On Monday, we posted our nominees for the Pammy quote of the year to kick off our AA yearendapalooza.  What better way to celebrate the departure of Craig James from the broadcast booth and the year that was in the Pammies than by counting down the Top 10 quotes of 2011!  James ran away with this year's Pammies, but he didn't capture the Pammy of the Year for the most memorable quote of the college football season.  Who did?  Let's just say it was a great year for casual swearing across the family of networks.  The envelope please...

10) "The first, inaugural Big 12 Champions." - Tim Brewster (via Aaron_Torres) at the Big Ten Championship Game.

9) "Smith has a team high 6 catches on the season. Or on the season or in the game because it's the first game of season" - Pam Ward(via kevin7673)

8) "2 of the last 3 Central Michigan passes have been intercepted. The last one for an interception." - Pam Ward (via SBisho12)

7) "I know a lot of Aggies who are happy they aren't blowing out (Texas)." - Craig James (via sctvman)  Even for Craig James this makes no sense.

6) "Six Trojans are going to come" - Craig James (via SenatorGiggity)

5) "If he wasn't a quiet guy, he would be a vocal leader on this club" - Craig James (via dhh78) on Marcus Lattimore.

4) "There is a good possibility one of these teams will suffer their first loss." - Gary Danielson (via ATLNagel) in a game featuring unbeaten Florida vs unbeaten Alabama.

3) "Got his hands on a lot of balls and then a sack." - Gary Danielson (via Ryan Scheb)

2A) "I'm all for it. I'm not completely against it." - Craig James (via DWW_1992)

2B) "It's not even close and it's really close right now." - Craig James (via IsaacTM)

1) ...

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The degree of difficulty of this buzzer beater is off the charts. Damien Bell-Holter, who plays center, steals the pass and baseball throws in a one-footed contested missile from half court to win the game. He even does it on the road in front of what looks to be a very raucous UALR Jack Stephens Center crowd. After the pass is intercepted, Haxton excitedly says "let's go to overtime!" before breaking out in hysterics after the shot miraculously doesn't shatter the backboard and goes in. Also, check out #22 Steven Roundtree's victory dance, it's almost as good as Bell-Holter's shot.

Since I write for Awful Announcing, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the news anchor saying, "as they say, expect a miracle." I disagree with "they" that expecting a miracle is actually a thing that one should be doing. Besides, a certain QB in Denver certainly might be bogarting most of the miracles these days.

The win improved Oral Roberts' record to 7-3 on the season. Hopefully ORU once again can make the tournament so when it comes time to filling out our brackets we can proudly brag that we picked "ORAL" to go far in the tournament. Next, the Golden Eagles travel to Spokane for a showdown with Gonzaga.

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We posted a story two weeks ago that a source close to the situation had said Craig James was leaving ESPN at the end of the year to run for political office in Texas.  At the time, we had a statement from James through our friends at Crystal Ball Run that ominously referenced his ties to Texas business leaders and his focus on his "analyst responsibilities."

But now it looks like the Pony's run for political office is indeed coming true.  According to Gromer Jeffers, political reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Craig James will file paperwork Thursday to run for the United States Senate...

This calls for a celebration, unless you live in Texas that is...

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Dick Stockton has the lead in the awards that bear his name, but there's still plenty of voting left in the 2011 Dickies.  Phil Simms turned in an absolutely epic performance in Green Bay's blowout victory over Oakland this week, and it was tough to only limit him to four nominees.  Enjoy Phil's pearls of wisdom and the rest of your Week 14 nominees...

1) "Mike McCarthy...I said he's a genius. And you know why? Because he doesn't try to be a genius." - Phil Simms (via DevsFan30)

2) "You hate when your balls get tipped around" - Marcellus Wiley (via jbteller)

3) "This is a very important game." - Chris Berman. He was talking about the Jaguars-Buccaneers game. (via JoshuaBatelli)

4) "Aaron Rodgers can make that ball spin so much that it almost wobbles" - Phil Simms (via yerger)

5) "Tom is pretty good at challenges. He's lost his last six though" - Al Michaels (via ThreeRiversBlog)

6) "How about the second yard statistics from this game?" - Jim Mora showing the second quarter stats (via ShutdownLine)

7) "You know, coach Cowher he hands out compliments like manhole covers." - Phil Simms (via kylejgood)

8) "Gimme 50 shares of Tebow" - Daryl Johnston (via BKibbs)

9) "It was a good hustle penalty there by the Raiders." - Phil Simms (via AA)

10) "He combines the combination of speed and power." - Brian Billick (via Chad1320)

11) "Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are the gold standard of baseball broadcasts." - Dick Stockton (via JoshButters)  

