Oh the joys of college football's silly season!  Nowhere is that sillier than the SEC where crazy rumors, reports, and whispers emerge hourly regarding the major job openings at Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas.  It's at that last school where one of the more amusing circumstances in reporting happened today amid reports Mike Gundy may... or may not be taking the Razorbacks job.

Vin Scully did indeed take over the Dodgers Twitter page Monday for a Q&A session that featured his thoughts on everything from his favorite Dodgers moment to his perspective on statistics to his favorite television series.  Evidently, Vin Scully is a fan of Homeland... I wonder if he watches the Walking Dead, too.  The event was a success for the Dodgers as Scully's Twitter session was trending in the US.  And, as the legendary broadcaster indicated at the end of the Q&A, hopefully he'll be doing more "Twittering" in the future. 

From Deadspin comes this video from Monday's edition of "Browns Red Zone" on STO where there was an incident that I don't think hosts Jim Donovan, Tony Grossi, and Doug Dieken could have ever expected. Mike calls in to the show, and asks "between the three of you, does Jim have the biggest cock?" Donovan immediately cuts the caller off and goes to a second caller, who starts rambling about the Browns defense while the three hosts of the show attempt to stifle their giggles... failing miserably.

Perhaps the best part about this is Donovan throwing the question over to Dieken after the caller is done asking his question, only to see Dieken burst into hysterical laughter. Donovan and Dieken are the Browns radio announcers while Grossi is a longtime Cleveland area writer. The trio couldn't keep it together at all, and had to cut to commercial before even answeing the caller's question about the Cleveland defense. Oh, the hassles of live sports talk television...

[via Deadspin]

This amazingly awesome picture comes from a DeKalb, Illinois gas station near the Northern Illinois University campus according to tweeter @Jimmy_Riley.  Seems the good people of DeKalb aren't taking too kindly to Kirk Herbstreit and others in Bristol bashing the Huskie football program for having the audacity to qualify for a BCS bowl game.  Herbstreit's comments in particular have created quite the firestorm with NIU alums and former NFL players feeling the need to speak out and defend the school.  "Suck our oranges ESPN" seems to be a great rallying cry for the community.  Good for all the folks standing up for NIU and the MAC today.  The Huskies will have plenty of new fans when they play in the Orange Bowl.

Let's just say it's going to be awkward the next time Herbie and College GameDay visits DeKalb.  Ah, who are we kidding, like that's ever going to happen!

This week's Straight Outta Stockton focuses on ESPN's Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden.  We may have Gruden for a limited time, so we need to all enjoy his intense, zany antics while we can.  Outside of Dick VItale, I don't know if we've ever seen an analyst as enthusiastic about his sport and every player who takes part.  But the funny thing about Gruden is I'm never annoyed by it, it's actually entertaining to see just how far Gruden can go with his admiration of certain players, usually quarterbacks.  It's like its own game within the game.  And on the plus side, it gives us plenty of good material.

Last night it was Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III who could not escape Gruden's embrace as he led Washington to a victory over the New York Giants.  If only ESPN3 could devote a feed to Gruden commentating on RGIII doing every day things like going to the supermarket and brushing his teeth.

"This RGIII, I tell ya Mike, look at his fundamentals.  That circular motion is pivotal to his success and great hygiene.  Those molars don't stand a chance against a guy like this Robert Griffin.  Let me tell ya.  He is changing the way people brush their teeth.  He's a great brusher, a great leader, and just a great guy.  Wow."

Here's the best tweets from last night's Jon Gruden-RGIII love affair...

Adrian Peterson is currently an NFL running back for the Minnesota Vikings who leads the NFL with 1,446 rushing yards.  He attended the University of Oklahoma and looks like this.

The "other" Adrian Peterson's last year in the NFL was 2010.  He attended Georiga Southern and played several seasons as a running back for the Chicago Bears, totalling 1,260 yards in his NFL career.  He looks like this.  He also did not rush for 210 yards this past weekend, the first guy did.  

Even though the "other" Adrian Peterson has been out of the league for two years, there are still some graphics departments getting the two confused as seen above.  Hopefully this happens until the end of time because I like to think the two Adrian Petersons will never be able to escape each other until one eliminates the other a la Jet Li's The One.

*And yes, the NCAA logo behind the wrong Adrian Peterson doesn't make sense either.*

(Thanks to gecarragher for the pic.)

Somehow I missed this last week, but given LeBron James won SI's Sportsman of the Year award earlier today, it was worth sharing.  This video from Grantland features a 15 minute compilation of several PTI discussions about LeBron James between Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser over the years.  The video goes all the way back to LeBron James driving a Hummer in high school, through the NBA Draft, his highs and lows with the Cavaliers, The Decision, and his championship in Miami.  This is simply one of the more fascinating compilations I've seen from a sports website as it documents the conversation around the most talked about athlete of the last decade.  Grantland continues to impress with the original material produced there.

My favorite highlight was hearing this quote from TK in 2003 before the NBA Draft.

"If Darko maxes out, I believe he's the best of the bunch."

Safe to say Darko didn't max out.

[Grantland]

The hole in the Sunday Night Baseball announcing lineup caused by Terry Francona leaving to manage the Cleveland Indians has been filled by current ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk. Kruk will join the duo of Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser as the third man in the booth, following in the footsteps of Bobby Valentine and Francona over the past two seasons.

Rarely have I been angered watching a sports show the way I was Sunday night when watching ESPN's BCS Selection Show.  It was like I was trapped in a nightmare and everyone transformed to their alternate First Take selves.  Kirk Herbstreit was yelling at me about the affront to humanity that was #15 Northern Illinois qualifying for the Orange Bowl to face Florida State.  Jesse Palmer and David Pollack were feigning surprise and shock over the news of NIU's berth that was broken hours earlier in the day.  The first ever BCS berth for the MAC was turned into a debate point and all of it was insulting and infuriating.

Maybe it just has something to do with ESPN analysts hating mid-major programs and teams from non-power conferences.  Kirk Herbstreit's incredible tirade against Northern Illinois making the Orange Bowl conjured up memories of Jay Bilas deriding VCU making the NCAA Tournament in 2011.  Of course, we all know how that ended with VCU making the Final Four.

The BCS and the bowl system sucks.  It's always sucked and it always will suck until there's a true, expanded playoff where every FBS team has a chance to win a national championship.  Right now there are 54 non-AQ teams (excluding Boise State) that know they have zero shot of winning a title every time they begin a season.  That's the sad state of college football.  At least in other sports you have the opportunity, however large or small, to win a championship on the field/court/pool/etc.  Northern Kentucky University basketball knows they can win the NCAA Tournament if they win their conference and go through the tourney unbeaten.  Northern Illinois football begins the season knowing no matter what they do, they won't make the BCS Championship Game.  No other sport on the planet is as exclusionary as FBS college football and it has always sickened me.  Heck, the only reason this non-AQ qualifying scenario that benefited NIU is in place is to protect the BCS from anti-trust lawsuits.

But until the day comes when the FBS has a true playoff (not this four team access/host bowl monstrosity that will have the same issues we're dealing with now), a token Orange Bowl appearance is the best a team from the MAC can ever hope for.  That's their ceiling.  That's their high point.  That's the farthest they can get in college football until the powers that be stiff arm them back to reality.

And NIU and the MAC should be celebrating their accomplishment today.  #MACtion in the BCS is a great story.  Instead, we all have to deal with this drummed up, sensationalized debate of the scoundrels at Northern Illinois taking a BCS spot away from those poor disadvantaged people at Oklahoma and Georgia.

Watch the video, I need to take a lap around the block to calm down...

The last week of the 2012 Pammies are finally upon us.  It's been quite the ride this season with the College GameDay crew giving us several moments to remember and Matt Millen taking up the mantle of those legends that have gone before him like Pam Ward and Craig James.  See the final week's nominees and vote after the jump. Final standings will be here Wednesday...