I'm actually scared to admit this... but I routinely watch ESPN2's First Take. You know, the show that runs opposite SportsCenter weekday mornings and "stars" Skip Bayless somehow making a living out of being... well, Skip Bayless.  The show had a simple enough premise - take a loudmouthed, polarizing contrarian (Bayless), have him take part in debates, and sprinkle in expert analysis, news, and relevant interviews.  Debates were even marketed as 1st & 10 and appeared later in the afternoon.  To be honest, in spite of Skip's professional, theatrical douchebaggery, the show was watchable... especially for someone that operates a blog called Awful Announcing.  

But recently, the show has gone from entertainingly awful (like an intentionally wretched scary movie where we're supposed to be in on the joke) to just awful awful (think Ecks vs Sever or Battlefield Earth).  Skip Bayless is more empowered and ridiculous than ever (the troubling part is his incredible self-awareness).  The interview and news segments are largely gone.  Now, the show largely focuses on Skip Bayless: Villain Of The Sporting Universe.  First Take has gotten away from the diversity that made it tolerable, to a revolving door of ESPN analysts and columnists to argue with Bayless.  If you're thinking this gets old quickly... it does.

Nevertheless, I was particularly intrigued by Wednesday's First Take from this week because of the perfect storm that had the potential to produce the single most awful sports show of all-time.  Not only was Screamin' A. Smith in to debate Skippy, not only was a pointless, in jest LeBron James tweet to John Clayton treated as breaking news, but we also had the story of the decade in sports - Tim Tebow being named the starter in Denver.

Since the summer months and Merril Hoge's rant out of nowhere, Tim Tebow has been ESPN's obsession.  Let me be clear - I like Tim Tebow.  I like that he takes a stand for who he is, I buy into his character, I believe he's a good guy that may or may not find success in the NFL.  Whatever.  Let him play it out.  End of story, right?  No.  ESPN has made Tebow into some sort of Frankenstein character and debated his quarterbacking skills, personality, character, hygiene, sex life, and everything in between.  It's nauseating.  They have shoved so much Tebow down our throats that 98% of the country hates him because of how much ESPN (and other networks - I'm looking at you CBS, Fox, and everyone else) have obsessed over him.  It makes Brett Favre look like an under the radar player.  

So, facing a two hour show of Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Tim Tebow, and LeBron James, I did what any insane, mentally imbalanced sports blogger would do.  I dived headfirst into an in-depth statistical study and retro blog on Wednesday's First Take.  Do I need a psych eval?  Probably.  Do I feel like scooping my eyeballs out with a melon baller?  Possibly.  Did I discover some disturbing, horrifying statistics that you want to read and laugh about?  Absolutely...

Fox has the doubleheader this week, so Dallas/New England is the national game in the 4:00 window.  With Joe Buck on MLB Playoff duty, Thom Brennaman comes into the "A" booth alongside Troy Aikman.  The 1:00 and 4:00 slates are particularly strong with Saints/Bucs, Texans/Ravens, 49ers/Lions, and Panthers/Falcons all worth a look.

Broadcast maps courtesty of The 506.

Sunday, October 16

Buffalo Bills @ New York Giants (CBS 1PM) Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers (CBS 1PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Indianapolis Colts @ Cincinnati Bengals (CBS 1PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots
San Francisco 49ers @ Detroit Lions (FOX 1PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (FOX 1PM) Sam Rosen, Brian Billick, Laura Okmin
St. Louis Rams @ Green Bay Packers (FOX 1PM) Chris Myers, Tim Ryan
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons (FOX 1PM) Dick Stockton, John Lynch

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens (CBS 4PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders (CBS 4PM) Marv Albert, Rich Gannon
Dallas Cowboys @ New England Patriots (FOX 4:15PM) Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX 4:15PM) Ron Pitts, Jim Mora

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (NBC 8:20PM) Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Monday, October 17

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets (ESPN 8:30PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski

Bye Week: Arizona Cardinals , Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans

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This article originally ran on our partner site, Crystal Ball Run which we encourage you to check out. 

Full-disclosure, I’m a little bit of a sports media dork. While you were busy growing up worshipping people like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Rebecca Lobo (ok, maybe not the last one), I always found people like Keith Jackson, Michael Wilbon and Bill Raftery far more fascinating.

