There are so many broadcasting awards out there, that it's hard to figure out which ones are the most respected in the business. Obviously winning an Emmy is at the top of the list, but the individual sports broadcasting awards go as follows: Curt Gowdy- Basketball, Ford C. Frick- Baseball and Pat Summerall- Football.

Doug Collins won the Gowdy last year, Jon Miller was given the Frick last week and now Cris Collinsworth has been awarded the Summerall for contributions to the NFL....

Former Florida Gator Great and current NFL sportscaster Cris Collinsworth will be honored with the prestigious Pat Summerall Award on Thursday, Feb. 4, at the annual Legends for Charity Dinner. Each year, the award honors an individual who has made a significant contribution to the sports field. Past recipients include James Brown, Greg Gumbel, Jim Nantz and Chris Berman. The event will take place at the NFL Headquarters Hotel at the Westin Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

During his time at UF from 1977-80, Collinsworth was a three-time All-SEC and two-time All-American performer at wide receiver. As a Gator, he caught 120 passes for 1,937 yards and 14 touchdowns, ran for two other touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score. He was inducted into the Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2001.

Collinsworth played eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and the 1981 Rookie of the Year was also selected to play in three Pro Bowls. Following his NFL career, he became a sportscaster and has since won nine Emmy’s for his work as a sports personality and football analyst. In 2008, Collinsworth covered the Olympic Games for NBC and currently joins Al Michaels as the host of NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

A well-deserved honor to be sure. Usually when you try to replace a legend like John Madden, you either fail completely or it takes a few years to get the chemistry down. Collinsworth made the transition seamlessly and kept NBC rolling throughout the season. Bravo Sir!

Former Gator Cris Collinsworth To Be Recognized (WCTV)

This is another clip that is a bit of a mystery. During last night's Cowboys-Eagles game either Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth or another production dude, had to clear their throat. But instead of being a polite "ahem", it turned out to be the grossest on-air thing I've ever heard....

Good lord. I hope there's not an H1N1 issue in the Sunday Night Football booth.

Cris Collinsworth Clears His Throat (NESW Sports)

I decided to not post the recent Cris Collinsworth YouTube video scandal, well....because I posted it over a year ago. Either way, the ex-Bengal and current NBC analyst, apologized for his comments back in the day to multiple news outlets, and here were his comments. Via Watchdog....

As a family man I am extremely embarrassed by an interview I did when I was in my early twenties about dating. My comments were insulting, immature, and foolishly intended as a joke. They do not reflect how I lived my life then... or now.

I was asked to do something humorous about dating, and it has been a major embarrassment to me since the day I said it.

I apologize to anyone who has ever had the misfortune to see it now or a quarter-century ago.

Obviously, a bigger deal was made of this than needed to be, but I guess with his new role he felt it was needed. It was a dumb mistake when he was younger, and I'm sure he regrets ever saying the comment(s).

Cris Collinsworth apologizes for comments . . . 25 years later! (Watchdog)

It's here! It's really really here!!! This summer has taken forever, but Football starts tonight, and we're going to be doing some live-blogging. Head on over to 12StepDrop for the stream if you want, but I'm pretty sure everyone gets NBC these days. The fun starts around 8, so join us, won't you?

Streaming Live: Opening Night

Also:

Pierre Thomas Preparing To Play
Barber's Role Diminished
Matt Stafford Named Starter
Off Field Issues Creating Headaches
Chatter

In a press conference today, NBC said that they will be sending Bob Costas to the game site each Sunday, and he will do the pregame show with Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels. Following the trio discussing the bigger stories of the day, along with Tiki Barber on the sidelines and locker rooms, they will then throw it to Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann (along with Dungy, Harrison and Peter King). Via NBC PR....

Costas, the most honored studio host of all time with 19 Emmy Awards, will host the show from a set at the "Sunday Night Football" game site. He will be joined by the new SNF broadcast team of Al Michaels, a six-time Emmy Award-winner whom the Associated Press has called "TV's best play-by-play announcer," and Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in sports television history, winning the award in nine of the 12 years of its existence and winning two additional Emmys for game analyst. Collinsworth moves from the studio to the broadcast booth alongside Michaels to replace the recently-retired John Madden.

