If it bleeds, it leads, which is the only logical explanation for not flexing Eagles-Cowboys out of Sunday Night Football.

Broadcast Maps via the506

Thursday, November 29

New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons [NFLN 8:20PM] Brad Nessler, Mike Mayock & Alex Flanagan

Sunday, December 2

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins [CBS 1PM] Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Indianapolis Colts @ Detroit Lions [CBS 1PM] Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans [CBS 1PM] Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Buffalo Bills [CBS 1PM] Spero Dedes, Steve Beuerlein

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers [FOX 1PM] Joe Buck, Troy Aikman & Pam Oliver
San Francisco 49ers @ St. Louis Rams [FOX 1PM] Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Arizona Cardinals @ New York Jets [FOX 1PM] Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick & Laura Okmin
Seattle Seahawks @ Chicago Bears [FOX 1PM] Chris Myers, Tim Ryan & Jaime Maggio
Carolina Panthers @ Kansas City Chiefs [FOX 1PM] Ron Pitts, Mike Martz & Katarina Pink

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Denver Broncos [FOX 4:05PM] Dick Stockton, John Lynch & Jennifer Hale

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens [CBS 4:25PM] Jim Nantz, Phil Simms Cincinnati Bengals @ San Diego Chargers [CBS 4:25PM] Marv Albert, Rich Gannon Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders [CBS 4:25PM] Bill Macatee, Steve Tasker

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys [NBC 8:20PM] Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth & Michelle Tafoya

Monday, December 3

New York Giants @ Washington Redskins [ESPN 8:30PM] Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Lisa Salters  

H/T Sammy!

It's hard to fathom how a school without a conference, who controls their own schedule, and has its own television deal with NBC could be leaving significant television revenue on the table. But, that's exactly what Notre Dame is doing. In light of the monster ratings ABC pulled in Notre Dame's finale versus USC the question changes from "IS scheduling hurting television revenue" to "HOW much is it hurting them?"

At issue here is the fact that Notre Dame by its own choosing, schedules its last game of the year on the road at either Stanford or USC. Going through past schedules and future schedules, those two teams have alternated Notre Dame's last game of the year for quite awhile and into the foreseeable future.

Because Stanford and USC host these season finales, those games fall into the Pac 12's television contracts which means it can air on ABC or potentially Fox. 

When Stanford and USC play in South Bend, those games take place earlier in the season and fall under Notre Dame's contract with NBC (who airs ND home games). 

The big news on this week's NBA announcing schedule is Charles Barkley making a cameo in the TNT booth Thursday night.  He'll announce Spurs-Heat alongside Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller.

Wednesday, November 28

Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder (NBAtv 8PM) Local Broadcast
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Clippers (NBAtv 10:30PM) Local Broadcast

Thursday, November 29

San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat (TNT 8PM) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley
Denver Nuggets @ Golden State Warriors (TNT 10:30PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr  

Friday, November 30

Washington Wizards @ New York Knicks (NBAtv 7:30PM) Local Broadcast
Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN 10:30PM) Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy

Saturday, December 1

Brooklyn Nets @ Miami Heat (NBAtv 7:30PM) Local Broadcast
Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls (WGNA 8PM) Neil Funk, Stacey King
Sacramento Kings @ Los Angeles Lakers (NBAtv 10:30PM) Local Broadcast  

H/T Sammy!

While the Craig James era at ESPN is over, and James' tenure on AA's Mount Rushmore has also come to a close, his brief Senate campaign still has some unfinished business. Namely, James owes $177,725 to members of his campaign team (not including himself) more than six months after his failed primary run came to a close.

Only one more week to go in this year's Pammies with championship weekend upon us!  This week, the return of Beaver juice to College GameDay sees them take the top spot for another week.  Your weekly Top 10 quotes and full standings after the jump...

Late last night, the Jon Gruden coaching rumors went from mere smoke to a four alarm fire with one of the crazier reports the coaching realm has seen involving a prominent college program, a new NFL owner, and an ownership stake for Gruden in one of the NFL's most storied franchises.

Skip Bayless writing lead columns for ESPN.com, sadly, is becoming a trend that looks like it's here to stay.

Yay.

For reasons unbeknownst to anyone outside the Bristol bubble, ESPN has once again chosen Skip Bayless to talk about an important sports topic outside of Tim Tebow and LeBron James.  This time, it's a column on this year's Heisman race arguing for Manti Te'o over Johnny Manziel.  Because Bayless and First Take has followed college football so closely all season long apparently.  Even though Pat Forde and Bruce Feldman moved on, there's still a number of talented college football writers at ESPN.com that should get this kind of prime column real estate, but ESPN seems to be giving more opportunities to their debaters instead of the real experts these days.

I'll spare us all from a full-scale takedown because there's only so much Skip Bayless AA can take on before I begin to question my purpose in life.  But it was these two paragraphs from Bayless that led me to stare blankly at my laptop screen for several hours trying to comprehend the logic of what I had just read (bolded emphasis added)... 

Via our friends at Deadspin, here's a video of every time Phil Simms said the word "football" during the Texans vs. Lions NFL broadcast on Thanksgiving day. The video itself is only 2 and a half minutes long, but Phil still somehow manages to say the word "football" more than 50 times. It's like the Family Guy parody of John Madden brought to life, which is appropriate, because a cartoon parody is a pretty accurate way to describe Simms' analysis most times these days.

Enjoy.

[H/T Deadspin]

Because First Take hasn't already eaten away at our souls enough as it is, ESPN is planning to expand the show to six days a week.  God help us.  Occasional debater Rob Parker announced today on his Facebook page that he's taking the lead role in a new Saturday edition of First Take starting December 8th with host Cari Champion and a random panel of debaters.  At least there will be no Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith.  For now.

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster is one of the best and most entertaining athletes to follow on Twitter.  Besides being one of the few athletes to actually say interesting and funny things from time to time, Foster speaks out on relevant topics and engages with followers.

Tuesday, he took that engagement to a new level when he promised to hand out tickets to anyone who could discover his first tweet.  One follower, @RJhegedus, was able to find Foster's first tweet, "Walking into the Twitter house for the first time.  Hello digital world..."

It's amazing how no matter who we are, our first tweets are all pretty much the same.

What makes this social media story even better is the help RJ got from   Twitter heroine Jenny Johnson (the writer who took down disgrace to humanity Chris Brown) to help bring it to Foster's attention.  Eventually, Foster did get in touch with his follower and looks set to make good on his promise.  Foster even gave a second set of tickets to another follower who claimed to have found the first tweet as well.  Only on Twitter could something like this happen.

Here's how the awesome story unfolded...