(In a related note, that’s also probably why I couldn’t get a girl to talk to me until I was about 19-years-old. But that’s another story for another day)

Anyway, over the last few months, I’ve been fascinated at the musical chairs that’s taken place in the college sports online print media. In particular, CBS.com has built itself a nice little juggernaut on both the college football and college basketball side, adding Brett McMurphy, Tony Barnhart and eventually Bruce Feldman in football, and Jeff Goodman in basketball. For sports media dorks like me, this was like the NBA’s free agent class of 2010 all over again. Only with notepads, tape recorders and side parts, instead of headbands and neck tattoos.

Well with all that said, the biggest domino to fall in the whole online sports media shuffle may have hit today, with the Big Lead’s report that Pat Forde - he of the Forde Yard Dash and Forde Minutes - is now leaving ESPN.com for Yahoo.

From the Big Lead:

Pat Forde, the longtime ESPN.com columnist who is the Worldwide Leader’s foremost college football and basketball writer, is leaving ESPN for rival Yahoo Sports, according to multiple sources. Forde’s contract at ESPN expires Nov. 1, at which point he’ll move to Yahoo.

Forde didn’t answer a phone call or reply to a text, and ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Rob King refused comment when reached on his cell phone.

To stick with the NBA 2010 free agent analogy, this may not totally be LeBron going to Miami, but would probably be like, say, Carmelo going to the Knicks...

Saying the name M*tt Mi**en is about as offensive a thing as you can say in the state of Michigan. Simply the mere mention of his name will cause normally mild-mannered people to spew the most vile (and deserved) hatred they can fathom. M*tt Mi**en was a pox on the city of Detroit and its beloved football team. In his reign of terror, the Lions went 31-81 and ruined Sundays for everyone who bleeds the honolulu blue and silver for 7 bitter years.

Much like the excellent spoof Ben posted, here's another fantastic one from Funny Or Die:

While the casting choices leave a little to be desired, sadly much of the content of this trailer is true. The Lions failed for 7 years, but never were they boring. Also, if you told someone from Detroit that M*tt Mi**en was getting advice from a kid, there is many that would believe that were true. I mean, this is a guy who called one of his players a "devout coward" and also had that ugly Johnnie Morton incident. Fans organized the "Mi**en Man March" and much of the entertainment (since none was to be had on the field) came from the outstanding "Fire Mi**en" phenomenon and the embarrassing attempts to silence rational thinking.

When the M*tt Mi**en era came to a merciful end, us Detroiters rejoiced that we were rid of the demon that haunted our weekends. Incredibly, after demonstrating his complete lack of football wherewithal he was hired as a football analyst. A football...analyst? WDIV in Detroit rightfully pointed out the lunacy in one of the most destructive scrolls you'll ever see as he was offering his "expertise" on that year's Super Bowl teams.

In sick and sadistic fashion, his focus is on football in the midwest (he called last weekends MSU/OSU game). ABC even had the gall to assign Mi**en to last years MSU/UM game and in a strange but not welcome twist (irrational hatred is the lifeblood of this and other great rivalries) actually united those wearing green and those wearing maize in their hatred of Mi**en.

Now that the Lions are 5-0 and likely to never lose ever again, I can somewhat laugh at the insanity of the Mi**en era. Anything M*tt Mi**en says should be taken with a shovel of salt and I sincerely hope he is assigned to cover beach volleyball so us Mi**en survivors will never have to see him again. Plus, he probably offers as much expertise in beach volleyball as he does in football.

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With postseason ratings again in the crapper, it's good to see MLB's marketing group reinventing the wheel with this doozie of a commercial...

The already insanely overplayed "Written In The Stars" campaign has been largely panned by fans as both Fox and TBS seem to cue it up on almost every commercial break during games as well as breaks throughout the day (not that I watch Friends reruns or anything like that). If you thought you could escape the abrasive tune by actually attending a playoff game, our own Brady Green chimed in with his game experience tonight:

"For the 7 hours+ I was at the stadium they played "WRITTEN IN THE STARS" at least 10x (no exaggeration) so it's not just a TBS thing. I'm going to go find some kittens to punch before I go to sleep."

