Sports by Brooks has a set of quotes from an interview that Tim Hardaway did with the Palm Beach Post expressing his displeasure with the Heat's Front Office for not making him a coach....

“For some reason, I don’t know why, I’m not able to be with them. … I don’t know what’s going on there....

I’ve talked to Pat (Riley) Had great conversations with him. Don’t know why I’m not there. I’ve been trying for three or four years now. Don’t know why I’m not there. It’s kind of frustrating to me because I know I can help them out with that type of stuff — scouting, helping out with the guys, making sure they understand what they need to do.

It’s kind of frustrating to have my expertise around and willing to help and they’re not calling.”

Okay that actually made me laugh out loud there. You don't know why Timmy? Really??? I'm all for giving people second chances, but if you can't figure out why a team won't hire a known homophobe (whether he still is or isn't) in a town with a rather large Gay and Lesbian Community....then I don't know if you deserve that chance. People continue to amaze me everyday.

Tim Hardaway Just Can’t Get That Coaching Job (Sports by Brooks)

Yet another analyst is going back to his coaching roots, but this time at ESPN. Hockey analyst Barry Melrose and his fabulous mullet are reportedly heading to Tampa Bay and will the new Coach of the Lightning....

Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Barry Melrose will reportedly take over for John Tortorella behind the Tampa Bay Lightning bench within the next few days.

The Toronto Star reported Friday that the former Los Angeles Kings coach will be named as a replacement for Tortorella, who has yet to be fired by the Lightning.

Melrose, who is currently a featured NHL analyst for ESPN, has not coached a team since he left the Kings in the 1994-95 season. In the 1992-93 season, he helped guide the team to its first and only Stanley Cup Finals appearance, which the team lost in five games to the Montreal Canadiens. However, Los Angeles failed to make the playoffs in the next two seasons.

I'm sure Melrose has always wanted to Coach, but it's kind of bad timing as ESPN has decided to devote more coverage to the Sport as of late. I guess that leaves John Buccigross as the only Hockey guy left at the "Leader".

Melrose in, Tortorella out in Tampa Bay (Seattle P-I)

The Scripps National Spelling Bee finally ended late Friday night after hours and hours of words I had never heard of......well besides Travis Diener. The kid's name is Sameer Mishra from Lafayette, Indiana and the word was Guerdon. And are you ready for this? He was the same kid that had to spell Diener earlier in the day! How about that for closure?

guer·don (noun)- [Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin widerdnum, alteration (influenced by Latin dnum, gift) of Old High German widarln : widar, back, against; see wi- in Indo-European roots + ln, reward; see lau- in Indo-European roots.]

Good stuff Sameer, but I was more mesmerized by the second place finisher's mustache. Seriously, try and tell me this kid is 12 years old.....


I call shenanigans. What in the name of Danny Almonte is up with that 'stache!

Just an amazing Eastern Conference Finals Game Six. The Pistons and Celtics traded the lead multiple times throughout the night but in the end the Boston's Big Three and bench were just too much. A 29-13 4th quarter led to this subdued celebration....

That celebration compared to Lakers one seemed all business didn't it? With that said it's just a great story for three of the NBA's hardest working and classiest players to finally make the NBA Finals, and the league got what it wants. The Finals get underway this Thursday and prepare for a ton of live-blogs and open threads my friends.

It's the Lakers, It's the Celtics....on ABC....NEXT! (That just gave me goosebumps)

Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals is still going on but things are getting pretty heated. There's been a few questionable calls on both ends, but Rasheed Wallace isn't particularly happy with this foul on Kevin Garnett, and subsequently ESPN's camera in his face (NSFW Language)....

"I'm not going to tell you again to get that f**king camera out my face!"

God I love Rasheed. Classic. I also like ESPN's random shot of the tunnel in the beginning.

(I'll have the end of the game video up shortly after the game as well)

Next week the 5-year, $17 million dollar contract (seriously) that Rick Reilly signed with ESPN will kick off in full force. Teddy Greenstein at Chicago Sports has an interview with the former SIer and what some of his early projects will be.

Early assignments include an essay during ESPN's coverage of the June 7 Belmont Stakes and a column for ESPN the Magazine that hits newsstands Wednesday.

The topic: Reilly's father, Jack, who died last month.

"It will be an emotional, confessional thing," he said.

In addition to his every-other-week magazine column, Reilly will write biweekly columns for ESPN.com.

He'll do essays for SportsCenter — "I hope you don't have hi-def," he joked — and is developing a monthly show called "ESPN Homecoming."

You've heard of "Inside the Actor's Studio"? This would be like "Inside the Athlete's Studio" with the athlete surrounded by friends, family and former teammates in his hometown.

In all honesty the subject matter seems spot and hopefully Reilly's "attitude" portrays them in the best light. My problem with his writing was always the "I'm better than you" attitude and the "I get to do stuff you'll never be able to" tone of his columns. Maybe on-air he won't seem as egotistical, but I guess we'll see.

Rick Reilly digs in at ESPN (Chicago Sports)

This awesome video via TSB features a more than likely drunk fan running in the outfield at Fenway Park. You can guess what happens next....

BAM! The second angle is by far the best, but that kid just got....Jacked Up! I'm not quite sure how old this is but it's the first time I've seen it. If you've seen it before you have my apologies, but honestly...who wouldn't want to see that again?

Why You Don't Run Onto the Field at Fenway (The Sporting Blog)

TNT's season came to an end last night and after a look back at all of their Gone Fishing segment they closed out the season the only way they knew how. They discuss Ernie's random seat assignment next to Eva Longoria and Charles Barkley says he wants to fight Michael Clark Duncan.....

