ombudsman: one that investigates, reports on, and helps settle complaints

It's no secret we've been criticial of the Poynter Institute as ESPN Ombudsman.  Poynter is a respected entity, but their tenure as ESPN Ombudsman has been shocking.  Article after article has appeared as if it has come straight from the mouths of ESPN's Public Relations department instead of an ombudsman.  Take their defense of the Longhorn Network or their mind-boggling role in #FreeBruce.  Their "investigating" has consisted of giving ESPN's side of the story while dismissing complaints.  Meanwhile, legitimate criticisms of ESPN continue to go unanswered from their own ombudsman.  Only this article about ESPN's stumbles in covering the breaking Penn State story really hits the mark.

September 2nd, 2011 Poynter said about Bruce Feldman, "He suggested that his conflicts, created by writing the book, are tiny compared to those of Craig James, the ESPN announcer named in Leach's lawsuit. If the allegations in the lawsuit are accurate -- that James hired a PR firm to smear Leach -- then ESPN has an even bigger problem that we'll certainly be writing about."

That was 147 days ago!  What else does Poynter need?  An ESPN analyst is running for United States Senate and there is e-mail documentation from months ago that confirms the "allegations" Poynter speaks of and yet they continue to remain silent.  As that day counter continues to rise, the legitimacy and impact of Poynter's role as ESPN Ombudsman becomes an even bigger letdown.  Poynter took six weeks between posts on their ESPN blog from December-January, so we know time wasn't a factor.  

And as ESPN's ombudsman release more articles like this stunning piece on Tim Tebow yesterday, the disappointment rises exponentially.

Yesterday, Poynter came out with a lengthy article dissecting the one thing ESPN has taken the most criticism for in the last three months - Tebowmania.  And perhaps to nobody's surprise, the Poynter Institute found nothing wrong with ESPN's obsession over Tim Tebow.  Let's dive in and see Poynter becoming a champion to the cause of ESPN and Tebowmania and why it's just as baffling as Tebowmania itself...

Dirk Nowitzki is hilarious as a guest color commentator during Wednesday night's Dallas Mavericks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game. Dirk explodes in disbelief during a crazy Jason Terry to Brandan Wright alley-oop, which admittedly, is something I don't think anyone has ever seen before.  Because it's Brandan Wright.

"Ohhhhh my God, Oooooooooh!"

"Shut it dowwwwwn"

"Let's go hoooooome! That's a wrap!"

Unfortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, they lost (again) to the Minnesota Timberwolves, this time by 15 points.  It looks like Kevin Love, and Ricky Rubio with his near triple-double, got the last laugh.

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UFC fighter Chael Sonnen was on Highly Questionable with Dan LeBatard yesterday, and to say that the Miami loudmouth columnist was flabbergasted by the interview was... well, it was appropriate.

For those who are confused, Sonnen isn't a champion, and isn't undefeated. He lost a middleweight title bout to UFC kingpin Anderson Silva in August 2010 after dominating for four rounds and tapping out after falling into an armbar in the fifth. After the fight, Sonnen tested positive for high testosterone levels, and was suspended for a year. His comeback fight was this past October against Brian Stann, who he submitted in the second round. It's also worth noting that Sonnen was also beat by submission in the UFC in February 2009 by Demian Maia, who is also competing on this Saturday's card.

Sonnen was also convicted of money laundering in January 2011 and plead out to receive a fine and two years of community service. So now that we've established that the man is a chronic liar and nutcase who has a history of insane interviews... why not watch him fight?! Sonnen will face Michael Bisping, another loudmouth who loves to talk a mean game, this Saturday on UFC on FOX, with a main event of Rashad Evans vs Phil Davis. The winner of the main event will receive a title match against champion Jon Jones, and the winner of Sonnen's fight will receive a title match with champion Anderson Silva.

If Sonnen is able to defeat Bisping and gain his rematch, expect a lot more crazy interviews like this. Sonnen has been insufferable since his fight with Silva, and another match on the horizon would simply push him to the point of irritation.

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There might be nothing in sports that agitates me more than when the greatest athletes in the world flop around like they just collided with a Transformer. A players acting ability depressingly is a valued skill in many sports and can easily alter the outcome of the game. If "swagger" can be a rating in Madden then it is just a matter of time before flopping takes over our beloved video games.

Anyways, I was actually in the Breslin Center last night for Izzo's 400th win so this quote was brought to our attention last night when a Minnesota player Vlade'd after being backed down by Michigan State's Derrick Nix. Here's the play and BTN's Shon Morris reaction.

You heard it right. Morris said, "the last time I saw something flop like that, I threw tartar sauce on it and hit it with an oar." Well, I agree with the sentiment, but I do not agree with the way he prepares his fish. Another enjoyable thing about this clip is the maniacal cackling in the background by Gus Johnson.

Speaking of Gus, here's his call of Draymond Green rising and firing and knocking down a three at the buzzer at the end of the first half.

I do believe Gus Johnson did just moan in reaction to a buzzer beater. No doubt about it now, he LOVES his college basketball.

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Real Madrid and Barcelona played the second leg of their Copa del Rey Quarterfinal on Wednesday.  Barcelona went into the second leg at home leading Real Madrid 2-1 after their victory at the Bernabeu.  The match featured every highlight possible and the magisterial Ray Hudson of GolTV was there to call every goal, tackle, and irritated conference around the referee.  The fifteen minute highlight package below is a nice summary of the game and as always, we've transcribed Ray's remarkable commentary for each goal below.  The latest selection features magnetism, the solar system, and dripping honey... somewhere Brent Musburger just made another Honey Badger pun.

1-0 Pedro

"Left open... MAGIC!!!... Well cut apart from the genius of Messi again, he draws the defense to him like a magnet.  And once more, Casillas' men are playing poker with a witch.  They're gonna lose.  Messi magisterial.  Pedro, that man I told ya about people, he's a goal scorer and he's a real talent.  Holds up beautifully and what a dispatch.  Fabulous by Messi, magic feet dripping honey on it with every touch and then he's got the awareness, the dexterity, and that x-ray vision like Superman through steel to put it on an absolute scalding altar.  Again from this angle, again, the gazelle running around cheetahs, but look at that pass people.  It's absolutely monumentally perfect."

2-0 Dani Alves

"Does it the Brazilian way, which is nothing less than perfection.  And Dani Alves says look at this Kaka, look at this.  He absolutely flamethrows this in its top corner.  If Casillas is stretching out his arm to this and gets a hand to it, he would have had it taken off.  Look at the technique again, he takes the spin of the ball into account, he takes the planets in the solar system into account as well.  That is an impossible strike made easy from Dani Alves."

2-1 Ronaldo

"Well that's lit the blue touch paper for sure and gives them a real good set of hope here.  And who else is it?  I'll give you 15 guesses and your first 15 don't count.  Mesut Ozil takes it in stride beautifully, doesn't even look for the pass, knows instinctively because he's taken half a dozen pictures in his wonderful computer mind before he receives the ball."

2-2 Benzema

"YAH!!  It's that magnificent directness I was warning about... that's wonderful coolness under pressure and grace.  Nice little stab ball over the top, beautiful little flick from Benz, and a nice finish tucked away nicely past Pinto.  WOW!!"

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In the newest AA Podcast we welcome Tony Dungy of NBC's Football Night In America.  Tony won a Super Bowl as a player with the Pittsburgh Steelers and as a coach with the Indianapolis Colts.  He's also a best selling author with his first book Quiet Strength selling well over a million copies.  For the last few years, he's been a fixture on NBC's Football Night In America and helped make it the premier pregame show in the NFL.  In the podcast, Tony chats with AA about...

-The challenges he still faces as an analyst
-Tim Tebow and how his faith impacts his public persona
-Will Peyton Manning be in a Colts uniform next year and beyond?
-Which QB Tony would take heading into the Super Bowl: Brady or Eli?
-How to stop Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
-What the Giants and Patriots need to do to win the Super Bowl.
-Will he ever leave the studio and head back to the sidelines?

All that and even more NFL topics with one of the most respected voices in sports on this edition of the AA Podcast.  Follow Tony on Twitter here and check out all of our podcasts on ITunes.

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It is the most infamous incident in the history of sideline interviews.  It turned a legendary quarterback into a national punchline, embarrassed the NFL, spawned a hilarious website, and is the biggest moment in the career of a certain ESPN sideline reporter.  Several years later, the name of Suzy Kolber can't be mentioned without the name of Joe Namath following close behind.  Usually that's followed by either "I want to kiss you" or "I couldn't care less about the team strug-g-ling."  Let's take a brief stumble down memory lane, shall we? 

Looking back as it happened live, it's a bit disturbing how easily the broadcast booth laughed off Namath's mystifying behavior.  More than eight years later, Kolber spoke for the first time about interviewing a hammered Joe Namath live on national television as a part of the HBO special Namath, airing this Sunday night.  Here's some of her quotes as reported by USA Today:

"I felt like, 'uh-oh,' Joe is in trouble here and let's get him out of it... Get him off the air as quickly as possible." Kolber says she hasn't spoken about the incident "because I knew he wanted it to go away."

"when we first started talking and he was slow and deliberate and in his speech, what was going through my head was, 'Maybe it's just really cold.' And none of the executives in the truck were alarmed either because nobody said (to) stop. ... The direction in my earpiece was, 'keep going.' ''

"I think the way I felt about it at the time was that he's a really good guy having a bad moment that happened to be captured on national television."

For his part, drunkenly hitting on a sideline reporter gave Joe Namath a serious wake up call to turn his life around in the aftermath.  Given the history and quality of HBO Sports, the documentary should provide a compelling look at the life of Joe Namath.  But how much attention will be payed to the one moment that has defined him as a creepy drunk guy to a new generation of NFL fans?  

For her part, it's amazing how much grace Suzy Kolber has shown about the incident with Joe Namath after all these years.  A moment like that which lives in infamy can't be easy to deal with when remaining in that same role at ESPN.  It's a shame the Joe Namath interview will always follow Suzy Kolber's career like a shadow, but she's been able to move beyond that as a solid NFL reporter for ESPN.   

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NBC released a listing of various Super Bowl tie-ins for the programming on its variety of networks next week, and honestly, some of them are quite ridiculous. I'm all for dedicating all of your general sports studio shows to the game, but NBC Universal is going all out this year on seemingly every single one of their platforms. Take a look at some of these tie-ins...

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: For the first time in the show’s history, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will take the show on the road – to Indianapolis – for a total of four shows; including one first-ever LIVE Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show on Sunday night after Super Bowl XLVI.

Seriously? THE Jimmy Fallon is bringing his mediocre talk show on the road, and he chooses Indianapolis as the destination? Awesome. When Conan took his show on the road, he went to Los Angeles... you know, a big city that's known for entertainment.

Weather Channel: Jim Cantore will join NBC’s Super Bowl coverage from Indianapolis, and Wake Up with Al’s Stephanie Abrams and Al Roker will also be on-site reporting the Super Bowl headlines for Weather Channel.

This is Lucas Oil Stadium, where the game will be held. Notice anything interesting about it? Yeah, it's got a roof. So if the weather in Indianapolis is terrible during the week, they can just... take weather out of the equation by closing the roof, which is what I assume they'd do anyway. I really have no idea why Weather Channel reporters are reporting on weather for an indoor event.

Golf Channel: In anticipation of season two of his critically acclaimed series premiering Feb. 27, David Feherty will host a special Feherty Live stage show from Indianapolis Friday night, which Golf Channel will air as a one-hour special Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. And throughout Super Bowl week, Golf Channel’s popular morning show, Morning Drive, will feature various NFL guests, including former and current players and executives to talk Super Bowl predictions. Friday’s Golf Central show will include look-ins at Feherty’s rehearsals in Indianapolis and promote Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Feherty's appearance on CBS during the divisional games was strange, and it's a little stranger that the Golf Channel stalwart will be doing more NFL related stuff... for a channel that has nothing to do with the NFL. If you're tuning into the Golf Channel during the winter months, don't you think you'd be doing it to get away from nonstop football talk? Regardless, we can't hold any ill will towards Feherty, an AA favorite.

E!: The nation’s premier destination for celebrity and entertainment news will report from Indianapolis Wednesday through Monday with correspondents Catt Sadler and David Burtka.

Is there really going to be a lot of breaking entertainment news from Indianapolis, the home of... what, exactly? I know some celebrities will be heading to the game, but I don't think it's worth sending a couple of correspondents there. Then again, maybe we can get a hold of the complete list of media outlets given credentials, and analyze the most bizarre ones of the bunch.

For a network that only showed 2 hours of horse racing two years ago, the announcement that the Breeders Cup will not only return to NBC, but will be offered in a prime-time viewing spot is a welcome change for horse racing enthusiasts.

The Breeders Cup is likely considered the lesser-known of major horse racing events compared to the Triple Crown events including the Preakness, Belmont and of course the Kentucky Derby. But with viewership ratings up overall for all of horse racing (especially the Derby), it’s really a no brainer for NBC to extend their coverage of horse racing nationwide and bring it into primetime.  With NBC also looking to add more sports to the network and the NBC Sports Network, it's a smart move.

From the NYT: “NBC and the NBC Sports Network will combine to present nine and a half hours of live coverage of 15 Breeders’ Cup races over two days with horses from around the world competing for more than $25 million. The Classic, which has helped crown 11 Horses of the Year, will be run between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 3.”

From 1984-2005, NBC held the Breeders Cup rights only to lose them to ESPN/ABC. In the new four year deal, it makes NBC the sole home for horse racing out of all the television networks. Something few networks can say in regards to any sport.

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Chicago Bulls color commentator Stacey King is excitable. A visit to his soundboard webpage and clicking on "splash!" a dozen or so times will confirm this fact. So it comes as no surprise that a majestic swooping lay up by Brian Scalabrine over E! superstar Kris Humphries in the second quarter of a lopsided Bulls/Nets tilt would produce a memorable call.

For you that just watched that clip and still do not trust your ears...here is a transcript.

King- "OOOHH, SCAL! THE WHITE MAMBA! DON'T DO 'EM LIKE THAT! DON'T SHOW THEM THE VERSATILITY! Show one side and go to the other. Boy that boy is smooth, Funk."

Scalabrine averages 1.4 points and 6.5 enthusiastic high fives off the bench per game. He's pretty much that guy you would make in create a player mode in a videogame after you've been huffing paint.

The White Mamba is pretty harmless these days, but that wasn't always the case. As a Pistons fan, I looked on in horror as Scalabrine's dominance put the Nets one game away from eliminating the eventual 2004 champions in a classic game that went into triple OT. Check out this line from that article,

"Scalabrine made all four of his 3-pointers, including one that gave New Jersey a 122-118 lead with about 40 seconds left in the third overtime."

See, Scalabrine can be cold blooded, like a mamba.

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