Regardless if you like the song and theme of the campaign, the bottom line is that it's overkill at this point. We're only midway through the league championships and the shtick has worn thin. 

Have no fear though, a squirrel running across home plate a week ago is now the featured commercial in hopes of getting fans excited? Eesh, fresh out of ideas apparently.

This got me thinking of past playoff campaigns that stood out both good and bad. Although people weren't so bullish on last year's NBA talking ball campaign, a lot of that was due to the success of the "There Can Only Be One" split screen commercials as well as the very well received and subsequently copycatted, "Where Amazing Happens" campaign.

I think the gold standard though of recent memory is the NHL's unbelievable campaign heading into the Stanley Cup. Don Draper would be very proud...

Whether the blame lies with MLB or their ad agency, the reality is baseball is continuing to lose mind share with other major sports as ratings continue to decline. The playoffs should be a great way to go out on a high note and build up momentum for the following year. The NBA and NHL have had success in this regard getting fans emotionally charged for postseason action. 

MLB's effort, although good in principle, just doesn't take into consideration people's natural instinct to turn on an overplayed song or fad. Adding the squirrel to the mix was just a desperate attempt to pump new life into a tired campaign. Not every postseason can produce success both on and off the field, but if a sport ever needed a good product on the field with good marketing air cover off the field, it would be MLB.

With Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, there was already ample reasons to avoid or mute the MLB playoffs. MLB's marketing seems to hurt more than it helps and obviously that is not a good thing. Historically though, MLB has struggled with their postseason marketing, so you would think change could be on the horizon in terms of the creative direction of the league's marketing efforts.

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Here's your Week 7 college football announcing schedule.  Brent and Herbie and Gameday are all in Eugene for the Top 25 matchup between Arizona State and Oregon (on ESPN at 10:15 ET instead of ABC at 8:00 ET).  Pammy leader Craig James calls USC/Cal tonight, but no game on Saturday, so make sure you tweet your Pammy submissions to us tonight.  In two other Top 25 matchups, Gus Johnson calls a noon game on FX between Baylor and Texas A&M and the Pasch/Spiels/Urban trio is in East Lansing for Sparty vs the Wolverines.  All times are eastern...

Thursday, October 13

San Diego State @ Air Force (8PM CBS Sports Net) James Bates, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Collins
USC @ California (9PM ESPN) Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Craig James, Jenn Brown

Friday October 14

Hawaii @ San Jose State (9PM ESPN) Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore

Saturday October 15

10 Michigan @ 19 Michigan State (Noon ESPN) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer, Quint Kessenich
Indiana @ 4 Wisconsin (Noon ESPN2) Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti
Utah @ Pittsburgh (Noon ESPNU) Rob Stone, Danny Kanell
24 Baylor @ 23 Texas A&M (Noon FX) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster
Purdue @ 25 Penn State (Noon BTN) Tom Hart, Derek Rackley, Lisa Byington
13 South Carolina @ Mississippi State (Noon SEC Net) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
Louisville @ Cincinnati (Noon Big East Net) Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAnaney
Toledo @ Bowling Green (Noon ESPN+) Michael Reghi, Doug Graber
Miami @ North Carolina (12:30 ACC Net) Steve Martin, Dave Archer, Mike Hogewood
UNLV @ Wyoming (2PM mtn) Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, Andrea Lloyd
Navy @ Rutgers (2PM ESPN3.com) Dave Popkin, Adam Archuleta

Florida State @ Duke (3PM ACC Net) Rich Waltz, Keith Jones, Jenn Hildreth
2 Louisiana State @ Tennessee (3:30 CBS) Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
7 Oklahoma State @ 21 Texas (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Samantha Steele
Ohio State @ 15 Illinois (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Bob Wischusen, Bob Davie, Heather Cox
12 Georgia Tech @ Virginia (3:30 ESPNU) Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins
Central Florida @ SMU (3:30 FSN) Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom
UTEP @ Tulane (3:30 FOX College Sports) Steve Physioc, Yogi Roth, Desmond Purnell
Colorado @ Washington (3:30 ROOT) Tom Glasgow, Jason Stiles, Jen Mueller, Alanna Rizzo
Ball State @ Ohio (3:30 STO) Matt Underwood, Frank Stams
South Florida @ Connecticut (3:30 Big East Net) Jim Barbar, Christian Fauria
Brigham Young @ Oregon State (4PM FOX College Sports) Dave McCann, Mike Lamb, Robbie Bullough
North Texas @ UL-Lafayette (5PM COX) Jimmy Fredrick, Scott Brazda, Blair Abene