"Ain't no muscles in his head though."- Charles Barkley

Following this the team thanked everyone working on the set and they played a Linkin Park song with Busta Rhymes on the way out. It was called "We Finally Made It" and it was very touching. In all seriousness you can see why TNT is and has been the class of the NBA for awhile now. In the end, Basketball is just a game and they cover it as such and have fun with it. Great season once again.

Awesome video from Bullets Forever today of Red Auerbach using Bullets players to demonstrate how coaches are teaching kids how to fall.....

“Now remember, coaches today, in high school, college and pro are teaching the players how to fall. This is unreal! … This segment is not aimed at referees, believe me. It’s aimed at coaches, it’s aimed at players. What are we going to do about it? Let’s clean this thing up. Let’s not hurt the game.”

Amazing....especially with how rough the NBA got in the 80s. Red would be rolling over in his grave if he saw some of the highlights from this years Playoffs. Just ask Sheed.

Flopping? Blame it on Mike Riordan (Bullets Forever)
Red: ‘They’re Teaching Them How To Fall! Unreal!’ (Sports by Brooks)

So the Scripps National Spelling Bee is in full swing this morning and people are getting knocked out a feverous pace. Erin Andrews is on hand and Chris McKendry is doing her best to make analogies to Sports to make the viewing audience interested. She seriously compared the Dr. Jacques Bailly to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter after nine people in a row got the word wrong. Good stuff.

The current word is xerach, and I'm currently praying for some kid to pass out either at the mic or when EA interviews them. Until that happens please be trying your hands at spelling obscure NBA or MLB names!

1st Annual Ball Don't Lie NBA Spelling Bee (Ball Don't Lie)
Addition of MLB player names expected to wreak havoc at National Spelling Bee (The Sports Hernia)

It's good to see Erin Andrews dressed in bee colors for the Spelling Bee....


Please to be spelling for me....Travis DIENER.....

Who knew that Travis was a laboratory assistant? Good times. Now if they fit in Krzyzewski I'll be really impressed.

I'll admit ahead of time I have no idea what this is ultimately about, but apparently Don Cherry has something against Sidney Crosby. According to the Globe and mail the HNIC and ESPN analyst purposefully didn't bring up the Penguins young star after Game Three and he's ultimately hurting viewers....

On Wednesday, Sidney Crosby scored two of the Pittsburgh Penguins' three goals and logged almost 20 minutes of ice time to lead the Penguins back into their series against the Detroit Red Wings. It was a terrific performance.

But guess who received the attention during the Hockey Night in Canada postgame coverage? Gary Roberts.

The show's grudge against Crosby has gone well beyond ridiculous. Yes, host Ron MacLean interviewed him last Saturday, but the show's most influential commentator, Don Cherry, doesn't like him. And MacLean certainly defers to his elder.

When Cherry did his postgame spot for ESPN, he continued to ignore Crosby and wax lyrical about Roberts. Finally, ESPN commentator Barry Melrose said, “What about the Crosby kid?”

“Oh,” Cherry said. “I forgot. Yeah, he played a great game.”

Crosby should be a Cherry favourite. He's a Canadian, he's tough and he has been in at least one fight. But the two got off to a bad start when Crosby was in junior hockey and was rapped by Cherry for being a hot dog because he used a lacrosse-style stick manoeuvre to score a goal. For his part, Crosby has a bit of an edge and he probably hasn't been appropriately deferential to Cherry.

Canadians sure do know how to hold a grudge don't they? It's an odd situation, but if a viewer has eyes he knows how good Crosby was in Game Three. They don't need a joker in a ridiculous suit to tell them that.

Hockey Night snubs Crosby, and viewers (Globe and Mail)

Obviously it's a huge cost cutting measure to keep your commentators at home rather then send them to another Country, but the practice is usually reserved for smaller events than Euro 2008. According to USA Today that's going to be the case for Derek Rae, Andy Gray and crew this June....

ABC/ESPN will televise 31 games in the tournament, which only aired on pay-per-view TV in the U.S. in 2004 and 2000. The networks normally use American announcers in part to help explain the sport to novice fans. All game announcers this time, however, are foreign-born: Gray, Adrian Healey, Robbie Mustoe, Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth. They'll call it off TV monitors at ESPN's Connecticut offices. "It's a departure for us, a nod towards the game's globalization," said Tim Scanlan, who's overseeing ABC/ESPN coverage.

I know it's not really that big of a deal, but for some reason it really bothers me. Something is lost when the announcers can't get a feel of the crowd and the atmosphere of the game. ESPN did this for the 2007 FIBA Championships in Las Vegas (Allllll the way to Las Vegas? Let's save some coin!) and it just didn't come off right. That was an extremely small viewing audience though, and while Soccer in the U.S. might not get huge ratings this event should be big enough to foot the bill.

Euro 2008 (USA Today)

I'll be the first to admit that I just didn't think the Lakers had enough. I couldn't for the life of me understand how Pau Gasol, Derrick Fisher, and Lamar Odom were going to be enough for Kobe to take the team to the next level. Boy was I wrong.

All Kobe did tonight was pour in 39 points and lead his Lakers into the NBA Finals. Oh and Sasha Vujacic either made some people very happy or very very pissed off (I'll explain after the video)

Not only is Vujacic a dick for taking that shot (I would have have done more than give him a look like Finley did), but someone ask me what the spread for the game was? Go ahead ask....

Lakers by 7 and a half points.

Amazing. Did you hear that collective gasp? That was probably half of the attendees at the Sportsbooks in Vegas just passing out. Anywho, the Lakers look unstoppable at this point and I just like everyone else is hoping for a Lakers-Celtics Final, but just having Kobe in the Finals should be enough to grab my attention.

Also, bravo to the Spurs who are definitely a dynasty in my book. Hopefully Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili can keep it together for a few more years and this can be a yearly showdown. One more scoring wing player and this series would be much closer (bye bye Michael Finley).

