Being inside and watching TV is probably not high on the list of priorities on this extended Fourth of July weekend, but if you are, there are a couple of high-profile events which may capture your attention.
First is Wimbledon, with the men's and women's championships. The women will decide their championship on Saturday and the men on Sunday, both with 8 a.m. starts and both live on ESPN.
ABC will air encore coverage of the finals from 2-5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
The men's semifinals today feature top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia against No. 8 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina and No. 2 seed Andy Murray of Great Britain against No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz. He's the first male from Poland to ever reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
Murray hopes to become the first male from the host nation to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
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There will be a first-time Grand Slam event winner for the women among Sabine Lisicki of Germany, Marion Bartoli of France, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Wimbledon was televised for the first time in 1937. For the second straight year, every single match has aired on the ESPN family of networks. This is the second year of ESPN's 12-year TV contract with the All-England Club. The ESPN family of networks has exclusive rights to Wimbledon through 2023, holds rights to the Australian Open (some coverage is sub-licensed to the Tennis Channel) and beginning in 2015, will hold exclusive rights to the U.S Open.
• The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to the Daytona International Speedway (where it all began this year in February) with the Coke Zero 400 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tony Stewart won last year's race. This is the fifth of six races on TNT, which televised Pocono (June 9), Michigan (June 16), Sonoma (June 23), Kentucky (June 29) and next Sunday heads to New Hampshire.
ESPN's daily NASCAR Now will preview the race with a one-hour special at 1 p.m. Saturday. Host Todd Grisham will be joined by analyst Dale Jarrett and reporters Marty Smith and Nicole Briscoe.
Around the tube
• Fox will have the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Selection Show at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, leading into primetime coverage of the Philadelphia vs. Atlanta game.
The starting lineups and reserves for the American and National League teams will be announced. The show is hosted by Matt Vasgersian.
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The 84th All-Star Game at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 16.
The 2014 All-Star Game will be played at Target Field.
• Chicago Cubs fans, Jim Belushi narrates the 15th anniversary of celebrities singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game'' at Chicago's Wrigley Field during the seventh inning stretch.
The "guest conductors'' have taken the place of legendary Cubs announcer Harry Caray, who began the tradition.
Will Ferrell, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Murray have all taken turns as guest conductors. NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon once called it Wrigley Stadium instead of Wrigley Field during his appearance.
"There's not a Cubs fan I've come across since that day that didn't remind me of it,'' Gordon said.
The special debuts during Sunday's 9 a.m. SportsCenter.
• Final-round coverage of the AT&T National drew a 1.6 rating on CBS, down 65 percent from Tiger Woods' victory last year.
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The 1.6 rating is the second-lowest in the seven-year history of the tournament. The three lowest rated final round telecasts have been in years when Woods missed the tournament — 2013, 2011 and 2008.
