New York Post, Tuesday, August 13, 2019nypost.com38
NBA trying
to grab
East Coast
viewers
By ANDREW MARCHANDThe NBA will experiment
with new start times on na-
tional TV this coming season
in an effort to boost ratings and
showcase its biggest stars, led
by LeBron James, to as many
people as possible.
Ratings sagged last year in
part due to James’ move away
from Cleveland and to the Lak-
ers and their late national
starts for
East Coast
viewers.
After the
NBA studied
the variables,
the amount
of 10:30 p.m.
ET starts on
TNT and
ESPN will be
cut from 56
to 33 this
coming sea-
son. The ma-
jority of them
will be on
TNT’s
Thursday
night marquee telecast, which
is sandwiched around the
Charles Barkley-led “Inside the
NBA.”
The Lakers had 19 games that
began at 10:30 p.m. ET on na-
tional TV last year. This sea-
son, they will have 10 games
that begin in that late broadcast
window.
Last season, the ratings on
TNT were down 15 percent,
while ESPN’s dropped 1 per-
cent, according to an NBA
spokeswoman.
While the 8 p.m. and 10:30
p.m. TNT Thursday double-
header times will remain un-
changed, earlier in the week
will see a shift.
The NBA will completely
eliminate the 8/10:30 ESPN
split on Wednesdays, moving
times to 7:30/10 and 7/9:30.
On Tuesdays on TNT, the
start times will also predomi-
nantly shift to the earlier
schedule. TNT has already de-
cided to drop the “Players
Only” broadcast format on
Tuesdays.
ESPN will continue with
mostly an 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Friday format.
Stephen Curry and the War-
riors will see a drop similar to
the Lakers with their number
of 10:30 p.m. ET games falling
from 18 to 11.
[email protected]LeBRON
JAMESBy HOWIE KUSSOYShortly after the Elmora Youth
Little League team arrived in
Williamsport, Pa., on Sunday, the
battle began to remember why
they’d come.
In the many hours before the
Mid-Atlantic champions make
their Little League World Series
debut Friday night against Ore-
gon, the pride of Elizabeth, N.J.,
are kept busy with ESPN sit-
downs, gifts of brand new base-
ball gear and apparel, repeated
brushes with foreign cultures,
the swimming pool, pingpong
and video games inside the 12-
year-old players’ dorm-style
sleeping quarters, known as “The
Grove.”
“It’s Disney World, Christmas,
all into one right now. It’s unique
and overwhelmingly awesome,”
coach Jairo Labrador said. “It’s
been a jam-packed schedule.
Mostly not baseball stuff. But the
kids know why we’re here.”
The players don’t forget what’s
important, even if they’re too
young to remember.
The field where their dreams
began is named for Thomas Han-
ratty, a lifelong Elizabethan and
former Elmora youth baseball
player, coached by his father,
Thomas Sr., who also served as a
league board member.
Hanratty, who became a New
Jersey State Trooper, made a rou-
tine traffic stop on April 2, 1992,
when he was struck by a passing
vehicle, and tragically killed at
the age of 24. The Elmora Troop-
ers were named in his honor. His
badge number (4971) remains on
the team’s sleeve, shouted as a
rallying cry.
“That’s the first thing we talk
about when we form our team,
what we’re representing, the
name Hanratty, New Jersey State
Police, and that badge number,”
Labrador said. “4-9-7-1 is one of
our chants. ... It’s ingrained in
their system.”
Several state troopers plan to
be in Williamsport for the once-
in-a-lifetime event.
“Elmora and the youth league
team has carried on [Hanratty’s]
memory and his love of baseball,”
said Col. Patrick Callahan of the
New Jersey State Police. “Wil-
liamsport, this time of year, it’s
always fun to watch, but this one
we’ve got a lot more invested in.
He has a special place in our
hearts and a special place in our
history.”
Hanratty’s picture is seen as
soon as you walk in the Somer-
ville police station, dedicated in
his memory. A memorial plaque
remains near the site of the acci-
dent on Route 78. A stretch of the
highway was named in his honor.
Hanratty’s friends and family al-
ways represent him with a ban-
ner during an annual parade in
Union.
Terry Hanratty — who coached
Labrador on the Elizabeth High
School football team — istouched to see his older brother’s
legacy remain entrenched in the
community he lived in, and on
the team he played for, even if his
worst memory is attached to the
joy.
“It’s sad. It’s great. I have differ-
ent feelings about it because it’s
special that my best friend, my
brother, is being remembered,which is really great,” Terry said.
“They always have us come back
for the Opening Day ceremonies.
It’s really nice. They take the
time to do that and they really
don’t have to.”
Time is a gift. Elmora is making
the most of it.
“I’m really excited that they’re
doing so well and we’re veryhonored that they’re mentioning
my brother,” said Terry, who also
played on the Elmora youth base-
ball team. “I’m just so proud of
them and the way they carry
themselves. Everybody’s really
excited. Everybody’s watching.
It’s really been a fantastic experi-
ence.”
[email protected]HONOR &
GLORY
Elmora battles for LLWS with
state trooper’s legacy at heartstate trooper’s legacy at heart
IN HIS MEMORY: The members of the Elmora Little
League of Elizabeth, N.J., never have state trooper
Thomas Hanratty far from their minds, as the team
plays on a field honoring the native Elizabethan (inset
top), who played for Elmora (inset right) before being
killed when he was 24 in 1992 while making a traffic
stop. Courtesy of Elmora Youth LL, Hanratty familystate trooper’s legacy at heartstate trooper’s legacy at heart
which is really great,” Terry said.IN HIS MEMORY:
League of Elizabeth, N.J., never have state trooper
Thomas Hanratty far from their minds, as the team
plays on a field honoring the native Elizabethan (inset
top), who played for Elmora (inset right) before being
killed when he was 24 in 1992 while making a traffic
stop.MidAtlantic champions make
their Little League World Series
debut Friday night against Ore
gon, the pride of Elizabeth, N.J.,
are kept busy with ESPN sit
downs, gifts of brand new base
ball gear and apparel, repeatedHONOR &
GLORY
Elmora battles for LLWS with