12) "That's a tight hole and a big man right there" - Brian Billick (via jessegennigen/prwillard2)

13) "He might go to the pro bowl before this season's over" - Jon Gruden (via mgwPSU)

14) "Doug "Prematurely" Baldwin" - Chris Berman (via JagsFan93)

15) "These Skittles, I gotta find out what's in these things." - Jon Gruden (via AA)

16) "It's amazing how you figure those yardages out so fast John...I'm really...(awkward pause) amazed." - Dick Stockton (via abashuk)

17) "He's a guy who would chew a guy's leg off to win a game." - Dan Dierdorf (via bjgunts)

Vote For Your Week 14 Dickies Nominees! (vote for up to five)

The winners will come Wednesday so make sure you vote early and often and check back for the full NFL Week 15 announcing sked later this week!

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There have been plenty of great real life sports stories that have found a new life on the silver screen and success in Hollywood.  Remember the Titans, Invictus, The Blind Side, Rudy, Hoosiers, Glory Road, Major League... ok, maybe not that last one.   Surprisingly though, Hollywood has never efforted a major movie to tell perhaps the most dramatic, influential, transformational sports story of them all - the life of Jackie Robinson.  A Robinson film is now being planned and one of Hollywood's biggest icons will take part as Harrison Ford is slated to play legendary Dodgers GM Branch Rickey.  Here's the details from MLB.com...

One of baseball's most inspirational stories will soon have a powerful cast to bring it to life.

Legendary Pictures announced Friday that it has cast Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey and Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson in an upcoming film about the ballplayer-turned-civil rights icon. Brian Helgeland, the author of "L.A. Confidential" and "Mystic River," has been tabbed to write and direct the story about Robinson famously breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947.

Ford, the star of the long-running "Indiana Jones" franchise and an Academy Award Best Actor nominee in 1985 for the feature film "Witness," will bring his considerable weight to Rickey's role. Rickey, a Hall of Fame executive, is best known for bringing Robinson to the big leagues and changing baseball forever, but he's also received credit for all but creating the modern-day Minor League farm system.

Chadwick Boseman, a Brooklyn native who will play Robinson, has experience in athlete biopics, albeit in a supporting role - he played future Syracuse RB Floyd Little in The Express.  It'll be exciting to see how the stories of Robinson and Rickey play out in the upcoming film and where it'll rank amongst the great sports movies of all-time.  I've always been enamored with the story of Branch Rickey because we share the same alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University.  It was back in 1903 when Rickey, who was coaching the OWU baseball team at the time, recruited Charles Thomas to fill his catching role on the team.  Thomas was the lone black player on the OWU team.  His courage facing racism and his relationship with Rickey remained with the future Dodgers GM for many years to come.  It's just one example of the several layers of amazing stories that can be told in this film, which will surely be a must see for all sports fans.

[MLB.com]

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If you’ve watched ESPN2’s First Take (even if just for five minutes) or followed Skip Bayless’ Twitter account over the last few months, you’re well aware that he has an affinity for Tim Tebow that’s beginning to reach highly uncomfortable levels.

The main point Bayless constantly (at least 50 times/day) makes in regards to Tebow is, “All he does is win!” And unfortunately to those of us that hate when Bayless looks anywhere close to accurate with his opinions, Tebow indeed continues to win. Of course, if you study the NFL much, you realize the Broncos’ defense is far and away the main reason for their six-game winning streak (or in last night’s case, Marion Barber pretty much handing the Broncos the game, twice).

Anyway, DJ Steve Porter gave Bayless’ “All he does is win!“ stuff the auto-tune treatment. Check it out:

What just happened? My head is spinning.

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Over the next couple weeks we'll be posting several gimmicky year-end articles to look back on the year in AA.  I'm a bit of a sucker for year-end lists and retrospectives, what can I say.  To kick start our celebration of 2011 is the first ever vote for Pammy of the Year!  We've brought together the Pammy winners from the 14 weeks of the regular season along with a few of our favorites for you to select the Pammy quote of the year.  The rules are the same for the weekly Pammy vote, you can vote for up to five nominees and the winners will come Wednesday morning.  Here are your nominees...

1) "Smith has a team high 6 catches on the season. Or on the season or in the game because it's the first game of season" - Pam Ward(via kevin7673)

2) "The goal of the defense is to keep the offense from scoring." - Artrell Hawkins with brilliant analysis (via steve5643)

3) "... is from right here in Louisville" - Pam Ward (via TheBlightning) calling the CM-UK game from Lexington.

4) "Got his hands on a lot of balls and then a sack." - Gary Danielson (via Ryan Scheb)

5) "If he wasn't a quiet guy, he would be a vocal leader on this club" - Craig James (via dhh78) on Marcus Lattimore.

