Matt Vasgersian

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies -- NBC and WWE -- captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come.

The 1994 Montreal Expos were arguably the best team in baseball, and the only Expos team in their history about which that could be said. Then came the players strike that led to the cancellation of the postseason and the Expos' first chance to bring home their first championship. What followed was a painful decline that saw financial troubles, ownership by the other 29 teams, and finally the move to Washington.

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network. It is a $25,000 "buy-in" invitation-only tournament organized as a series of one-on-one games of no limit Texas hold 'em matches. The participants include many of the world's most successful poker players, as well as celebrities. The championship was the first poker event to be televised on and produced by a major U.S. television network. In October 2011, NBC announced that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship would not return in 2012, ending the championship's seven-year run. After a one-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2013. The $25,000 buy-in event ran from Jan. 24 through 26 at Caesars Palace, the same venue where the event was held from 2006 through 2011. The Heads-Up Championship had been sponsored by online poker companies before Black Friday. The World Series of Poker is the new presenting sponsor.

Celebrity Blackjack was a television show on GSN where celebrities played tournament style blackjack for charity. The show was hosted by Matt Vasgersian. Dave Stann was the dealer. Season 1 aired weekly from July 5 through August 9, 2004. Season 2 premiered October 12, 2004 and ran weekly through January 11, 2005.

All Grown Up! is an animated television series created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó for Nickelodeon. After the success of All Growed Up, the Rugrats 10th anniversary special, Nickelodeon commissioned All Grown Up! as a spin-off series based on the episode. The series ran from April 12, 2003 to August 17, 2008, and currently airs in reruns on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons. The show aired in reruns on The N from August 18, 2003 until November 12, 2005, it was dropped from the channel on February 2006, but then returned in April 2007 until June 25, 2009, then on July 7, 2009, All Grown Up! was dropped from The N again. The show's premise is that the characters of the Rugrats are ten years older. Tommy, Dil, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimi, Angelica and Susie now have to deal with teen and pre-teen issues and situations. It was the first Nicktoon spin-off receiving positive review among critics, and developed a cult following after its run.

Thursday Night Baseball is the title of a presentation of Major League Baseball on cable and satellite channel MLB Network, that premiered on April 9, 2009. Longtime NBC Sports broadcaster Bob Costas is one of the play-by-play voices of the broadcasts. Matt Vasgersian also does play-by-play on some games. Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Mitch Williams and Jim Kaat provide color commentary. The new network produces 26 non-exclusive live games a year on Thursday nights. Since one or both teams' local TV rights holders also carry the games, the MLB Network feed is subject to local blackouts. In that event, the cities in the blacked-out markets will instead see a simulcast of another scheduled game via one team's local TV rights holder.

MLB Tonight is the signature program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers complete coverage of all Major League Baseball games from 6pm ET till 1am ET during the regular season, and gives news from all 30 MLB teams during the offseason. It is taped live in Studio 3 of the MLB Network facility in Secaucus, New Jersey, but also features segments taped in Studio 42. The program aired from the beginning of Spring Training to the end of the World Series and was replaced in the offseason by Hot Stove, until it started to air in the offseason, and Hot Stove became MLB Network's weekday morning show. The show won the Sports Emmy Award for best Daily Outstanding Studio Show for 2010 and 2011.

MLB Network showcases the greatest calls and moments from iconic Major League Baseball play-by-play broadcasters.