Ratings for the NFL Divisional playoffs are in, and like last week's Wild Card games, some interesting trends have emerged.

The Packers-Giants game drew the highest amount of viewers EVER for a Divisional game, with 45.1 million viewers and a 25.3 rating, the highest rating since 1997 (Cowboys vs....Panthers? Yes, Panthers). The second highest amount of viewers for a game was not in fact Tim Tebow's Broncos against Tom Brady's Patriots, but the thrilling Niners-Saints game from Saturday afternoon with 35.6 million viewers. While the Broncos-Patriots game was third of the four games in total viewers, both Saturday games were the highest rated divisional games in their timeslots in history. Bringing up the rear in the playoff games was the Ravens-Texans game, with 31 million viewers.

What does all of this actually tell us, though? The fact that the heavily hyped Tebow-Brady showdown, which was a stinker of a game, finished third out of the four games in the ratings shows that fans care more about the actual on-field product as opposed to the hype behind it. A lot of fans could have tuned in at the beginning of the game, saw it begin to get out of hand, and tuned out. I know that's what I did. Meanwhile, the Saints-Niners game with its crazy finish drew in more viewers late as Twitter exploded with reactions to the multiple lead changes in the fourth quarter.

But the big story is the record-breaking ratings for the 15-1 Packers versus the Giants, who played their way into the playoffs on the final week and put on a minimally entertaining game in the Wild Card round against the Falcons. Because of the story of the Packers trying to repeat, and the size of the New York media market, more eyeballs were drawn to that game than there probably should have. So maybe there is something to the story behind the game... but only when on-field performance warrants it. While the Patriots-Broncos game was a blowout at halftime, the Packers and Giants game was tight, and the lure of the upset was alive and well the entire time. Even if it's a blowout, you don't turn off an upset. This is what happened in this game...

That picture pretty much sums up my feelings about how the Divisional Playoffs went with Drew Brees and the Saints knocked out by the Niners after one of the great all-time playoff games.  Maybe Drew can take the time to try his hand at television in the meantime if the opportunity arises as we suggested yesterday.  Alas, the Playoffs go on with Championship Sunday just five days away.  The AFC game goes first from New England followed by the NFC game in San Francisco.  Also note the interesting Pro Bowl announcing team NBC has lined up.  Dan Hicks joins Mike Mayock and Doug Flutie on play by play instead of Tom Hammond from Hawaii.  At least Brees and Rodgers can have their shootout there.

NFL Conference Finals

Sunday, January 22

AFC Championship Game
Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots CBS 3PM - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Steve Tasker

NFC Championship Game
New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers FOX 6:30PM - Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver, Chris Myers

NFL Pro Bowl

Sunday January 29 - Aloha Stadium, Hawaii

AFC vs. NFC NBC 7PM - Dan Hicks, Mike Mayock, Doug Flutie

AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion NBC 6:30PM - Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

H/T Sammy!

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Early polling numbers were released yesterday in the much talked about Republican primary for the open US Senate seat in Texas. The Houston Chronicle had the poll results that include AA legend Craig James... and James' numbers so far aren't exactly awe-inspiring. In fact, they're bad. Really bad. The current leader, Texas state Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, leads the polling at 36%. Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz is in second at 18%. So, where's James?

Craig James is at... 4% support.

That's right, 4%. This is horrendously, stupidly low. Looking at some of the other demographics in the race, James has 30% name ID, which seems low for a guy that was employed by the largest sports entertainment company in the world as an analyst for a sport (college football) that is revered by his home state. That doesn't even account for his playing days at SMU. But then again, SMU fans aren't exactly huge fans of James; he's at 23% positive, and 29% negative among SMU grads.  The Chronicle report sums it up nicely:

"James, who formally launched his campaign last week, draws 4 percent support. The former SMU Mustang and New England Patriot running back is struggling to overcome two liabilities: he’s largely unknown and he’s unpopular among those who know him."