Our extended break of no Buck and McCarver is over, but to tell you the truth I was kinda starting to miss them. My weekends just weren't the same without McCarver's nonsense and Buck's smugness. Here's the rest of the schedule....

Saturday

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets- Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 3:55pm, 65%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Myers, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds- Thom Brennaman & Leo Mazzone (FOX, 3:55pm, 22%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond

Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners- Kenny Albert & Eric Karros (FOX, 3:55pm, 12%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle

Sunday

Florida Marlins vs Philadelphia Philies- Chip Caray & Buck Martinez (TBS, 1pm)
LA Dodgers vs New York Mets- Jon Miller & Joe Morgan (ESPN, 8pm)

Ex-Major Leaguer and current Twins announcer Bert Blyleven did an interview with Yahoo's Big League Stew and right away the conversation was weird. Not as weird as this section on his love of farting though....

Q: Speaking of pride, what about this T-shirt you've been photographed wearing that says, "I [heart] to fart"?
BB: I LOVE to fart.
Q: What's wrong with you?
BB: I'm honest. Have you ever farted?
Q: One or two times.
BB: And did it feel good?
Q: Always.
BB: Probably so. That's why I wore it. I love to fart. I do. When the time is right, I do it. I'm not going to hide it.
Q: You're so blunt about your love for flatulence.
BB: Yeah. Well, someone gave me the shirt because of my history of farting, so I wear it. I LOVE to fart. I think I still have it.
Q: What gets you really gassy?
BB: Anything. The air we're breathing right now.
Q: Should I be ready for something?
BB: I have no trouble. It's not one thing that I eat, it's just passed down from my father. My father was a very good farter. I have a sister who's very good at it, too. Probably better than I am.

Interesting, but to tell you the truth I can't think of a time when I've passed gas and I've been displeased either. Well maybe when I was in Middle School and did so in class and all the girls didn't talk to me for about a month. Otherwise I'm on board with Blyleven's thinking.

And just for old time's sake (NSFW).....



Bert Blyleven talks the Hall, swearing on air (Big League Stew)

ESPN is reporting it as gospel, but according to the man himself he hasn't agreed to anything as of yet. Via TNT's PR Department...

"I have spoken with Bulls management recently about their head coaching vacancy and will resume conversations after the conclusion of my work for TNT in the Western Conference Finals. There is no agreement in place."- Doug Collins

Old school Baseball heads look immediately to Moneyball as the reason for Baseball becoming run by nerds, but the entire game is going through a nerdy over-haul. Well according to FOX Sports the movement isn't slowing down now....

Earlier this month in San Francisco, Sportvision Inc., the sports-entertainment technology company that helped develop the system, hosted a Pitch f/x "summit." By the end, the stats wonks, engineers and nine team representatives in attendance could barely contain themselves.

Nearly everyone at the conference believed such advancements in measuring fundamentals could finally bring a "why" to the "what" of box scores and stat sheets. The same technology will spread to hitting and fielding, they say, and could be applied to other sports.

"Instead of saying, 'There's a hard smash to third base' we could say, 'That ball was hit 106 mph and the third baseman had a third of a second to react.' " says Peter Jensen, a statistician and summit attendee who has written for the Hardball Times, a baseball analysis site. "That adds some context that's been lacking so far."

Not everyone is infatuated with this technology — a fact that became clear during Pitch f/x's debut on 2006 postseason telecasts on FOX. After its cameras clocked pitches from Detroit's Joel Zumaya at the unheard-of speed of 103 mph, some fans assumed it was broken. Sportvision says the system was measuring the ball's speed at the release point rather than in mid-flight, as radar guns do.

I think more information is a good thing just so long as that a**hole "Slider" "Scooter" isn't passing it on to us. However, there is a point where enough has to be enough. If you want to use it as a scout that's fine, but as a viewer I could care less about reaction times.

Baseball's nerd machine (FOX Sports)

So Mariah Carey was in Japan (apparently she's big there) to throw out a first pitch at a Baseball game in Tokyo. So how did it go? You be the judge....

Ummm....wow. I know the pitcher's mound might be pretty far from home plate for most people who don't play baseball, but good lord. That throw was worse the Mayor of Cincinnati's 2007 Opening Day Throw.

Mariah Carey and history's worst first pitch (Big League Stew)
Mariah Carey Throws Like Johnny Damon (The Sporting Blog)

Just a quick question I'd like to pose to the Hockey fans. Do the NHL on NBC guys ever stop arguing?!?! I know that most of it's just fake banter, but seriously guys....we're in the Stanley Cup Finals. Now isn't the time to argue about who's the best Hockey player ever....

Bob Neumeier went off there didn't he? Like I said above, let's save the arguing for the regular season.

(Thanks to HK for the video)

Around the same time last year similar news came through the pipes that Steve Kerr was leaving TNT to head into the Suns' Front Office. That was a sad day as one of the best broadcast teams of Albert and Kerr was going to be broken up. Ultimately Reggie Miller would fill the whole and I would weep some more.

Well today is a glorious day because it appears that next season we won't have to hear about Doug Collins' tales of coaching becuase....he will be coaching. The Bulls....

Doug Collins will become the next Bulls head coach, according to a source. The source said the deal is expected to be announced "sooner rather than later." Expect one of the other candidates general manager John Paxson interviewed to be one of Collins' assistants.

Recently, Collins said he didn't want to leave his broadcasting job with TNT. Since then, the Bulls landed the No. 1 draft pick.

"I know Doug's got the itch [to coach again]," a league source said. "I think the Bulls' youth intrigues Doug more than the Phoenix [Suns] situation. He's a teacher That's what he likes to do.

It's funny how a draft pick changes things isn't it? In all honesty Doug Collins has toned it down a little bit this year and is doing a stellar job in the Western Conference Finals. No stories about Jordan, no word of his play in the Olympics, and no talking over Marv. I'm still hoping he leaves though.

