Captain Janks has been making prank calls for the Howard Stern show for years, and late last night he got Sports Center and more specifically Scott Van Pelt....

Wow. Someone is getting fired over that one.

Video: Howard Stern Show Prank Calls ESPN SportsCenter as Brian Westbrook (BSO)

I'm not entirely sure if calling someone a "jagoff" is extremely insulting or not. And furthermore, if it's even allowed on TV. But that's exactly what Kentucky Coach John Calipari called John Buccigross, after the ESPN anchor brought up Calipari's loss to Memphis in the National Championship....

At least the name calling was taken in stride, but I'm curious as to know why someone from Pittsburgh is a "jagoff". And what exactly is a jagoff? So many questions.

John Calipari Calls John Buccigross A Jagoff Live On ESPN (Buster Sports)

It's always great when graphics completely fail on live television, but this one cracked me up more than that sort of thing normally does. Jay Harris was double boxing with John Clayton, and talking about the Bears, when Clayton just....POOF!....vanished into thin air.

WHOA! He even has his own theme music when he disappears. That's just awesome.

(Thanks to reader JT for the clip)

An interesting story was dropped by ESPN's Adam Schefter this morning, which stated that a race between the Titans' Chris Johnson and Usain Bolt was in the making. According to him, the only hangup was the distance of said race. Well apparently that's not the only hangup....the story doesn't appear to be true and Bolt's agent wants a retraction. From SbB via Universal Sports....

Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, says there is “no truth” to a report by ESPN football analyst Adam Schefter that the Jamaican sprint sensation is trying to set up a race against Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson to determine who is really the world’s fastest human

“There is no truth to the story and I have contacted ESPN in an effort to get them to take the story down because we don’t want this to spread like wildfire,” Simms said in a phone interview with Universal Sports. “Usain doesn’t follow the NFL too closely and is not really familiar with all of the players. He likes (international) football and cricket. But more importantly, he has a schedule and a coach to follow and there is no chance that we would set up this type of event.”

Events of this nature rarely ever actually go down, so I was skeptical when first reading it, but apparently there's no truth to it all. I don't think Schefter made up the story, but just got caught up in a rumor. There has been no retraction by ESPN, and the item is still being talked about on Sports Center.

Sources: Johnson vs. Bolt race planned (ESPN)
Bolt will not race NFL's Johnson (Universal Sports)
Bolt Rep Wants Untrue ESPN Claim ‘Taken Down’ (Sports by Brooks)

I know ESPN has guest anchors every so often, but this just taking it too far. I thought the Mike Greenberg was the worst that they could come up with, but apparently I was wrong. Dead wrong....

Rick Reilly®'s SportsCenter Audition Tape (Deadspin)

You almost have to feel bad for ESPN, when it comes the "Summer of Favre 2", but at least they have a sense of humor about it. In their latest "This Is Sports Center" ad the network pokes fun at their own coverage. According to Sports Business Daily, Senior Dir/Marketing Seth Adler said, "while the concept for the ad was developed several months ago, it was not filmed until last Tuesday, the same day Favre signed with the Vikings." Adler also went onto say that it marks the quickest turnaround time, three days, in the history of the campaign. Here's your first look....

We already knew that John Saunders, Bob Ley and Chris Berman, would be hosting, but ESPN has now released most of the details surrounding their 30th Anniversary Sport Center show. Via ESPN PR....

On the eve of ESPN’s 30th anniversary, its three SportsCenter anchors of longest service – Chris Berman, Bob Ley and John Saunders – will team to host a special edition of SportsCenter Sunday, Sept. 6 at 11:30 p.m. ET.

The show will be reaired the following morning, Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7, starting at 4:30 a.m. and will be seen five times through noon. Live updates with the latest sports news will be inserted.

The 90-minute show will primarily focus on the sports news of the day, and will also include retrospective segments on three decades of ESPN, the trio of veteran anchors and the sports they covered. Ley joined ESPN two days after its September 7, 1979, launch, while Berman soon followed in October. Saunders came to ESPN in 1986.

“These ESPN pillars are three of the most respected professionals in our business,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive vice president, production. “Their contributions to ESPN are endless and it’s great to have them together on this special day.”

I really like this approach to this event. It's great to have the three elder statesmen on the show, and even better that their sticking to that day's games and highlights. You only really need a small retrospective, and then you keep the train plowing forward.

Ever since ESPN decided to make a non-issue of this, I've been intrigued by the Roethlisberger civil lawsuit. Well today, Roethlisberger made a short, yet very confident statement, denying the allegations of Andrea McNulty. For as much as ESPN ignored the story, they predictably aired the press conference, and discussed the issue with one of their many law consultants. Here's a clip....

