The 2013 NBA Finals kicked off with a fantastic Game 1 between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.  It was everything the NBA could have asked for from an opening game to a series as the Spurs kept Miami close throughout and ultimately registered a dramatic come-from-behind 92-88 victory on the road.

In spite of their success, the Spurs have never materialized into a national ratings draw.  The "boring" label may not be fair to this year's team, but it's clear the nation has never embraced the Spurs.  Since 1982 San Antonio has been involved in the three lowest rated Finals:

Who else could be the guest on the Silver Anniversary edition of the AA Podcast except our first and most frequent guest, the co-author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller Those Guys Have All The Fun - Jim Miller. With several stories surrounding ESPN in the last month, we catch up with Jim and get his take on the happenings in Bristol as well as a few stories he broke on his Twitter page. Topics include...

-TBS hiring Keith Olbermann and where his long-term destination might be.
-The reaction to the hundreds of layoffs at ESPN.
-Whether or not the bursting cable bubble is a myth or reality and the impact on ESPN and other sports networks of rising costs.
-Expectations for the new ESPN ombudsman Robert Lipsyte
-Culture change at ESPN evolving from the Steve Phillips scandal
-The rise and fall and rise of Stephen A. Smith.
-The increasing competition of Fox Sports 1, NBCSN, and CBS Sports.

More great insights from one of the most respected writers in the country on the 50th AA Podcast. I know I'm contractually obligated to say this for every podcast, but this is one you don't want to miss.

In case you've missed any of our podcasts, check out all of our interviews on iTunes or our AA Podcast RSS Page.  For more from Jim, follow him on Twitter @ESPNBook.

Recent Podcasts:

AA Podcast 49: NBC's Will Buxton on Monaco & F1

AA Podcast 48: Ed Olczyk on the Stanley Cup Playoffs

AA Podcast 47: Tom Verducci on MLB

AA Podcast 46: Dan Levy on sports media

AA Podcast 45: John Koblin on Jason Collins and Chris Broussard

While we may poke fun at Dick Vitale for his Duke homerism, crazy schtick, and cheerleading behind the microphone, but he's one of the legit nicest guys you'll ever see in sports.  Vitale has raised millions of dollars for the V Foundation and his unconditional positivity isn't just an act.  That's why I have to think Vitale didn't mean any harm with this tweet during last night's victory for the Spurs over the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, although it turned out to be one of the inadvertent funniest tweets of the year.

After one of his patented moments of silence for an opposition home run earlier this week, we were treated to another classic example of Hawk Harrelson homerism.  Thursday night the White Sox hosted the A's and went to extras once again.  Down 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th and down to their final out, Adam Dunn stepped up to the plate with a man on and hit a ball high and deep to left field that fell at the warning track for the final out of the game like something out of Major League.  Just listen to Hawk's call...

Dodgers rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig hit a grand slam against the Braves last night, his third homer in four major league games, and the Dodgers won the game 5-0 due in large part to the grand slam. Vin Scully's call of the homer was pretty much perfect, as after he freaked out when the ball left the yard, he let the crowd's cheering take over. We've seen that happen numerous tims with Hawk Harrelson, but Scully wasn't pouting like Harrelson does - he was letting everyone soak in an amazing moment.

You may have missed it what with Game 1 of the NBA Finals and Game 4 of the NHL's Western Conference Finals, but Major League Baseball held their draft Thursday night with coverage on MLB Network.  Of course, you may have also missed it because the immediate relevance of the MLB Draft compared to its NFL, NBA, and even NHL brethren is nil.  It takes a hugely dedicated baseball fan to truly grasp the context of each pick and how they may potentially fit into the structure of a franchise.

The MLB Draft is a night for the hardcore baseball fan.

The hardcore baseball fan does not like Harold Reynolds.

Fans are smart enough to figure out when an analyst is in over his head or out of his depth.  Reynolds' relationship with the online baseball community is already icy at best.  The whole reason Reynolds is on MLB Network's debate show MLB Now is to argue against Brian Kenny's more sabermetric, information-oriented viewpoint.  To throw him onto MLB Draft coverage when it demands an insanely wide depth of knowledge and information and speaks moreso to an already adversarial audience is just asking for a trainwreck.  And a trainwreck is what those baseball fans got.

As always, these are Real Tweets from Real People...

All Times Eastern

Australian Rules Football
Essendon Bombers vs. Carlton Blues -- Fox Soccer Plus, 5:30 a.m.
Greater Western Sydney Giants vs. Geelong Cats -- Fox Soccer Plus, 11:30 p.m.

College Baseball
NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
Super Regionals

Chapel Hill Super Regional, Chapel Hill, NC
Game 1: South Carolina vs. North Carolina -- ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Raleigh Super Regional, Raleigh, NC
Rice vs. North Carolina State -- ESPN2, 4 p.m.

Baton Rouge Super Regional, Baton Rouge, LA
Oklahoma vs. LSU -- ESPN, 7 p.m.

Fullerton Super Regional, Fullerton, CA
UCLA vs. Cal State-Fullerton -- ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Who knew Bud Selig was such a fan of time travel? 

The 78-year old Major League Baseball commissioner repeatedly referred to the 2013 First-Year Player Draft as the 2000 edition while announcing the selections on MLB Network.

One slip of the tongue might be forgiveable, but Selig made the mistake three times within the first eight picks and four times in the opening round. First overall selection Mark Appel (Houston Astros), sixth pick Colin Moran (Miami Marlins), eighth choice Hunter Dozier (Kansas City Royals) and 19th pick Marco Gonzales (St. Louis Cardinals, not shown in the video) all had their big moments incorrectly dated.

Selig also did this while standing right next a large "Draft 2013" graphic, which you'd think would be hard to miss.

The First-Year Player Draft has been televised since 2007, but the man making the picks official is apparently still celebrating the start of the new millenium.

Video via Larry Brown Sports

Remember just a couple of days ago when we discussed that this NBA playoff commercial might be the best playoff commercial of 2013? We'd like to take our vote back. ESPN has raised the bar with this incredible piece of animation from London-based animator Richard Swarbrick which highlights some of the greatest moments in NBA Finals history. 

Swarbrick uses his unique style to paint some of the most iconic moments in a way we've never seen before. Set to the tune of "Save Your Season" by Mint Julep, this ad perfectly captures the magic, intensity and emotion of the NBA Finals. 

Ed Note: This article appears via our sister site Awful Ads.  For more insights and laughs at the expense of the colliding worlds of sports and advertising, visit awfuladvertisements.com and follow @awful_ads on Twitter.

The most compelling matchup of this year's NBA Finals beginning tonight isn't Kawhi Leonard trying to guard LeBron James or Tim Duncan matching up with Chris Bosh, or even to see who flops better between Manu Ginobili and Dwyane Wade... it's the most combative, entertaining, long-running battle in the Association.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich vs sideline reporters.

Pop's less-than-forthcoming interviews have evolved into one of the great struggles of sports television.  It's become something of a sport for Popovich as he has battled with numerous sideline reporters over the years.  They try to get information, quotes, or insights from the coach in league-mandated interviews between quarters and Pop does everything in his power NOT to give information, quotes, or insights.  Here's one of my favorites with one of his most frequent foils, David Aldridge, from the beginning of this season:

ESPN's Marc Stein has a fantatsic column before Game 1 speaking to a number of sideline reporters from a few of the men and women who have interviewed Pop over the years.  A brief selection: