The World Cup, it only comes around every 4 years. The last time, in 2002, punching "podcasting" into Google wouldn't have fetched any results.

I went looking for World Cup podcasts and what I found amazed me. Has big media taken over podcasting?

First, mainstream media continues to adopt the podcast name for its own purposes. The Mirror, has a World Cup 2006 podcast going, and are two episodes in. The interesting thing about The Mirror's cast is commentary from an English soccer bookmaker, William Hill. Hill has a seperate podcast about sports here. The Guardian, not to be outdone, has produced much the same.

The Times Online has Baddiel and Skinner hosting an irreverant version of a World Cup cast.

I did find a few less-than-mainstream casts to check out.. including:

The Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire used a podcast to urge fans to not only cheer for England, but to behave when they do.

Former Aston Villa and West Brom manager Ron Atkinson is recording his own post-match analysis of England's World Cup matches and posting it on www.selfcasttv.com.

What World Cup 2006 podcasts are you listening to? Comment and help make this a comprehensive list.

More new SIRIUS programming announcements, with NASCAR driver joining the network in January. Tony Stewart Live will air exclusively on SIRIUS' upcoming 24/7 NASCAR channel, providing listeners with an insider's perspective on auto racing. The weekly, two-hour show will feature Stewart, who has never been shy, taking calls from listeners, talking with prominent guests and covering the spectrum of motorsports.

Matt Yocum, who is a pit reporter for the NASCAR broadcasts on FOX/FX and NBC/TNT, will be Stewart's co-host on Tony Stewart Live.

"It's an honor to be a part of SIRIUS and its commitment to NASCAR," said Stewart. "Our show will allow us to speak with the fans on our terms, where we're free to talk about anything and everything, from racing and rock-and- roll to our travels across America. It's a unique opportunity, and we plan to make the most of it."

Preview editions of Tony Stewart Live, hosted by Stewart, will begin airing exclusively on SIRIUS in October 2006. Stewart will also be featured in SIRIUS' NASCAR related marketing and advertising.

Beginning next year, SIRIUS will be the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR, broadcasting all NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races live on a specially created, 24/7 NASCAR channel.

How is everyone doing in their pools? Hope you got the 12-5 upset, there is (almost) always at least one 12 seed upset against a 5 seed. I would have got one of them right if I had had time to fill mine out before the deadline. I always go against the Syracuse Orangemen so that one I would have got right.

I was getting ready to write about Georgetown losing and getting that game wrong as I always go for them in the first round, as they were losing when I saw part of the game while at lunch Friday. But to my happiness I just checked and the Hoyas actually won.

And the other 12th seed upsetting a 5th seed was Montana over Nevada. So there were two of them this year.

So did any of our readers listen to the games on SIRIUS? What teams are your dark horses?

SIRIUS is broadcasting the entire NCAA Men's basketball championship for the second year. They are carrying uninterrupted play by play coverage of all 64 games. After the break is the schedule for the first round, which is played on Thursday and Friday March 16-17. Are you planning to listen to any of the games on satellite radio or is it just not the same as watching "March Madness" on television?

NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have each launched new weekly shows devoted to auto racing on XM Satellite Radio. The shows, called "Jimmie Johnson: Not What You Expected With Marty Smith" and "Dale Jr.'s Unrestricted" respectively kicked off yesterday. Earnhardt's show sounds to be more personality driven, with the driver offering his own tastes in music and other areas as well as an inside look at life on the NASCAR circuit. Johnson's program is more focused on the actual sport and is billed as giving a behind-the-scenes perspective of NASCAR. These shows are extensions of XM's relationship with NASCAR. The satellite radio company will be broadcasting Daytona 500 this Sunday, the 19th.

With the NBA All-Star game being on Sunday, and the NHL off for the Olympics, the big sport for Saturday is Mens College Basketball. There is the Olympic coverage still which is The SIRIUS Sports Olympic Desk @ 6 pm EST on 123 and Updates through out the day on Faction 28.

There is also an Arena Football game on 123 is the L.A. Avengers (Broadcast) at the Chicago Rush at 10:30pm EST

Anyways the Mens College Basketball Schedule is after the break.

All Times Eastern, adjust accordingly

SIRIUS will have a significant presence at Super Bowl XL. The satellite radio provider will offer multiple broadcasts during the game as well as a ton of pre- and post-game coverage. They're not even waiting for the day of the game to get started. They'll be running hours of broadcasts everyday beginning January 30th and including the Media Day press event. That coverage will include news and commentary from John Madden and other football announcing luminaries. The programming will also be streamed on the Super Bowl's official site superbowl.com.

