Andrew Perloff is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated, but you may also know him as "McLovin" on the Dan Patrick Show.  Of the four Danettes on the show, McLovin by far gets the most razzing for his "Against the Grain" antics.  On today's show for instance, Perloff was dressed in a full basketball uniform as he'll be a part of the prestigious International Elite team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters in Bridgeport, CT tonight.  The International Elite is basically a new, fancy name for the Washington Generals... or Washington Wizards, I can't remember which.

As Perloff sits in The Box (think Big Brother's Diary Room... God, did I just make a Big Brother reference?  Have I no shame?), he tries to spin a red, white, and blue ball on his finger.  The result is actually more impressive than spinning a ball as it bounces off the wall and breaks his $400 glasses.  As a glasses wearing individual, I can tell you the dangers of mixing sports and spectacles is indeed no laughing matter.  On the bright side though, this may be the most impressive basketball related play McLovin makes today.

(Gif via bubbaprog)

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Troy Aikman, who with Joe Buck forms FOX's #1 broadcast team, thinks the NFL's reign of sports dominance might soon be coming to an end.  At a panel discussion in Los Angeles this is what he had to say about what he believes is the NFL's future.

“I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the No. 1 sport. You talk about the ebbs and flows of what’s popular and what’s not. At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there.”

Much of Aikman's concern deals with the very troubling frequency of concussions and other serious injuries that are direct results of playing football. While there is no doubt that these are very troubling facts, I really have my doubts that audiences will stop tuning in to watch the NFL because of that. I think everyone knows that they are watching a collision sport and there can be serious ramifications.

Aikman had this to say regarding the NFL schedule stretching out to now more frequently include Thursdays and Saturdays.

“At one time, watching football was an event. Monday Night Football was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday.

This puzzles me how Aikman somehow sees more NFL coverage as a negative. The NFL is a huge event every time it's on. It will still dominate Sundays and Mondays and I think it's very likely there will be great ratings for the games not on those days as well. There's plenty of games to go around and Sundays are still going be the day where a large segment of the population will still lounge around and watch football for the entirety of the day.

The last three Super Bowls were the most watched events in the history of American television. I think that's a strong indicator that the NFL's popularity is showing zero sign of waning at the moment. Also, the insane popularity of fantasy football has all of a sudden made that Thursday night game between the Seahawks and Bills must watch TV for a much wider audience.

 

Friday February 24

Loyola-MD @ Rider (ESPN2 7PM)  Doug Sherman, Dereck Whittenburg

Butler @ Valparaiso (ESPNU 7PM)  Jim Barbar, David Kaplan

Columbia at Yale (YES 7 PM) Chris Shearn, Tim Capstraw

North Florida @ Jacksonville (CSS 7PM) Matt Stewart, Sonny Smith

Pennsylvania @ Harvard (ESPN3 7PM) Dave Weekley, John Celestand

Marquette @ West Virginia (ESPN 7PM) Bob Wischusen, Bill Raftery

Fairfield @ Iona, (ESPNU 9PM) Justin Kutcher, Tim O'Toole

Idaho @ Utah State (KMYU 9PM) Mychal Clayton, Brooks Hansen

Saturday February 25

Robert Morris @ Quinnipiac (ESPNU 11AM) Justin Kutcher, Ron Thompson

Vanderbilt @ 1 Kentucky (CBS Noon) Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel

Notre Dame @ St. John's (ESPN2 Noon) Dave Pasch, Doris Burke

Northeastern @ Delaware (Comcast Noon)

Virginia Tech @ 4 Duke (ESPN3/ACC Net Noon)

St. Francis (PA) @ Sacred Heart (NEC Net/MSG Noon)

Boston College @ Wake Forest (ACC Net/ESPN3 1PM)

LaSalle @ Fordham (YES 1PM)

Iowa State @ Kansas State (Big12 Net/ESPN3 1:30PM) Mitch Holthus, Jon Sundvold

Oklahoma @ 14 Baylor (Big12 Net/ESPN3 1:30PM)

