The NSSA announced the winners of the Sportscaster of the Year and Sportswriter of the Year for each state, as well as nationally, this week. Both of the national winners are known, and generally well-liked, to members of the Awful Announcing community: Dan Shulman of ESPN (sportscaster) and Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated (sportswriter).

Shulman became the voice of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball this past season alongside Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine, replacing the much-maligned duo of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Since the baseball season ended, he's been doing basketball for ESPN, both college and pro. Shulman has recently been involved in one of the best calls of the season with Dick Vitale, as he announced Indiana's dramatic victory over Kentucky. Shulman had another great moment early in the baseball season, when news of Osama Bin Laden's death broke during a Sunday Night Baseball game. He did an AA Q&A with Matt back in May and is one of our favorites.  Shulman's the ultimate pro as an announcer and is very deserving of such a high honor.

Posnanski is a (dare I say) modern day legend for his sportswriting. His personal blog features random pieces usually taken from Twitter discussions, while his writing at SI has taken a temporary hiatus while Posnanki takes up residence in State College, writing a book about former Penn State coach Joe Paterno. With all the events surrounding the program this year, it's fitting that Posnanski, out of all possible writers, would be the one writing a book about the coach when the scandal broke. Of course.  He is another person whose stature continues to grow in the sports media and is a hit with fans and media experts.

A hearty congratulations goes out to both men, as well as all the state-specific winners, and Bob Costas and John Feinstein, elected to the NSSA Hall of Fame this year.

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Back when ESPN announced their new NBA studio, we knew that it would be a terrible idea.  In fact, anyone with a working television likely knew it was a bad idea.  ESPN went to a studio crew of Jon Barry, Mike Wilbon, Chris Broussard, and Magic Johnson to try and create some sense of watchability and chemistry.  

They have also tried to channel CBS's NFL Today and have each member of the studio crew call highlights... including Magic Johnson.  Also, bad idea.  Magic Johnson makes Shannon Sharpe look like the Howard Cosell of highlights.  The following video came from tonight's halftime show during the late night Clippers-Heat game.  Magic does his best to excitedly take us through an overtime win for the Lakers in Utah.  This includes getting the score wrong, players wrong, and just getting the English language wrong in general.  Oh, and general Lakers homerism... not that we would expect anything different from Magic.  If ESPN wants fans to take their NBA studio seriously, they have dozens of professional anchors to read highlights.  (Robert Flores, Jay Harris, Kevin Negandhi, and Stan Verrett just to name a few.)  If they want fans to enjoy one of the all-time greats on the court turn into the Kwame Brown of highlights, then they're doing a fine job as is...

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The MLB Network is venturing into a field that hasn't been very popular lately: the sports-related game show. Baseball IQ will be premiering on January 24th at 9 PM, and will probably result in fans across the country screaming answers at their TV like your parents did with Jeopardy! 

The format of the show closely resembles Stump the Schwab, with a back and forth list-based game going on for eight "innings" and each inning being worth a designated number of "runs" depending on how deep they go into the category. The final inning is a wagering/bidding type of system, with each player bidding on how many answers in a given category they can get, with that bid corresponding to the amount of runs at stake.

But who are the contestants? Well.... they're random employees from MLB teams. The season of Baseball IQ will feature a 32-man tournament, with one person from each MLB team (plus one representing MLB.com, and one representing the Hall of Fame) competing in a NCAA-style bracket, with the ultimate prize being a grand total of $45,000 for charity. The actual competitors are interesting, because none of them have the same job. Some of their jobs include video coordinator, account executive, museum curator, and statistical analyst, so as you can tell, they really picked people from every field on the team.

The initial premise seems pretty cool, especially for a pretty boring time of year for baseball, where it is constantly getting overshadowed by all the other sports in season in the winter. The format seems like a blatant ripoff of Stump the Schwab though, but hey...I liked that show. Matt Vasgersian will be hosting, and we can only hope he'll be wearing a throwback jersey during each episode like Schwab did on his ESPN show.

The show will run from January 24th until February 23rd, with two episodes airing a night starting at 9 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Here's a link to the competitors on the show, and more information about the format and prizes.

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Ever since Joe Buck joined Twitter (@Buck), I've been surprised as to how open he's been in discussing criticism of his announcing.  Almost since day one, Buck has engaged with, made fun of, called out, and hit back at critics of his.  Part of me believes this is a great idea for Joe Buck, someone that has always been unable to connect with viewers in any sort of likable way.  Being engaging on Twitter and answering those questions makes him slightly more human.  Anyone who is willing to publicly mention his career path and nepotism in his first Twitter salvo has to earn some points for being willing to put himself out there.

However, being so open about the critics is walking a delicate line.  To see what crossing that line looks like, check out this arrogant, childish tweet from Mavericks announcer Mark Followill to NBA blogger Sebastian Pruiti last week.  In following Buck's Twitter feed, it is clear that he is bothered by the avalanche of negativity sent his way and needs some forum to get it off his chest. 

The ultimate trump card for any Buck critic is his seemingly soulless delivery on one of the most exciting plays in the history of the Super Bowl - the David Tyree helmet catch.  Let's roll the footage...

If you weren't watching the clip, you may have thought that was the third quarter of a preseason game.  This clip has defined Joe Buck as a bland, unexciting, monotone announcer and it's going to take a Gus Johnson like explosion in another Super Bowl to escape from that label.  Fans haven't connected to Buck as an announcer because of it.  While that clip came four years ago, it must still haunt Joe Buck because he sent out a flurry of tweets last night about the call...

I'm not proud of this, but this is the first time Bulls announcer Stacey King has been featured on this website. Despite hearing a few of his games over the last few years and seeing many mentions on Twitter from our followers, we have yet to post on the former player turned announcer. It's time we give the third year color analyst some play here at AA.

On Monday night, as if subjecting myself to the Pistons wasn't bad enough, I was also stuck with the insufferable Bulls feed on NBA League Pass. That, of course, means Stacey King. There were times when I'd lose focus and minimize the game to do something else, only to be drawn back in by King's overdone homerism and "HOT SAUCE!" King tipped me over the edge, though, when he went berserk (with the rest of Chicago) for Brian "The White Mamba" Scalabrine, who is somehow still making a comfortable living in the NBA, because I guess it's hilariously entertaining [H/T Hot Clicks]:

To be fair, as a fan myself of Detroit's polarizing homer, I know plenty of Chicago fans love them some Stacey King like King loves him some White Mamba. Someone went as far as starting a "Stacey King is the greatest announcer" Facebook page, although nobody seems to be in it, and there's a Top 10 Derrick Rose plays called by King. But the most telling sign that an announcer is truly beloved (or at least entertaining) is possessing his own soundboard -- yes, Stacey King has his own soundboard, and even I have to admit, it's pretty phenomenal.

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As Blythe mentioned in bowling's fail of the year, Rob Stone is leaving ESPN bowling to cover soccer for FOX, which meant there was a vacancy to be filled. According to PBA.com, that will go to veteran Gary Thorne:

Thorne will do play-by-play for the three remaining PBA majors beginning with the Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels United States Bowling Congress Masters later this month in Las Vegas, continuing with the U.S. Open in February and the Tournament of Champions in April. Stone will continue to work the remaining World Series of Bowling ESPN-taped telecasts this season and will also do play-by-play for Thursday’s taping of the Chris Paul Celebrity PBA Invitational presented by Sheets™ Brand in Los Angeles.

PBA Hall of Famer Randy Pedersen will remain as ESPN PBA Tour color analyst.

Thorne is the distinct voice of many sports, including MLB, college football, and perhaps best known for calling the NHL. Personally, I think Thorne's best work is on the Major League Baseball 2k series, which he has voiced since MLB 2k9 when he took over for Jon Miller. 

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The ratings are in for the BCS National Championship Game and... well, they're about as ugly as the game was Monday night.  The rematch between LSU and Alabama drew a 13.8 overnight rating on ESPN, which was the worst in the history of the BCS title game.  It eclipses the dreadful Miami/Nebraska game from 2002, which was another game that had questionable circumstances surrounding the arbitrary selection of one of the participants.  Ratings were sure to be weakened with plenty of fans loathing the prospects of a rematch and were sure to continue going down as LSU didn't even get across midfield till the 4th quarter.

Let's face it, Monday's snoozer was an awful game to watch.  I've stood in DMV lines that were more exciting than the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.  This was like watching a Kris Humphries reality show without the Kardashians.  We suffered through five more Alabama field goals and had to wait almost the entire length of the game for a touchdown to be scored.  LSU had 534 yards FEWER offense than the Saints put up in the same building two days prior.  

And then you had Brent Musburger doing his best to make the previously awesome "Honey Badger" nickname totally unusable for the rest of time.  (Although the "Jesus Christ Lizard" is still available for Tim Tebow in case you were wondering.)  The only redeeming aspect of the game was seeing Bruce Feldman make ESPN airwaves without getting blurred out and then listening to Bobby Hebert rant at Les Miles during the postgame press conference.

(Is this a good time to mention my first ever Halloween costume was a mini Bobby Hebert Saints uniform?  Unfortunately, I don't remember giving people a possibly drunken 48 second diatribe for only giving me pennies and Sweet Tarts.  I was 4, cut me some slack.)

Obviously, the entire BCS shift to cable explains much of the drop compared to pre-2011.  Even though ESPN is in 100 million homes, there's still less viewers to go around on cable.  And, even though the numbers across the BCS are down from last year, BCS games are still major winners in the ratings compared to other cable programs as they were three of the five highest rated shows this past week.

But the decline from 2010 to 2011 is still worrisome for the BCS, which makes me absolutely giddy because bad news for the BCS is good news for us...

We reported a week and a half ago about ESPN baseball columnist Keith Law interviewing with the Houston Astros, possibly for the position of scouting director. Then, we heard nothing about it for a while. Yesterday, Law tweeted that he'd be staying with ESPN and not taking a job with the Astros.

The internet rejoiced at the news, mostly because it means that we won't get deprived of Law's blunt, sometimes harsh, but always generally truthful analysis of MLB transactions. Plus, we're getting close to the time of year where many fans renew their Insider subscriptions: top 100 prospect time! Law's lists are usually among the best and most informative amongst baseball analysts.

It's a shame that a MLB team won't be able to have his unique blend of sabermetric and scouting knowledge in their front office, but its fantastic news for fans of his work, because we'll still get access to it on a regular basis. Here's hoping ESPN gives him a more elevated role in 2012 and bring a more advanced statistical analysis to their multi-platform television coverage too.

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What's the meaning of life? Who's my father? Am I gonna get sick? Does Tim Tebow really exist?

For centuries, people have turned to one man for life's great mysteries -- like Spencer Hawes averaging 15 points, 12 rebounds, and over two blocks per 36 minutes -- and that man is ... Philadelphia 76ers analyst Malik Rose?

If you're not familiar with the Chappelle's Show skit, that could've been construed as a really awkward comment by Rose and may or may not have caught his Emmy winner sidekick Marc Zumoff off guard a little bit. But if you caught it, then you likely enjoyed it as much as Sixers' fans are enjoying their current little five game winning streak. 

I have a few questions for the Negro-damus. Malik Rose, why did Eric Snow fall asleep during a broadcast last year? Malik Rose, why do the Pistons suck so bad? Malik Rose, whatever happened to Geena Davis? 

H/T - Buzz on Broad

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Hill & Schlereth... or is it Schlereth & Hill?  Whatever the case, the random pairing of SportsCenter anchor Mike Hill and NFL analyst Mark Schlereth are debuting tonight on ESPN Radio as the new primetime show weeknights from 7PM-10PM.  There's a fancy video up on ESPN's PR propaganda website blog introducing listeners to the new pairing.

Great, so from what I gathered from that video the show will be part barber shop, part Alaskan fishing trip.  For some reason, the decision makers at ESPN Radio have decided their latest offereing absolutely has to fit into the mold of Mike & Mike by combining one ex-jock with one non-descript anchor.  Another "Odd Couple" premise, how original!  But, can Hill & Schlereth develop the chemistry of Greeny & Golic?  Who knows.  Mike & Mike isn't the gold standard of sports radio by any stretch.  But, they've been a success by appealing to a broad range of sports fans, even if their old, campy schtick and vanilla opinions doesn't motivate most passionate sports fans.

So why would this pairing of Hill & Schlereth succeed in replicating the formula? Personally, I find Mark Schlereth to be one notch below Trent Dilfer on the totem pole amongst ESPN analysts.  Schlereth is barely tolerable when he's talking NFL on TV or making appearances on ESPN Radio.  Will anyone nationally want to listen to his inflated views and ill-informed opinions for three hours?  Can he talk about anything besides football and his son's baseball career?  Mike Hill has actually impressed me when I've heard him on ESPN Radio on SportsCenter in the evenings, but why saddle him by making him play second fiddle to Schlereth?

On a larger scale, Hill & Schlereth could be doomed to be another bland radio copycat.  For once, ESPN had a chance to be bold and develop a new Dan Patrick or Scott Van Pelt.  Instead, they've decided to go to an overused formula once again.  The new pairing likely won't be able to fill the intelligent shoes of Brian Kenny, who left his primetime radio show and ESPN as a whole to go to MLB Network.  But, I'm sure it will be heavy on formulaic jokes and hijinx centered around the kooky chemistry between a washed up athlete and a hip sports anchor...