This monstrosity took place on the 11 PM SportsCenter. With coverage of Peyton Manning absolutely dominating the ESPN airwaves, the producers of SportsCenter felt it was necessary to have Stuart Scott read a... love letter or sorts to Peyton Manning from the point of view of a generic team looking to sign Manning. Note the lovely piano music in the background as Scott shifts between fangirl, hero-worshipping child, and desperate GM in his note to Manning. 

Oh lord, this was painful. Can we get another poetry jam or two? At least Stu isn't doing this at live events to athletes' faces. Could you imagine if he started dropping his poetry jam skills in front of Kobe or delivered a sonnet to Peyton Manning about how great he is? Actually... that could be very entertaining TV, and would probably give us fresh material for a couple of weeks. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Earlier this week, you met high school basketball announcer Brian Snow from Chicago, who gave us this incredible call on a game-winning 3-pointer from Marist High School's Lexus "Hot Rod" Williams in its regional final game against Curie Metropolitan.  Snow received nationwide attention for his high-pitched, excitable screams of jubilation.  Believe it or not, underdog Marist pulled out yet another incredible upset as they advanced in the state tournament, defeating fourth-ranked Bogan in amazing circumstances Wednesday night during the Argo Sectional Semifinal.

In this game, Marist overcame a 10-point deficit with 1:10 left in regulation.  The clip below picks up the action with Marist down five with just over 20 seconds remaining.  That's when the insanity begins.  First, Marist forces a turnover.   Then, L.J. McIntosh makes a long three.  After another steal, Nic Weishar completes the miraculous comeback with a layup, forcing overtime.  Naturally, Marist eventually pulled out the victory in overtime, winning 68-63.

And once again, all of the action is accompanied by the passionate screams of Brian Snow, who has quickly become the most famous high school basketball announcer in America.  Listen to him shriek, "WE ARE TIED!  WE ARE TIED!  I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!"  "MARIST HAS COME ALL THE WAY BACK AGAIN!!!  DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?!" and my favorite, "IT AIN'T MIDNIGHT YET, Y'ALL!!!"

How could you not love this guy?  The second video is almost as good as the first and definitely takes a run at breaking the sound barrier once again.  So once more, be careful if you're trying to listen with headphones.  

[H/T BupsJones]

Given the popularity of sports conversations on Twitter, this was probably inevitable. As USA Today's Michael Hiestand notes and Sports Business Daily expands upon, Fox has announced plans for "a dedicated social media reporter" who will pop up on-air to comment on relevant tweets and other social media postings during live sports events. The network has designated Laura McKeeman (who fortunately has a Twitter presence) to fill that role during their coverage of the Pac-12 basketball tournament. McKeeman, who was named Miss St. Petersburg in Florida last year, has been working for Fox, but her previous role mostly focused on college recruiting in the Southeast. 

It's no secret that Twitter conversations can add to live sports coverage, but it's up for debate how well reading tweets on-air works. When the tweets add to the story, as with Brad Keselowski's in-car tweeting during the Daytona 500 stoppage or any of the numerous cases where athletes have discussed trades, injuries and the like on social media, they're absolutely worth referencing on-air; that brings value to the broadcast and helps viewers who aren't following the athletes in question learn the complete story. Similarly, it's well worth it for a broadcast to have someone keeping an eye on Twitter; if a big trade breaks in the middle of a game or injury news comes out, that can be useful information for the announcers. However, as people who look at team hashtags know, there tend to be plenty of tweets from fans during live events that don't add much, and Twitter commentary on a game often doesn't translate well when read out loud on-air. From a tweet of McKeeman's, though, it sounds like that's what they're going for:

Approaches along these lines have been tried before. The Phoenix Suns have done something similar with "social media reporter" Kayte Christensen on their radio and TV broadcasts, various broadcasters have tried displaying some tweets on-air during games in a scrolling banner at the bottom of the screen, and the "let's read viewer comments on-air" school of thought has been done in Canada with CBC's I-Desk on Hockey Night In Canada and The Score's English Premier League coverage. By and large, this hasn't worked terribly well, as most of the viewer comments aren't all that notable or insightful and they tend to just be a distraction from the broadcast. If McKeeman can pick only the interesting tweets and find a way to get them to translate on-air, maybe she can change that pattern, but it's going to be a tough task.

[Sports Business Daily/USA Today]

I didn't want to write anything about the BountyGate coverage knowing I could never give an unbiased, fair assessment of the scandal as a lifelong Saints fan.  I've always been curious what it'd be like to have my team at the center of a scandal big enough it got its own "Gate" attached to it... now I know, it sucks.  This is worse than going through the years of Billy Joe Hobert AND Billy Joe Tolliver.  The actions of Gregg Williams, Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, the players, and everyone else in BountyGate have taken a team whose story was admired and embraced by a nation - from the depths of Hurricane Katrina all the way to a Super Bowl triumph - and blotted it with an ugly scandal.  They've hurt their organization, their league, and their fans in a drastic way.

Make no mistake, the Saints organization and those involved should pay for what transpired, if for nothing else than their sheer arrogance and stupidity in lying to the league and thinking they would never get found out.  With Roger Goodell's emphasis on player safety (more on that in a bit), they had to know the risk of getting caught giving out bounties to knock players out of games would far outweight the petty cash and/or symbolic reward.  They had to know the hammer would come down hard when that day of reckoning would come, especially after attempting to cover up their activities.  The parties involved deserve every bit of likely punishment that's coming (fines, suspensions, draft picks) because of that reality.  

Are bounties wrong?  Of course.  Unethical?  Absolutely.  But as you've heard this week, bounties and pay for performance schemes aren't exclusive to New Orleans.  Of course, that in no way excuses the elaborate and cringe-inducing scheme run by Gregg Williams though.

But it's also true that in any "Gate" level scandal or controversy, the media by nature is bound to circle like hungry sharks smelling blood in the water.  When this type of story erupts, levelheadedness too often gets thrown out the window.  Rushes to judgment are made.  Sweeping comparisons are a dime a dozen.

The competition of "Who Can Be The Most Appalled And Horrified This Could Happen" among sportswriters over BountyGate has been a story worth watching in its own right.  But in the end, the hyperbole therein hides the true scandal of BountyGate.  Just take a look at these examples...

Last January we told you about the sexism controversy that led to the firing of Sky Sports soccer pundit Andy Gray (pictured at right above).  Obviously, the news wasn't the biggest here stateside, but it was a national controversy in England.  Gray was the equivalent of John Madden in the UK as the nation's foremost soccer analyst.  Along with Martin Tyler, Gray formed one of the most well-known announcing partnerships in the world, and became household names to soccer fans here in the U.S. for their work on the FIFA video game series from EA Sports.

However, when video of Gray and co-presenter Richard Keyes were shown to be making lewd comments towards a female co-worker and a female referee, the two were unceramoniously fired. And while the pair have landed on their feet at a talk radio station in the UK, a revealing story in The Guardian sheds light on the darker side of a media controversy.

In the article, Gray is asked point blank if he considered taking his own life at the depths of his despair over his firing, his response is chilling.

"Yes. I would be lying if I said I didn't. I had never felt like I have felt from January 25th [last year] onwards."

In this day and age it's easy for fans and media alike to crucify those in the public light who have done wrong.  And yes, if you go back and look at Gray's offenses, he certainly deserved to lose his job.  In the end, he has nobody to blame but himself.  But, the stunning admission shows there is another side to these controversies that involve analysts.  

If nothing else, Gray's admission is a cautionary tale in every way possible.  Gray's haunting words should be remembered when the next firestorm approaches.  There is a darker side to scandal when a person not only loses their job, but their reputation as well.

[UK Guardian]

Here's a funny clip from overseas in the English Premier League.  BBC reporter Damian Johnson is preparing to interview Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini after their 2-0 victory over Bolton last weekend that extended their lead at the top of the Premier League.  Instead we hear on the clip below, "It's Damian Johnson with Mario Balotelli for Match of the Day" as Johnson readies the interview.  Mario Balotelli is certainly not Roberto Mancini, as you can probably tell from the pictures above.  Balotelli is the young, talented, slightly insane Italian striker who has stomped opponents, publicly apologized for visiting strip clubs, and had his own fireworks controversy.  Just this morning, he got in trouble for wearing a hoodie in Manchester!  Seriously.  Perhaps you could understand the confusion, given Mancini and Balotelli are the only two Italians involved with City... if Mancini wasn't standing three feet in front of the reporter.

