All eyes were on the NFL pregame shows today to see how they would cover the unspeakable tragedy in Kansas City yesterday.  A day after Chiefs LB Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and then took his own life in front of head coach Romeo Crennel and Scott Pioli, the NFL moved forward.  There's no blueprint to cover a human tragedy like this for any NFL pregame show.  There's no "by the book" method to talk about such a real life tragedy that so completely dwarfs the sports that serve as a distraction to real life.

I get uneasy bashing a network's approach to a story that is stepping so far outside their element because it's difficult to separate a right or wrong decision.  There are many that are questioning the Chiefs' decision to go ahead and play today's game against the Panthers.  Is that a right or a wrong decision?  Or is it only up to the team to decide?

Do the pregame shows take that lead and carry on with business as usual?  Do you skip the silly comedian segments and understand the gravity of the time?  In what way do you even attempt to memorialize Belcher and/or Perkins?  Each network took a different approach and in one sense, there has to be some learning on the fly by the networks to know how best and tactfully to cover this story.

In truth, the only missteps are going to come in hindsight, which is what CBS discovered Sunday.  While Fox opened their pregame show with no fanfare and an immediate story on the tragedy, The NFL Today on CBS carried on as normal with a sponsored segment and didn't mention the events in Kansas City until 12:05.  The decision to not lead with the Belcher murder-suicide drew immediate outrage from viewers and followers on social media as tone-deaf and inappropriate.  The fact that CBS spent more time shamelessly cross-promoting a Victoria's Secret program than they did on the initial Belcher report only increased the criticism towards the network.  One of the most valuable elements of Twitter is unfiltered real-time feedback.  And the viewers of The NFL Today spoke clearly Sunday.  As always, these are Real Tweets from Real People...

As you know, we just love Lee Corso around here. He's a crazy old man, but I mean that in the nicest way possible. He's pretty much a legend of the internets at this point.

Check out the video above where he calls Heisman hopeful Collin Klein, "Calvin" Klein. It's classic Corso. But what is really funny is Fowler's reaction to it. Can you blame him? If I was on the set with Corso, I'd be laughing my butt off at least once per show. But probably more, because Corso is comedy gold.

[H/T: Diehard Sport]

Olympian David Boudia has signed on as the second of three judges on a new upcoming ABC competitive diving series starring celebrities. Boudia earned a gold medal at the London Olympics in the 10-meter diving event.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the premise of the celebrity diving show is as such: 

LAST WEEK OF THE 2012 PAMMIES!!! Your final standings come later this week, so make sure to end the season in style.  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.

Championship Week Announcing Schedule

Week 13 Winners & Updated Standings

With the college football season coming to a close and conference realignment heating up again, we welcome ESPN college football reporter Brett McMurphy to the AA Podcast. Brett is the top college football reporter when it comes to realignment and has broken the news on many of college football's biggest stories in recent years working for both CBS and ESPN. In this podcast, Brett chats with AA about...

-His career path leading him to ESPN.
-How he developed a reputation as the preeminent force reporting on conference realignment.
-The separation between ESPN's business and reporting arms. -What one move has surprised him most in the recent round of realignment.
-The negative impact of conference realignment and how it's hurt college athletics.
-The impact of the Big Ten Network on realignment.
-Why we may not see the 4 16 team superconference system develop.
-Georgia's chances against Alabama and the SEC title game.
-The SEC champ being a presumptive favorite over unbeaten Notre Dame.

I'm just thankful another team didn't switch leagues while we were taping.

In case you've missed any of our podcasts, check out all of our interviews by subscribing to the AA Podcast on iTunes or our AA Podcast RSS Page.  For more excellent reporting from Brett, follow him on Twitter @McMurphyESPN.

Any somewhat dedicated fan of the NBA will know the league's toughest task isn't trying to stop LeBron James on a fast break, it isn't trying to guard Kevin Durant 1 on 1, it's the in-game Gregg Popovich interview.  We've seen him shut down sideline reporters like Craig Sager and David Aldridge numerous times, but last night was a unique opportunity to see Charles Barkley take a swing at trying to get something out of Pop.

Maybe Pop was in a good mood after sticking it to David Stern and competing with a preseason squad last night.  Maybe he actually respects Charles Barkley.  Because the interview somehow goes exceedingly well for Barkley's first 2 questions.  Nevertheless, that's all Pop would allow as Barkley tries to ask an extra question and Pop swats him away like Dikembe Mutombo.  If only he could dismiss the commish so easily.

(H/T That NBA Lottery Pick)

The legendary eighty-five year old broadcaster Vin Scully (happy birthday!) is going to be taking over the LA Dodgers Twitter account next Monday according to MLB.com, which could turn out to be one of the most glorious things to happen in the history of the interwebz.

Celebrating his 85th birthday, Vin Scully says he'll take over @dodgers on Monday. Submit your questions with #AskVin: atmlb.com/Wxl0cV

— Cut4 (@Cut4) November 29, 2012

Scully is one of the greatest broadcasters to have ever lived, and probably the best MLB broadcaster in history. But his greatness comes from broadcasting the games, not using "the twits." It should be pretty interesting to see how this all goes down next Monday if Vin Scully's previous attempts to read a tweet is any previous indication. Regardless, Vin is a living legend and tuning in next Monday is going to simply be a must.

[H/T: Eye on Baseball]

Thanks to The Soup and Gawker, I came across these two videos, which are just about the darndest things I've ever seen.  They're short "cooking" segments that come from the Weber State University student news program and a man named Steven Reed.  

I put the word cooking in quotes because these aren't the cooking segments you may be used to if you grew up with Graham Kerr or Justin Wilson like I did.  No, instead, Reed teaches the Weber State faithful how to make Rice-a-Roni and chili cheese nacho dip... in the microwave... with the kind of enthusiasm you'd see from Mike Tirico calling Panthers-Eagles.  (Also, from now on I'm starting every conversation with a deadpan "Hello Wildcats.")  Reed is a Weber State student who was apparently putting these segments together for his degree in integrated studies.  He also happens to be a registered sex offender.  Wrap your mind around that before you watch these viral videos...

The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association is beginning their awards voting on December 1st for the Hall of Fame and National awards of the year, and many familiar names litter the ballot, including long-time ESPN talking heads Chris Berman and Dick Vitale as finalists for the sportscaster Hall of Fame.

This weekend, Fox will once again air both the Pac 12 and Big Ten championship games on back to back nights Friday and Saturday.  Friday night, Fox will visit Palo Alto for #8 Stanford hosting #16 UCLA.  Saturday night, the entire crew travels more than halfway across the country to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game as #12 Nebraska faces unranked Wisconsin.

Once again, Gus Johnson and Charles Davis will pull double duty and call both games on back to back nights.  Davis just pulled the same feat last weekend as he called a college game on Saturday and subbed for Brian Billick for the NFL on Fox Sunday.

While last year's conference championship doubleheader was the unveiling for the new and improved Fox College Football series, the 2012 version will be a true test of how far they've come in a year with many high profile additions... and how far they have to go.