The Week In Tv Sports

Saturday 5/17

GOLF
McDonald's LPGA Championship
Despite recently having signed a contract (terms: four years, $4) with the Myrtle Beach Sea Dawgs, a men's minor league soccer team, 1996 LPGA Player of the Year Laura Davies (right) will return to the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., to defend her title. (She also won here in '94 and finished second in '95.) Davies, perhaps the longest hitter in the history of women's golf and fourth on this year's money list with $258,171, took no shots on net while playing approximately five minutes at center forward in her Sea Dawgs debut last month. A year ago Davies's soccer ardor moved her to watch, on a handheld TV, a match between her native England and Spain—between shots during the final round of a tournament. "It was the European Championship," Davies, 33, explained, "and I had a five-shot lead."
? CBS, 4 PM

HORSE RACING
Preakness Stakes
There was Silver Charm behaving like a 3-year-old again. During a training ride at Pimlico last Thursday, the Kentucky Derby winner stopped on a dime, throwing exercise rider Larry Damore head over horse onto the track. Heigh-ho, Silver Charm, away! Even with less of Damore, the colt still carries the burden of attempting to become the first horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Sunday Silence did in 1989. Captain Bodgit, who placed at Churchill Downs, has the best chance to derail Silver Charm's quest.
?ABC, 4:30 PM

Sunday 5/18

HOCKEY
Rangers at Flyers
Philadelphia left wing John LeClair is one of two NHL players (the other is Teemu Selanne) to score at least 50 goals this season and possess a name that sounds like a dessert. However, frequent Flyer fans know their Stanley Cup hopes rest upon the Broad Street shoulders of 6'4" center Eric Lindros (88). In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals the New York Rangers may bully Lindros as they did in an April 7 win. (He retaliated and was suspended for two games.) Things could get messy. And Messier.
?FOX. 2 PM

PRO BASKETBALL
NBA Draft Lottery
What if they staged a lottery and the lucky winner lost millions of dollars? Welcome to the NBA Draft Lottery, which takes place at half-time of an NBA playoff doubleheader. Thirteen proven losers, 1996-97's nonplayoff teams, will each send a representative to the Seacaucus, N.J., home of NBA Entertainment in hopes that the Ping-Pong ball bounces their way, First prize: the top pick in the June 25 draft, which most likely will be Wake Forest center Tim Duncan. (The Boston Celtics, who finished at 15-67, have the most balls in the hopper and thus have the best chance of landing Duncan—and of paying him $2,267 million.) The last No. 1 overall choice of a nonplayoff team who took his team to the playoffs as a rookie was Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.
? NBC, NOON (GAMES), APPROX. 4:30 PM (LOTTERY)

Thursday 5/22
DOCUMENTARY
Breaking Through: Women Behind the Wheel
If you think that the history of women and speed begins with Penelope Pitstop and ends with Sandra Bullock, sit your chassis down. Geena Davis, who went from zero to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in the closing seconds of Thelmu & Louise, hosts this absorbing special on auto racing's distaff drivers. Janet Guthrie, the first female to compete in the Indianapolis 500; Lyn St. James, Rookie of the Year at Indy in '92; and dragster queen Shirley (Cha Cha) Muldowney are among those who vroom-vroom through.
?LIFETIME, 7 PM

Friday 5/23
BASEBALL
Braves at Dodgers
The answer: Los Angeles catcher Mike Piazza. The question: Who appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy recently and crushed the opposition—Packer Reggie White and Baywatch's Donna D'Errico? "It was challenging," says Piazza (below), "but it wasn't like there was a lot of pressure." On to a new category, Mike: Atlanta. A: Major league-record 19. Q: How many games did Atlanta win in April? A: Jeff Blauser. Q: At week's end, who was first in the league in hitting (.402) but batting sixth in the Braves' order?
?TBS, 10:05 PM

All times Eastern. Schedules are subject to change.