Louisiana State @ Mississippi (SEC Net/ESPN3 1:30PM)

Drake @ 19 Wichita State (MVCNet/ESPN3 1:30PM) Tom Ackerman, Mac McCausland

Villanova @ 8 Georgetown (CBS 2PM) Spero Dedes, Bob Wenzel

UCLA @ Arizona (CBS 2PM) Brian Anderson, Dan Bonner

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State (ESPN2 2PM) TBA, Fran Fraschilla

Boise State @ Wyoming (mtn 2PM)

Detroit @ Youngstown State (Horizon League Network 2PM)

St. Louis @ Rhode Island (A10 Net 2PM) Tom McCarthy, Steve Wolf, Jason Knapp

Green Bay @ UIC (TWC-Milwaukee 2PM) Daron Sutton, Adrian Tigert

Winthrop @ UNC-Asheville (WMYA 2PM)

Providence @ DePaul (ESPN3 2PM) Lou Canellis, Mike Kelley

North Carolina State @ Clemson (ACC Net/ESPN3 2:30)

Holy Cross @ Colgate (TWC-Syracuse 2PM) Steve Flamisch, Danny Liedka

Maryland @ Georgia Tech (ACC Net/ESPN3 2:30)

Charleston @ Citadel (SoCon Network 3PM) Darren Goldwater, Dean Keener

Missouri @ Kansas (CBS 4PM) Verne Lundquist, Clark Kellogg

North Carolina @ Virginia (ESPN 4PM) Mike Patrick, Len Elmore

Creighton @ Indiana State (ESPN2 4PM) Roxy Bernstein, Stephen Bardo

Memphis @ Marshall (FSN 4PM)

Air Force @ 20 UNLV (NBCSN 4PM)

Lafayette @ American (CBSSN 4PM)

Drexel @ Old Dominion (Comcast 4PM)

Arkansas @ Auburn (SEC Net/ESPN3 4PM)

Florida @ Georgia (SEC Net/ESPN3 4PM)

Texas @ Texas Tech (Big12 Net/ESPN3 4PM)

Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN+ 4PM)

Milwaukee @ Loyola-IL (WYIN 4PM) Jordan Bernfield, Jeff Dickerson

UNC-Wilmington @ Hofstra (FIOS-Long Island 4PM)

Florida Gulf Coast @ East Tennessee State (ESPN3 4PM)

Ball State @ Eastern Michigan (BSSL 4PM) Jerry Peirson, Vince Welch

Rutgers @ Seton Hall (ESPNU 5PM) Adam Amin, Tim Welsh

Mississippi State @ Alabama (ESPN 6PM) Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes

George Mason @ VCU (6PM ESPN2)

Portland @ Brigham Young (BYU TV 6PM) Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland

Massachusetts @ Dayton, (CBSSN 6PM) TBA, Steve Lappas

Purdue @ 13 Michigan (BTN 6PM)

Kent State @ Bowling Green (STO 6PM) Ty Linder, Steve Mix

Middle Tennessee @ Western Kentucky (Sun Belt Net 6PM) Joe Davis, Dave Odom

Temple @ St. Joseph's (ESPNU 7PM) Mike Crispino, Bob Valvano

New Mexico @ Texas Christian (mtn 7PM)

Gonzaga @ San Diego (KHQ/4SD 7PM) Steve Quis, Jim Brogan

Campbell @ Liberty (Big South Net 7PM) Matt Hogue, Nate Ross

Pennsylvania @ Harvard (ESPN3 7PM) Dave Weekley, John Celestand

Richmond @ Xavier (ESPN2 8PM) Bob Picozzi, LaPhonso Ellis 

Nebraska @ Michigan State (BTN 8PM)

USC @ Arizona State (FSN  8PM)

Tennessee @ South Carolina (SEC Net/ESPN3 8PM)

Washington @ Washington State (ROOT NW 8PM)

