XM is headed to the Augusta National Golf Club for some live play-by play coverage of the Masters golf tournament.

Tiger Woods and returning champion Phil Mickelson are among the top players in contention for the Masters title and the famous green jacket.

The tournament will air on XM's PGA Tour Network (ch 146) starting on Thursday, April 5th from 12-noon to 7pm ET all the way until the Masters ends on Sunday, April 8th. Highlights of each day’s action will air between 7pm and 8pm.

The on-site coverage begins on Tuesday, April 3rd, when a special Masters press conference show will air from 2pm to 8pm. The coverage continues on April 4th from 2pm to 7pm, with a tournament preview and interviews from the Masters' par 3 contest.

XM will have a team of nine broadcasters on the course covering the action. Jim Gray will be positioned at the 18th green to interview players. Jay Randolph, Jr. will host the daily broadcasts and Mark Carnevale will provide analysis from the 18th tower above the green.

...sadly, Marie and crew will probably not be there.

To celebrate the start of Major League Baseball, XM is launching a special channel called Play Ball!, featuring a mix of music and vintage audio that "captures the spirit" of Opening Day. Play Ball! will start next Friday, March 30th and air to April 2nd on XM Channel 200.  

For Play Ball! XM is digging deep into their musical library for gems like Ruth Brown’s R&B stomp "Baseball Boogie" and Steve Goodman’s folk novelty record "A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request," as well as favorites like Terry Cashman’s "Talkin’ Baseball" and John Fogerty’s "Centerfield."

Listeners will also hear spoken-word treasures like Abbott & Costello’s "Who’s on First," James Earl Jones’ dramatic reading of "Casey at the Bat," and archival recordings of classic baseball calls.

The channel will play the baseball-themed episode of Bob Dylan’s XM show "Theme Time Radio Hour," (which in 2006 was added to the archive of the National Baseball Hall of Fame) as well as XM’s "Baseball Confidential," featuring candid conversations with legends of the game.  
 
XM's Chief Creative Officer Lee Abrams describes the channel like this:

"Play Ball! is a potpourri of sound so baseball-centric that you will smell the fresh-cut grass through the speakers.  It’s a ‘theater of the mind’ celebration of the national pastime. You’ll hear a seamless collection of music and spoken-word content with ‘announcements’ from a P.A. system to give you the sonic feel of the ball park."

Major League Baseball fans - it's time to get excited - because you'll be able to listen to every game, for every team, anywhere in the country on XM Satellite Radio. XM will air every one of the 2,400+ MLB games, from Opening Night to the final game of the World Series.

Opening Night kicks off on April 1st, when the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals will host the New York Mets at Busch Stadium.

Fans across the country can hear the hometown broadcasts for each team and the ESPN Radio broadcast on three separate XM channels. The day before, XM will air the inaugural Civil Rights Game in Memphis, an exhibition game featuring the Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians.

In addition to the full schedule of games, XM has the nation's only 24- hour talk radio channel devoted to baseball. MLB Home Plate (ch 175) covers every aspect of the sport all year long with call-in shows, 24-hour news updates, and exclusive interviews.

Cal Ripken, Jr., who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July, hosts the show "Ripken Baseball" on MLB Home Plate with his brother and fellow major league veteran Billy Ripken.

XM also offers Spanish play-by-play game coverage and baseball talk on the channel MLB En Espanol.

"Major League Baseball is the ultimate radio sport, and XM is the ultimate place to hear all the games on the radio," said Eric Logan, executive vice president, programming, XM Satellite Radio. "For people who love the sport like we do, XM's got the games, the news, and the analysis you can't hear anyplace else."

NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip is joining XM Satellite Radio to host a new weekly talk show starting this Tuesday, March 20th.

"Michael Waltrip Out Loud" will air on XM Sports Nation (ch 144) every Tuesday night from 7-7:30pm ET with replays at 11pm ET and other times throughout the week.

"My XM show will be fun," said Waltrip, a two-time Daytona winner. "I love that I have the opportunity to talk about the sport I am so passionate about. There is also a whole world of athletes and entertainers who love this sport and I think it will be great to have them as guests and get their feelings as well."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will host a special call-in version of his own XM show “Dale Jr. Unrestricted” the same night from 8-9pm ET also on XMSN.