6) "2 of the last 3 Central Michigan passes have been intercepted. The last one for an interception." - Pam Ward (via SBisho12)

7) "I caught up with Bitch... Butch Jones coming out of the half." - Jenn Brown (VIDEO)

8) "I'll tell you... I can't begin to tell you." - Brett Favre (via RickRoswell) on Mississippi HS football.

9) "There is a good possibility one of these teams will suffer their first loss." - Gary Danielson (via ATLNagel) in a game featuring unbeaten Florida vs unbeaten Alabama.

10) "This is why Lamar Miller averages eight and a half carries per touch." - Craig James (via DWW_1992)

11) "Six Trojans are going to come" - Craig James (via SenatorGiggity)

12A) "I'm all for it. I'm not completely against it." - Craig James (via DWW_1992)

12B) "It's not even close and it's really close right now." - Craig James (via IsaacTM)

13) "I knew right away because it felt different under there." - Gary Danielson (via sjwest86) on accidentally lining under a guard

 14) "You come in and bite, I'm pullin' that sucker out" - Matt Millen (via Chris Schenkel)

15) "Stick it up in there hard and with power!" - Chris Spielman (via DomoBENesis)

16) "Fans are wearing blue in honor of child support, err, child abuse" - Tom Rinaldi (via AlexFromBuffalo)

17) "Boise doesn't lose at home. You have to beat them" - Shaun King (via SoonerCharley)

18) "Ah, f*ck it!" - Lee Corso (video)

19) "I know a lot of Aggies who are happy they aren't blowing out (Texas)." - Craig James (via sctvman)  Even for Craig James this makes no sense.

20) "The first, inaugural Big 12 Champions." - Tim Brewster (via Aaron_Torres) at the Big Ten Championship Game.

Vote For Your Pammy of the Year! (vote for up to five)

You can also look ahead to bowl season by checking out the full announcing schedule here.

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Barcelona once again got the best of Real Madrid this weekend in the latest Clasico, winning 3-1 on the road at the Santiago Bernabeu.  It was Barca's sixth win in their last seven La Liga games against their rivals (with one draw) and puts them level with Madrid for top spot in the league.  It was a wild game with fluky goals both ways, but Barcelona's world class talent and tactical maneuvering won the day.  (For the hardcore soccer fans, Jonathan Wilson at SI and Zonal Marking's breakdown of the game are must reads.)

But we're here to talk about one of my favorite announcers, Ray Hudson of Gol TV.  The mad scientist of announcers was at his excitable best for the high profile game.  While I usually abhor analysts that shout over their play by play men, Ray is the one exception to the rule.  His unique way with words is unlike any other announcer and a lot of credit should go to his partner Phil Schoen for allowing Ray the leeway to be who he is... a screaming, philosophizing, entertaining madman.  Below are the highlights of the Barcelona-Real Madrid game with Hudson and Schoen's commentary and some of the best Ray Hudson quotes below...

"Ramos slips like Bambi on ice and Leo's in..."

"There's plenty of meat and potatoes on his header."

"OOOOO-WAAAA!!!!"

"GAHHH!!!... It's a paradigm of everything that Barcelona is brilliant at and it's Lionel Messi again... Lionel, the dagger's out for him, he slots it through, and Sanchez has got no time.  One touch to control, another caress of it and a wonderful slingshot."

"It's chameleon eyes I believe that strikes it with just enough technique to take it towards goal but it takes a wicked deflection, and the saints ain't smilin' on Saint Iker now.  This is a gangster goal from Barcelona and it's Xavi that's holding the revolver." 

"AAAYYAAAHHH!!!  Astonishing miss... this is food and drink for Cristiano and that is a horrendous miss!"

"Fabregas doesn't get his dagger out here, he gets his big harpoon and puts it into Real Madrid."

"It's lightning speed counterattack, but with glinting blades like Edward Scissorhands, Barcelona cuts Real Madrid down to size."

"Great ball... well played... nicely... AAAHHHH... not so sure if big Benz is going for goal, I think he is, and he's not far away.  Wonderful.  He puts Carlos Puyol on his back like a turtle..."

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Here's your full bowl schedule with announcers. Games kickoff on Saturday and there's a game just about every night through the National Championship on January 9th. We'll probably put up a Pammy thread on Saturday and bump it when the comments start to get crowded. It should be a fun month - enjoy.

