this one is no contest.
San Antonio Spurs Run by Rodeo
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Every year, the San Antonio Spurs get kicked out of AT&T Arena because of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
In 2011, the enforced road trip was especially strenuous.
The Spurs played nine games on the road from Feb. 1 through Feb. 17.
It included three sets of back-to-back games.
But the Spurs were up to the task, going 6-3 on the Rodeo Road Trip. It included a win against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo also did well, attracting a record 1.4 million visitors.
The Spurs can look forward to another extended Rodeo Road Trip in 2012 when the show hits AT&T Arena Feb. 2-19.
Disney Gets Icing Call by NHL
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Disney is big.
The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, at least in this case, are bigger.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are playing the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.
The series moves from Boston to Florida for games on May 17 and May 19.
Also booked at the St. Pete Time Forum this week is Disney On Ice Presents Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3.
Although both productions are on ice, the events are far from compatible.
Ticket holders have already been informed that Disney On Ice shows scheduled for May 19-21 have been canceled.
Unless, of course, Woody, Buzz and friends morph into Sean Bergenheim, Tyler Seguin and Zdeno Chara.
The Heidi Game
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This is perhaps the most infamous bump in sports history.
On Nov. 17, 1968, NBC televised an American Football League game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders.
At 7 PM in the Eastern time zone, and with a minute and five seconds left in the game, the Jets were leading 32-29.
A prearranged contract necessitated that NBC begin to show the movie Heidi.
NBC executives later said that they had been attempting to contact its broadcast operator to tell him not to cut away from the game.
Too late. The Raiders scored two touchdowns in nine seconds and won the game, 43-32.
TV viewers instead saw Heidi romping through the Alps.
Among the historic footnotes that came out of the game was NBC running a scrawl at the bottom of the screen during Heidi to update fans on the score, perhaps the first time on TV that had happened.
'American's Funniest Home Videos' Has Last Laugh over Nascar
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Three years, ago, Nascar survived its own Heidi moment.
On Nov. 9, 2008, at the Phoenix International Raceway, The Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil was telecast by ABC.
With 34 laps to go, ABC cut away from the race to begin America's Funniest Home Videos on time and to keep its then popular Sunday night schedule from running long. One of the shows included was Desperate Housewives.
ABC moved the conclusion of the race to sibling ESPN2. But that prevented millions of race fans who did not have ESPN2 from watching the remainder of the event.
ABC avoided a major fiasco thanks to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson was in the lead (pictured) when the switch occurred and continued on to win the race.
Third-place finisher Jamie McMurray, after hearing of the telecast switch, summed up the feelings of Nascar Nation.
"Maybe if the President was going to talk, maybe if something big had happened, but I can't believe that America's Funniest Home Videos would take priority over us," he said. "I mean, I like the show, but I'd rather watch the race."
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