Rice @ Southern Mississippi (CSS 8PM) Craig Ackerman, Matt Bullard

Tulsa @ Tulane (CST 8PM)

IPFW @ UMKC (KSMO 8PM)

Stanford @ Utah (CSN-Bay Area 8:30PM)

Oakland @ South Dakota (Midco Net 8:30PM)

Murray State @ Tennessee Tech (Racer Net/ESPN3 8:30PM) Jeff Waters, Dave Winder

Syracuse @ Connecticut (ESPN 9PM) Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Erin Andrews

Northwestern @ Penn State (ESPNU 9PM) Jim Barbar, David Kaplan

San Jose State @ New Mexico State (Aggie Vision/ESPN3 9PM) Glen Cerny, Jeff Matthews

Colorado State @ San Diego State (mtn 10PM)

Nevada @ Fresno State (WAC Net 10PM)

Cal State-Northridge @ UC-Irvine (PrimeTicket 10:30PM)

Cal Poly @ UC-Santa Barbara (ESPNU 11PM) Mark Neely, Mark Adams

Santa Clara @ Loyola Marymount (CSN Bay Area/FS West 11PM)

St. Mary's @ San Francisco (CSN-Cal 11PM) 

Sunday February 26

Maine @ Stony Brook (CBSSN Noon)

Cincinnati @ South Florida (Big East Net Noon)

Indiana @ Minnesota (ESPN 1PM) Dave O'Brien, Dan Dakich

Pittsburgh @ Louisville (CBS 2PM) Ian Eagle, TBD

Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan (STO 2PM)

Canisius @ Siena  (TWC-NY 2PM)

Fairfield @ Rider (ESPN3 3:30)

Wisconsin @ Ohio State (CBS 4PM) Tim Brando, Mike Gminski

California @ Colorado (FSN 5:30PM)

Florida State @ Miami (ESPNU 6PM) Jon Sciambi, Hubert Davis, Allison Williams

Iowa @ Illinois (BTN 6PM)

Oregon @ Oregon State (FSN 7:30PM) Kevin Calabro, Marques Johnson

Akron @ Ohio (ESPNU 8PM) Dan Gutowsky, Mark Adams

H/T Sammy & Daniel!

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Former ESPN announcer Craig James is in the news again, and unsurprisingly for those who have followed his previous controversial escapades, he's riling people up. However, this one has nothing to do with his son, Mike Leach, gifts taken at SMU or Google bombs, but rather his nascent political campaign for a Senate seat (which remains very, very nascent). Perhaps in an effort to overcome his poor polling numbers, James made some very controversial statements about homosexuality in a debate Wednesday, blasting former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert (an opponent for the Senate seat) for marching in a gay pride parade and saying that homosexuality is a choice, and one that will be punished by God. The most interesting element of these comments by James might be what they mean for his chances of ever returning as a sports commentator (spoiler alert: they probably won't help). Here are the highlights of what he said:

JAMES: I think right now in this country, our moral fiber is sliding down a slope that is going to be hard to stop if we don’t stand up with leaders who don’t go ride in gay parades. I can assure you I will never ride in a gay parade. And I hear what you’re saying, Tom, but leaders – our kids out there people need to see examples."

MODERATOR: Do you think people choose to be gay?

JAMES: I think it’s a choice, I do.

MODERATOR: It’s not in the genes?

JAMES: I think that you have to make that choice. But in that case right there, they are going to have to answer to the Lord for their actions. We should not give benefits to those civil unions."

Regardless of your personal opinion on James or his stances here, we can probably agree that this doesn't bode well for his chances of working at ESPN or another major network again if he loses his Senate bid. (As Scott Stinson of The National Post pointed out, it's also interesting that James is saying more controversial things now that he's entered politics, the reverse of the typical pattern.)