3 Alabama @ Mississippi (6PM ESPN2) Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards
6 Boise State @ Colorado State (6PM mtn HD) Bill Doleman, Todd Christensen, Roger Bailey
17 Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest (6:30 ESPN3.com) Dave Weekley, Rene Ingoglia
Florida @ Auburn (7PM ESPN) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe
8 Clemson @ Maryland (7PM ESPNU) Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, Allison Williams
18 Kansas State @ Texas Tech (7PM FSN) Joel Meyers, Joel Klatt, Jim Knox
Northwestern @ Iowa (7PM BTN) Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller
Georgia @ Vanderbilt (7PM SEC Net) Bob Rathbun, Tim Couch, Kristina Akra
East Carolina @ Memphis (7PM WITN) Patrick Kinas, Kevin Miller, Billy Weaver
5 Stanford @ Washington State (7:30 VS) Ted Robinson, Glenn Parker, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
UAB @ Tulsa (8PM CBS Sports Net) Dave Ryan, Rich Rodriguez
1 Oklahoma @ Kansas (9:15 ESPN2) Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard, Shelley Smith
Utah State @ Fresno State (10PM ESPN3.com) Trey Bender, Jay Taylor
20 Arizona State @ 9 Oregon (10:15 ESPN) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews

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Terry Francona filled in for Tim McCarver during Games 1 & 2 of the ALCS on Fox alongside Joe Buck to rave reviews.  The former Red Sox manager pinch hit for the network while McCarver, Buck's partner since 1996, had a minor health-related procedure.  For many baseball fans, the partnership of Buck & McCarver has grown tiresome.  Quotes from McCarver like "a game of oblique angles, now a game of oblique injuries" is why he's on our Mount Rushmore. 

Francona gave hope to viewers for a breath of fresh air being breathed into a dormant Fox booth.  It was an admittedly risky move by Fox, but one I thought would be certainly worth the chance.  Here's what I wrote last week about Francona's stop in the broadcast booth:

"Francona's addition has the potential of being a home run.  Fox has found some success in the past bringing in analysts either still in or just out of baseball - Al Leiter's work in the Cubs/Marlins NLCS stands out off the top of my head.  Other managers like Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Gruden were able to add interesting insights in their early days as broadcasters being just removed from coaching as well."

Richard Deitsch had more praise for Francona's work:

"Forget about the mechanics and how smooth Francona was or was not coming in and out of breaks: He was insightful, and genuinely funny, both valuable commodities in broadcasting."

But most importantly, baseball fans quickly warmed to Francona's style of analysis.  Here's a sampling of the overwhelming positive assessments of Terry Francona from Twitter... 

Compare that response to these tweets from Fox's Game 4 coverage of the ALCS last night with McCarver in the booth joining Joe Buck and Francona watching from home...

I see a difference in those tweets and so do you... so why don't Fox and the networks...

The next big TV rights deal on the horizon is for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (you may remember them as the ones the USA got bribed beat out of hosting by Russia and Qatar) and other FIFA tournaments from 2015-2022.  Three networks - ESPN, Fox, and NBC are going to Zurich next week to FIFA headquarters to make bids for the package.  John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has more details:

"Given the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S., plus the skyrocketing cost of live sports, any new bid should see a healthy increase.  Once bids are submitted Oct. 19, FIFA is expected to decide whether to accept one of the bids later that week. FIFA could either accept one of the bids or go back to the networks if the bids are too close. ESPN, which has carried World Cup games in some fashion since ‘82, will be represented in Zurich by Exec VP/Content John Skipper and Senior VP/Programming & Global X Scott Guglielmino. Fox Sports is sending a small group led by Fox Soccer Exec VP & GM David Nathanson. NBC will send a delegation, but it's not known who will be in it."

