It's always interesting to see how broadcasters and networks have evolved over time, and some recently-found footage gives us an excellent opportunity to do that. Back before Gus Johnson and Mike Mayock were household names, the two paired up to call the CFL's 1994 Grey Cup game on ESPN2, and the footage of that broadcast was uploaded to YouTube earlier this year. Throughout the broadcast, you can see some of the elements that both would be come to be known for, including Johnson's trademark exuberance and enthusiastic descriptions of particular plays and Mayock's football knowledge and penchant for relaying information on specific play designs or one-on-one battles. However, both have changed substantially since then, as has the network they were broadcasting for: ESPN2's 1994 Noisemeter and massive on-screen graphics would seem very out of place at the Worldwide Leader today. Here's the complete clip of the game:

Today we get news that the second Barber twin will be trying his hand in television. Ronde Barber who retired this year after 16 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is reportedly headed to Fox Sports. His brother Tiki had a stint at NBC on Football Night in America, the Today Show and a host on MSNBC during the 2008 Olympics. Instead of trying to become the next Matt Lauer like Tiki, Ronde appears to be staying in his expert field of football.

According to The Big Lead, Barber will be an NFL analyst for Fox. His role has not been defined, but his agent told TBL, “Ronde is excited to be joining the network.” Expect to see Ronde analyze games for the NFL on Fox, appear on Fox Sports 1 and perhaps a few other Fox platforms. 

Ronde does have experience being in the media as he and his brother Tiki co-hosted a show for Sirius NFL Radio. We will find out soon whether he will form a new NFL on Fox announcing team or be solely a studio analyst. 

UPDATE: Awful Announcing has learned that Barber will be a game analyst for the NFL on Fox.

[The Big Lead]

All Times Eastern

Arena Football
San Jose SaberCats at Spokane Shock -- CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.

Australian Rules Football
Sydney Swans vs. Essendon Bombers -- Fox Soccer Plus, 2:30 a.m.

College Baseball
NCAA Division I Tournament
Regionals

Tallahassee Regional, Tallahassee, FL
Savannah State vs. Alabama -- ESPNU, noon

Manhattan Regional, Manhattan, KS
Wichita State vs. Arkansas -- ESPNU, 3 p.m.

Louisville Regional, Louisville, KY
Miami vs. Louisville -- ESPN2, 5 p.m.

Columbia Regional, Columbia, SC
Liberty vs. South Carolina -- ESPN2, 8 p.m.

Nashville Regional, Nashville, TN
Illinois vs. Vanderbilt -- ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Fullerton Regional, Fullerton, CA
Arizona State vs. Cal State-Fulllerton -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.'

ESPN Bases Loaded -- ESPNU, 6 p.m.

As if E. Gordon Gee's comments about Catholics weren't enough, now he's just skipping denominational sniping and taking a run straight at the big guy himself.  The Ohio State president has been under fire for several inappropriate and off-base remarks at an OSU athletic council meeting that has become public.  On Friday, Sports Illustrated published the entirety of Gee's remarks thanks to an open records request and whoooo boy is there even more juicy comments than initially reported.  In addition to further Big Ten expansion, superconferences leaving the NCAA, Bret Bielema as a "thug", and more there was this nugget about the Big Ten Network and the conference adding Maryland and Rutgers.

While E. Gordon and the rest of the conference hierarchy can claim Rutgers and Maryland are "academically in line" with the Big Ten or grit their teeth and attempt to compliment their football programs, the truth of the matter has always been what the two east coast schools mean to the Big Ten Network.  Rutgers and Maryland were invited to the Big Ten so the conference can get BTN on cable systems in huge metropolitan areas and so the conference could get more money... or as E. Gordon so eloquently frames it, makes BTN worth more money than God...