"At our best we aspire to give the viewer the best seat in the house -- not the hype around the event, but the story of the event itself," said Ebersol. "Bob has proven time and again that he is unmatched in his ability to appropriately set the scene and tell the story of an event. Having the two premier broadcasters of their generation in Bob and Al on site and appearing together alongside Cris, the best analyst in the business, adds an immediacy that makes 'Sunday Night Football' an even bigger event."

Costas said: "Hosting from the site of the game, being in the stadium surrounded by the fans and the energy and atmosphere of the event, creates an urgency and a sense of place that can't be duplicated in the studio. And of course, this allows me to keep working with Cris, while at the same time building on the special chemistry I developed with Al Michaels in BASEketball."

I've always been critical of NBC's decisions when it comes to "Football Night in America", but this year they seem to be close to getting it right. In fact, you could argue that they only really need Costas, Collinsworth and Michaels, manning the highlights.

(Also to note: As I mentioned before, Andrea Kremer is no longer on the sidelines)

For most of the Hall of Fame Game, I really wasn't missing John Madden. I thought Collinsworth worked great with Madden, and didn't really think about Madden until they aired the tribute piece at halftime. Throw some "booms" together with a random telestrator squiggle, and you've got a winner!

As I mentioned on Friday, I will be live blogging the first preseason game over at 12StepDrop tonight at 8pm. We decided we might try something a little different and embed the viewer here as well. It will have a fantasy slant, but if you are watching a Buffalo-Tennessee preseason game, chances are you play a little fantasy ...

If you haven't been by 12StepDrop yet, checkout the Chatter section. It filters out all the useless tweets by the players and shows you just their thoughts on camp and their teams. Just what the internet needs, more fantasy data.

See you back here at 8 ...

Well at least that's what Peter King is trying to tell people. is reporting that newly signed ESPN analyst, Matt Millen, is the leader in the clubhouse to replace Cris Collinsworth, but the network is also considering Brian Billick, Marshall Faulk and the one and only....Joe Theismann!!!

Remember I told you a couple of weeks ago how NFL Network was furious with Jon Gruden for agreeing to a deal to do color on the Thursday night games in a two-man booth, then reneging to sign with ESPN? NFL Network wasn't exactly thrilled with the worldwide leader for ripping off Gruden. Well, ESPN and NFL Network may just have to play nice now to get another deal done -- if league TV decides to make Millen the color man to replace Gruden for its eight-game slate of late-season games.

In the wake of NFL Network losing Gruden, the channel has considered a few options of analysts to pair with Bob Papa. One is Brian Billick, the quick-on-his-feet former Ravens coach who had a successful debut on Fox last season. Another would be a three-man booth, with Papa, Marshall Faulk and Joe Theismann, who, presumably, would walk to each game if the network would give him the gig. But I hear Millen is the leader in the NFL Network clubhouse.

Bob Papa and Matt Millen would actually make a heck of a team, but to do so, Millen would have to work approximately 90 hours a week. He'd potentially be in studio for Monday Night Football, have NFL Live during the week, Thursday Night Football and finally College Football work for ESPN on the weekend. Even the most dedicated of broadcasters can't talk that much without losing their voice.

While I think Joe Theismann would be a bad choice, I almost miss him at this point. A three-man booth of Papa, Theismann and Marshall Faulk, would be dreadful....it would certainly provide tons of posts for the site. Hmmm....someone flip a coin for me.

The Matt Millen Job Fair (SI)

I don't know if there's a higher honor in the Sports World, but during his first interview since taking over for John Madden, Cris Collinsworth admitted that the legend actually asked him to be his successor. Via the Cincy Inquirer....

But Collinsworth wanted to talk about the man with 15 Emmys: Madden.
“John asked me to replace him. That’s as high of a tribute as you can get in this business,” Collinsworth says.

The two finally spoke Monday for the first time since Madden, 73, retired.
“It’s something that I’ll treasure for a lifetime. He was so gracious and wonderful … It was about as special a moment as I’ve ever had in my professional career,” says Collinsworth, who joined WLW-AM and cable’s “Inside the NFL” after leaving football. “I want to make him proud.”

NBC had planned for Collinsworth to succeed Madden for some time. Collinsworth’s contract named him successor for either Madden or announcer Al Michaels, he says. He just didn’t expect it to happen this soon.

It's a shame that Madden is retiring now, because he's so much fun to watch on Sunday nights, but if anyone can fill in right away it's Collinsworth. Now we just have to wait to see and see who will replace him on the NFL Network.

Collinsworth praises Madden (Cincinnati Inquirer)

I love that I grew up in this era, but every once and awhile I like to think about some of the things that I missed out on. One of the things that I've pondered about on more than one occasion, what would it have been like listening to Howard Cosell call a game? I wonder if I would have fallen in with the crowd who thought he was brilliant, or the group that couldn't stand the cantankerous analyst. Well after this story by Al Michaels, during yesterday's Pro Bowl, I think I can say I would have fallen in with the brilliant folks.

Nearing the end of the game, Michaels was talking about Archie Manning (in attendance), playing in the first Pro Bowl ever, while both his sons were playing in the current one. That then led the PbPer into how he was actually on the call of that first game with Fran Tarkenton and Howard Cosell, and how the late Cosell actually felt about the first Pro Bowl.....

Hilarious. The best part about Michaels these days, is the way he portrays the visuals of some of his more memorable stories. It's also funny that the way Cosell felt about the first Pro Bowl, is the way 95% of fans STILL feel about the game. Man, would he have had some fun with that boring game yesterday. It's tough not to watch the game, because you know Football won't be on again until August, but it's always the most boring contest ever played. At least Michaels and Collinsworth tried to make it somewhat interesting.

I guess this shouldn't come as shock to anyone, but NBC Chairman Dick Ebersol told USA Today that if Madden should want to retire, they have a replacement already lined up. That person of course is Cris Collinsworth.

Not that Madden has ever suggested he wants to retire. He noted Tuesday that "it doesn't get any better" than working a Super Bowl and working another one "sounds pretty good." And NBC's Ebersol has repeated said that Madden will get that chance, saying he plans on keeping Madden at least through the remaining three seasons on NBC's NFL TV deal. Tuesday, Ebersol even volunteered he'd be "devastated" if Madden decided to retire. But if Madden did step aside, said Ebersol, Collinsworth would be "the first guy" in line. Which makes sense, given that Ebersol hired Collinsworth to be NBC's game analyst -- until Madden, who'd been at ABC, became available. Ebersol, still wanting Collinsworth on games, had him practice play-by-play calls in hopes he could be teamed with Madden -- until Al Michaels became available. Collinsworth, Tuesday, after being asked if he saw any chance in which he'd replace Madden in NBC's current deal: "I hope not."

I'm certainly a Collinsworth fan, but I don't know how I would feel about the guy actually doing play-by-play for a network. There are certainly worse options out there, but I think the current plan of succession is perfect for NBC. The only problem is that Michaels has already said he would retire when Madden does, so I'm not sure if that ultimately does mean a move to PbP for Collinsworth.

Whither John Madden (Open Mike)

Good first quarter for Arizona, better 2nd for Atlanta. Rackers kicks off to Norwood, who gets out to the 27. Ryan hits Peelle at the 30.

Turner runs....and the ball's knocked out by Dockett! Rolle picks it up and runs into the end zone, TOUCHDOWN, CARDINALS! That was quick, 27 yard return. Rackers, up and good (barely), and it's 21-17, Arizona.

Let the good times Rolle! - SSR

Very punny. Norwood kneels on the kick, start at the 20. Turner had a wide open lane, but Arizona called time-out. He was gone if they hadn't, but let's guess that a TO called that early might bite them in the ass.

