It's been a good while since HBO announced Joe Buck would be replacing Bob Costas on his vacant talk show, and we now have a first air date, and a name for said show. According to Broadcasting & Cable, the quarterly program will be called "Joe Buck Live" and will be airing on June 15th. Oh and get this, the first episode will include a segment on bloggers!

New quarterly sports series Joe Buck Live is set to kick off June 15 at 9 p.m. EST on HBO. The show, produced by HBO Sports' Peabody and Emmy-winning production department, will include a live studio audience, interviews, panel discussions, and pre-recorded features.

The first episode explores sports and celebrity, delving into the 24-hour news cycle, bloggers, gossip columnists, sports talk radio, commercial endorsements, and today's multimillionaire superstar athletes.

"I am just going to be myself," Buck said of his new show. "We will cover serious topics, but we will also have a lot of fun. With the combination of live television, sports and entertainment, I am excited to see what happens. It's a new avenue for me and I am going to give it all I've got. I hope I am as funny as my mom says I am."

Great....just great. Not only do we have to deal with Buck himself, we have to deal with his first show being about a medium he knows nothing about. At least give the guy something he's knowlegable for his first airing. You know....fake moonings and Desperate Housewives.

‘Joe Buck Live' To Debut On HBO In Mid-June (Broadcasting & Cable)
Joe Buck's Talk Show Is Set To Air June 15th (With Leather)

Can't let the weekend go by without mentioning the media news that Deadspin broke yesterday: the former Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Around The Horn panelist that everyone loves to hate is debuting at AOL Sports in some capacity tomorrow (DS says he's going to be on FanHouse, the banner at the site just says "AOL Sports".)

You may remember Mariotti's hissy fit of a resignation a few months back, obviously, followed by what seemed like waves of missives from his former co-workers about how they won't miss him. It's pretty clear when your paper features a subscriber who returned because you left (along with allowing the beat writers and columnists to trash you), people aren't really that fond of you.

I know it's only encouraging him, but I'll probably read Mariotti's debut at AOL for the same reason I read Whitlock at Fox Sports: just to see how blatantly wrong and off-base he can be, while getting paid for it.

Not only did WEEI find a spot for ex-Boston Glober and plagiarist, Ron Borges, but they have also gotten their hands on former Deadspin EIC and New York Mag writer, Will Leitch. From Scott's Shots via HHR....

BOSTON (August 18, 2008) – WEEI.com announced today the additions of six first-rate journalists joining its staff, along with the first upgrade to the website’s content and design. Joining WEEI.com editor Rob Bradford and columnist Mike Felger are a collection of top print and online journalists with excellent experience and reputations both in Boston and nationally.

Will Leitch, the founder of popular sports blog Deadspin.com, will be joining WEEI.com to provide an outsider’s look at Boston sports and its fans. Leitch has authored three books, including “God Save the Fan” and is currently a contributing editor to New York Magazine.

Ron Borges is a 24-year veteran of the Boston Globe, serving as the Patriots beat writer, national football writer and boxing reporter. He will serve as a columnist for WEEI.com covering the Patriots and national football news. Borges has received many awards and praise throughout his writing career, including being named Massachusetts Sports Writer of the Year by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sports Broadcasters five times since 1999.

Baseball writing veteran Alex Speier assist in handling the Red Sox beat and serve as Online Content Manager for WEEI.com. Speier is a graduate of Harvard University and has covered the Red Sox for several local and national publications, including the New Hampshire Union Leader, Boston Metro, Boston Herald and Baseball America.

How's that for random? Leitch is doing a column on Boston Sports from an "outsiders" point of view, and while an interesting idea, it won't likely work out in the long run. Unless they plan on using him on-air, I don't really think a blog on a radio station's website is going to succeed.

Leitch makes huge career move, becomes a blogger? (Hugging Harold Reynolds)
WEEI.com Announces All-Star Roster Additions (Scott's Shots)

I don't know how we all missed this but Erin Andrews was on CNBC's Big Idea last week for a sit down with Donny Deutsch. Lucky for us The Sports Point has pulled the video....

She's not really saying anything different than she has in past interviews, but it's interesting to see how far she's come. Why is she on CNBC again? Next thing you know she's going to be on Leno or Letterman. Just crazy.

Erin Andrews Knows We Love Her (The Sports Point)

I don't know about you but I'm just about sick of these Matt Leinart photos, but with Braylon Edwards as your guest you mind as well bring them up again. Edwards is a guest host on NFL Live for the next two days, and ESPN wasted no time in bringing up the Costas Now piece and how athletes have to be careful these days.

Actually giving Braylon Edwards a quiet environment to talk was a good move, but I'm still confused about this whole Leinart thing. Dressing up like 98 Degrees and assisting people while they take beer bongs is COMPLETELY different than an athlete in a club or someone just having a party at their house like Edwards said. No one is going to hate him for doing these things, but you most certainly can question his maturity. And it should be questioned given his past.

Look, I'm not going to defend the original Deadspin post because I think Will went about it the wrong way, but there is a point in that post. Will's a fan of the Cardinals and that obviously came out (as it usually does) in his writing. If you've been waiting for your team to make the leap to the Playoffs (like every expect picks them to do every year) and year after year they come short....I'd be a little upset if I saw those photos too.

Tyler Hansbrough jumped off a damn balcony and it didn't get even remotely the same level of press that the Leinart photos got. Why? Because the kid is still in College. Sure it's stupid for a future draft pick to do that, and Leinart is only two years older, but there's a standard of behavior that we expect from Professionals compared to Amateurs. Especially when they're getting paid over $8 million a year like Leinart and you live and die with a team as a fan.

Hopefully every show has now commented on this, everyone can just move on, and the Cardinals can miss out on the Playoffs for the tenth year in a row.