The one element of the NBA's hipster craze that bothers me is these NBA players spending all sorts of stupid money on fake glasses that cost more than my real glasses... and possibly my entire wardrobe.  Seriously, when did it become in vogue for NBA players to show up to postgame press conferences with thick-rimmed fake glasses and stolen casual shirts from Don Cherry?  Whoever started the NBA's hipster craze, it reached its pinnacle last night when ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy donned these big red glasses ala Oklahoma City PG Russell Westbrook.  Now that the NBA's hipster craze has reached the mainstream and become something of an established trend, it can no longer truly be hipster.  Right?  At least that's how I understand these things working.  Plus, anyone who wants to hop aboard the hipster phenomenon now has to have this image of Jeff Van Gundy seared into their mind forever.  Van Gundy is a great analyst, not so much a great hipster.

(Pic via SBNation)

For soccer fans the biggest event of the summer isn't the Olympics (a glorified youth tournament), it's the European Championships.  Unfortunately, a battle against ugly racism is already surfacing in Poland, with speculation of teams potentially abandoning play if racist chants occur during matches.  On the field, the Euros often play host to the most appealing, competitive international tournament.

Thankfully, ESPN is continuing in their new tradition of excellent soccer coverage by showing every match across ESPN and ESPN2 along with ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes.  In addition to announcer pairings, the ESPN studio will include hosts Max Bretos and Bob Ley with analysts such as German legend Michael Ballack, MLS MVP Taylor Twellman, Tommy Smyth (who I actually enjoy), and Alexi Lalas. Sadly, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez doesn't look like he'll be reprising his role from the 2010 World Cup, at least according to the most recent ESPN press release.

With the group stage set to begin today, here are the announcer pairings and match schedule.  We'll be back after the group stage with the announcing assignments for the knockout round.

Friday, June 8th

Poland vs. Greece  (12pm ESPN)  Ian Darke/Steve McManaman

Russia vs. Czech Republic  (2:45pm)  Derek Rae/Kasey Keller

Saturday, June 9th

Netherlands vs. Denmark  (12pm ESPN)  Adrian Healey/Robbie Mustoe

Germany vs. Portugal  (2:45pm ESPN)  Rae/Keller

Sunday, June 10th

Spain vs. Italy  (12pm ESPN)  Darke/McManaman

Ireland vs. Croatia  (2:45pm)  Healey/Mustoe

Monday, June 11th

France vs. England  (12pm ESPN)  Darke/McManaman

Ukraine vs. Sweden  (2:45pm ESPN)  Rae/Keller

Tuesday, June 12th

Greece vs. Czech Republic  (12pm ESPN)  Healey/Mustoe

Poland vs. Russia  (2:45pm ESPN)  Rae/Keller

Wednesday, June 13th

Denmark vs. Portugal  (12pm ESPN)  Healey/Mustoe

Netherlands vs. Germany  (2:45pm ESPN)  Darke/McManaman

Thursday, June 14th

Italy vs. Croatia  (12pm ESPN2)  Rae/Taylor Twellman

Spain vs. Ireland  (2:45pm ESPN2)  Darke/McManaman

Friday, June 15th

Ukraine vs. France  (12pm ESPN2)  Rae/Twellman

Sweden vs. England  (2:45pm ESPN2)  Healey/Mustoe

Saturday, June 16th

Czech Republic vs. Poland  (2:45pm ESPN)  Rae/Twellman

Greece vs. Russia  (2:45pm ESPN2)  Healey/Mustoe

Sunday, June 17th

Portugal vs. Netherlands  (2:45pm ESPN)  TBD

Denmark vs. Germany  (2:45pm ESPN2)  TBD

Monday, June 18th

Croatia vs. Spain  (2:45pm ESPN)  Rae/Twellman

Italy vs. Ireland  (2:45pm ESPN2)  Healey/Mustoe

Tuesday, June 19th

England vs. Ukraine  (2:45pm ESPN)  Darke/McManaman

Sweden vs. France  (2:45pm ESPN2)  Rae/Twellman

[via ESPN]

So this is why the Los Angeles Kings have only made one Stanley Cup Final appearance in their history before this year, it turns the local media absolutely bonkers.  We've seen screengrab snafus, public address screwups with Wayne Gretzky, and even infographics made by the team to deal with their crazy local media.  Thankfully, the Los Angeles media continues to one up itself, although it's going to take quite the feat to top this creepy/awkward/weird/sensual video now that the series is continuing to a Game 5.  Watch as KTLA reporter Allie Mackay spanks the Devils mascot during a staged on-ice mascot fracas.  That leads the on-set anchor team to add these play by play gems:

"Allie pulled out her bedroom move."

"You like that, she was like, do it."

"Something tells me they probably would enjoy it (going to the penalty box)... it might be part of their little game."

Whatever happens next, let's just pray Lee Corso doesn't get any crazy ideas for College Gameday this fall...