Saturday, December 17:   

2 PM- Gildan   New Mexico  Bowl:  Temple  vs.   Wyoming   [ESPN/ ESPN3] Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, Jessica Mendoza

5:30 PM- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Ohio  vs.   Utah   State   [ESPN/ ESPN3] Dave Flemming, Mike Bellotti, Heather Cox

9 PM- R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette vs.   San Diego   State   [ESPN/ ESPN3] Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard, Shelley Smith

Tuesday, December 20:  

8 PM- Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl: Florida International vs. Marshall [ESPN/ ESPN3] Mike Patrick, Craig James, Jeannine Edwards

Wednesday, December 21:  

8 PM- San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl:   Louisiana   Tech vs. TCU [ESPN/ ESPN3] Joe Tessitore, Lou Holtz, Mark May, TBA

Thursday, December 22:  

8 PM- MAACO Bowl  Las Vegas :   Arizona   State   vs. Boise State [ESPN/ ESPN3] Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Tom Rinaldi

Saturday, December 24:  

8 PM- Sheraton  Hawaii  Bowl:   Nevada   vs. Southern Miss [ESPN/ ESPN3] Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham, Jessica Mendoza

Monday, December 26:  

5 PM- AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: Missouri vs. North Carolina [ESPN/ ESPN3] Rob Stone, Danny Kanell, Allison Williams

Tuesday, December 27:

4:30 PM- Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Purdue vs. Western Michigan [ESPN/ ESPN3] Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti, Eamon McAnaney

8 PM- Belk Bowl: Louisville vs. NC State [ESPN/ ESPN3] Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese, Shannon Spake

Wednesday, December 28:

4:30 PM- Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman: Air Force vs. Toledo [ESPN/ ESPN3] Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins, Jeannine Edwards

8 PM- Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl: California vs. Texas [ESPN/ ESPN3] Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer, Jenn Brown

Thursday, December 29:

5:30 PM- Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State vs. Notre Dame [ESPN/ ESPN3] Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore, Holly Rowe

9 PM- Valero Alamo Bowl: Baylor vs. Washington [ESPN/ ESPN3] Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Quint Kessenich

Friday, December 30:

Noon- Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: BYU vs. Tulsa [ESPN/ ESPN3] Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano

3:20 PM- New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Iowa State vs. Rutgers [ESPN/ ESPN3] Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer, Tom Rinaldi

6:40 PM- Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest [ESPN/ ESPN3] Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards

10 PM- Insight Bowl: Iowa vs. Oklahoma [ESPN/ ESPN3] Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Heather Cox

Saturday, December 31:

Noon- Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Northwestern vs. Texas A&M [ESPN/ ESPN3] Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese, Eamon McAnaney

2 PM- Hyundai Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Utah [CBS/ CBSSports.com] Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson

3:30 PM- AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt [ABC/ ESPN3] Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley, Quint Kessenich

3:30 PM- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois vs. UCLA [ESPN/ ESPN3] Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard, Shelley Smith

7:30 PM- Chick-fil-A Bowl: Auburn vs. Virginia [ESPN/ ESPN3] Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe

Monday, January 2:

Noon- TicketCity Bowl: Houston vs. Penn State [ESPNU/ ESPN3] Clay Matvick, Danny Kanell, Allison Williams

1 PM- Outback Bowl: Georgia vs. Michigan State [ABC] Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters

1 PM- Capital One Bowl: Nebraska vs. South Carolina [ESPN/ ESPN3] Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich

1 PM- TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl: Florida vs. Ohio State [ESPN2/ ESPN3] Mike Patrick, Craig James, Jeannine Edwards

5 PM- Rose Bowl Presented by Vizio: Wisconsin vs. Oregon [ESPN/ ESPN3] Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews

8:30 PM- Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Stanford [ESPN/ ESPN3] Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Heather Cox

Tuesday, January 3:

8:30 PM- Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech [ESPN/ ESPN3] Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe

Wednesday, January 4:

8 PM- Discover Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. West Virginia [ESPN/ ESPN3] Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Lisa Salters

Friday, January 6:

8 PM- AT&T Cotton Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas State [FOX] Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster

Saturday, January 7:

1 PM- BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. SMU [ESPN/ ESPN3] Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAananey

Sunday, January 8:

9 PM- GoDaddy.com Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois [ESPN/ ESPN3] Rob Stone, Danny Kanell, Cara Capuano

Monday, January 9:

8 PM- Allstate BCS National Championship: Alabama vs. LSU [ESPN/ ESPN3] Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi

H/T Daniel!

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So this is why Michael Wilbon was hesitant to join Twitter.  This screengrab was taken tonight from his Twitter page @RealMikeWilbon...

Whoever JJN is, he (she?) must be a big fan of Adam Schefter.  Then again, maybe the latest TebowMania magic slash Bears choke job has sent Wilbon over the edge of sanity?  As for the identity of "JJN" the only obvious candidate is Stan Van Gundy, right?

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