Doug Collins to become Bulls head coach (Chicago Sun-Times)

I'm not really a Mark Jackson fan, but this postseason he's been pretty good. He's usually in charge with the replay heading to the break and this time he decided to throw in a little Beyonce....

You might just have a chance with me yet Mr. Jackson. There's nothing wrong with that sort of talk as long as we're above 4 minutes left in the game. You just barely got that one in.

Hopefully this isn't a spoiler for you, but John Terry just headed home a goal on a free kick send from David Beckham to put England up 1-0 in a friendly against the U.S. today (or this evening in England)...

You could see the relief on his face after that one and every teammate came up and gave him a hug. Good stuff and nice goal.

Saw this late last night on Baseball Tonight and it was just unbelievable enough to pass along here....plus Karl Ravech gets hit in the head with a Baseball (he had a helmet on). The BT Crew was discussing triple plays this season including Asdrubal Cabrera unassisted one earlier in the year. Afterwards Buck Showalter shared this story from his days in the minors....

I'm not calling Showalter a liar, but that's virtually impossible. Great story though and nice touch with the Red Sox and Yankees batting helmets ESPN.

I know you've been anxiously awaiting this release, and here it is. ESPN even decided to bring on an extra analyst that you maybe very familiar with. English Premier League and England Men’s National Team television analyst Andy Gray will be brought on for the Tournament and he'll be both in the booth and in the studio during the 31 Match Tourney.

Here the rest of your players....

Studio Team: Rece Davis, Rob Stone and Julie Foudy
Play by Play: Derek Rae and Adrian Healey
Analysts: Andy Gray, Tommy Smyth, and Robbie Mustoe
Reporter: Pedro Gomez

It's good to see Pedro Gomez finally getting work now that Barry Bonds is out of the Majors isn't it (I kid, I kid). All in all it looks like a pretty good set of individuals. In the studio, Rece Davis did a pretty good job during the 2006 World Cup and Rob Stone and Julie Foudy are great analysts.

I'm not sure of the announcing teams and who's calling which games, but I'll pass that along as soon as I get word.

(Via ESPN PR)

(Usually) Everyday I'll throw out a photo from the AP or one of the bigger sites and you provide the caption. Hilarity ensues. I'm also adding a handful of links at the bottom of the page that you should check out each day.

Yesterday's Winners....


"At that moment, the secret service agent jumped in front of Arlen Spector, saving the long-time senator's life."- Anon

"Charlie Weis tries out his birthday present from Bobby Bowden."- Ted

"Richard look!! Fat guy with a liiiittle gu-un. Fat guy with a little gun! BAM!"- Anon

"There's a new Hamburglar in town."- Charlie Weis
_______________________________________

Are you funny enough to create a caption for this photo of Ref Joey Crawford chuckling with Spurs' Coach Greg Popovich?


Daily Links:

Kristen Bell, Chris Osgood And A Sponge Bath (Yahoo)
Comics About Blog Wars Are Funny (Comics Page)
A Guess At What The Ombudsman Will Talk About Next (Small White Ball)
A Look Into A Gap In The Baseball HOF (Cake Rocks The Party)
Something's Off Regarding This Noah Arrest (Foul Balls)
The Refs To L.A., We Love It! (The Play In CA)
Baseball Replay Is A Must (I'm Writing Sports)
Carlos Guillen Has A Bad Injury To Get Through (The Sports Point)
Agent David Falk Is The Riddler (Money Players)

Considering the state of Sports Media these days it actually came as a surprise that ESPN would even address the issue, but they have. The Mag's online site took the time today to provide a clarification of Lane's role (to cover their asses) and make sure people knew that ESPN did not ask Lane to take her personal blog down. Here is a snippet....

In that post, Laura also posited that perhaps Mrs. Bryant lashed out at her for another reason, and then linked to a previously-reported rumor about her husband on another site of, um, lesser journalistic repute (you won't find this part in the LA Times or USA Today stories.)

Because Laura is associated—even tangentially—with our massive, yet beneficent, multi-national corporation, her personal blog post was taken by some to be "official" ESPN-approved content. It wasn't. But it turns out, some people don't bother making the distinction between the personal and the professional, especially when the line gets a little blurry.

As far as we're concerned, Laura didn't do anything particularly "wrong" other than assume her personal speech would be taken as just that: personal. Sadly, now she knows better.

We're sure there's a First Amendment point we could make here but we feel like we're in over our heads as it is. Suffice it to say, we remain big Laura Lane fans here at The Mag.com and we've got her back.

So there you have it. A person who writes a story for ESPN isn't an ESPN employee. Look I know what a freelance writer is, but her original story was featured on and ESPN sponsored website. It's good that someone has her back, but this "clarification" wasn't really even necessary if you ask me, and they're being defensive for no reason. Maybe ESPN got a different vibe from other media outlets, but I'm pretty sure most people understand/understood the difference between her personal site and her work for the "Leader". I'm also a little skeptical of the fact that they didn't tell her to take the article down, but I'll take their word for it.

It's interesting that ESPN addressed it, but I think we would have been much better served with a statement from Lane herself.

(Oh, and yes.....that is a photo of Laura above with Perez Hilton and there's another one of her on the ESPN The Mag article. In case you care about that sort of thing.)

Update: Apparently this girl has been everywhere including E! Entertainment, USC TV and FOX Sports....



ESPNTheMag.com Contributor Makes, Breaks News! (ESPN The Magazine)

The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake went down on Monday and while I don't understand why people do it....I sure can laugh at their injuries! Enjoy the highlights....

As the rain poured down it became impossible for racers to stay on their feet and contestants became caked in mud as they flipped, somersaulted and tumbled their way down the hill.