Skipper is one of ESPN's top executives and the driving force behind the comittment to the 2010 World Cup and ESPN's overall growth in televised soccer.  One only has to look at the tripleheader of soccer yesterday to see ESPN's continued focus.  Earlier this year, NBC snatched MLS and USA soccer rights from Fox to make their entry into the game.  

Fox has started televising EPL games opposite NFL windows this fall and the numbers have been impressive, even on tape delay.  They took the Champions League away from ESPN as well, although their overall coverage on Fox and Fox Soccer lacks the depth and quality of ESPN.  NBC is still an unknown entity in the soccer field, but they obviously are very motivated to start acquiring games.  This FIFA package isn't just the two World Cups, but Women's WCs and plenty of live programming for an all sports network desperate for just that.  Other hypotheticals would certianly come into play including announcers Fox or NBC may tab if they win these rights.

I'd favor ESPN with about a 50% chance, NBC around 30% and Fox at 20%.  As a fan of soccer, part of me is keen to see ESPN hold onto World Cup rights and continue the growth in their coverage and in the sport as a whole.  ESPN's decision to go all-in with their soccer coverage is possibly the best thing to happen for the sport in this country in the last decade.  With how much ESPN has poured into soccer over the last few years, it would be a major surprise to see them outbid for these tournaments, but I would expect both Fox and NBC to not go down without a fight.

[Sports Business Journal]

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As you've all heard by now, Hank Williams Jr. was ousted by ESPN; regarding to his long-standing relationship with the musical introduction to "Monday Night Football."  If you have no idea what's going on, but find your self rowdily humming along to the MNF intro you are going to be disappointed.  AA has been covering this issue Here, Here, and Here, if you want to catch up.

Hank was a little too rowdy in an interview on the show "Fox and Friends," comparing Obama to Hitler and etc etc etc.  Basically, long story short, there will no longer be any more Monday night party.  In response to getting canned, Hank released a new song called "Keep the Change" ripping ESPN and the "United Socialist States of America." 

Ohhhhhhh, them here some fighting words:

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Back in August we told you about ESPN's new Total Quarterback Rating, just their next step on the road to total sports domination.  With the laughability of the new metric and the audacity of ESPN to come up with their own statistic to judge the art of quarterbacking, it was only a matter of time before the WWL ended up with egg on their face.  I mean, even in THE YEAR OF THE QUARTERBACK, an idea like ESPN's QBR was bound to backfire.  Enter Week 5 and two mythological figures... Aaron Rodgers and Tim Tebow.

Yes, ESPN's two favorite quarterbacks.  One is deservedly being recognized as the best QB in the league, and yes, I'm talking about Aaron Rodgers.  But, somehow, someway, ESPN's infallable ultimate QB metric decided that Rodgers (who was 26/39 for 396 yards and two TDs against Atlanta) was inferior in Week 5 to Jesus Christ Quarterback himself... Tim Tebow.  Well, since ESPN's new QBR is so thorough and fantastic, Tebow mush have had one hell of a game!  And, looking at the numbers, how could anyone think Rodgers had a better performance than Tebow, who threw for 334 yards, ran for 212 yards, scored 8 total TDs, and rescued children from a burning building in the Broncos comprehensive victory over the Chargers...

Wait... what's that?  The Broncos didn't win?  And Tebow didn't have 500 yards of offense and 8 TDs? Oh really! You mean he only played half the game?  And his stat line was 4/10 for 79 yards, 6 rushes for 38 yards and had two total TDs?  Oh... well then yeah, this new ESPN QBR must really be awesome.  And don't worry, ESPN isn't incessantly hyping Tebow's QBR rating in their endless, horrifying, nauseating, nonstop TebowMania coverage or anything.

But, the mere fact that ESPN's GREATEST STATISTICAL METRIC TO COMMEMORATE THE YEAR OF THE QUARTERBACK ranked Tim Tebow ahead of Aaron Rodgers isn't laughable enough on its own.  On ESPN's Stats & Info Blog (who knew?), there are not one, but two articles justifying why Tebow was ranked ahead of Aaron Rodgers.  Now, how great can your shiny new stat be if your stats department has to write two separate blog posts to justify the ranking?  To save you the grief, here are five key points supposedly justifying why Tebow ranked ahead of Rodgers and why it doesn't make sense...