James was already hated by many college football fans for his role in taking down Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, as well as his frequently-bland brand of analysis, but fans' dislike of a particular announcer isn't necessarily high on Bristol's priority list. (If it was, James likely would have been ditched long before he left to run for Senate.) Protests by aggreived groups appear to be much more of a consideration, though, as evidenced by recent events like the firing of editor Anthony Federico over a headline many viewed as racist and offensive. If James returns to ESPN, it likely won't just be college football fans who protest, and that may be enough to convince them or any other network to go with a less-controversial (and likely better) analyst instead.

[ThinkProgress, via Richard Deitsch]

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In this week's podcast we're joined by Kenny "The Jet" Smith from TNT's Inside the NBA. Along with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and now Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny has been part of one of the most successful studio shows in sports. The NBA on TNT crew will also work the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row as well. Kenny chats with AA about covering both events as well as...

-What it's been like working with Shaq
-How Shaq has fit in with the chemistry on set
-The biggest surprise of the NBA season outside Jeremy Lin
-Whether or not the dunk contest needs stars to succeed
-The All Star experience from the broadcaster's perspective
-The transition from covering the NBA to covering the NCAA Tournament

 

In case you've missed any of our podcasts, check out all of our interviews on iTunes.

The position of hokcey analysts in recent years between the benches has been one of the more novel innovations in recent broadcasting history.  Granted, when Pierre McGuire is between the glass, the potential insight gained from such a unique perspective is minimal.  However, what often isn't considered is the danger of analysts being so close to the action.  Well, TSN analyst Mike Johnson came close to finding out just how dangerous his position between the glass is.  As Claude Giroux of the Flyers gets tangled up between the benches, his stick literally goes into Johnson's booth.  Luckily for Johnson, his nice sparkly watch is the only victim.  Johnson was a veteran of over 650 NHL games for the Maple Leafs and others, so at least he's used to putting his body at risk.  On the TV side of things though, it's probably better to lose a Rolex than a few teeth.  

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Wednesday, CBS and Turner announced all the details for their coverage of this year's NCAA Tournament.  Yes, even without Gus Johnson the NCAA Tournament will go on.  With Gus Johnson gone, it perhaps opens up a platform for a new announcer to either improve their stock or make a name for themself in this year's March Madness.  Aside from perhaps only the NFL, nothing intrigues me from a pure announcing perspective more than the NCAA Tournament.  It is perhaps the most anticipated single sporting event on the calendar from the on-court action to the office pools to dissecting the coverage.  For the second year in a row, games will be broadcasted nationally on four networks - CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV.

Turner's top NBA talent make their return to the college game for the second year running as well.  There is that small charge for March Madness On Demand this year, but hopefully you'll be able to avoid the value meal cost if you can't get around paying for it.  The announcers and studio personnel are much the same from last year with just a couple changes to note.  Here's all you need to know about this year's NCAA Tournament coverage.  Let's start with the announcers for the Final Four...

Final Four

Play by Play: Jim Nantz
Analysts: Steve Kerr, Clark Kellogg
Sideline Reporter: Tracy Wolfson 

Analysis: Jim Nantz has been announcing the Final Four, believe it or not, since 1991.  This will be his 22nd Final Four.  22nd!!  That has to be one of the most impressive streaks in the history of broadcasting.  By the end of his career, he could easily reach 30 and maybe even 35 as he's only 52.  For as much stick as Nantz is given for some of his more poetic efforts, he is a vastly underrated basketball announcer.  Nantz is not my favorite announcer, but he gets the job done.  Nantz is as smooth as they come (sometimes to his own detriment), but I thought his excitement level was up a notch or two in last year's tournament - see Ohio State v Kentucky.  Ultimately, because he is the unquestioned numero uno at CBS for any and everything, we're always looking for someone to knock him off his perch and underrating him for doing a solid job.

This will be Clark Kellogg's fourth Final Four since taking over from Billy Packer in 2009 and Steve Kerr's second Final Four as this three man booth returns in 2012.  If Clark just sticks to analyzing and not trying to compare every single event happening on the court to random and bizarre items (orange, allen wrench, Dairy Queen, etc.) then he's quite good.  Kerr is one of the best game analysts anywhere and he definitely made this top team better.  I thought Kerr and Kellogg's chemistry was surprisingly good as they seemed to be in conversation with their analysis.  This threesome will also open the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, March 13th with the first two games of the First Four in Dayton.  

