Screamin' Stephen A. Smith filled in for one of the Mikes on Mike & Mike today as part of six consecutive hours on ESPN2 this morning. Whoever thought of that idea in Bristol needs to have a severe reality check. At one point, the topic shifted to random fans buying gifts for RGIII and his fiancee off their wedding registry. Some people have not taken kindly to this, and Mike Greenberg basically told him to ignore the negativity, because it is inevitable no matter what the topic.

When you're a high profile athlete, no matter what you do, you will have people writing and saying negative things. This makes sense, and Greenberg was right to tell RGIII to just ignore it. It should be a non-story.

Then, Smith swoops in and makes a bunch of nonsensical statements, including:

Eastern Conference Finals

Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers

TNT - Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Reggie Miller & Craig Sager (Reporter)

ESPN Radio - Kevin Calabro, Hubie Brown

Game 1 Wednesday, May 22 @ Miami (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 2 Friday, May 24 @ Miami (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 3 Sunday, May 26 @ Indiana (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 4 Tuesday, May 28 @ Indiana (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 5* Thursday, May 30 @ Miami (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 6* Saturday, June 1 @ Indiana (TNT 8:30PM)
Game 7* Monday, June 3 @ Miami (TNT 8:30PM) 

Western Conference Finals

Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs ESPN/ABC - Mike Breen, Hubie Brown (G1), Jeff Van Gundy (G2 through G7) & Doris Burke (Reporter)

ESPN Radio - Dave Pasch, Chris Mullin

Game 1 Sunday, May 19 @ San Antonio (ABC 3:30PM)
Game 2 Tuesday, May 21 @ San Antonio (ESPN 9PM)
Game 3 Saturday, May 25 @ Memphis (ESPN 9PM)
Game 4 Monday, May 27 @ Memphis (ESPN 9PM)
Game 5* Wednesday, May 29 @ San Antonio (ESPN 9PM)
Game 6* Friday, May 31 @ Memphis (ESPN 9PM)
Game 7* Sunday, June 2 @ San Antonio (ESPN 9PM)

*If necessary

H/T Sammy!

On Friday in Los Angeles, Metta World Peace gave what can only be described as the most MWP weather report ever.

He hopped on KTTV-TV to talk basketball and weather.

On today's AA Podcast we welcome award winning sports reporter Tom Verducci. Tom's an award winning field reporter for TBS and MLB Network as well as a game analyst for Fox and a respected writer for Sports Illustrated. Tuesday Tom will appear as a field reporter for MLB Network's coverage of Yankees-Orioles. Tom chats with AA about his many different duties in the baseball media and the 2013 MLB season taking shape. Topics include...

-Being honored as the best sports reporter in the nation. 
-The challenge of a sportswriter stepping into the broadcast booth. 
-Why he hasn't joined Twitter and his priorities as a reporter. 
-Why it's actually fun to follow the Yankees this year. 
-Miguel Cabrera possibly winning a second Triple Crown. 
-Races in the AL and NL Central. 
-The biggest in-game issue MLB must address moving forward.

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.

The Grizzlies' 105-83 loss in San Antonio in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals must have really taken a lot out of Memphis Head Coach Lionel Hollins.  Watch as he needs a few moments to collect himself and remember the identity of one of his key bench players - Jerryd Bayless.  At least he got to it eventually and didn't call him O.J. Mayo or Steve Francis.

Maybe we should forgive Hollins, the Grizzlies' effort was a forgettable one all the way around on Sunday.

[H/T For The Win]

On the final day of the Serie A season, AC Milan needed two goals in the final seven minutes for a 2-1 comeback win at Siena to qualify for next year's Champions League.  A Mario Balotelli penalty and Philippe Mexes goal prevented a disastrous draw or worse at the already relegated Siena when only a win would secure a Champions League spot.

Let's see... AC Milan... two goals in the final seven minutes... Champions League spot on the line... we've got to have the reaction video of Tiziano Crudeli for this insanity, right...

This piece originally ran on Dave's site What You Pay For Sports. Dave will be writing original pieces on here from time to time in addition to having his work syndicated on occasion. 

A bad product is difficult enough to sell as it is. It’s even harder to sell when you tell the public you don’t really care how bad it is.

So it goes for Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. His team has by far the smallest payroll ($24.33 million) in Major League Baseball. Predictably, it has the fewest wins, too, tied with the Miami Marlins. While Crane’s strategy of building up the farm system and bringing up prospects over the long term has supporters, his telling fans they can “write a check for $10 million” if they want a better team isn’t exactly a genius PR move.

It’s also just one reason why Comcast SportsNet Houston, the Regional Sports Network partially owned by the Astros, finds itself on the losing end of a carriage war — one more thing the Astros are losing.

Ed Note: The following appears courtesy Bloguin's National Hockey League blog - Puck Drunk Love.

Want to hear one of the worst attempts at the Star-Spangled Banner you'll ever hear? Of course you do. As the Portland Winterhawks and Halifax Mooseheads (don't you love CHL team names?) waited to drop the puck for the 2013 Memorial Cup, fans and players were treated to arguably the most uncomfortable, most awkward and most hilarious attempt at the U.S. National Anthem in sports history. Canadian singer Alexis Normand successfully sang "O Canada" before trying her hand at the anthem of the United States.

With the last day of the 2013 season taking place Sunday, ESPN signed off after four successful years broadcasting live weekly English Premier League games.  Starting in the 2010 season, ESPN struck gold with the pairing of Brits Ian Darke and Steve McManaman.  Darke had gained cult status in the USA after his enthusiastic World Cup calls while former Liverpool player McManaman had also played a role in South Africa in the ESPN studio.

The best broadcast booths are always the ones that have a natural chemistry and Darke and McManaman possessed that in spades.  The fact that they were on-site throughout England and were veterans of covering and playing in the league made them a landmark pairing for American viewers.  As they signed off for the final EPL broadcast before rights move to NBC next year, ESPN paid tribute to Darke and Macca with what else... an outtake reel!

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
SWAC Championship, Fort Worth, TX
Jackson State vs. Prairie View A&M -- ESPN, 9 p.m. (delayed from 5/19)

Florida State at North Carolina -- ESPNU, 6 p.m.

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

Golf
Big Break Mexico: It Takes Two -- Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Feherty: Ken Venturi -- Golf Channel, 10 p.m.