Sirius will be exclusively broadcasting the 2005 Breeders' Cup World Championships all day on October 29th at Belmont Park. The full 8 hours of coverage begins at 10am on Sirius Sports Action channel 123 on a special edition of Dave Johnson's "Down The Stretch" show. Johnson will call each of the day's eight Breeders' Cup races including the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic (which could determine the "Horse of the Year" this year).

On top of Johnson's coverage, Jay Privman and Caton Bredar will be wandering throughout the Belmont Park grounds, from the track to the paddock to the jockey's rooms, and will be conducting interviews with jockeys trainers and owners. If you're into horse racing, you need to tune in for this event.

Sirius announced that they'll be providing Spanish-language NFL Games starting tomorrow, September 8th. The 31-game broadcast schedule will include Spanish-language content from the 2005-2006 NFL season, including Monday Night Football, the Playoffs, and of course the Superbowl.

Catering to the multi-lingual crowd seems to be a growing trend in satellite radio. This may be in an effort to target not just the FM frequency of terrestrial radio, but the AM frequency which currently attracts a large segment of the multi-lingual audience.

Starting on September 12th, XM will be debuting a new weekly college football news and call-in show called "College Football Coast to Coast." This live hour-long show dedicated to college football will both hosted by T.J. Rives and will be available exclusively on XM. Covering news from college football conferences across the country, with game analysis, interviews and of course listerner call-ins.

"College Football Coast to Coast" will air weekdays at 9 a.m. ET on XM Channel 191. This new show will coincide with XM's coverage of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) and Big Ten Conference (Big Ten) football seasons on September 1st.
 

XM Deportivo, XM Satellite Radio's new 24-hour Spanish-language sports channel, will launch on August 15th on XM Channel 147. Covering all sports from Latin America, this appears to be just the beginning of XM's multi-language/international initiative. XM Deportivo will feature Spanish coverage of the popular FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, as well as qualifying matches, and other sports like baseball, boxing and additional soccer events.

Expect to hear the familiar "Gooaaaal!!" call from the legendary soccer announcer Andres Cantor, who developed XM Deportivo in conjunction with XM.

XM Satellite Radio and the U.S. Tennis Association have teamed up to offer live broadcasts of the 2005 US Open men and women's finals and the four semifinals from Arthur Ashe Stadium. In a move that has stunned millions, XM will now be the "Official Satellite Radio of the US Open" through 2007, and damnit that's something to be proud of.

Bud Collins will anchor the US Open coverage and XM will air a weekly series leading up to the events. Riveting isn't it?

It's not a common occurence when you hear about a Satellite Radio company offering up Podcasts. Afterall, Podcasts are free (or should be) and Satellite Radio isn't free (nor should it be). Both are considered to be competition to each other, though each providing a much needed alternative to Terrestrial's boring portfolio.

So when you see a Podcast offered up by Sirius Satellite Radio, eyebrows raise and ears perk up. Enter the Lance In France Podcast. Short, quick, audio snippets updating the curious Tour de France masses with Lance's progress. Nothing fancy, just what you want when you want it.

Sirius uses this as a promotional vehicle, which is neither unexpected nor overly annoying. In fact, it's done "just right" in a way that not only provides the listener with the updates they want, but captivates us in a way that makes us desire more. Perfect.

XM and SIRIUS are pulling out all the stops with making sure you know about their exclusive partnerships with the MLB and NFL respectively.

XM Satellite Radio will cover the 2005 MLB All-Star Week in Detroit with four days of live broadcasts starting on July 9th and ending with the 76th All-Star Game on July 12th - all on the XM MLB Play-by-Play (Channel 176). Broadcasting live on XM's MLB Home Plate (Channel 175) will be Cal Ripken, Jr., Rob Dibble, Kevin Kennedy, Larry Bowa, and as well as many others of XM's MLB team.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio will have each and every 2005 NFL pre-season game live. Starting with the Colts-Falcons American Bowl game from the Tokyo Dome in Japan on August 6th, through the Broncos-Cardinals game on September 2nd.

We previously mentioned that SIRIUS is broadcasting updates of the Tour de France. If you don't have a SIRIUS subscription, you're not completely shut out. You can still catch some of the action via the podcast that SIRIUS is providing. Just add the RSS feed to your favorite podcatcher and you'll receive daily updates on the race. The feed doesn't appear in iTunes as of this writing.

"Lance in France" is available on SIRIUS channel 28 at 4:00 PM daily, along with a same-day rebroadcast at 8:00 PM. Next-day rebroadcasts are available at 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM.