A while back, I was going to write the standard "5 Teams We'd Like To See On Hard Knocks". These articles are common fair on the internet but mine would have obviously been way better and avoided an annoying slideshow format. For sharing purposes I had my top 5 as the Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Texans, and Saints in that order with the caveat that any teams featured in the last decade were ineligible.

But now we're in June and rather than trying to will a team with compelling storylines unfolding during training camp to be featured, I'm more concerned that nothing has been announced yet. In fact, there haven't even been the usual leaks, whispers, and news coverage of the outreach and selection process.

Keys to the game can be a rather mundane exercise (especially in the hands of one Tim McCarver) - it's usually something generic about pitching well or hitting baseballs where people aren't.  Last night's Braves broadcast went in a new direction with their pitching keys that simply said "We're going streaking!" and "Commando."  Yes, you see the two go hand in... wait, why am I trying to explain this to you?

Who's operating this thing, Steve Blass?

(Pic via ztevans)

There was word back in April that Yahoo! might have been making a play for the live NFL mobile rights that for the last three years have belonged to Verizon. But as it enters the final year of its original deal with the NFL, it looks as though the telecommunications giant is going to be hanging onto those extremely valuable rights for several years to come. 

And, more importantly for NFL fans, it looks as though the extension will come with an expansion that will allow Verizon to stream every single regular-season and playoff game, not just those airing on ESPN, NBC and NFL Network (which was the case in the last deal). 

The Red Sox destroyed the Rangers 17-5 last night in a game that devolved to the point where Rangers OF David Murphy took the mound and began striking out Red Sox.  After the game mercifully concluded after 3 hours and 10 minutes, Sox analyst Dennis Eckersley got caught with a hot mic going to break asking "we gotta recap this sh*t?!"

Such is the nature of a lenghty baseball blowout that was decided after just the 2nd inning.  Not even the team's winning analyst wants to stick around and relive the inanity.  Eck was ready to call it a night.

[It's Always Sunny in Detroit]

Nothing could go wrong when a sports talk radio show stages their own urine tests as a response to another steroid scandal in baseball, right?  Of course not!  Except for the whole "bumbling producer spills cup of urine all over the host" thing.  This happened on Boomer and Carton this morning on WFAN in New York (and simulcasted on MSG) and with Carton's anger and Esiason's laughter, it's pretty good acting if it is indeed a gag.

If that actually is a cup of pee all over Craig Carton and this was all unplanned, I'd say he's actually holding it together pretty well considering the circumstances.  As for me, I always do my own urine tests within the safety of my own home.  Just to avoid this very thing.

H/T LevityNYC

Keith Olbermann is back covering sports. The former SportsCenter anchor and fiery political pundit will be hosting TBS' MLB studio show during the postseason this year. Dennis Eckersley will be on set with Olbermann, while former studio analyst Cal Ripken Jr will be transitioning to the broadcast booth for the playoffs.

CBS 3 Philly weekend news anchor Nicole Brewer and meteorologist Carol Erickson became news themselves recently after an uncomfortably hilarious bit of unscripted banter. As it turns out, the pair have a history of testy on-air exchanges.

The folks at AmazingLife247 have dipped into the archives and created a montage of the bickering between Brewer, a former Miss Pennsylvania, and Erickson, a veteran of 35 years at the station. It's clearly Brewer who initiates most of the dust-ups with a heavy dose of bitter sarcasm, while Erickson gets caught on the defensive. At first, Erickson's reluctance to play along with Brewer's monkey business shows the kind of professionalism you'd expect from a veteran of three-plus decades.

But the long-time meteorologist finally cracks, quipping, "That was an interesting little exchange I'm sure she regrets, along with that last glass of... whatever." Accusing a co-worker of drinking on the job is a low blow, and quite the tongue-in-cheek accusation.

The Philly Post called the mashup a "master class in highly public passive-aggresive behaviour." We call it television gold.

[Hat-tip to Gawker]

The allure of the Miami Heat is still alive and well. The Heat's Game 7 win over the Indians Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night drew an impressive 7.1 overnight rating and 11.5 million viewers. That rating and viewership total propelled the game to the status of third most viewed and highest rated program in TNT history.

All Times Eastern

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

Cycling
Criterium Dauphine Libere
Stage 4 -- NBC Sports Network, midnight (same day coverage)

Golf
Champions Tour
Regions Tradition, Shoal Creek, AL
Pro-Am -- Golf Channel, 5 p.m.

Golf Central Special: LPGA Championship News Conference -- Golf Channel, 4 p.m.
On the Range: LPGA Championship and St. Jude Classic -- Golf Channel, 8 p.m.

Editorial Note: This article initially ran on our sister site, Crystal Ball Run. Definitely a must read site if you're a college football fan. Be sure to follow them on Twitter for all the latest college football news. 

College football's favorite television dreamboat isn't going anywhere.

ESPN and Kirk Herbstreit are closing in on a contract extension that will keep the forever youthful college football analyst in the Worldwide Leader's fold until 2022, according to a report from the network's unauthorized oral historian, James Andrew Miller.

Herbie's rise up the ranks at ESPN has paralleled the network's growing – and sometimes controversial – role in the business of college football.