Christopher Anderson, 19, who won the first race, was carried away from the hill on a spinal board after hurting his back as he finished head over heels.

His friend, Shane Beard, from Brockworth, who also took part in the race, said: "The conditions were horrific, you just have to get your head down and hope for the best." (Via BBC News)

Umm the "conditions" were "horrific"? I think running down a 200 meter slope with 1:1 gradients is pretty horrific in its own right, but to each his own. Good times.

(Video via Fanhouse)

I saw this item last week and chalked it up to some dumb Sports Shock Jock just trying to start controversy, but it seems it was just insensitive to get him suspended indefinitely. Pittsburgh's ESPN Radio host Mark Madden made a joke about Ted Kennedy's brain tumor in which he said he was upset because he hope that the Senator "would live long enough to be assassinated." ESPN is having none of it....

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Madden as saying that he had hoped Sen. Edward Kennedy "would live long enough to be assassinated." The Massachusetts Democrat has a malignant brain tumor.

Madden made the remark during his show Wednesday. The show has aired weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. on 1250 ESPN. Madden was last heard on the air Thursday, the day before his comments appeared in the newspaper.

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said the network removed Madden from the air "pursuant to our contractual rights." He said the comment was inappropriate and that ESPN and Madden had apologized to listeners.

Of course that's a horrible thing to say, but ESPN's supsensions and firings always amaze me. Haven't Sports Radio hosts around the Country said much more hurtful and controversial things than this? I'm not condoning the comment in the least, but it seems that ESPN bases their suspensions solely on the backlash and press the comments receive rather than creating a standard of behavior and sticking to it.

Pittsburgh-area radio host removed after Kennedy remark (AZ Central)

I completely forgot that the BDSSP's sitdown with Al Michaels and Jim Nantz was last night until the little reminder popped up on the television. I was switching back and forth between that and Inside the NBA, but I decided to take down a few notes and quotes.

The two were on set with Chris Rose and John Salley and the hosts took them through a series of planned questions for about 40 minutes. They covered everything from their first jobs (Al- Hawaiian Minor League Baseball, Jim- Phi Slamma Jamma) to their memorable calls all while little topic headlines would show up on the bottom of the screen.

It seemed a tad bit contrived, but on the whole it was a good set of stories and praise. Here are the highlights....
________________________

Al Michaels on the "Do you believe in Miracles?" call:

“I’m in the third person now when I watch that.”
“I don’t see anything ever topping that.”

Al Michaels on how he prepares in the booth:

“What I’ve always tried to do, is to always think of myself in the booth, but putting myself on my couch. So even though I’m the one doing the announcing or narrating, I try to envision myself on my coach at home and in effect talking to myself.”
“I don’t think we ever pitch a perfect game and we’re the luckiest people in the World.”

Al Michaels on the SF Earthquake:

“Just for a moment I thought we were going to be pitched out of the booth. It was just 15 seconds but in an earthquake that feels like 5 minutes."

Al on Jim's connection to Golf:

“How much do you watch Jim Nantz do his thing?”- Chris Rose to Al Michaels
“I think Jim has become just the quintessential voice of Golf. It’s almost the perfect melding of a man and his Sport.”- Al Michaels

Jim and Al on prepared calls:

“You go into the night with a nine shot lead, you better believe I planned that.”- Nantz
“Does win for the ages come with an asterisk now?”- Michaels
_____________________

I would have pulled video but there was nothing really worth adding here. It's definitely worth a watch if you come across a replay, and I'm enjoying the BDSSP's new format more and more each viewing.

I can't believe that the local Boston news spent 10 seconds on this (nevermind two full minutes), but via With Leather comes the story of a couple of Red Sox fans getting their kid baptized at Fenway....

Just weird. I can't believe someone hasn't though of this sooner though. The best part was that the couple drove up from Florida. Are you kidding me?! Also, if this kid becomes a Boston area announcer sometime in the next 30 years....he's never going to hear the end of this. Remember the name Ryan Rodgers.

Wasn't This A Scene In Devil's Advocate? (With Leather)

I guess it's the person saying the quote (not the quote itself that he gets wrong), but this was hilarious none-the-less. The O's and Yanks were in the midst of a homerun battle and the Orioles had comeback from down four once and were trying to do it again. Luke Scott came up after a Melvin Mora homerun and nails a pitch to centerfield.

Listen closely as Thorne, first goes crazy, and then tries to use the crowd in his call....

I can't stop laughing after that for some reason. Okay, a couple of things. First, if Luke Scott actually hit it back near the scoreboard at Camden Yards it would be somewhere around 550ft. Second, as every 80s nerd knows Darth Vader never would have said, "May the Force be with you."

I love how he starts the quote and then trails off at the end because he knows he screwed it up. Good stuff as always from the ever-clueless Thorne.

All pregame long we heard that Joey Crawford reffing this game shouldn't be an issue. Greg Popovich said it, Charles Barkley said it, Kenny Smith said it, and Marv and Doug both said it. Well guess what....it was.

We'll leave aside the Lakers unbelievable journey to get to this point (up 7 and on the line with :50 left), and just go to the controversial videotape....

Unbelievable. I don't see how you look and that and not make a call. It's one thing if Barry got away and got off a clean look, but with 2.1 seconds left you HAVE to call that. I warned everyone yesterday afternoon that San Antonio wasn't happy and you can bet they're going to be livid tomorrow. The Duncan incident, The Popovich poking incident in Game Five of the Hornets Series, and now this.

Wow. I just don't know what else to say.

Who says the Spurs are the kings of flop? I submit to you one Sasha Vujacic of the Los Angeles Lakers. Late in the third quarter the Lakers were trying to stave off the Spurs comeback but turned the ball over starting a San Antonio fast break. Watch closely as Vujacic's amazing flop throws a wrench in the Spurs' break....