Turner gets brought down in the backfield again on first down. Ryan to White...but negated thanks to holding. An incomplete on a rush, and then a delay of game. Does not look good for Atlanta. Ryan throws it away on 3rd and 25, and the refs miss a hold in the end zone that would have been a safety. Breaston gets nailed on the punt before he could catch it -- 15 more yards, and Arizona will start inside the Atlanta 40.

Edge rushes for several yards in his LDT visor. Warner goes for Fitzgerald, who tries to bring it in one handed, but is a couple feet short. Warner to Fitz, it's incomplete, but man, that's a PI flag if I ever saw one. Rackers tries to kick one from 51, but it's wide left. Ken Whisenhunt ought to be fucking furious right now.

Turner gets to the 42. Roddy White brings in another catch, but for not much. 3rd down, and the O-line gets savaged. Incomplete, of course. Punt goes out of bounds at about the mid 20s. Edge gets eight on the next two carries, and Cris is agitating for Pat Tillman in the HOF. Warner to the TE, first down.

"Impressive yards after catch for James, and we did count the times he ran into his own offensive linemen." - Cris, as Warner scampers to the 46 for a first down. James gets into Atlanta territory again for another first down. Tim Hightower gets a couple on the next carry. Warner hits the TE Urban, then checks down to James for another first down at the 25 of the Falcons. Hightower grabs five more to the 20. Warner smokes one into Breaston at the five yard line.

Warner, short pass to Hightower, in the end zone. Rackers point is up and good, 28-17.

Has anyone noticed how odd it is to have Clint Eastwood hunting down Asian gang members. It's like Dirty Harry: The Retirement Years. Looks good though. Atlanta will start at the 20 after a touchback.

Ryan aims downfield for Roddy White....and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie makes an acrobatic interception to pick it off! He got UP THERE. Three and out, though. Punt downed inside the 15. Turner continues to get nothing from Berry and the D-line, Norwood doesn't get much more as the 3rd quarter ends.

Ryan overthrows Jenkins on first down, and he's unraveling. Punt again. Stop hitting yourself, Falcons! 15-yard face mask on the end of an Edge run gets inside Falcons territory. Dumb, dumb screen pass on first down to Arrignton, loses tons of yards. 3rdr and 11. Warner gets harried by the blitz and it's incomplete. Falcons get called for a hold on the punt, giving Arizona ten more yards.

THEY BROKE OUT THE VANILLA ICE FOR MATT RYAN. Good lord.

And they get Matt Ryan in the grasp....and IT'S A SAFETY!!! 30-17. Looks debatable, he held on to the ball too long and they called it as if he was in the grasp and about to go down, and the ref was grabbing Ryan's crotch.

Cris: "He gave him a couple of bucking bronco rides, but the third and fourth was too much." (via Mal)

James burrows for more yards and another first down. Warner out to the TE, about the 22. James gets stopped up in the backfield, there's a flag, and they're battling out of bounds. Holding on Arizona. Warner hits Fitzgerald, but he's short of the first. Douglas takes the punt return out to the 41.

Ryan to Norwood for some serious yardage after the catch, going way deep into Cards' territory. Ryan then goes to Peelle at the 20 -- next pass to Jenkins, short of the first down. QB sneak for the first down. Offsides on the Cards. Toss to White for another first down, and it's first and goal.

Ryan to White -- in the flat, just walks into the end zone, kick is good. 30-24, Cards.

Lost transmission thanks to incompetence at the local station. And now they're not broadcasting in HD. Warner aims for Breaston, who makes the catch and gets into Falcon territory at the 40. Hightower to the 43, and an ATL timeout. An end around to Breaston is broken up big time. And Warner just iced this game with a throw to Spach over the middle and to the 20.

Now they're eating clock, and this game is over with another first down. Your final score will be 30-24, and I totally blew it on this call -- where was this Arizona team all season? See you in a bit for the Colts and Chargers.

Michael Turner, who garnered 4 MVP votes this year, is ready to run all over the place today.

That DP-Matt Millen interview had to be one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen on sports television. It's remarkable that Millen admitted to sucking in so many words. Anyway....

Matt Millen just picked the Falcons, so I'm confident the Cards will win this. - Bazooka Jones

That did make me a bit less comfortable with my Falcons pick, but the NFC West is so atrocious.

I cannot be the only one who thinks it's incredibly lame that Arizona somehow thinks it's clever to put "RED ZONE" in humongous lettering over the end zones, as if Cardinals fans are so bad with football that they need it explained where the red zones are. (Of course, this is football in Arizona; that is entirely possible. Is there an actual Arizona Cardinals fan among us here? We would love to hear from you.)

Collinsworth: "Boldin is one of the toughest players in all of football".
Hammond: "You know he's a wide receiver, don't you?" (via Mal)

Thank you Tiki and NBC, for teaching me something I didn't know: they roll the grass at the stadium outside to grow and water it, then roll it back in. That's pretty damn cool.

J.J. Arrington picks up the kickoff and is knocked out at the 12 yard line. The KW-1300 Cybernetic Quarterback throws the first pass of the game high for Larry Fitzgerald. This QB model hides his mechanical enhancements under the gloves. KW-1300 gets whacked as he lets it go on 2nd down, and it's obviously short, as Keith Brooking tried to maul him. 3rd down pass underneath to Ben Patrick, three yards short for a 3 and out.

Edge picked up that blitz like a man ready to leave town. - Mal

Harry Douglas gets the punt at the 30 and returns it 21 yards past midfield for some fine field position to start. Matt Ryan rolls out for three yards and slides after his options are well covered to start. Turner the Burner starts with only a couple yards rushing. Matty Ice fires....and gets picked right away by Ralph Brown. Cards will start at about their own 36.

Edgerrin James picks up about four or five yards on his first carry of the series. He gets a first down by heading past midfield. Another Edge run for 6. One more handoff to Edge -- ooh, we got ourselves a flea flicker -- KW-1300 aims, fires, and Larry Fitzgerald back flips into the end zone with the catch! TOUCHDOWN, CARDINALS. Kick is up and good by Rackers, 7-0, Arizona.

Seriously, double coverage, leaping, back flip, that's major highlight material.

You know how you can sense a disaster approaching. That mall cop movie just pinged every sensor I've got.

"He's like Spider-Man." - Collinsworth on Fitzgerald.

Falcons will start at the 20 thanks to a touchback. Nothing for Turner on first down. False start, then Turner gets about four of those back. Ryan hits Roddy White at the 30 for a first down, and I love Cris breaking down the plays super quick on replays like that. Next throw on first down goes out of bounds. Turner loses a bunch on 2nd down, because Arizona, for some reason, is pegging on the run hard. The Cards have the Falcons on the run right now, and they call time out.

Yep, that was a blown offsides...but it doesn't matter, as Ryan's sacked on 3rd and long. Michael Koenen will come on to punt. Cardinals start at the 24. More Edge, out to the 29.

"Are you sure the Falcons and Cardinals didn't switch uniforms?" - Collinsworth.

KW-1300 then hits Fitzgerald again, who gets out to the mid-40s with some yards after the catch. James inside the 35 of the Falcons. Arrington gets stuffed on his first carry on 2nd and 3. KW-1300 throws it through Anquan Boldin's hands, and this will be a punt, apparently...and it's downed at the Atlanta 5....well, 7 yard line.

Turner gets three on the first carry. Ryan drops back, aims deep for Michael Jenkins, and Rod Hood knocks it away. Bertram Berry takes Ryan down for the second sack of the day, and Koenen will be punting out of his end zone. Left tackle Sam Baker got completely burned. Steve Breaston backs off on the ball, picks it up, and is taken down in good field position.

Fitty gets tied up with the Atlanta defender on first down, ball falls incomplete. KW-1300 gets nailed by Lawyer Milloy as he lets the ball go. 3rd and 10. Warner throws through the hands of Keith Brooking, who should have come up with that.

"Even the defensive players with the bad hands ought to catch that." - Collinsworth

Douglas gets nailed inside the 10 for no return on the punt. Tuner gets two yards, up to the 10. Ryan to White at the 20 for a first down; White is quickly developing into a good wideout. Turner gets leg-tackled by Hood when it looked like he was about to break for 5-10 yards. Norwood gets very close to a first down, busting through for 8...and he's got it to end the first quarter.

I guess Ryan will be added to the QB slurping tree or a replacement for Favre, Brady, Peyton - JG

That ain't new, man. That's been going on all damn year. Turner gets his first good run of the day, 13 yards and another first down. Another first down pass out to Michael Jenkins, who gets 13 more and into Arizona territory. Check down pass to Turner for 7, as Ryan has to bring everyone in around him to get the play call out. It's rather Peyton-esque. Turner hits another first down on the rush. Ball at the AZ 32. Swing pass to Douglas -- and Rod Hood just decked him.

Harry Douglas, you just got KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT.

2nd and 11 on the swing to White, gets a first down near the 24. Ryan to the TE Pollard, completes, and it comes lose, but the Falcons keep the ball.

"One of the things they told Gerald Hayes, I don't want to say this; it sounds bad, but it was: 'Don't think. Just go get the guy!'" - Collinsworth, after Hayes takes Turner down in the backfield. Hood falls down on 3rd and long, and Jenkins winds up being a yard shy on the first because he didn't realize Hood had fallen. 4th down, and a tough call coming.

Kicker and noted author Jason Elam tries a 30-yarder, and it's good. 7-3, Cardinals.

Arizona starts at the 27. KW-1300's pass gets tipped by an airborne D-lineman, and we get our first Leinart shot. The cyborg hits Boldin for his first catch, and he's down after a yard gain. Out to Boldin on the side, the corner misses a tackle, and Boldin is GONE. He burned Lawyer Milloy, badly. Rackers' kick is good, 14-3, Cartdinals. 71 yards all the way. Yeowch.

"I guess that would qualify as some run after the catch." - Collinsworth (via Mal). Norwood returns the kick out to the 23 yard line. 7 yards on the first pass to White, and he gets it again for a first down. Ryan goes all the way across the field for White, who manages not to bring it in. Another throw wide for Jenkins. Jenkins then brings in a pass from Ryan, who had very good protection and the receiver does a great job to come down in bounds.

Turner gets nothing in the backfield again. Arizona's stopping the run very well. Ryan to White again for a first down.

"Have any explanation for that, Cris?" - Hammond
"No, I'm not smart enough to come up with one for that!" - Collinsworth, on why Ryan is more successful throwing to his left than his right.

Ryan to White again for another 12 yards, and they're in the red zone. Ryan scrambles, gets up to the 18.

Atlanta is going all Philly on us and is going pass happy. - SSR
Mularkey's channeling his inner Andy Reid it looks like. - James Craven

Burn. Turner gets up to the 15.....and eventually Turner just walks into the end zone. Kick up and good, 14-10, Cardinals.

Warner faces a 3rd and 10 after having to throw a pass away...and 3rd down is deflected and picked by Cheivous Jackson! Turner rushes up and is just short of the first down....never mind, he got it. Offsides on AZ, first and 5, Ryan overthrows White when he didn't have to at all. 1:12 left to go int he first half.

Ryan to White again just inside the first down. 2 yard line. Ryan to Justin Peelle, easy TE pattern, TOUCHDOWN. Kick up and good, 17-14, Falcons take the lead.

Warner to Fitzgerald for a small screen pass to end the half at that score. See you in the 2nd half thread.

This here is Tony Romo, and he feels like partying to celebrate the last game at Texas Stadium before the Cowboys move into their new $1 billion monstrosity in Arlington next season. Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense would like to make that a depressing ceremony, in a game that most of us aren't actually able to watch unless we head to the sports bar.

Game: Baltimore Ravens (9-5) vs. Dallas Cowboys (9-5)
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, TX
Start Time: 8:15 PM
Network and Announcers: NFL Network - Bob Papa, Cris Collinsworth
Favorites: Cowboys (-4)
S2N's Pick: Baltimore to win outright. This will be low-scoring, and the Ravens are engineered to pick off Romo when he makes mistakes. The Dallas D will be after Joe Flacco early and often, but they'll be running the ball a lot more to begin with.

This'll be my last post for the day, as I've got a holiday party to head to. See you all tomorrow for the full NFL Sunday.

I know a great deal of you still don't have the NFL Network, so I did you the favor of watching the Browns collapse against the Broncos last night for you. The game was rather entertaining with Brady Quinn exploiting the Broncos defense, but then again, so hasn't every other quarterback Denver has played. The point of this post however is to illustrate just how great a hire that Bob Papa is for the network.

Every early review that I've read seems to be in line with my thinking, and that's that the pairing of Papa and Cris Collinsworth could already be one of the top announcing teams in the NFL. I know that's a little bit over-the-top, and the closeness of the game obviously helped, but I honestly really enjoyed the broadcast. Moreso than I have for an NFL game in quite some time. I've always been a fan of Collinsworth, but his assignments with Bryant Gumbel just dragged him down. Papa was spot on throughout the night and when two announcers can laugh, be serious and breakdown plays, you've conquered about 99% of the announcing game. The only thing left is to get the players and the downs right (Hi Pam!).

The NFL sponsored channel isn't going anywhere, and even though they can't get a carriage deal to save their lives, so this excellent transition was a much needed one. You officially have my approval, NFL-N. Not that it matters, but you've got that going for you....which is nice.

Elsewhere....

Papa, Collinsworth Worth A Listen (Sox & Dawgs)

After learning that Joey Sunshine was going to be on Inside the NFL yesterday, you just knew I would have something on him today. About halfway through the show the panel was discussing the Titans when Theismann dropped a bombshell on the group. He predicted that the Titans would go undefeated.

Now I know what you're thinking. There's no way in hell they can win the rest of the eight games on their schedule. Well, our friend Joe actually made a pretty good case for the team....

It's obviously highly unlikely, but based on his analysis there, I guess it's possible. Their schedule is really favorable, and anything can happen in those last two weeks. I still don't think it's happening, but at least Theismann knows what he's talking about these days. Unlike Cris Collinsworth, who at one point said he wanted the NFL to shrink the size of balls so more players could be QBs, and his reasoning was because backup quarterback have been so terrible this year.

Yep, Kerry Collins, Gus Frerotte, Jeff Garcia, Kurt Warner, Matt Cassel and Byron Leftwich have all been awful this season. I'll give him Brad Johnson, and whoever Kansas City is currently starting, but other than that he's way off with that line of thinking.

What we've learned from the late games:

• Indy misses Joseph Addai. Green Bay has run all over the Colts' D, and we've seen at least six different versions of Manning Face. 27-7, Packers, and they should hold on unless Aaron Rodgers catches some form of disease from Sage Rosenfels.
• After a 0-0 first half, Washington has now scored two touchdowns to go up 14-3. Question: have the Browns even had 100 yards total offense yet?
• Houston up 28-18 on the Lions thanks to the running game -- Steve Slaton and Ahman Green both have scored, Matt Schaub's thrown for two TDs.
• Guh....both the Raiders and the Jets stink. It's 13-10 as I write this; Janikowski just kicked a go ahead FG.
  

Tonight, as mentioned earlier, Cris Collinsworth joins Al Michaels in the booth as the Seahawks visit Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers.

Talk about the day in football, let's see if K.O. is back from his bout with strep throat, and list any good jabs and quotes from Cris here. Baseball live-blog coming in an hour.

It's pretty amazing to think that John Madden hasn't missed the call of a game in 476 chances, but that's exactly the case. Unfortunately that streak will be ending this Sunday as NBC analyst will take his first night off in almost 30 years. According to the Washington Post, Madden really wants to spend time with family and trying to pull off another cross country trip (his third in a row) was just too much.

It wasn't exactly Madden's idea to take a deep breath and a day off this weekend, but when NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol first broached the possibility with him last spring, Madden said he'd have to think about it. Ten days ago, he spoke with Ebersol again and told him it might not be a bad idea.