XM will also become the primary sponsor of Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 99 Busch Series car driven by David Reutimann for the Chicagoland race July 14th.

President Bill Clinton will appear on XM Sports Nation (ch 144) tomorrow (Friday, March 16th), to talk about college basketball with James Carville and Luke Russert.
 
A hardcore hoops fan, Clinton will size up the teams in this year’s NCAA tournament, including his beloved Arkansas Razorbacks.
 
Check out Carville and Russert's hour-long XM sports talk program "60/20" on Fridays at 8am ET - with replays at 11pm ET and several other times through the weekend.
 
Carville told the US News & World Report that he thinks Clinton "might be leaning toward Georgetown," his alma mater.

Carville also said Clinton has no secret to making accurate hoops picks other than studying the stats. "I think he's a knowledgeable fan, but my guess is that even when you're the president, you're not much better than the secretary who somehow always wins the damn thing."
 
This is the second time that Clinton is making an appearance on the Carville-Russert show (he was their first guest when it debuted back in March '06).

XM Satellite Radio is dropping the clutch on yet another year of Indy coverage with the broadcast of
the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series season opener, which is - appropriately - The XM Satellite Radio Indy 300.

The XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 will air live on XM's IndyCar channel (ch 145) from the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Saturday, March 24th. The entire 2007 IRL racing season, including the Indy 500 on May 27th, will be broadcast live on XM 145.

A special edition of the XM motorsports show “Powershift” with Joe Castello will air direct from the track 6-7pm ET on XM Sports Nation (ch 144) March 24th, featuring Indy drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.

On top of the race itself, XM is also sponsoring a one-day festival, the “XM Satellite Radio Speed Jam,” to kick off the IRL IndyCar Series season before the race. The festival will feature a concert performance by the Australian rock band Jet starting at 5:30pm. If you're going to be at the Indy 300, no worries, the festival fee is included in your ticket.

(...and yes, any post about the Indy season is always a great excuse to post photos of Danica Patrick.)

Danica Patrick will be joining XM this month to co-host the "Andretti Green Racing Hour" on XM Sports Nation (ch 144).

But on March 24th, Danica will also be debuting as the newest member of the AGR team at the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 in Miami.

And a new team means a new uniform. And the XM logo is featured on her new threads (as well as her new ride). And that's a good enough reason to post these photos of Danica in my book. Check 'em out after the jump...

The college basketball tournament action tips off on XM this Wednesday, March 8th, with the opening of the Big East and Pac-10 men’s basketball tournaments. The SEC, ACC, and Big Ten tournaments will open on Thursday, March 8th. 

Games will air on XM’s college sports play-by-play channels 191 through 201.
 
“For college hoops fans, it’s more than fifty games in five days,” said Kevin Straley, XM's VP of talk programming. “Displaced fans who live far away from their favorite schools can hear the tournaments on XM.”
 
On top of live coverage, XM Sports Nation (ch 144) will broadcast shows from Madison Square Garden in New York, the site of the Big East tournament, March 7-10. and the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the site of the SEC tournament, March 8-11. Plus, XM Sports Nation will have on-air reporters at other tournament sites across the country.

This on-site coverage is part of a new series called "XM Sports Nation Total Access," which puts the listener in the middle of all the action, directly from the venue on the day of major sporting events.

XM Satellite Radio has signed a five-year agreement with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to broadcast SEC football, basketball and other sports.

XM will air complete coverage of SEC championships, starting with the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament live from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta March 8th - 11th on XM channel 201. XM Sports Nation (ch 144) will also broadcast live from the Georgia Dome.

Starting this fall, XM plans to carry live regular-season football games for six SEC schools: University of Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee. University of South Carolina joins XM in fall 2008, and University of Florida joins XM in fall 2009. 

XM will also carry the SEC football and basketball championships, the vast majority of regular-season basketball games for participating schools, and other SEC sports on dedicated SEC channels. 

Rights for the four other SEC schools are currently not available for the 2007-2008 season, but when those schools play against the schools that are joining XM, you'll get to hear those games. So in other words, when Tennessee plays Auburn, XM will carry the game. 

As part of marketing push, SEC fans can go to xmradio.com/sec for a special offers. Special deals on XM radios will also be offered this week at the SEC men's basketball tournament and the SEC FanFare in Atlanta.