Okay maybe the dunk (and the cherry picking) weren't THAT spectacular but that flop sure was. Brent Barry was so stunned that he couldn't knock down an open three and then Kobe threw it down on the other end. Amazing. Everything is going the Lakers way tonight, and that was a flop that even the Master, Greg Paulus would have loved!

Just another move to add to his fabulous training tapes.

I am an unabashed fan of College Softball. For some reason 200 foot fences and players high-fiving at the mound after every out is extremely exciting. Anywho, the Women's College World Series is starting up this Thursday and none other than John Kruk will be an analyst for most of the games on ESPN.

ESPN’s coverage of the entire Women’s College World Series – up to 17 games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com beginning Thursday, May 29 – will feature ESPN’s John Kruk as a game analyst on 10 games, including the best-of-three Championship. Kruk, an analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight studio show and select MLB games, will work with Beth Mowins and analyst Jessica Mendoza, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the U.S. team headed for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

ESPN’s 27th consecutive year of televising the event will also include Eric Collins and analyst Michele Smith, a two-time U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist (2000 and 1996), calling games. Smith will work as a field-level pitching reporter on the best-of-three Championship. Holly Rowe will serve as the field reporter on every game.

That's a very interesting collection of announcers, but it could be pretty fun. Here's the schedule if you care about that sort of thing.....

Thursday, May 29

1 p.m.- Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Florida- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
3 p.m.- Virginia Tech vs. Texas A&M-Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Arizona State vs. Alabama- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
9 p.m.- Arizona vs. UCLA- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)

Friday, May 30

7 p.m.- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)
9 p.m.- Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN2)

Saturday, May 31

Noon- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
2 p.m.- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Game 6 loser vs. Game 7 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
9 p.m.- Game 5 loser vs. Game 8 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)

Sunday, June 1

1 p.m.- Game 5 winner vs. Game 9 winner- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN)
3 p.m.- Game 6 winner vs. Game 10 winner- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN)
7 p.m.- Game 13* - If Necessary- Collins, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)
9 p.m.- Game 14* - If Necessary- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Rowe (ESPN2)

Monday, June 2

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 1- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

Tuesday, June 3

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 2- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

Wednesday, June 4

8 p.m.- Championship – Game 3*- Mowins, Mendoza, Kruk, Smith, Rowe (ESPN2)

* If necessary

(Via ESPN PR)

Everyone knows about my love for WCBS Announcers John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Well John Sterling is at it again my friends and this one will crack you up. Via the XMFan.com forum....

Can you tell Robinson Cano and Jose Molina apart? Apparently John "I Am Legend" Sterling cannot. In the midst of the eighth inning rally today, he started with his "Robbie Cano, don't you know" and "a ribbie from Robbie" bullshit when the Yanks scored the go ahead run. The only trouble was that Jose Molina was the hero with his two out double.

Too bad we have an announcer more concerned with his self-made legacy than with calling a good game. What a dick.

Oh you don't believe the submitter? How about some audio and video???

The best part of the whole thing is not only that he mentioned Molina two seconds before the pitch, but that he freaked out the at-bat before when Cano hit the sacrifice fly to tie the game. I can understand getting lost during a game but to add a homertastic freak out on top of it is just unbelievable. Too funny.

(Many thanks to J from Vegas Watch for the tip.)

I'm a little late getting to this, and hopefully there's enough time to get it done. A week ago I told you that TNT was holding a vote for each WCF game on which player the "Fan's Choice" cam would follow during each gamehave won. I also told you that it would more fun to pick people like Coby Karl and Ira Newble but the people have only decided that Kobe, Manu, and Tony Parker have won.

Well that can change tonight! The "Ronny Turiaf Movement" is underway and here are the current results....


That maybe a little tough to read but Turiaf is sitting a mere 3% behind Kobe (40-37%). How about that huh? Let's add to that count so we can get a little of this during the 1st quarter.....

Go Ronny! Go Ronny! Go! Go! Go! Tell me that's not more entertaining than a few Kobe Jumpers!!!

VOTE NOW!

All eyes on Ronny Turiaf (Ball Don't Lie)
TNT Adding More Cameras And Online Coverage For The Western Conference Finals (Awful Announcing)

The conspiracy theorists are going to love this one. Joey Crawford has been officially assigned to lead the crew calling Game Four in San Antonio tonight. Crawford, you may remember, was the ref who ejected Tim Duncan for laughing last year and earlier in these Playoffs poked Coach Greg Popovich with his finger during a disagreement. Via San Antonio Express-News....

It's the news every Spurs fan has dreaded — the team is fighting for its season tonight in Game 4, and blowing the whistle will be one Joey Crawford.

If the NBA wants to give the conspiracy theorists ammunition, this is certainly the way to do it. The pregame sports-talk chatter is sure to be full of comments such as, "See? The last thing the league wants is the Spurs back in the finals. They want Celtics-Lakers so bad, they can taste it. Otherwise, why would they assign Crawford to this game?"

Well, the silver lining is, if we're gonna get Joey, it's best to get him at home. Statistically, he's a Top 10 homer — eighth on the chart to be exact. And since some of the folks ahead of him don't appear to be working the playoffs (although the top homer, Joe DeRosa, did Game 3 Sunday), this would look like a good break, absent his history with the Spurs.

I can already hear Spurs fans moaning if they lose this game. However, with the Lakers on the verge of reaching the Finals for the first time since 2004....I wouldn't be surprised if you saw one or two questionable calls if the game is close. You would think that Stern would nip this in the bud, and have Crawford only call Eastern Conference games, but I remember him being asked following the "finger poking" game and he all but danced around the question. Very interesting.

At least the game isn't in Utah.

