Enjoy Ray Hudson's Crazy, Brilliant Ravings From This Weekend's Clasico

Written by Matt Yoder on .

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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Your Full 2011 College Football Bowl Game Announcing Schedule

Written by Packey on .

pamwrdbowl

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 BowlPittsburgh 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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Michael Wilbon's Twitter Account Has Been Hacked... Hopefully

Written by Matt Yoder on .

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

wilbonhack1
wilbonhack2

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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Straight Outta Stockton Week 14

Written by Matt Yoder on .

dick_stockton

Dick Stockton himself has opened up a bit of a lead on Phil Simms, Brian Billicks, and the rest of NFL announcingdom.  Can anyone close the gap in the final four weeks of the season?  You can check the comments below in the SOS open thread and our Twitter timeline for all submissions.  You can also tweet us by using the hashtag #SOSAA to send in quotes.  Then, we'll be back on Tuesdays with 15-20 nominees and you'll vote on our Top 10 for the week.  SOS winners will be announced Thursdays with updated standings.  Below you can find the links to last week's Top 10 and up to the second standings along with this week's NFL announcing schedule with broadcast maps.

Week 13 Dickies Winners & Standings

Week 14 NFL Announcing Schedule 

_________________________________________________________

"Make no mistake about it, this is a different football team without Ben Roethlisberger. - Michael Irvin (via kcopen)

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

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"OHH! OHH! UNBAHLIEVABLE!" Dick Vitale's Call Of Wild IU/UK Buzzer Beater

Written by Brady Green on .

Indiana shocked the number one ranked Kentucky Wildcats at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Christian Watford to win 73-72 at Assembly Hall. UK overcame a large deficit late in the 2nd half to take the lead but missed free throws in the final seconds proved to be very costly. A decade ago, IU won in a similar fashion against #1 ranked Michigan State on a Kirk Haston three at the buzzer that I so desperately wish I could forget.

Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman were on the call (below is also the IU radio call of the game winner). Luckily this epic shot and call will help us forget about how annoying Dickie V was for much of the game. Vitale spent most of IU's possesions yelling "WHY ISN'T THE BALL GOING TO ZELLAH!" Yep, it got old even if he was probably correct. Also, take note of Crean's face after the shot... it's pretty fantastic.

Update: Here's the Crean face I was talking about... ESPN Munson'd that final score so don't pay attention to it.

crean face

Ed. Update: And if all that goodness wasn't enough, here's the fantastic IU radio call from Don Fischer (h/t Big Ten Network)...

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Gus Johnson Definitely Has The Green Light From Fox To Stretch Out Creatively and Promotionally

Written by Ben Koo on .

Screen_shot_2011-12-10_at_3.18.59_AM

Gus Johnson debuted a new web video on FoxSports.com which looks to be the first part in a series called "Rise and Fire" which is also the name of his trademarked clothing brand. Clocking in at three minutes it's definitely....something different. Below is the video itself as well as some quick thoughts on the unique direction Fox and Johnson are going...

 

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=79e7b58c-05f2-4029-b7d1-7638b1ce73c7&videoId=79e7b58c-05f2-4029-b7d1-7638b1ce73c7&from=&src=v5:embed::" target='_new' title='Rise and Fire: Blistering Badgers' >Video: Rise and Fire: Blistering Badgers</a> While just a web video tucked away on Foxsports.com, the style of the video is a HUGE break from the norm on several fronts including:

- Play by play announcers are rarely seen outside of professional or business casual attire. Not only is Johnson dressed casually, but he's aggressively promoting his brand even doing the set to a backdrop of the logo.

- The discourse itself is casual and free flowing. The opening pitch of the series says the show will give "mad shout-outs" to pro and college players and ends with the tag-line "Cold Blooded" which is Johnson's current apparel collection within the Rise and Fire brand. Johnson also dougies as seen in the picture above and brings on a musician friend who he provides backup vocals for in an impromptu freestyle rap.

- Johnson interacts with what he calls the "peanut gallery," a group of friends and possible colleagues who are on set for the taping and potentially part of the production. 

Time will tell if Fox and Johnson will find success crafting this different type of content clearly aimed at a younger audience. It's clear though that Johnson has found a partner in Fox that will allow him to step out of his play by play role and produce content with more personality and commentary as well as letting Johnson run wild with brand integration of the content. From the looks of the first video, I wonder if Fox is potentially even an equity partner in Rise and Fire.