He was pretty adamant there, and since Nevada authorities aren't pursuing criminal charges, you can expect either a trial in the near future or a dismissal of the case. I'm personally expecting the later to happen.

You all know the "filler programming" I'm talking about. You know, the Mount Rushmores and Who's Now of summers past? Well this year's edition is pretty much along the same lines, but might actually have some promise. From June 20th to July 10th, Sports Center will be airing athlete vignettes about their favorite event to attend and/or play in, and are calling the extravaganza, "Fan Feast".

Kenny Mayne and Mike Greenberg will be your judges, and as far as athletes appearing, you'll have Kobe Bryant, Lisa Leslie and Jeff Gordon, to name a few. Here is the schedule....

Mon., June 29: Kobe Bryant – play cricket
Tue., June 30: Joe Mauer – be a quarterback at the Super Bowl
Wed., July 1: Candace Parker – attend the FIFA World Cup
Thur., July 2: Jeff Gordon – face Tony Hawk one-on-one in an X Games contest
Thur., July 2: Carl Crawford on 1:00 a.m. (10 p.m. PT) – to be a quarterback in the NFL
Fri., July 3: Blake Griffin – play football at the University of Oklahoma
Mon., July 6: Colt McCoy – attend the Masters
Tue., July 7: Trevor Hoffman – race in the Indy 500
Wed., July 8: Lisa Leslie – attend the US Open and watch a Williams sisters final
Thur., July 9: Dale Earnhardt Jr. – play in the NFL
Thur., July 9: Dick Vermeil – a front row seat at the Indy 500
Fri., July 10: Justin Morneau – play and win the Stanley Cup

Monday, July 13 – Friday, July 17

SportsCenter: Mike Greenberg’s essays on the top five to-do sports events (one each day) will be aired.

Monday, July 20 – Friday, July 24

SportsCenter: Kenny Mayne’s essays on the top five events sports fans "should see" will be aired.

Well they don't exactly "do" Sports Center per se, but rather sing the intro song as annoyingly as possible for 20 seconds. For some reason Nike managed to get the Kobe and Lebron puppets onto the Sports Center set, and this is what they came up with....

While some people think these spots are hilarious, I still can't quite figure them out. Sure they're entertaining, but they're not really selling anything specific, which is rare. I guess Nike is just banking on a Lakers-Cavs Finals matchup like the rest of the world.

The Nike Puppets Do Sports Center (Intentional Foul)

I haven't seen Linda Cohn on ESPN a lot lately, and that very well could be because she's been busy starting her own blog and fan website. It's pretty fancy, with photos, posts from random people and even a forum. Cohn even has posts she puts up herself, which include passages like the following....

Can you believe the Mayor of Buffalo has already given Terrell Owens the key to the city and he hasn't even played a game yet for the Bills! T.O. showed up for Bills minicamp proclaiming he is misunderstood. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah, Dallas and Philly. Oh, by the way, Owens says his welcome by the fans of Bufffalo [sic] was the best he's ever recieved [sic] in any city.

Chucky comes to the World Wide Leader! I could not be happier with ESPN hiring Jon Gruden to be in the Monday Night Football booth with Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski. Tony Kornheiser can stick with PTI. Gruden will be sensational! Why? He is likeable and genuine and it comes across on the screen. He'll make you laugh and give you his insight at the same time.

Not bad commentary sans the spelling errors, but I'm certainly not the person to chastise someone for a mistake along those lines. Welcome to the fabulous world of blogging, Linda. It's good to have you!

Linda Cohn Fan Club (Cohnhead Fans)

Deadspin mentioned earlier that Chris McKendry couldn't stop laughing during a segment on Corie Blount, and thanks to Keith's Sports Journal, we have the clip!

I can't tell if it was the upcoming quote, or the word marijuana, but that thing was just snowballing from the start. Arrests are serious things, but when a player's last name is Blount and he's arrested with 26 lbs of pot, it's okay to giggle.

Video of the Day: Chris Mckendry Needs a bag of Doritos (Keith's Sports Journal)

I've never thought of the "This Is Sports Center" ads to be biased in any way, but apparently there are a few people out there that do. Namely, Phil Mushnick of the NY Post. The latest and greatest Sports Center commercial, features agent Drew Rosenhaus negotiating meal prices for Scott Van Pelt and Neil Everett. And while most thought the ad was humorous and harmless, Mushnick seems to think there is a deeper issue....

But while cute is one-shot deal, ESPN is left with a large, unsealed can of ESPN Brand worms. ESPN's in the sports news business, Rosenhaus and his long list of pro football clients are newsmakers, and ESPN and Rosenhaus are now forever joined in an advertising cross-promotion, the kind of special relationship that even minimally vigilant journalists avoid.

The next "scoop" ESPN lands connected to a Rosenhaus client becomes highly suspect, as do the following 100. Rosenhaus, after all, has some funky clients, including Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, Terrell Owens and Browns WR Donte Stallworth, recently charged with manslaughter.

Is there no one at ESPN with the authority, foresight and fundamental sense of right-from-wrong to have killed this before it advanced beyond a bad idea? Why would ESPN do this to itself? Why would it do this to its anchors? Why would its anchors allow ESPN to do this to them?

But ESPN always wants it both ways. It wants to be America's leader in go-get-'em sports journalism, yet regularly provides proof that it can't distinguish journalism from a box of cookies.

I can sort of see his point, but are we really breaking new ground here? Rosenhaus knows as well as anyone that ESPN is the "leader" in getting information out to the masses, and he has always used them as his first choice. The guy has been doing bits on "First Take" for years, and anytime something goes wrong, ESPN is the first to report it.

It's certainly a line that ESPN has to straddle careful in regards to Rosenhaus, but they've certainly bashed the agent in the past, and don't always give him a free pass. I think this is much ado about nothing, if you ask me.

ESPN's Cute Ad Raises Questions (NY Post)

On Sports Center yesterday, ESPN reported that both Mike Green and Donald Brashear of the Capitals had been suspended. Everyone in DC scrambled to confirm the story for the next hour, but ESPN suddenly retracted their original report by saying just Brashear had been suspended. However, that wasn't the end of it. From there, Sports Center aired two more retractions before finally saying that just Brashear would be heading to a hearing at 1pm. You can read about the whole day at the Capitals Outsider.

Crazy day for Sports Center but it's not necessarily their fault. They were prank called by someone posing as a Washington Post reporter, and went with the information provided by the prankster....

"I was on my way to the rink this morning and my buddy called me and was a little upset I was missing Game 7," said Capitals defenseman Mike Green, a finalist for the Norris Trophy given to the NHL's top defenseman.

"I had no idea what for. It kind of caught me off guard."

ESPN SportsCenter hosts Josh Elliot and Hannah Storm relayed that Green and teammate Donald Brashear were suspended under a "Breaking News" banner Monday at 9:52 a.m.

Within a half hour, ESPN retracted the story.

"Our news desk received the call from someone representing themselves as a Washington Post reporter," ESPN spokesman Dan Quinn said.

"We didn't follow our own fact-checking procedures and mistakenly reported the story.

"We apologize for the error."

That's just so random. In the pantheon of prank calls, that's probably the worst one ever. Why someone would pose as a Washington Post reporter for kicks is beyond me, but whatever makes you happy.

Prankster dupes ESPN with bogus report on NHL suspension (USA Today)

If you haven't been watching ESPN LA, you've missed some very interesting cameos during the 1am version of Sports Center. While Snoop Dogg was highly entertaining, nothing says knowing your demographic like having Justin Timberlake grace the airwaves for a night. The pop singer even tried his hand at answering a few questions from anchors, Stan Verrett and Neil Everett. Here's the clip....

Not a bad Top Ten, if you ask me. I could have done without the Lakers' homerism, mainly because you absolutely have to pick Lebron or Dwight Howard if you're starting an NBA team, but the rest of the answers were pretty good. Again, I'm not exactly sure he's in the demographic of folks that watch Sports Center, but he knows his Sports.

Oh, and lose the Michael Douglas glasses from "Falling Down"....they're creeping me out.

So yesterday, I talked to a few people at ESPN about the whole "Blog Buzz" post and they mentioned that the segment is a work in progress, and that I should watch this morning. Well I did, and to my surprise, AA's post was featured at the beginning of the segment as part of a clarification on the "Buzz". Take a look....

Like I told those I talked to yesterday, I do think there is an opportunity there, but it's all in how they put it together. If they go with the approach that they used today, most blogs will appreciate the gesture and it will begin to mend some fences. If they use the segment as just another cross-promotional tool, then it will get blasted. It's really that easy. The fact that they commented on their own employee being in the Top Five, is already a step in the right direction.

I've always said that more information and opinions is a good thing, and this could certainly be an example of that. Thanks for the mention, and for starting to listen to some of the constructive criticism out there as well.

ESPN debuted a new feature on Sports Center this morning called "Blog Buzz", and after looking at some of the screenshots at The Sporting Blog....I just don't get it. "Blog Buzz" is a simple concept. You take the Top Five stories on blogs, make a fancy graph, and then add in some quotes. In fact, it's really just using the Sports Media Challenge's Buzz Manager .

While I understand that ESPN is embracing the medium that they once shunned, there is one problem with the new feature....it has nothing to do with blogs. Let's take a look, shall we?


So let me get this straight. ESPN takes the top five stories as provided by the SMC, and then adds quotes from the Sun Sentinel, and one from their own blogger. Ummm, that's not exactly taking into account what "Blogs" are saying, but good try.

ESPN's 'Blog Buzz' Segment Fails Miserably (The Sporting Blog)

"Mini-mercials" are the latest craze to hit television, and ESPN will begin airing them this May. You probably have noticed the little spots during PTI breaks to keep you glued to the ads, but these will be different. Instead of the hosts jumping back on randomly, digital billboards will appear for certain companies before segments. Via the New York Times....

Beginning May 15, Coors will begin a two-month campaign of the new 10-second billboards, called mini-mercials, that will run during evening “SportsCenter” segments on ESPN. Miller Lite will begin its campaign in mid-July.

MillerCoors will be the most extensive user of mini-mercials, but will not be the first. Asics, the manufacturer of sports shoes and sports apparel, began a short flight on last Friday evening’s “SportsCenter” that will run through the end of this month.

TV ad buying for both MillerCoors and Asics is handled by the media agency Initiative, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. MC Media is a dedicated agency for MillerCoors that was created last fall and is a partnership between creative agency Draft FCB and Initiative.

The goal of the mini-mercial on ESPN is to bring more action to the traditional TV billboard that leads into “SportsCenter” segments. Typically, billboards leading into a program simply show the logo of the sponsor of that segment.

I think I saw the one they were referring to that aired yesterday, and needless to say, it's pretty awkward. All of a sudden an anchor appears after an ad, and they're right into the next highlight. I really didn't think there was a way to fit in more advertising and distractions to Sports Center, but I guess I was wrong.

MillerCoors and Asics Bring Action to Ads on ESPN (New York Times)

Isiah Thomas conducted his first major interview with ESPN this afternoon, and the former Knicks coach talked about everything from his Golf game, to chatting with Bob Knight, to his desire to "build something from the ground up". But the best part of the interview was by far Chris McKendry springing questions on him about the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him, and even his supposed suicide attempt. McKendry even flat out asked him if it was a suicide attempt, and Thomas couldn't say that it wasn't. Here's the clip....

Well that was certainly awkward, but great job by McKendry in asking the tough questions. I still find it out that he didn't address the suicide thing when it happened, but if the man says he wants to live, you have to take him on his word. Oh and as far as him coaching, I guess building something from the ground up is much easier if you haven't spent years destroying it. There is something to hiring a big name like Isiah coaching in the College game though. I'm sure some kids would attend on name recognition alone.

Nothing is really going to change with the way Sports Center is presented, but ESPN LA will officially hop on-air tonight at 1am EST (10pm PT). The complex itself is what's really impressive. The over 12,000 square foot studio will be home to 80 employees, and according to the LA Times, it contains "three production control rooms, two master control rooms, a newsroom-screening area, eight editing suites, a music room, a radio control room and studio, a voice-over room and two studios."

The other extremely impressive thing about the new LA digs, is that it is the only studio in the world that can broadcast in 1080P high definition production. It's no small undertaking and that certainly has the powers that be a little nervous....

"I'm very excited, very nervous," Cordray [ESPN LA's VP and GM] said Sunday. "Somebody asked me early last week if I was nervous and I said no. But now I'm getting first-day butterflies. The energy level is rising."

Cordray said that like any Hollywood production, the last few days have been spent rehearsing. She was unwilling to talk about how different the future of "SportsCenter" and ESPN might look with the new Los Angeles facility.

"Really all I can think of is getting this first 'SportsCenter' launched," she said. "What will things look like in the future? We'll think about that after we get through" the opening.

Everyone on the Left Coast thinks ESPN has a pretty prominent East Coast Bias, and while the network has always denied such a thing, this new building will certainly give the network more access to USC....er, ummm....the West Coast. Stan Verrett and Neil Everett will be your hosts tonight, and you can expect multiple cameos from Stu Scott.

Oh and one more thing. The first featured interview for the LA studio will be Magic Johnson sitting down with Larry Bird to talk about the 30th anniversary of their NCAA title clash.

ESPN's studio in L.A. debuts (LA Times)