"I wasn't reluctant as much as I was 'let's wait and see how it goes,'" Madden said in a telephone interview Monday. "Last year we had a couple of tough (trips). I still enjoy the travel, but you'd like to be home once in a while. I've got five grandchildren. It's a quality of life issue. The 49ers and the Raiders not being good also has hurt, because you never get a home game. Even when L.A. had a team, I'd get to be home. When you see the grand kids, it's like they've grown two feet. So I'd like to check in once awhile, and this is a good chance to do that."

"Look, I think that John is not only the best game analyst in the history of sports, he remains the best analyst on television," Ebersol said. "I just think it's smart thinking to do it this way."

If Madden were to do this game, he would have had to have rode a bus from L.A. to Jacksonville, from Jax back to San Diego, and then from San Diego to Tampa Bay. I don't even think a group of four college kids on a road trip could have pulled that off. He will be replaced by Cris Collinsworth that night, and like the Post said, hopefully this won't end up a Wally Pipp situation and end up being John Madden's last game. NBC says they are committed to the entirety of Madden's six year contract, but we'll see.

Madden's Broadcasting Streak To End At 476 Games (Washington Post)

One of the things I always looking forward to when new ex-players and coaches become a member of the media, is whether they give easy/cupcake answers to questions, or if they actually give honest and sometimes difficult responses. Most people won't say anything about former teams and teammates, but with Warren Sapp we knew it was just a matter of time, and Lane Kiffin's firing gave him the perfect opportunity.

Sapp just laid into the Raiders' entire organization this past Wednesday on Inside the NFL, and the comments were so strong that ESPN even picked up the story....

"[Davis] is the common equation," Sapp said on "Inside the NFL." "You take him out, put him at home watching film or whatever he is doing -- you have a functioning football organization. But once he comes over the top, he goes and starts moving it around.

"Al Davis knows football -- it's just '60s and '70s football. That's what it is. He's thinking that Cliff Branch is outside and [Jim] Plunkett is dropping back and you can throw it 80 yards down the field -- deep ball, deep ball, deep ball."

Sapp even said that Davis would call in plays when Sapp was playing for the Raiders.

"I remember the first two weeks I was there, we played a preseason game. Somebody came up one time and said, 'We're going deep right here, dog.' I said, how do you know? He said, 'The phone just rang.'

"All the preparation that goes into a week of work is there, the practicing that you have to put in order to do these things, sometimes [Al Davis] messed with that part of it and that's what kills you," Sapp said on "Inside the NFL."

I thought I had the video, but for some reason it didn't save (I'll keep trying to look for it though). Either way, you get the idea. It was a pretty eye-opening segment and a refreshing change from the usual run-of-the-mill responses you get from ex-players. Warren Sapp still has some work to do on the show, but as long as he keeps up this level of honesty, I think more and more people will start to tune in.

Update: And here's your video....

Sapp says Kiffin treated unfairly, blames Davis for Raiders' mess (ESPN)

I mentioned yesterday that there were going to be some guests stopping by for the first episode of Inside The NFL on Showtime. Roger Goodell was boring (as expected) and Deacon Jones was entertaining (as expected), but it was DWTS's Kym Johnson that stole the show. Well, she wasn't that exciting, but her appearance gave us our first look at Warren Sapp's new moves....

Forget Warren, get Collinsworth on that show. He just swooped in and went to town with Kym Johnson. As far as the show went, it really didn't vary much from its predecessor. There were a few old elements that were missing (a handful of people emailed about the "Beat The Pros" segment from HBO), but for the most part it was on par with HBO's version. I enjoyed all four during the program, but there were a few annoying jester-like moments from Sapp. It wasn't anything that would cause you to change the channel, but hopefully he tones it down.

Oh and please Showtime, please don't try to promote Dancing With The Stars. Occasionally is fine, but every week would get old quick.

Inside The NFL Debuts On Showtime Tonight With A Few Special Guests (Awful Announcing)