The look on Mancini's face, his nervous laugh, and timidly saying, "I'm Roberto" is the perfect response...

Mancini also added that he wishes he was Mario because of his youth, Balotelli is 26 years younger than Mancini... no word about the fireworks or strip clubs though.

The Honda Classic drew a 3.2 overnight rating, its highest in over a decade, and viewership was up 78% from last year. You can pin these ratings primarily on one man: Tiger Woods, who rallied from seven strokes back to finish as the runner-up behind Rory McIlroy, now ranked as the #1 golfer in the world.

Stars draw in ratings, and the PGA Tour is getting some great performances in final rounds from its stars to really help boost those numbers. In addition to Tiger's surge in the final round on Sunday, Pebble Beach drew huge ratings when Woods was paired with eventual champion Phil Mickelson in the final round. The Northern Trust Open also drew a high rating, thanks in part to Mickelson going to a three-way playoff with Bill Haas and Keegan Bradley that was won by Haas.

With just five events between now and the Masters starting on April 5th, the PGA Tour is on a roll. No star may be more important than Woods, a polarizing figure, but still a fantastic golfer. Woods has played in four tournaments this year, and in addition to the runner-up finish at the Honda Classic, he finished third at Abu Dhabi, and was top 20 in both the Accenture Match Play and Pebble Beach tournaments. After a tumultous 2011, Woods has looked at his best since the scandal that rocked his world a couple years ago. 

But it appears that the future face of the tour will be McIlroy, who is an extremely talented, young, marketable face. He's played in four tournaments this year and his lowest finish is fifth. After 11 top ten finishes last season, including a major win in the US Open, the time appears to be now for the top-ranked golfer in the world.

Tiger was the reason why the Honda Classic drew huge ratings on Sunday, but McIlroy's performance may be why viewers stick around after Tiger is gone.

[h/t: Yahoo]

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Update: Jason La Canfora has replied to this story and his comments are at the bottom of this post.

A while back, I wrote an extensive look at ESPN's shady practice of piggybacking on other news organizations' scoops and repackaging them as their own. Today the shoe was on the other foot as Chris Mortensen broke the news of Peyton Manning's release in Indianapolis, scooping the likes of Jay Glazer, Rob Lowe, the Yahoo Sports gang, and Jason La Canfora.

Mortensen teased the news a bit before his television appereance and then took to Twitter once the cat was out of the bag.

Manning news #NFL32 now on ESPN2. @Sportscenter will cut in

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 6, 2012

Colts and Manning will part ways, per team sources #NFL32

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 6, 2012

The first tweet was at 3pm PT, the other at 3:05 PT. 

Twitter blew up as it spread like wildfire, Mortensen and others made the rounds on ESPN, and other media organizations were in Defcon 5 catchup mode.

Jay Glazer, usually ESPN's nemesis on NFL scoops, tipped his cap at the scoop shortly thereafter.

RT @GStevenAnthony: @JayGlazer will the colts cut Peyton on Wednesday what have you heard>yes, according to @mortreport. Good scoop

— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) March 6, 2012

Unfortunately though, NFL Network did not abide by the same standards. Although clearly a scoop by Mortensen, NFL Network is continuing to scroll this on their breaking news bar.  

"NFL Network Insider Jason La Canfora Reports Colts Have Preliminary Plans To Cut Peyton Manning Wednesday" 

Did La Canfora get this story before Mortensen or perhaps within minutes of him making it hard to realize who had the news first? Nope. La Canfora's tweet occurred at 3:17, 12 minutes after Mortensen's tweet and after his television appearance.

Colts have preliminary plans for a Payton Manning departure press conference on Wed. Awaiting final word from owner Jim Irsay

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 6, 2012

NFL.com's writeup also ducked attribution as well despite having been updated multiple times in the hours after the news broke.

"The ending that most anticipated between the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning will arrive on Wednesday, league sources told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora, when the team is expected to release the four-time NFL MVP.

