And yet, several new additions to the App Store promise to see sports fans through this barren stretch with an oasis of information about their favorite sports and teams.

Prolific app maker has spent the past few days ramping up its team-specific iFan offerings for folks with a college basketball jones. The iFan app offers the latest news, scores, and schedule information tailored to your favorite team. Just append the name of your school at the end of iFan--, say, if your a die-hard Tar Heel, or if you need to know about all things Bruin. By my count, there are more than 50 iFan apps tailored to schools from the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, and SEC conferences; GP Apps also makes conference-specific trackers as well. Each iFan app costs US$1.

is also targeting specificity-loving sports fans with a five-pack of applications all focused on a lone sport. The Back Pages apps feature offerings for , , , , and . Each of the $1 apps offer headline news related to their particular sport.

Finally, fans of other sports can turn to a pair of programs from . Horse Racing Live delivers horse-racing headlines directly to any iPhone or second-generation iPod touch while Nascar Live offers to do the same for stock-car racing. Horse Racing Live costs $10 while Nascar Live costs $5.

Other apps of interest that were recently updated or added to the App Store include: