The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the Boston Bruins 2-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving the Bruins a 2-1 series lead. As the Blackhawks were getting dominated by the Bruins, a Chicago area radio station Q101 said the team was "raped basically" on Twitter, setting off a brief firestorm for their poor choice of words.

@BrianYarvual it was in reference to a bruin man handling a blackhawk against his will, move on

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

The fact that this station thought that comment was at all appropriate and initiall responded by saying "move on" is mind-boggling. Their apology for saying the game was rape was the typical "sorry you were offended" junk that is par for the course in incidents like this.

We included a word in our tweets this evening during the game that offended some ppl. That was NOT intended.Pls accept our apology.

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

It was removed but we realize words matter & truly apologize for any offense or anger it may have caused.

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

Q101 used to be one of the most popular radio stations in the Chicago market before it was sold. The intellectual property of the station was purchased by Broadcast Barter Radio Networks, who turned the station into an internet-only format. Many Chicagoans feel that the new station is nothing but a shadow of its terrestrial self and have distanced themselves from the new station. 

But to get back to the original point, I don't think Q101 really attempted to antagonze anyone. They just have no awareness or common sense. That's obviousty not an excuse or a justification, but it does explain how something like this is able to happen so routinely.

[h/t to Matt Lindner for the tip]

The island nation of Tahiti qualified for the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning their first ever Oceania Nations Cup last year.  They became the first country either than Australia or New Zealand to win the competition in a historic upset.  Tahiti is ranked 138th in the FIFA World Rankings, tied with Syria and just ahead of Afghanistan.  They rank behind countries like Burundi, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkmenistan, and Belize.  Tahiti are 5000/1 odds to win the Confederations Cup with Japan the next closest team at 40/1.  They have one, yes, one professional soccer player.

Tahiti also has the best official Twitter account of any national soccer team in the world.  Just observe their tweets from the opening 6-1 loss to Nigeria in which Marama Vahiruau is compared to Lionel Messi and the optimistic, exuberant hashtags are aplenty...

Fox 5 Atlanta had a ridiculously clumsy, blooper infested beginning to their 12 PM noon newscast on Monday.  Anchor Buck Lanford comes on the air with no idea what he's doing.  Buck attempts to go to a weather report, but instead attempts the worst segue in local newscast history by going to a reporter on site covering a murder trial.

Smooth.  Real smooth.  Let's just hope they just stay away from the firing of the local sports shock jocks for tomorrow's newscast.

H/T Hot Clicks

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
College World Series, Omaha, NE
Losers Bracket Game: North Carolina vs. LSU -- ESPN, 3 p.m.
Winners Bracket Game: North Carolina State vs. UCLA -- ESPN, 8 p.m.

College World Series Postgame -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.

Cycling
2013 Tour de France Preview -- NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

Yesterday @NBAonTNT tweeted something bizarre. The tweet has since been taking down, but Deadspin got a screen shot of it:

One person, in response to Deadspin's tweet, suggested it might be an obscure Father's Day reference seeing that the Thunder and Grizzlies are the newest NBA teams.

However, if that were the case, why has the tweet been taken down? What's even weirder is that the account does not show any tweets since June 11th and we're in the throes of the NBA Finals. Perhaps TNT needs to have the small child taking pictures of his or her feet give up their access to the social media account.

Thanks to 106.1 The Ticket in New Orleans, we now have full audio of the embarrassing and shameful attempt at a joke that was aired on Atlanta sports radio station 790 The Zone this morning. The segment mocked Steve Gleason, who was a safety for the Saints but now suffers from ALS. 

Gleason can no longer eat, speak or walk on his own, and that was apparently enough for the guys at "Mayhem in the AM" to run with. Who in their right mind would find this funny, let alone appropriate? Those involved have been suspended, and that might only be the tip of the iceberg now that we have the despicable audio. 

UPDATE: All three hosts have been fired, per The Zone.

The transcript of the fake knock-knock jokes "Gleason" told during the interview:

Gleason: Knock, knock.

Host: Steve, we do knock-knocks on Thursdays. We don't do it on Mondays. 

Gleason: I may not be here on Thursday.

----

Gleason: Knock, knock.

Host: Who's here?

Gleason: I

Host: I who?

Gleason: I blame Gregg Williams.

----

Gleason: Knock, knock.

Host: Who's there?

Gleason: Smother.

Host: Smother who?

Gleason: Smother me. Do me a favor.

----

Gleason: Knock, knock.

Host: Who's there, Steve?

Gleason: I'm

Host: I'm who?

Gleason: I'm going to hell

Host: Yes you are.

[The Ticket]

With the Stanley Cup Final in Boston and the series tied at 1-1, we're joined before a pivotal Game 3 by NBC's voice of the NHL - Mike "Doc" Emrick.  Doc is widely regarded as the best play by play man in sports and has been honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame.  We talk to Doc about the Bruins-Blackhawks series and some of the traits that make him one of the elite announcers in the business. Topics include:

-How he keeps going for multiple overtime games.
-The Doc Emrick lexicon and his legendary vocabulary repertoire.
-The way the NHL has bounced back after this year's work stoppage and the significance of an Original Six Final.
-The connection between the Bruins and the city of Boston.
-The potential for this Final to rate as one of the best ever.
-The players that will be key for both teams the rest of the series. 

In case you've missed any of our podcasts, check out all of our interviews on iTunes or our AA Podcast RSS Page.  

Recent Podcasts:

AA Podcast 51: Mike Breen on the NBA Finals

AA Podcast 50: Jim Miller on ESPN layoffs

AA Podcast 49: NBC's Will Buxton on Monaco & F1

AA Podcast 48: Ed Olczyk on the Stanley Cup Playoffs

AA Podcast 47: Tom Verducci on MLB

AA Podcast 46: Dan Levy on sports media

The NBA Finals continue to draw solid ratings for ABC, yet they're still down from previous years. Sunday's Game 5 picked up an 11.4 overnight rating, which was down 10% from Game 5 of the Finals in both 2012 (Heat-Thunder) and 2011 (Heat-Mavericks), both of which drew a 12.6 overnight. It's also the lowest rating for a Game 5 since 2009's Lakers-Magic matchup, which drew a 9.4 overnight.

Locally, the ratings are also down from prior years. Game 5 in San Antonio drew a 37.6 rating, which is down 16% from Game 5 of 2005's Spurs-Pistons series (45.0 overnight), and down 13% from the series-high of 43.7 in Game 4. In Miami, the game drew a rather low 28.8 rating, the lowest thusfar of the series and down 29% from the Game 5 clincher last year (40.3) and down 12% from Game 5 in 2011 (32.7).

Father's Day could be blamed for the low ratings, though the final round of the US Open was only down single digits from last year and was up 20% from 2011. The stigma of "boring team" is still firmly affixed to the Spurs, and the blowouts that have taken place in four of the final five games of the series aren't too much to draw in casual fans. However, the disappointing performance by the NBA Finals this year is something that any other major sport aside from the NFL would graciously take.

[Sports Media Watch]

Monday, June 17

Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN 7PM) Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe, Aaron Boone

Tuesday, June 18

Los Angeles Dodgers @ New York Yankees (MLBN 7PM) Bob Costas, John Smoltz [Alt: Orioles @ Tigers]

Wednesday, June 19

Baltimore Orioles @ Detroit Tigers (MLBN 1PM) Local Broadcast
Los Angeles Dodgers @ New York Yankees (ESPN2 7PM) TBA

Thursday, June 20

Boston Red Sox @ Detroit Tigers (MLBN 7PM) Bob Costas, John Smoltz [Alt: Rays @ Yankees]
Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals (WGNA 8PM) Len Kasper, Jim Deshaises

Friday, June 21

Texas Rangers @ St. Louis Cardinals (MLBN 8PM) Local Broadcast [Alt: Braves @ Brewers]

Saturday, June 22

Colorado Rockies @ Washington Nationals (MLBN Noon) Local Broadcast [Alt: Rays @ Yankees - 1PM]
Houston Astros @ Chicago Cubs (WGNA 4PM) Len Kasper, Jim Deshaises
Texas Rangers @ St. Louis Cardinals (FOX 7:15PM) Joe Buck, Tim McCarver
Boston Red Sox @ Detroit Tigers (FOX 7:15PM) Kenny Albert, Tom Verducci
Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Diego Padres (FOX 7:15PM) Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros
Cincinnati Reds @ Arizona Diamondbacks (FOX 7:15PM) Justin Kutcher, Bob Brenly
Minnesota Twins @ Cleveland Indians (FOX 7:15PM) Thom Brennaman, Bert Blyleven

Sunday, June 23

Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals (WGNA 2PM) Ken Harrelson, Steve Stone
Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees (TBS 2PM) Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz
Texas Rangers @ St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN 8PM) Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser, John Kruk

H/T Sammy!

Steve Gleason is a former NFL safety with the New Orleans Saints who has been diagnosed with ALS.  His battle with the illness has inspired countless individuals as he's made his fight very public in hopes of raising awareness and research dollars for ALS.  His foundation Team Gleason is dedicated to finding a cure for ALS. This morning Gleason wrote SI's Monday Morning Quarterback column in place of Peter King, doing so with his eyes.  Gleason can't eat, walk, or speak on his own.

Also this morning, Mayhem In The AM on 790 The Zone in Atlanta did a bit mocking Gleason and his illness.  Outrage has emerged from all over the country, even from Gleason's former teammate Scott Fujita.  The hosts of the program are Steven "Steak" Shapiro, Chris Dimino, and Nick Cellini.  Cellini has already apologized on Twitter for what happened.

As of this time, there is no record of the bit as audio hasn't been released by the station or posted anywhere (if you can access audio please e-mail us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).  However, the station has released a statement on the show's website saying the show's personnel have been suspended indefinitely:

"We deeply regret the comments made by Mahem In The AM this morning on 790 The Zone regarding former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason. 790 The Zone, Lincoln Financial Media, our sponsors and partners in no way endorse or support the unfortunate and offensive commentary concerning Mr. Gleason this morning. The members of the show involved with this incident have been suspended indefinitely pending further management review of their actions."  

Just another example of sports talk radio obliterating the lines of common decency and class.  Seriously, what is it with sports talk radio that it produces these stories more often than other mediums?  More on the story as it develops.

UPDATE: Here's what we know about the bit that was played on air from a listener who e-mailed us:

Host Nick Cellini called in as Gleason and proceeded to talk back and forth then attempts several knock-knock jokes with the last asking to smother him.

Steak immediately asked the text line for 20 listeners if that was a good bit and if they need to have any more bits involving Gleason.

Nick has done bits before dealing with disabilities (one was even included in Mayhem promos).

With the station now owned by Lincoln Financial, this is going to be bad for the trio.

[790 The Zone]