Regional Announcing Pairings (fist & second Weekend)

1) Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg
2) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr
3) Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery
4) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Len Elmore

Analysis: The only change here is Kevin Harlan getting the call up to the second weekend of the tournament to replace Gus Johnson.  That move is a no brainer.  Harlan is well known, popular, and one of the best basketball play by play men in the business.  He joins NBA on TNT partner Reggie Miller alongside Len Elmore, who formed a three man booth with Gus last year.  Reggie has never excited this blog for his announcing capabilities, but at least he and Harlan have experience together and their pairing with Chris Webber proved to be surprisingly good in a three man booth.  Perhaps Elmore can provide the same effect...

AA has routinely taken the ESPN Ombudsman to task for their lack of impactful writing and coverage of ESPN in the last year.  The Poynter Institute has often fallen short in meaningful information and criticism for readers, fans, and observers of ESPN ever since their tenure as ombudsman began.  At times, the Poynter staff might as well have been ESPN PR crafting pieces that defended the network without offering any real and relevant questions or criticism.  However, Jason Fry's effort in tackling one of ESPN's biggest controversies in the last year hit all the right notes.  

Poynter was swift in their reaction piece to the infamous statements about Jeremy Lin that led to one editor being fired and one ESPNEWS anchor being suspended for 30 days.  Fry's column also answered the question that ESPN declined to address initially - why was there not checks and balances in place to protect editor Anthony Federico from having a possibly offensive headline from being published at 2:30 AM.  Here's the story from Poynter on how the headline was published without a safety net in place...

Anthony Mormile, vice president for mobile content at ESPN, said the Bristol-based editorial team for the mobile sites consists of eight people who usually work two per shift. After 2 a.m., one editor is often catching up on the “back end,” updating content for sports that aren’t in season and taking care of other editorial loose ends. The other editor is generally handling the “front end” of the site, loading up “experience carousels” with headlines, summaries and links to articles. (Because cellphones offer less screen real estate than desktop computers, the mobile editors often write different headlines.)

Mormile said that, on Saturday night, the front-end editor -- 28-year-old Anthony Federico, who had six years of experience on the mobile team -- liked Begley’s column and decided to spotlight it for the mobile site, sensing that the conversation had shifted from the Knicks’ loss to potential holes in Lin’s game.

On the Web side, (ESPN SR VP Rob) King said, lead content packages and headlines go through a copy desk before they’re pushed live, and a copy editor is always there when a home page editor is working. But the mobile team doesn’t have “that level of oversight … you had one person making a move that a lot of people could see.”

Mormile says the mobile editors generally double-check each other’s work, providing at least an informal safety net. But the other editor on Federico’s shift was busy supporting ESPN’s Bracket Bound app, which is getting a lot of usage in the run-up to March Madness. Federico pushed the headline out himself -- and, when Mormile was alerted a little after 3 a.m., Twitter “was blowing up with people putting up screen shots and condemnations.”

During Saturday's Nationwide race at Daytona, a car will be sponsored by the popular HBO sports comedy Eastbound & Down. 

The #50 car, driven by TJ Bell of the Make Motorsports team, will be painted as shown above, featuring the show's logo, the face of its star character, Kenny Powers, and also a purple and leopard-print color scheme, patterning itself after Powers' jetski. A statement in the official press release from Powers' character is also very funny.

“The name and likeness of Kenny Powers have long been associated with victory and success,” said Powers. “It’s pretty obvious why somebody would want to put a giant picture of my face on a tastefully decorated stock car. Best of luck to our driver, T.J. Bell. If he doesn’t win first place at Daytona, they must not have made that picture of my face big enough.”

