Viewing Picks for May 1, 2013

Written by Ken Fang on .

All Times Eastern

Boxing
Mayweather vs. Guerrero Press Conference -- CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
All Access: Mayweather vs. Guerrero, Episode 4 -- Showtime, 10 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 4 p.m.

College Softball
Eastern Michigan at Michigan State -- Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.

Golf
Top 10: 17th at TPC Sawgrass -- Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m.
On the Range: Wells Fargo Championship -- Golf Channel, 8 p.m.
Big Break Mexico: Preview -- Golf Channel, 9 p.m.

Horse Racing
Kentucky Derby Draw -- NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.

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Top-grade Freudian slip from Blackhawks reporter

Written by Brad Gagnon on .

The Chicago Blackhawks scored a lot during the regular season. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins had more goals in 48 games. But while doing a live hit outside of Chicago's dressing room prior to Tuesday night's playoff opener, CSN reporter Susannah Collins accidentally suggested that the 'Hawks have been doing a lot of the other kind of scoring, as well. 

Collins poked fun at herself while apologizing afterwards on Twitter, adding that she'd do her best to avoid risking another slip-up by mentioning one particularly dangerously-named member of the Minnesota Wild...

Unfortunately for Collins, that won't be possible because Cal Clutterbuck scored the first goal of the series less than five minutes into the first period of Tuesday night's game.

H/T Jimmy Traina

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Don Cherry, the Canadian Skip Bayless, presents a CBC conundrum

Written by Andrew Bucholtz on .

CBC hockey commentator Don Cherry's controversial statement Saturday that female reporters shouldn't be allowed in male dressing rooms provoked plenty of outrage from both industry groups and Twitter users, led to a Kif-like sigh on-air from counterpart and frequent foil Ron MacLean, and created a firestorm that still hasn't entirely died out a few days later. However, some (not all) of Cherry's colleagues and his company haven't exactly abandoned him. MacLean's since defended Cherry, and the CBC itself just said Cherry's views are his own, which isn't the strongest response in the world. Given how out of sync Cherry's views are with both employment law and decades of practice (bizarrely enough, the first female reporters in a professional sports locker room were in the NHL, as Robin Herman and Marcel St. Cyr gained access at the 1975 All-Star game, and later that season, Cherry became the first coach to allow Herman locker-room access after regular-season games), some might have expected his company to come down harder on him. However, the CBC's (lack of) response is perhaps to be expected given Cherry's role at the network, which essentially has him as a similar pot-stirrer to ESPN's Skip Bayless. 

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Sports Illustrated has record traffic day with Jason Collins exclusive

Written by Matt Yoder on .

Sports Illustrated's cover story written by Jason Collins has made perhaps an even bigger impact than could have initially been expected.  The article has touched a populace far beyond the sports world and become a mainstream story with everyone from Kobe Bryant to Barack Obama proclaiming their support.  In fact, Collins' piece moved so thoroughly and so quickly across the internet that it became the most trafficked day in SI.com's history according to SBJ's Eric Fisher...

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AA Podcast #45 - John Koblin, Deadspin

Written by Matt Yoder on .

With one of the wildest days we can ever recall in sports media, we invite back to the show Deadspin's John Koblin to break it all down. John's reporting into ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and more in the sports media is one of the pillars of the top sports blog in the land. Today, we chat with John about Jason Collins coming out, the fallout of Chris Broussard's comments on Outside the Lines, and where we go from here, as well as...

-The significance of Jason Collins coming out in a first person narrative.
-The importance for SI as a magazine and their future health.
-The reaction to Collins' announcement from the sports and media worlds.
-Did ESPN set up Chris Broussard to debate homosexuality?
-Why ESPN was late to the Collins story and how yesterday was a backwards step after a positive year for Bristol.
-What other networks and outlets may learn moving forward.

A great discussion with John on the major stories of the day and their evolving nature.

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 from John, follow him on Twitter @koblin.

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Four analysts we'd prefer to see broadcast Round 1 of the NFL draft

Written by Brad Gagnon on .

davidshaw

With the 2013 NFL draft out of the way, we're still recovering from 16 hours worth of live draft coverage on television. And while we don't expect ESPN or NFL Network to make any big changes to their broadcasting pecking orders until those with seniority are ready to walk away, we still have four analysts in mind whom we'd love to see on the main desks earlier in future years. 

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A personal response to Chris Broussard's comments on Jason Collins

Written by Matt Yoder on .

Chris Broussard drew nationwide attention when he went on ESPN's Outside the Lines Monday in the wake of Jason Collins coming out in Sports Illustrated and said homosexuality was a sin and a "rebellion against God."  The transcript of his comments can be found here.

Broussard has been crushed and ESPN has been questioned for allowing him on air to provide his opinion for the story in the theater of an apparent debate with LZ Granderson.  Broussard released a statement on his Twitter page yesterday only slightly walking back his position while supporting Collins' NBA career.

ESPN also released a statement committing to diversity and saying they regretted distracting from the news.

While the reaction to Collins' Sports Illustrated piece has been mostly positive, the fallout from Broussard's comments struck a chord.  There has been plenty of multi-dimensional fallout from his stance on OTL as freedom of speech, religious beliefs in public life, tolerance, and more topics have all been lobbied around the internet.

Broussard's comments, and the reaction to them, struck a chord with me as well.  So while we're being open and this important discussion is taking place, I feel the need to personally speak up.  I posted some personal thoughts as a Christian and a sports blogger last night on my Twitter page and will repost them below after the jump if you are inclined to read further.  It's something I strongly feel needs to be said in light of the reaction to Jason Collins' announcement.

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Peyton Manning does a mean Johnny Cash

Written by Reva Friedel on .

Over the weekend, Peyton Manning attended a fundraising gala for the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital. Apparently, he put on a little impromptu concert with country singer Luke Bryan where he sang one of the classic hits of Johnny Cash:

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NHL on TSN's "Panel Hangover" is sports comedy gold

Written by Brad Gagnon on .

I'm biased, but as a Canadian who has spent a lot of time south of the border, I feel I've watched enough of both TSN and ESPN that I'm qualified to state that Canada's premier 24-hour sports network just does things better than the "Worldwide Leader."

Usually when arguments like these are made, those on TSN's side build their thesis around TSN SportsCentre and its joker hosts, Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole. But our latest example of TSN kicking ass comes from its "NHL on TSN" panel, who -- for no particular reason -- decided to create a five-minute, self-deprecating, poorly-acted but incredibly well-produced parody of "The Hangover."

To put it all together, James Duthie, Darren Dreger, Aaron Ward and Bob McKenzie even enlisted the help of some Los Angeles Kings players and some local L.A. celebrities, including Ottawa native Matthew Perry.

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Ray Hudson continues to up the ante for spectacular soccer goal calls

Written by David Rogers on .

ray

Lionel Messi added yet another brilliant goal to his loaded resume when he slipped past several Athletic Bilbao defenders this past weekend. In total, he worked his way around four defenders. He touched the ball just seven times while carving up the Bilbao defense. The end result was a predictable beautiful finish into the left side of the net. 

What could possibly upstage a spectacular Messi goal? An even better goal call from beIN's Ray Hudson. 

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