Another strong week of Pammy nominees with Lou Holtz, Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson, and Verne Lundquist all at the top of their games.  Who can take down this week's crown and inch ever closer to Matt Millen at the top of our standings?  Check the nominees and vote after the jump...

This weekend, the landscape of not just televised soccer in America, but the cable sports landscape itself changed dramatically when NBC made a stunning bid to win comprehensive, exclusive rights to the English Premier League.  NBC's three year deal starts next year with the 2013-14 season and runs through the 2015-16 season.

First, the staggering numbers.  NBC's financial commitment, estimated at $83 million dollars per year, (or about $250 million over the course of the three year contract) is more than TRIPLE what Fox has paid for EPL rights in their most recent agreement.  Stunning.  Sports rights fees are going up everywhere because sports is one of the last things in the DVR world you have to watch live... but a 300% plus increase for soccer from England is something only the most optimistic of soccer fanatics or British culture enthusiasts could have ever imagined.

This doesn't need a whole lot of explanation or setup, but watch as Kirk Herbstreit is legitimately startled by Lee Corso firing off a gun on the College Gameday set.  And with Corso signing a new two year extension with ESPN, we're bound to see these mascot picks get more and more wild. Already this year we've seen live gators this year and now guns!

Let's be real here; Corso would scare me too in all honesty.  Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if he had pulled out a real shotgun or something. That Corso is a wily ol' codger. 

[H/T: Big Lead Sports]

As you can see in the above video, Fox announcer Sam Rosen introduced the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday as the "Penguins" as they were running onto the field. The throwback uniforms are clearly ridiculous, so perhaps Rosen was just weirded out by them. I mean, I can't really blame him if he was. They are possibly the worst alternate uniforms I've ever seen in the NFL, and that's saying something. Or, maybe the NHL Lockout is getting the best of him as he also calls New York Rangers games.

Luckily though, the "Penguin" uniforms didn't prevent the Steelers from defeating the Washington Redskins 27-12. Maybe they should wear them more often and blind the opposition.

Next week, ESPN's exclusive negotiating rights with the Big East will end, and the conference will not be agreeing to a new deal with the network in that timeframe according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy. It's open season on Big East football and basketball, and the usual players will be going to war once again.

One of the biggest conspiracy theories against ESPN is their bias in favor of the SEC.  Watch the network and you'll see plenty of hype for the conference.  You'll see the prominent "SEC on ESPN" logo all over the place.  Then, there's been reports of ESPN and the SEC working on their own network.

Does ESPN show bias towards the SEC, thus driving up the money made and power received by both?  Doubtful.  I'd like to think it's not a grand conspiracy, but rather a couple of factors that are more easily expainable.  One is the SEC's streak of national championship victories, which has obviously put the league at the top of the college football world and deservedly so.  The other factor is merely ESPN's bias towards stories and powerful players, teams, and yes, conferences.  ESPN is simply going to spend more time on the SECs of the world the same that they spend time on the Yankees and Lakers and Tebows and Bradys and LeBrons of the world.  It doesn't necessarily make it right, that's just how it is.  ESPN is going to treat Kansas State differently than Florida.

Ed Note: With Election Day just under two weeks away, we want to fully prepare you for the most important race of 2012.  No, not that Presidential thing or whatever it is, AA's Decision 2012!  Besides, whoever your candidate of choice is, we can all agree Craig James is worse.  But, is the Senator-to-be a strong enough candidate for AA's Mount Rushmore to hold off the challenges of Skip Bayless, Matt Millen, and Chris Berman?  With such a tough vote on the horizon, we asked some influential bloggers from around the sports world to give an endorsement for their candidate of choice and reasons why you should vote for them November 6th to be immortalized on AA's Mount Rushmore.  What better way to wrap up than a college football Saturday with the incumbent, Craig James, presented by Adam Kramer of Kegs 'n Eggs.

Craig James needs our support, guys. Put away your checkbooks and open up your hearts.

After a failed political campaign—one where he got 4% of the Texas vote for the Republican seat and then asked for money after campaigning because he exhausted his personal funds - James has a chance to remain a part of our everyday lives. We simply cannot squander this opportunity.

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.  It should be a great day of college football action with more than a few games worth watching.

But first... BREAKING NEWS!!!  Lou Holtz has switched allegiances for tonight's huge Notre Dame-Oklahoma game and is picking against the Irish!!

Week 9 Announcing Schedule

Week 8 Winners & Updated Standings

(Pic via Crystal Ball Run)

Hating, fear, and loathing of advanced statistics is no longer exclusive to baseball.  It has now crossed over into the mainstream basketball world!  Rejoice counter-culture enthusiasts!  During last night's preseason Clippers-Nuggets telecast, Kevin Harlan brought up an interesting nugget of information from Basketball Prospectus regarding the Denver Nuggets.  Reggie Miller had this totally reasonable, logical, acceptable response...

"That's one of those lab geek rats that are somewhere with their pocket squares on their little laptop computer punching numbers."

Uhh.. pocket squares?  Lab geek rats?  Reggie Miller just showed you successful purveyors of intelligent, statistically based basketball analysis!  Well played, Reggie.

Miller also went on to blast people who are finding new ways to analyze the game of basketball, saying "Those things don't play basketball games for you, humans play basketball games for you...  Those geeks, I'm telling you, never played a game in their life."

It's obvious what's happening here.  Reggie Miller is fearful one of those "lab geek rats" will either replace him on TNT broadcasts, or invent a computer model that is fully capable of intelligently analyzing a basketball game, thus making his television career completely obsolete.  

(video via Blazer's Edge)

After a strong postseason so far, with fantastic ratings from the wild card games to the LCS, the World Series has tanked for MLB.

Wednesday's Game 1 between the Giants and Tigers drew 12.2 million viewers and a 7.6 rating - the worst ever for a Game 1. Those numbers are 13% (in viewers) and 14% (in ratings) down from 2011's Cardinals-Rangers matchup, and 15% (in viewers) and 18% (in ratings) from 2010's Giants-Rangers series.