(H/T Off The Bench)

More proverbial shoes are dropping for Curt Schilling and 38 Studios.  After laying off their entire work force last month, Schilling's video game outfit filed for bankruptcy today.  However, in what could be more ominous signs for both Schilling and the company, 38 Studios will also face a federal investigation regarding its finances.  From the Boston Herald...

It’s game over for Curt Schilling’s video game company, 38 Studios, which filed for a bankruptcy liquidation today and faces an investigation by federal authorities.

The retired Red Sox pitcher’s Providence-based company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, listing nearly $151 million in liabilities — including more than $1 million in unpaid wages — and $21.7 million in assets.

The bankruptcy filing follows last month’s financial meltdown and mass layoff of 400 workers as 38 Studios struggled to make payments related to a taxpayer-backed $75 million loan agreement with Rhode Island.

While it awaits to be seen the outcome of the federal investigation, we asked ESPN about Curt Schilling's status with the network.  A couple weeks ago, Andrew noticed that a simple search for Schilling's name on ESPN.com pulled up no references to the former Red Sox pitcher in his ESPN MLB analyst role since May 14th.  In addition, there's no Schilling biography on the ESPNMediaZone website.  However, Schilling appeared on ESPN airwaves June 3rd and will appear again on Baseball Tonight this evening.  In a statement today, ESPN told AA, "There's no change in his status."

So, while Schilling faces the fallout of 38 Studios, he will continue to appear as an MLB analyst on Baseball Tonight and ESPN airwaves as this story continues to evolve.

[Boston Herald]

In this preview from E3 for EA Sports' Madden NFL '13, many features of the game are revealed. One such feature is a Twitter feed featuring NFL reporters and personalities talking about your player and the rest of the league in the game's career mode. Among the featured personalities are Adam Schefter, Rich Eisen, Ross Tucker, Mark Schlereth, Chris Mortensen, and... Skip Bayless. Of course.

Yep, that seems like a typical real life Skip Bayless tweet - crapping on a player and then using his own brand of rhetoric to justify it. Part of me wants to start a career as Tim Tebow and play terribly in order to get Bayless' virtual account to... gasp ...talk negatively about his favorite player. Imagine that tweet, but with "T. Tebow" replacing "R. Wayne." Or maybe there's some sort of filter that shifts the blame from Tebow to his teammates if he's struggling.

Keep an eye on this when the game comes out in August, it could lead to some hilarious exchanges that you would never see in real life.

Once Rick Reilly's multi-million dollar contract with ESPN expires next year, it may go down as one of the worst contracts in the history of sports media.  Maybe not on the Jerome James or Eddy Curry level of bad contracts, more like Barry Zito or Carl Crawford.  Reilly was once one of the most talented and acclaimed sportswriters in the industry (it's not like ESPN handed over a wad of cash to an unkown entity back in 2007 when they lured him away from Sports Illustrated),  but that history of past success just never made the transition to a new place.  At ESPN, Reilly has been relegated to floating around online and television platforms, never really making the impact he did on SI's back page.

The hallmarks of Reilly's ESPN tenure?  Columns that are widely panned, television essays that paint him as the annoying uncle that won't go away, a temporary stay at ESPN The Magazine's back page, a few largely forgettable television specials, and the occasional slip-up or bizarre statement that gets the internet in a collective tizzy.  The following Rick Reilly moment at ESPN falls into that last category.

In a recent column scolding us for not loving LeBron James, Reilly included a paragraph conceding a few of James' imperfections to his critics.  This wasn't anything truly noteworthy, but small things like throwing cups, fashion choices, or punching walking sticks.

Wait, what?

Punching a walking stick?  LeBron James did that?  It's not like LeBron James punching someone's walking stick is widely talked about in LeBron James mythology like his mysterious sixth toe or anything involving Delonte West.

Where would multi-million dollar sportswriter Rick Reilly get such a thing?  It appears that he lifted what he perceived to be an actual story from a satirical column on the popular basketball site The Basketball Jones.  Trey Kirby of TBJ explains what looks to have happened in a column earlier this week...

"One of those jokes came from our own J.E. Skeets, who penned a delightfully Onion-y piece titled “LeBron James punches Juwan Howard’s walking cane, leaves arena with arm in sling.” Laughs were had, links were tweeted and then we all moved on to the next laugh, which was probably a Chris Bosh face.

Until today, when that very same Skeets joke ended up in a Rick Reilly piece for ESPN where the scribe is defending LeBron James. Check it out.

OK, he’s not perfect. Threw a Gatorade cup. Punched a walking stick. Carries that stupid little man purse. But if you were to fill a plane with the most spoiled superstars in the country, he’d be boarding in the D group.

Unless Rick Reilly knows something that we don’t know, it looks like Rick Reilly is a little confused. Also confused? Me, while trying to figure out why someone would think that LeBron James would actually punch a walking stick."