Say what you want to say about NASCAR, but a cult favorite show among sports fans sponsoring a car can only bring new eyeballs to the sport. Just look what Kenny Powers did for K-Swiss. I'm wondering though, if Bell is involved in a wreck that knocks a competitor out of the race, will he start shouting Powers' famous line of "YOU'RE F---ING OUT!" at the other driver?

Bell has qualified 39th for the race on Saturda which works well as Kenny Powers as we know him, never was a front-runner. 

Here's even more photos of the #50 car with the Eastbound & Down Kenny Powers paintjob.

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The response to MLB and Fox's insanely frustrating blackout policy was overwhelming.  We had numerous tweets pour in from frustrated fans all around the country stating how blackout policies were keeping them from watching their favorite teams.  We heard from people blacked out in "local markets" three states away.  Colorado Avalanche games blacked out in Omaha, Nebraska.  Oakland A's games blacked out in Las Vegas.  Northwest Arkansas being claimed as a Houston Astros market even though it's 10 hours away.  The Reds, Braves, Nats, and Orioles sharing a home market in North Carolina and much more.

I'm not going to even pretend to know how all these blackout policies work in MLB, NBA, and the NHL, but I do know these rules prevent sports fans from watching their favorite team around the country way too much.  Leagues and networks need to take notice of these grotesque policies that hurt fans.  These are Blackout Horror Stories...

As I said in my tweet I live in NW North Carolina. I am somehow local to the Reds, the Braves, the Nats, and I forgot about the Orioles. I bet Baltimore wishes they could forget the Orioles. I am a Cubs fan and basically what this does to me is every time the Cubs play one of these teams I have to listen to the local broadcasters and not the Cubs. The worst part about this policy is the Reds aren't available locally in my area. So most of the time I can't even watch the Cubs even though I pay for the Extra Innings package. And the Fox blackout whenever they show a game does not make any sense to me. I don't see how they can legally do that. I mean we pay the money for the package we should be able to watch whatever game when we want too.

-Grant J.

I'm a Reds fan in Indianapolis, and I'm luckier than fans of other teams--I at least get 95 Reds games/year on Fox Sports Indiana.  But those other 60+ games I can't get on MLB.TV or Extra Innings.  Like Joe Lucia wrote, I really want to get rid of cable, but not being able to watch the Reds is keeping me from doing it.

-Jim S.

Las Vegas gets blacked out for the Diamondbacks, Padres, Dodgers, Angels, A’s, and Giants – none of which are within 200 miles of us.

-Marvin L.

Probably the most frustrating blackout experience I have experienced is WKYC's (Cleveland NBC's local affiliate) handling of NHL games when the Cleveland Indians are in season.  WKYC has an arrangement to broadcast selected Sunday afternoon Indians games, often times in direct conflict with NHL playoff games.  WKYC shows the Indians games and will join the NHL game in progress.

I realize that I do not live in a prime hockey market.  However, with the technology available today I find it amazing that I cannot see the game in HD that I want to see, regardless of the city I live in.  As a native of Buffalo and fan of the NHL I have chosen DirectTV so that I can buy the NHL Center Ice package.  That allows me to ensure I will see every Sabres game that is televised on cable.  Over the air broadcasts are another story and apparently the local affiliate can choose to not broadcast what the network shows. 

This situation is especially unbearable for me when the Sabres are in the playoffs.  If lucky, I would be able to catch the third period of the Sabres playoff game once the Indians game was over.  At worst, the Indians game would go into extra innings and I would miss the entire game. 

Today there are a few more options through some private internet sites that will show a grainy version of the game.  The official online NHL solution is no help in this matter.

Repeated emails to WKYC, NBC, DirecTV and the NHL have been no help in this regard.  I have proposed what I think to be reasonable alternatives to each entity with no success.  Each response I have gotten has referenced legal contracts that prevent any resolution in this matter.

With the recent long term deal between NBC and the NHL I am not optimistic this will be resolved any time soon.  The NHL fan in Cleveland will continue to suffer.   There aren't many of us in Cleveland so it looks like the NHL playoffs on Sunday afternoons will continue to be pre-empted here.

-Ken G.