Brian Straus speaks: 1) Two doubleheaders: May 17 against Carolina (my first weekend back from school! ) and July 19 against New York. Interestingly, we get the night game for the July twinbill because United have the ESPN2 Soccer Saturday game against San Jose at 4pm. 2) Confirmation of negotiations between ESPN and the WUSA for some games, including the opener at Carolina and possibly the playoffs. I think this qualifies as big news.
From the Washington Post: "ESPN, WUSA Negotiating ESPN and the WUSA confirmed yesterday that the network and league are negotiating an agreement to televise select matches this season. The WUSA already has a contract with PAX to broadcast weekly regular season games and playoffs through this year. That arrangement resulted in just a 0.1 average rating in 2002, a disappointing number for a league financed by cable television concerns. The Freedom's May 5 season opener at Carolina and this August's playoffs are among games that might appear on an ESPN channel this year. PAX will continue to televise games regardless of the outcome of negotiations http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61754-2003Feb24.html