Lee Corso's Mascot Head picks on College GameDay in 2012 have taken that impressive step from "cute sideshow tradition" to "theatrical production complete with dancing cheerleaders and live animals."  In fact, I'm sure a few million dollars of ESPN's budget has been set aside this year for the use of live animals on GameDay alone.  It's become a staple of Corso's picks this year to alarming frequency - baby gators, goats, birds, zebras, red pandas, you name it.  Maybe in the twilight of his career he wants to give Jack Hanna some real competition.  Who knows.

Whatever the case, Saturday's episode saw Lee Corso pick Oregon against Stanford and bring the Oregon cheerleaders and a sacrificial duck to the set.  Corso handles the duck like any inexperienced 77 year old man would handling waterfowl outside its natural environment - by almost killing it.

Chris Myers certainly isn't the first nor the last announcer that this will happen to, but the game winning score is the worst possible time to confuse the two teams playing a game in front of you.  As Dallas Clark catches the game winning TD in overtime from Josh Freeman for the Buccaneers against the Panthers, Myers shouts:

"Panthers win!"

*Awkward Pause*

"Bucaaneers win!"

The awkward pause between the wrong call and the right call is always the best part.

(Video via returner8685)

Hard to believe the college football regular season is almost over.  You know the drill by now.  Check the links for the full schedule and current Pammies standings and don't forget to leave us your Pammies quotes either in the PWC comments below, or tweet us quotes by using the hashtag #PWAA.

Week 12 Announcing Schedule

Week 11 Winners & Updated Standings

I was getting worried for a second.  It had been so long since we had someone at ESPN get caught on air using bad words they weren't supposed to.  Neil Everett is the latest victim of a microphone left on just a skosh too long as he muttered "son of a bitch" heading into a commercial break during a late Friday night SportsCenter.  While these kind of episodes are more humorous than anything else, my favorite part is always the forced apology afterwards.  Everett's is one of the best I've seen as it's so direct and blunt as co-anchor Stan Verrett just sits there awkwardly looking on.  When will people learn, the mic is always hot!

Both videos after the jump...

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, the American League MVP award winner was announced on Thursday night as Miguel Cabrera, who picked up 22 of 28 first place votes. Cabrera beat out Mike Trout of the Angels, who received the other six first place votes, 21 second place votes, and one third place vote. Cabrera was the choice of many old school fans and analysts, who believed his winning of the Triple Crown and the Tigers playoff appearance trumped Trout's superior baserunning, defense, and more well-rounded overall game.

Former SportsCenter anchor/political pundit Keith Olbermann is getting back into the sports game. The outspoken baseball fanatic will serve as a special co-host of MLB Network's new morning show Hot Stove next Tuesday and Wednesday with regular hosts Harold Reynolds and Matt Vasgersian taking time off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Olbermann made his debut on Hot Stove Thursday, taking part in a roundtable discussing the AL MVP award along with Reynolds, Joe Posnanski, and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. Olbermann also called into the show on Friday morning to discuss Miguel Cabrera's MVP win. In both appearances, he showed the traits that made him a popular host on ESPN, as well as a very divisive figure on MSNBC and Current TV.

MLB Network is a natural match for the baseball-fanaticized Olbermann that we've speculated he could land at in the past, and in my mind, his stint on Hot Stove seems to be almost a trial run for him getting a show of his own. MLB Network is doing a great job in diversifying their lineup in the offseason, and continuing to mix things up by interjecting Olbermann and Bob Costas (who also called into the show on Friday) is a step in the right direction. If people look past Olbermann's political biases and simply take in his passion for baseball, they'll realize he's a thoughtful, intelligent fan of the game that could serve MLB Network in the future.

Yesterday's megacolumn on the events at ESPN this week and the state of journalism at the network managed to draw quite the reaction from all around the web.  Agree or not with the premise, the conversations taking place about improving sports journalism is encouraging.  While the AL MVP vote fallout today is another step backwards, all hope is not lost at ESPN and elsewhere.  This afternoon, ESPN's Outside the Lines will team with PBS's Frontline for a report on concussions in the NFL in launching a relationship between the two programs that looks promising:

ESPN's Rob Parker, the man who makes Skip Bayless look like a professional sports analyst, has gained infamy across the internet for his comments attacking intelligence and individuals who prefer advanced statistical metrics to understand baseball.  Why a man who went to Columbia hates learning new things is beyond me, but nevertheless, this jockular wagon that makes him look like a fifth grade bully is the one Parker has hitched himself to.  

Parker went on a Twitter tirade thumping his chest over Miguel Cabrera winning the MVP over Mike Trout, basically proving everything that's wrong with this old school vs new school debate.  In managing to offend those of us who like to use our brains for something more than a weight on the top of our necks, he also mocked followers with the hilariously clever hashtag #wattimeisurshow.  

Just remember as you read these tweets that ESPN sees something in this guy to continually put him on the air to talk about sports and inform viewers.  This is a guy who used to be an actual honest to goodness sportswriter.  Like, in a real newspaper...

You may have heard about the Rick Reilly "had it first on Twitter" story that took place on the Monday Night Football postgame show.  If not, you can get acclimated quickly.  The picture above is Young's death stare directed towards Rick Reilly on the MNF postgame after Reilly sadly begs Stuart Scott to give him credit for "breaking" the story about Big Ben's injury on Twitter.  In the famous clip, you can see Steve Young giving Mr. Reilly an epic staredown, which in and of itself is glorious.  Let's relive it again, shall we?

I know this is a sports site (well, it's supposed to be anyways), but every once in a while there's a general media story that's too good/juicy/bizarre not to share with you.  While this one isn't quite as raucous as the infamous David Petraeus screengrab, it's one of the more unique news stories I can ever remember.

At the local NBC station in Columbus, Channel 4, morning weatherman Bob Nunnally (left) has filed a libel lawsuit against NBC co-worker and chief meteorologist Jym Ganahl (right).  That's right.  Weathermen at the same station are involved in a lawsuit.  Weathermen!  Libel!  Lawsuits!  From the Columbus Dispatch...