As for Texas Tech grads, where James' son Adam attended and James famously got former coach Mike Leach fired, he's got a 14% positive reaction and a 26% negative reaction. I actually expected the negative rating to be much higher.

On the bright side, in addition to Dewhurst, Cruz, Tom Leppert (former Dallas mayor with 7% support), and James, there are four other candidates for the Republican nomination, all of whom fall behind James. I feel very badly for those four people.

H/T Houston Chronicle

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Shaq has already provided plenty of legitimate laughs in his short tenure on Inside the NBA.  And we're not talking about the fake laughter one sees on any run of the mill NFL pregame show (except for NBC's Football Night in America it seems), we're talking about moments that are actually funny!  Not that Frank Caliendo trainwreck kind of funny, or NFL Today forced kind of awkward funny, or Michael Irvin obnoxious... well, you get the point.  Even though Shaq is great on television and entertaining in his own right, some of his most notable moments so far have centered on himscrewing up basic facts and envoking laughter on the studio set.

First, there was Shaq having a bit of trouble with his percentages when breaking down free throw shooting after Dwight Howard's record performance last Thursday.  Surprisingly, 18 divided by 39 will never be greater than 50%, not even if the Big Aristotle says so... 

And then last night, Shaq was trying to compliment Minnesota's rookie point guard Ricky Rubio by calling him "the Italian Pete Maravich."  One problem.  Ricky Rubio is from Spain, not Italy.  Yes, they share the same continent and the same base of Romance language, but still definitely not the same country.  You think Spain would be caught dead with the full cast of Jersey Shore inside its borders?  Thankfully, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith were quick to pounce...

And these clips are what make Inside the NBA superior to other studio shows.  When someone does make a gaffe or a screwup on the set, the other guys on set destroy that person immediately.  There's a natural sense of humor and fraternity on the Inside set that every other studio show desperately tries to create.  If Jon Barry or Jalen Rose were to say this on ESPN, I'm not sure anyone would even be awake enough to notice.

(via Sportress of Blogitude, video: SportsGrid) 

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Last Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, eventgoers were privy to an interesting event courtesy of ESPN: boxing. The Worldwide Leader put on a Friday Night Fights card at the expo to promote ESPN 3D, which had a busy last week at the event. In addition to the FNF card, attendees saw the live BCS National Title Game in 3D, as well as a live segment of SportsNation. If you're a sports fan, there is no better time than now to own a 3D TV.

But here's the main issue with ESPN's promotion of the technology: right now on cable systems, it's pretty much limited to sports, and only sports. On my Comcast package, there are two 3D channels: ESPN, and Xfinity 3D, which is a jumble of programs that appear to be mainly from HDNet. The content for Xfinity 3D include low-level (IE, non-UFC) MMA, kickboxing, pool, and various small release iMAX movies. It's not as if 3D TV is mainstream, with dozens of channels in the style like high definition channels today.

3D TVs are pricier than HDTVs, with a cost usually 50% more than an HDTV as the LA Times reports. With 3D DVDs also not in existance yet, why would someone want to buy a TV with a technology that's still rather primitive and not widely adopted? If you buy a 3D TV, you're pretty much paying the extra money to watch certain events on ESPN... and that's all.

Furthermore, why is ESPN so insistant on promoting the technology so heavily? I know they're at the top of the sports food chain, but it seems like a colossal waste of money to broadcast over 180 events in 3D when they're literally the only kid on the block and that block is ridiculously small.

The technology may be fantastic, but ESPN is going a little too deep into this right now. ESPN has built an empire on taking risks and successfully pushing the envelope, but is a heavy investment in 3D really one of those examples? It has the feel of the ESPN Mobile experiment that ultimately failed. I'm personally in the market for a new TV right now, and a 3D TV has never even crossed my mind, due in part to the price point and the fact that I'd be paying a lot more for a feature that I'd rarely be using. This just seems like an unnecessary investment for ESPN at this point in time.

[h/t: LA Times]

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Here's your NBA announcing schedule for the rest of the week.  The Clippers and Lakers both make two appearances as do the Mavs and Heat.  ESPN has doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday Night and TNT is back in their Thursday night spot after both networks televised games on the MLK holiday.

Tuesday January 17

San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat (NBA TV 7:30) Vince Cellini, Greg Anthony, Chris Webber

Wednesday January 18

Portland Trailblazers @ Atlanta Hawks (ESPN 8PM) Terry Gannon, Chris Mullin

Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Clippers (ESPN 10:30PM) Dan Shulman, Hubie Brown

Thursday January 19

Los Angeles Lakers @ Miami Heat (TNT 8PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello

Dallas Mavericks @ Utah Jazz (TNT 10:30PM) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller

Friday January 20

Los Angeles Lakers @ Orlando Magic (ESPN 8PM) Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Clippers (ESPN 10:30PM) Dan Shulman, Hubie Brown

Saturday January 21

Denver Nuggets @ New York Knicks (NBA TV 7:30PM) Local Broadcast

Sunday January 22

Boston Celtics @ Washington Wizards (NBA TV 1PM) Local Broadcast

H/T Sammy!

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What do Chris Cooley, Jeff Saturday, Dominique Foxworth, Reggie Bush, and Chad Ochocinco have in common besides playing football? All made the recent Sports Business Journal list of players and coaches who they believe will transition well to television personalities. It's an interesting list and I'm in agreement with the majority of it including a big endorsement of their selection of Drew Brees.

Historically, there are two positions that funnel folks to high profile broadcasting jobs at a very impressive hit rate. The first being recently unemployed coaches (Mangini, Billick, Dungy, Jimmy Johnson, Gruden, etc). The other resume builder is being a NFL quarterback, and in particular a Super Bowl winning Quarterback. The list there would include Aikman, Young, Dilfer (yes he counts..... but it could have been you Tony Banks), Bradshaw, Simms, Theismann, Warner, and Bob Griese.  Joe Montana doesn't have an impressive TV resume, but two quarterbacks he beat in the Super Bowl do in Marino and Esiason.

Looking to the future I recently put some thought into which of the Big 3 quarterbacks (Brees, Manning, and Brady... Rodgers is still way too young to consider for TV), I thought would make the best television personality.

My first take was that Manning would probably be on television in some capacity. He does well to poke fun of his robo-QB image and can be funny, but in fluid conversation I don't know if he's someone that will enthrall an audience. Perhaps he'd be too similar to Phil Simms. We've seen how that has turned out.

Brady is a guy who, although charming at times and with a good understanding of the game, doesn't strike me as the type of guy who wants a job in television. It's just a rigorous industry. While you're not jackhammering concrete all day, I just don't see Brady as a guy who wants to punch a clock, especially considering Gisele is at home and is rumored to cook and love chocolate. I can't envision Brady getting really serious talking about football with a bunch of big personalities or laughing it up on pregame shows.

Brees was my pick, but when I polled some friends the common reaction was "I haven't really heard him talk much." 

It's a valid point as he seems to get a lot less media hype than Brady, Manning, and now Tebow. With that in mind, here is a nice clip of Brees speaking in the post game conference after their Wild Card win versus the Lions that is a good look at what he could bring to a studio environment or broadcast booth...

Being a fan of GOLTV's loquacious soccer analyst Ray Hudson, I had to share this clip of the eccentric Englishman describing the following goal from world player of the year Lionel Messi.  The clip is from Barcelona's 4-0 win over Real Zaragoza back in November, but just showed up on YouTube.  Watch as Ray is able to turn a rather simple and straight forward Leo goal into a lightning bolt from the gods as only he can...