Of course, it could be that Rick Reilly is really in on the joke this time, but that would also mean Rick Reilly is on top of a fresh brand of satire and humor.  That doesn't seem to be quite as believable as Rick Reilly believing LeBron James punched Juwan Howard's cane.  

[The Basketball Jones]

The NHL's ratings for the Stanley Cup Final are continuing to suffer after an NHL playoff season that started out so well for the league. Game One was down by 25%. Game Two on Saturday was on NBC, and drew just a 1.7 rating and 2.9 million viewers, down 23% from last year. Game Three on Monday was down 37% from last year, and an insane 52% from 2010, and was the lowest rated Cup Final game since Game Three of 2007's Senators-Ducks, which aired on NBC. And now, we have last night's Game Four, which drew a 1.7 overnight rating, down 13% from Game Four of Bruins-Canucks last year. 

This isn't good news for the NHL, but you don't need to be a genius to realize that. Just by looking at the massive percentage decreases from last year's fantastic Bruins-Canucks matchup, you can tell that this series isn't captivating the country like that series did. What's to blame for this? There are a few possible factors...

(Ed Note: This article first appeared on Bloguin's MLB site The Outside Corner.  Visit TOC for daily news, analysis, and the stories on the outside corner of the sport.)

Perhaps hoping to benefit from what little post-Moneyball afterglow remains, the Oakland Athletics announced that they will have former player, and key figure in the Moneyball book and movie, Scott Hatteberg replace long-time color commentator Ray Fosse on TV broadcasts for a 20-game stretch starting June 15th according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser.

You're not going to believe this, but the player who famously was asked to start at first base for Oakland with no experience at the position also has no experience broadcasting.  In fact, based on Hatteberg's description of how this came about, it is eerily similar to the scene in the movie when Billy Beane comes to his house to offer him the first base job:

Hatteberg, reached by phone, said, "I'm excited to do it. I've never done it before, though, so I'm not sure how well I'll do."

"It wasn't my idea," he said. "I haven't pursued it. But they asked if I'd have interest, and I'd like to try it. We'll see."

No word on whether or not Ron Washington was there to tell him that "it is incredibly hard."

What makes this whole situation uncomfortable though is the fashion in which Hatteberg is making his debut.  Ray Fosse has no personal or health reasons for taking 20 games off, which basically means that he is being asked to take a break so that someone else can try and steal his job from him.  That's not exactly the kind of way you'd expect a man with 27 years on the job to be treated, especially since Fosse is widely considered to be one of the better color guys in the game.

Garrett Wilson is an editor at The Outside Corner. Follow Garrett and TOC on Twitter.

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E3 is currently going on in Los Angeles, CA and during this conference, gaming giant Microsoft just went all-in on sports apps by adding MNF, NHL, NBA and UCF as well as expanded ESPN coverage through WatchESPN.

During the press conference, Microsoft touted the importance of adding additional sports content to their database that currently includes MLB network and ESPN3 content. 

The ESPN segment is particularly of interest because currently, you only get content from ESPN3 but with the expanded partnership you will now get “ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line” as well as shows like “SportsCenter, SportsNation, First Take, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, College GameDay and others as well as live events from the NFL, MLB, NBA, soccer, tennis, golf, motor sports and more” through the WatchESPN App.  

While you will need a league pass for both NHL and NBA, MNF will be available at no additional cost because of the expanded ESPN coverage provided you have an XBox Live Gold membership and one of the cable providers listed here.

Does this signal a change in the way we will view sports in the future? Perhaps it seems to be taking that mainstream baby step.

Steaming sports content doesn’t take up much internet bandwidth, cable prices continue to rise, and we as a population are becoming more mobile by the day. It’s only natural that our sports consumption follow. Many have made that decision already by choosing to watch their sports content primarily on their Xbox. 

“If it wasn’t for the NFL, I wouldn’t even have cable. These new partnerships just get me one step closer to ditching cable completely” said Jason Tremain on Twitter. 

Fellow AA writer Joe Lucia said “The ESPN app is actually faster than watching online....very valuable during college FB/BB season”.

With the way we currently view sports on demand via our phones and tablets, being able to watch the same content that used to only be available at home will become extremely value to the tech-savvy sports fan. 

Microsoft took a big leap this year at E3 with a strong focus on apps and after this XBL announcement, it’s clear they want to establish themselves as your sports home.

Ever wonder what Adam Schefter is doing when he's not compulsively using his Blackberry?  From SportsCenter this week, one of the things we learned is that Schefty has a bit of game on the gridiron himself.  Just check out this video of a charity football game where Schefter intercepts Tom Brady.  That's right, Adam Schefter picks off Patriots QB Tom Brady!  This isn't one where Brady throws it right to him like Brett Favre handing a sack to Michael Strahan, either.  Just look at those hops that would make Phil Mickelson jealous and the way he reads Brady's eyes like Larry Wilson.  

And you thought Jay Glazer was the only NFL newsbreaker with any athletic ability!