Here comes Joey! (San Antonio Express-News)
Study Says Race Skews Referee Calls in the NBA, Professor Goes to Vegas to Prove It (Fanhouse)

Add San Antonio to the list of cities that have a gripe with Charles Barkley. Following the Spurs blowout of the Lakers in Game Three, Chuck had this to say about the city....

I love when they go so far off the beaten path that even EJ can't transition out of the mess they've (usually just Chuck) has created. They're just too much fun, and hopefully the fans in San Antonio have something for Barkley tonight.

Also, seriously Chuck....that suit has to be sent back to the 80s.

Charles Barkley calls San Antonio 'fat' (Odenized)

Rick Sutcliffe is back in full swing as an announcer and every paper out there is trying to get an interview with him following his bout with Cancer. I'm pretty sure the ones that follow the one in the KC Star won't be able to top this tidbit that the paper got when asking Sut about his friendship with Bill Murray....

Sitting in the booth, [Steve] Stone and [Bill] Murray had to stall while a new pitcher warmed up. Murray looked at Stone and said, “I betcha a case of beer Sutcliffe steals second.”

Stone laughed and pointed out Sutcliffe had never even attempted to steal a base. He pointed out Sutcliffe had a bad hamstring. He pointed out Sutcliffe was not exactly the world’s fastest human being.

“But,” Sutcliffe remembered Stone saying, “I’ll take the bet because I’d like to win a case of beer from you.”

The pitcher was still warming up when word spreads and a fan yelled, “Hey Sut, Murray just bet Steve Stone a case of beer you’ll steal second!”

Standing on first base, Sutcliffe decided: Screw it. I’m going.

“All of a sudden the pitcher comes down and I tell my mind to go but my body won’t move and I literally almost fell down,” he said.

Then Expos manager Buck Rodgers yelled to first baseman Andres Galarraga, ‘Play behind him, he ain’t frickin’ going anywhere!’ ”

Sutcliffe took off running. All 6-7 of the Red Baron hauling ass for second base just to mess with Cubs announcer Steve Stone.

“I am gone,” Sutcliffe said. “He comes down and looks over. Well I’m halfway to second. I’m going, ‘Ah, he got me.’ Well the dummy goes to home so now I’ve got to get going again. But there’s still a play. That’s how slow I am.”

The throw. The slide. He’s safe.

“I look up into the booth and Murray’s going crazy and I kind of gave him a little whatever,” Sutcliffe said, reenacting a manly head bob. “I throw a shutout, I steal a base, and we were locked for life.”

How awesome is that? What happened to the days in Baseball when there was drinking and betting in the booth??? I would certainly poke fun at it, but I'd rather have those type of play-by-players over people who don't care about their job as an announcer. Good times.

As Rick Sutcliffe fights cancer, he treasures the connection with his hometown the most (KC Star)

(Usually) Everyday I'll throw out a photo from the AP or one of the bigger sites and you provide the caption. Hilarity ensues. I'm also adding a handful of links at the bottom of the page that you should check out each day.

Last Wednesday's Winners....


"Oooh! Cotton Candy!!! Can I get one Dad, er Mike?"- Anon

"And Ron Artest is in the stands! Stephen Jackson throwing punches!"- Tony

"Hey Jeff? If you are here, then who is driving the RV??"- Anon

"Ooooooh. Did you see that? Who's Moonlight Graham?"- Mal
_______________________________________

Are you funny enough to create a caption for this photo of Charlie Weis from last week (you wanted it, you got it)?


Daily Links:

KSK Has An Awesome New Theme Song (Kissing Suzy Kolber)
Dirk Gets A Date (Dallas Basketball)
An Interesting (Fake) Trade Between The Rays And Jays (Foodcourt Lunch)
The All-Ugly Team (Joe Sports Fan)
The Hand Of God Might Be Cut Off To Meet Julia Roberts (Lion In Oil)
Ichiro Made One Hell Of A Catch Last Night (Sox and Dawgs)
The Best Athletes In Hollywood (For The Love Of Sports)
What If Other Cities Threw Octopi Like Detroit? (Merkin Sports)
An Interview With Ex-NBAer BJ Armstrong (Sports Agent Blog)
Some Sports Trivia For Your Afternoon (SS Reporters)

Quick, name the number of current or former coaches and players that ESPN has on payroll for their NBA coverage? Give up??? Eleven. Eleven out of twenty three personalities that they can go to for analysis of the Lakers-Spurs Series rather than add a twelfth.

That twelfth person....Cleveland Cavs Guard Damon Jones....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. You couldn't make Jones more boring if you hit him with a handkerchief of chloroform. How can someone who's so crazy on the court (even when he isn't playing) come off so dull and repetitive? I do like how he said that Manu and Parker "spurred the Spurs" though. That was clever.

Seriously though, I know it's the Summer but ESPN has been basically running a current athlete TV Training course over the last few months. Braylon Edwards was on NFL Live for multiple days, they have in-car analysis from Nationwide drivers, and AC Milan’s Clarence Seedorf provided nothing during a half of the UEFA Final. If I was a current personality I'd be a tad bit bitter. I mean when is the last time you saw Jamal Mashburn or Dee Brown on an NBA telecast?

It would be one thing if most current and former athletes were like Charles Barkley, but 99% of the time they're afraid to say anything controversial (see: Herm Edwards). This causes them to come across boring as hell, much like their newest hire Damon Jones. Having a stable of athletes to parade out usually doesn't make your coverage any better.

Gary Carter was on Mike & Mike this morning to address the whole campaigning for Willie Randolph's job and addressed among other things the words that former teammate and SNY analyst Keith Hernandez had to say about him......

It was a pretty standard apology, and he did a good job of deflecting the Hernandez thing, but the whole "media blew it out of proportion" thing doesn't sit well with me. I now completely understand what Keith Hernandez was saying about him being unconscious because the guy just doesn't realize what he's saying out loud.