The team has made preliminary plans for the news conference Wednesday to officially announce the move, reported La Canfora."

Although this is not the worst offense in the world as the news was disseminated far and wide, a scoop of this size, and clearly owned by one person, certainly should be recognized and not ripped off. La Canfora's tweet didn't give ESPN and Chris Mortensen that courtesy and NFL Network subsequently played dumb trying to pretend that the biggest player release in recent history was something that organically came to light.

Meanwhile, as NFL Network was playing catchup, I found myself very impressed with how ESPN mobilized to cover the news.

They aired a 3 minute canned feature on Manning's career done by Jeremy Schaap. The typical well produced narrative contained back-story with clips and soundbites. While the quality of this piece was solid yet pretty standard, the fact that ESPN had it teed up and ready to go was impressive given they rolled it out within 15 minutes of the news breaking. 

The Manning feature was followed up by a call with former Colts GM Bill Polian, who obviously is an ideal person to pow wow with on this subject. 

An hour after the news broke, NFL Network had made some progress adding on to the story but still it was essentially Andrew Siciliano and La Canfora going back and forth with no produced pieces or guests. 

While the NFL Network certainly has made inroads getting great talent, growing their viewership, and increasing their capabilities as a news organization, today they were totally outclassed by The Worldwide Leader and weren't very graceful in defeat.

Kudos to ESPN and Mortensen on this one, as well as Jay Glazer who has been snubbed multiple times by ESPN, yet showed some class giving a competitor some love. With all the work that goes into digging up these scoops, it's sad that people often try to duck who actually broke historical news like this.

Update: Jason La Canfora reputed our claim that credit wasn't given. I admittingly changed the channel after about 45 minutes of coverage (Seinfield reruns ftw). In the time frame I watched, I didn't hear ESPN or Mortensen credited although La Canfora chimes in (see below) that indeed they at some point they gave proper attribution of the scoop.  Perhaps one of our readers can chime in as to what time that occurred.

Let's rewind the tape here as NFL.com has video of when the news broke on NFL Network found here. Just in case they pull the video here is how the story is introduced.

"Peyton Manning is soon to exit Indianapolis. Our Jason La Canfora reports today that the day that has been expected will come Wednesday as the Colts are making preliminary plans for a press conference. Jason says that according to a league source "to announce a parting of ways with their quarterback of 14 years."

Given this video and the NFL.com's article crediting La Canfora, I am not really buying that we wrongly accused NFL Network of ducking attribution on this scoop, at least initially.

ESPN has released a list of the ten MLB Spring Training games the network will broadcast in March, and the choices can be described simply as very east coast centered...

Of the ten games, the Yankees, Phillies, Tigers, and Red Sox are all featured three times. That's 12 out of the 20 overall teams shown between the ten games. The Braves and Rays are each featured twice. 80% of ESPN's team slots are tied up between those six teams. While they're all contenders, it's absolutely crazy to go all-in like this.

The only game featuring none of those six teams is the lone broadcast from the Cactus League, which features the Los Angeles Angels against the San Francisco Giants. From all accounts, Cactus League baseball is a much better viewing experience than Grapefruit League ball, so why is the Cactus League not featured at all? More importantly, why are the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals not featured at all? It's insanity. 15 of the 20 teams featured in games play in the Eastern divisions of MLB. The Tigers used to play in the East before the Rays came along. While it's just Spring Training baseball, this is still a pretty big example of "east coast bias" from ESPN, and that's certainly saying something.

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Tuesday March 6

Minnesota Wild @ Colorado Avalanche (NBCSN 9PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom

Wednesday March 7

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NBCSN 7:30PM) Mike Emrick, Pierre McGuire 

Thursday March 8

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Washington Capitals (NHL Net 7PM) Local Broadcast

Friday March 9

New York Rangers @ Chicago Blackhawks (NHL Net 8:30PM) Local Broadcast

Saturday March 10

Washington Capitals @ Boston Bruins (NHL Net 1PM) Local Broadcast

Philadelphia Flyers @Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL Net 7PM) Bob Cole, Gary Galley

Sunday March 11

Boston Bruins @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NBC 12:30PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire

Los Angeles Kings @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN 7:30PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom

H/T Sammy, Steve Lepore!

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