"Does it the witching way Lionel Messi!  Brilliance on steroids again!!  The run, wonderful.  The finish, impeccable.  Leo ruthless once again.  Wouldn't give you the smell off his cologne when he's got the goal in his sights."

"He would find the needle in the haystack by his sense of smell."

"When you go back on your fancy machines don't slow it down.  Just let it right out in front of your eyes and you'll appreciate it ten times more.  FLASH."

Of course my favorite line is describing Lionel Messi as "brilliance on steroids."  Brilliance on steroids.  I can't believe nobody thought of using that during Barry Bonds' home run chase...

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After adding Detroit Lions star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh for this weekend's divisional playoff games, CBS's The NFL Today is looking to add another current star to its lineup for the conference championship games: Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. According to Michael Hiestand at USA Today, CBS has a request in to Tebow's people in efforting a guest appearance on their AFC Championship studio coverage. Just when you thought you escaped, CBS goes ahead and pulls you back in...

From what attention I paid to the pregame show, Suh came off relatively well in his guest spot. He was contrite for his actions on Thanksgiving Day, and said all the right things. But it would be a whole different story with Tebow. He's a very divisive figure among NFL analysts, with guys like Skip Bayless claiming he's the savior and an elite quarterback, and Merrill Hoge claiming the opposite. It could be interesting for Tebow on the CBS set, with three former players (two of whom, Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason, are quarterback) and one former coach on the panel. Would they bow down at his presence or push him on some of his flaws as a quarterback?

Regardless of what actually happens with Tebow on the set, this news has revealed one thing about the networks: they love Tim Tebow, and are going to do everything in their power to make sure that he's in our collective consciousness at all times during the NFL season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him somehow involved in Super Bowl weekend festivities either. Hell, maybe they'll bring him to the Pro Bowl, just because.

We can't escape the madness, so the best thing to do is embrace it.

[h/t: USA Today]

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An ESPN Outside the Lines story released Sunday attacked the UFC over perceived low fighter pay. The linked piece features an interview with UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta talking about the pay of the fighters. Well, the UFC struck back by releasing part of the interview unreleased by ESPN, in which Fertitta discusses ESPN paying fighters as low as $200 per fight for participating in ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

Both sides have a valid argument in this case. While it could be argued the UFC isn't paying fighters a lot of money, there is also the possibility of a "locker room bonus", that goes unreported to the commission. This bonus is pretty much a "hey, you fought a good fight, here's an extra ten grand" kind of bonus. The UFC also offers its fighters health insurance, which is unheard of for a fight organization. 

In comparison to other organizations, the UFC is spoiling its athletes. Here are the salaries from a Strikeforce Challengers card in June, before the UFC bought the company. The highest base salary was $10,000 going to Ryan Couture, son of UFC legend Randy Couture. Jason High, a veteran of both the UFC and the Japanese fighting circuit, made just $3,000 as his base for his 17th career fight. Compare that to the salaries from UFC 141 in December, where the four fighters who made the low base of $8,000 were still on their first contracts with the organization. The UFC works like any company, in that seniority results in a new contract and a raise. Fighters usually initially sign four fight deals.

I think the more telling aspect is Fertitta's point about ESPN paying fighters so little for its Friday Night Fights shows. The promoters of the Friday Night Fights cards are the ones who are paying the fighters and not ESPN, but the point stands: if ESPN can afford to buy the rights to air the show, why are the fighters not making more money? That's more of a question for the promoters than ESPN, but to say that this is just a UFC problem is incredibly short-sighted. 

Also entertaining throughout this whole ordeal? The war of words on Twitter between UFC president Dana White and ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael. The two went back and forth for about ten tweets apiece, bickering over the pay for fighters on Friday Night Fights cards. White seemed to be arguing the point made in the video by Fertitta, while Rafael towed the company line about licensing the cards and not being in charge of the payouts.  White also released a video on Youtube today, going off on ESPN. Who do you side with in this debate - UFC, ESPN, or somewhere in between?

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