Last night ESPN televised the National Spelling Bee Finals and I found myself switching back and forth between spelling and Game 5 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals.  I also found myself more invested in the Spelling Bee.  Arvind Mahankali spelling "knaidel" for all the knaidels was way more entertaining than anything LeBron did last night.  (So was the boss way he acted like he'd been there before by stoically celebrating his victory.)

The Spelling Bee got me thinking... one of the cool things ESPN has always done is televising non-traditional "sporting" events (I use sporting in quotes because I'm sure someone out there can make a logical argument for spellers as athletes given their concentration levels and skills in memorizing languages of origin.)  From Bristol's roots showing Aussie Rules football through Sumo Wrestling with Larry Beil and World's Strongest Man, ESPN's coverage of these events is in the fabric of the network's soul.  Here's our power rankings...

On Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks prevailed in overtime over the Detroit Red Wings to advance to the Western Conference Finals. NBC Sports Network announced yesterday that the game was the highest rated NHL game ever for the network. Here is a quick rundown:

Jeff Van Gundy has been established as ESPN's lead NBA analyst for several years.  Van Gundy has blossomed into the lead role, showing a quirky sense of humor and affability that wasn't always on display on the sidelines.  And, unlike some analysts, JVG is not afraid to criticize the league or its high profile players.  He's one of the best analysts on television... but he may not be long for television.

With the NBA's coaching carousel in full swing, Van Gundy's name is again entering the fray as a potential candidate for top jobs.  On Thursday the NBA's top newsbreaker, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, reported the Clippers had reached out to Van Gundy to see if he was interested in replacing Vinny Del Negro...

The UFC will be launching its own dedicated channel in Mexico and the rest of Latin America near the end of 2013. 20 countries across Latin America, excluding Brazil, will have access to the network.

The network will be subscription based, and will show MMA programming 24/7, featuring fights from not only the UFC, but also their former competitors PRIDE, WEC, and Strikeforce. There will also be original programming on the network, including Spanish language reality shows. 

While this isn't going to have a huge effect on fans in America, it's a huge step forward for the UFC. There have been rumblings of a UFC Network being launched in America, potentially in the slot of Fuel before the conversion to Fox Sports 2 was announced. If the network in Latin America takes off, and there are reasons to believe that it will (mainly the fervor of Latin American fans for the sport of MMA), I'd expect the idea of a channel in America to start gaining steam, especially since the UFC has Fox's backing. The UFC already has a paid channel on Youtube (UFC Select) and a VOD service on their website (UFC.tv), and a network would be the next logical step for them.

[UFC]

I can think of a million different adjectives to describe a walk-off win.  Exciting, climactic, thrilling, enthralling, dramatic, significant, extraordinary, captivating, exhilirating, sensational, breathtaking, stirring, etc...

Pirates analyst Steve Blass decided to add another word into the lexicon and make it a million and one.  After Thursday night's 1-0 victory over the Tigers, Blass called it "kinky."

I love this.  It's almost as if in the euphoria of a walk-off victory, Blass' brain had nowhere else to go but to "kinky."  This is the "Mr. Strickland, I love you" of broadcasting moments.  Just imagine how wild and crazy things are going to get in Pittsburgh if the Pirates finally make the playoffs this year!

And to think, Russell Martin didn't even make the Top 10 of the Cougarlife.com hottest cub poll.  What could have been...

[Audio via Eye on Baseball]

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
NCAA Division I Tournament
Regionals

Tallahassee Regional, Tallahassee, FL
Alabama vs. Troy -- ESPNU, noon

Manhattan Regional, Manhattan, KS
Kansas State vs. Wichita State -- ESPNU, 3 p.m.

Columbia Regional, Columbia, SC
St. Louis vs. South Carolina -- ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Nashville Regional, Nashville, TN
East Tennessee State vs. Vanderbilt -- ESPNU, 7 p.m.

Fullerton Regional, Fullerton, CA
Cal State-Fullerton vs. Columbia -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.

ESPN Bases Loaded -- ESPNU, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m.