I don't blame the guy for wanting to get back in the Majors, but the whole campaigning thing (let's be honest....he did) came off as pretty classless.

No doubt you've seen those Nutrisystem ads with Dan Marino, Mike Golic, and the great Sean Salisbury. They all talk about how mailed food helped them lose weight and how great it is. Well there's a new sponsor for the company and he wants to give Dan Marino a new look....

Ah Larry the Cable Guy....that act never gets old. Wait, yes it did. About three years ago. Oh well, Dan Marino in a cutoff flannel shirt could never get old.


(Via PFT)

Here's Artest's first interview for the Best Damn Sports Show Period with Kobe (via YBB)....

Not bad.....not bad at all. I think I'd rather have Ron Artest out at the Conference Finals (a la Mike Bivens for TNT), and there's a little too much fawning at the end for my tastes, but good first interview.

In other news, Kobe is saying that he really jumped that pool of snakes. Riiiiiight.

Ron Artest Interviews Kobe Bryant (You Been Blinded)

Laura Lane is a writer for ESPN The Magazine online and she recently wrote a piece that had a few quotes from Vanessa Bryant. Well Ms. Bryant was apparently unaware that those quotes were going to end up online and she let Ms. Lane have it this past Friday night. Via Lane's personal blog....

Last night, I got cussed out by Vanessa Bryant. Seriously. At the Lakers game. In front of her kids. In front of the Lakers locker room. It was awesome. She is mad about an article I wrote where I mentioned her. That means one of two things - she either reads the ESPN blog or she has herself on Google alerts. Both are fantastic.

So as I’m walking out of the Lakers locker room after some post-game interviews with the players, I pass Vanessa, who is sitting outside the locker room as usual with her two girls.

“Laura!” she screams (yes, she apparently knows my name). “Fuck you! You fucking bitch!”

“Excuse me?” I say, completely baffled as I look around me to see if there is someone else named Laura. No, there’s not.

Her daughters – ages 5 and 2 – are sitting next to her on the bench looking at their mom as she screams.

“Fuck you! How dare you write about me and my daughters and their schedule! You didn’t say you were writing an article! Fuck you! You fucking bitch. You have no journalism ethics! Fuck you! You bitch - ”

I just stare at her. I’ve heard many stories about her from reporters, but this was unbelievable. Two of my friends from the LA Times told me how she cussed out one of them last season, because he said hi to her daughter. “Join the club, this means you’ve arrived,” said one reporter when word spread of my run-in with Vanessa. “She’s insane,” said another. “Everyone knows it.”

Wow. That's a pretty intense conversation to have in front of your kids, but I'm not one to tell someone how to raise their family. Lane also goes on to say that she might have been upset about the current (unsubstanited) rumors about her husband and that Vanessa Bryant "took it out on" her.

Oh and in other news, there's talk about Kobe now suing the originators of the story Dirty.com.

I Got Cussed Out By Kobe Bryant's Wife (The Fast Lane)
Reporting From The Staples Center (ESPN The Mag)
Kobe Willing to Sue Over Rumors of Affair (Fanhouse)

Who knew that "duck fart" was an actual term in Baseball? Well Matt Vasgersian did during the bottom of the 14th as the Padres sent in pitcher Josh Banks to pinch hit in the tie game. Listen at around the 1:00 mark....

Duck Fart- "A softly hit ball that goes over the infielders and lands in the outfield for a hit. Originally called a "duck fart" because it was assumed that a duck's feathers would make its farts as soft (or quiet) as the hit. Changed to a "snort" for use in polite company."

Vasgersian has been involved in some ridiculously long games this year, so he deserves a pass if he says anything crazy, but the fact that's an actual Baseball term blew my mind. You learn something new everyday.

(Thanks to JG for the tip)

It was pretty crazy with SNY and the Mets last week as Willie Randolph took on the announcers, but this takes it to the next level. Keith Hernandez got on former teammate Gary Carter for openly pursuing the head coaching job and he had some words for Carter on-air yesterday. Via Newsday....

"I have great respect for Gary as a player," said Hernandez, now a TV analyst. "He's a Hall of Famer. When Johnny Bench left the game, he was the premier catcher in the National League.

"But that being said, and I've kept quiet for such a long time, but for the people out there listening, just go in the dictionary and look up 'unconscious' and you'll find a picture of Gary Carter.

"I know that's strong, but it just happens too many times and it's just, you're walking around unconscious."

Play-by-play man Gary Cohen also lambasted Carter for his comments and all of this going on while the Mets are just 3 and 7 in their last ten. I think it's about time for everyone to try and stop distracting the team and just call the games, but it's entertaining none the less.

Keith Hernandez rips ex-mate Gary Carter on air (Newsday)
Willie Randolph Vs. SNY (Awful Announcing)

I have no idea why you would ever take your goalie out in Soccer, but doing so brought us this Beckham highlight from late Saturday night....

I've seen players do that before with a goalie in net but that's still pretty impressive.

I don't think the Pens are going to be intimidating the Red Wings with intros like these.....

That's Penguins keeper Marc-André Fleury falling out of the shot, and it was just the beginning of his bad day. The game was close throughout the first two periods but the seemingly much better Wings tacked on three goals in the third and ended up winning 4-0 in game one.

Careful, It's Slippery (Deadspin)

I had no idea that Rome Is Burning was live (or perhaps taped live), and apparently Erik Kuselias didn't either. Kuselias was filling in for Rome on Friday and botched an intro for an interview with Jeremy Roenick. So how did they fix it after the mistake aired? ESPN just re-ran the commercials that just aired and did it over....

I love the look on Kuselias' face and the fact that they cut the mic off. Live television is never easy people. Especially when you don't know it's live.

(Thanks to BL for tip)