At CBS, most felt we never got enough Johnson. Looking at how things are going at Fox, I am guessing that's not going to be a problem. Perhaps Fox is seeing a lot of the success Bill Simmons is having branching out at ESPN and is thinking Johnson might be able to have a similar touch and sense of taste for them as well. 

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how Fox utilizes Johnson on the web and more importantly, if he gets any more NFL assignments, perhaps even a playoff game (a very big longshot), before transitioning to his work for the Big Ten Network.

Cold blooded.

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Your FCS Playoff (And Army-Navy) Announcing Schedule

Written by Matt Yoder on .

pamwardchronicles

The Pammies are over for the regular season, and the bowls are still some time away, but that doesn't mean there aren't important college football games being played this weekend!  Yes, there are college football playoff games happening this weekend as well as the Army-Navy game.  Here are the games to watch for Friday and Saturday...

Friday, December 9:

8 PM- Northern Iowa at Montana [ESPN/ ESPN3]- Justin Kutcher, Tom Lugenbill

Saturday, December 10:

Noon- Montana State at Sam Houston State [ESPN/ ESPN3] Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
1 PM- SWAC Championship: Alabama A&M vs. Grambling State [ESPNU] Adam Amin, Jay Walker
2 PM- Maine at Georgia Southern [ESPN3] John Sedak, John Bunting
2:30 PM- Army vs. Navy from Landover, MD [CBS] Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
4 PM- Lehigh at North Dakota State [ESPN3] Trey Bender, Jay Taylor

H/T Daniel!

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Columbus Blue Jackets Announcer Confused By This Overtime Goal

Written by Matt Yoder on .

Living in Columbus, I can tell you one thing... it's not easy being a Blue Jackets fan.  The team has made a grand total of one appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since their inception in 2000.  One!  And everyone makes the playoffs in hockey!  In that playoff appearance in 2009, the Blue Jackets were even swept by the Detroit Red Wings.  The Jackets have never even finished above third in the Central Division (and that only happened once).  And to top it all off, Columbus still has to deal with a stupid bug for a mascot.   The team has been hemorrhaging money, ranks 27th in attendance, and whispers of relocation have been rampant.  In fact, it may come down to a new downtown casino to save the team... or maybe that's Urban Meyer.

Although Jackets history has been less than stellar, this may be the worst season yet.  Columbus has the least points in the NHL and are already 11 points out of 8th spot in the Western Conference.  The team is in the bottom four in the league in both goals scored and goals allowed.  And last night might have been the low point of the season so far.  Columbus allowed 2 goals in the final 2 minutes to allow Nashville to tie the game and send it into overtime.  The Preds then won in overtime on a Colin Wilson goal that confused Blue Jackets television announcer Jeff Rimer, who thought netminder Curtis Sanford made the save.  The hopeful exuberance followed abruptly by the depressed reality that is the Columbus Blue Jackets makes this one of the more fitting calls you may hear this year...

If the losing keeps up like this, maybe Rimer will turn into the real life version of another Ohio broadcaster, Harry Doyle.  Now that would make the Jackets worth watching!

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This Week In Screengrab Snafus - 12/9

Written by Matt Yoder on .

pujoles

Time for This Week In Screengrab Snafus.  Yesterday was one of the craziest days in sports I can remember with the Chris Paul drama in New Orleans and the Albert Pujoles deal with the Angels.  Wait, who?  I love it when news channels try to talk sports.  Just this morning GMA evidently referred to Kris Humphries as an NBA "superstar." (snafu via SportsGrid)

Elsewhere on the Hot Stove, the Miami Marlins signed a big name free agent pitcher.  I don't know what's uglier, the leader trying to spell Mark Buehrle, or the new Marlins logo.  (H/T Metstradamus)

beuherle

TroughDrinker sent us this screengrab of the leader attempting to get us hyped for the BCS National Championship Game rematch.  If Alabama actually wins the second game 9-6, then what do we do?  Do we just award the crystal ball to the SEC as a whole?

lsubamascore

Fox is back in the college football game, but via cjzero comes this screengrab of Russell Wilson's statline against Michigan State in the Big Ten title game.  It was impressive... good luck trying to read it though...

wilsonstats

And finally, from last night's prestigious college football awards show on ESPN, well, you can just see for yourself (h/t bubbaprog)...

footbal

That was your week in Screengrab Snafus, next time be careful out there!

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ESPN's Practice Of Piggybacking On Other's Reporting Without Attribution Is Beginning To Ruffle Feathers

Written by Ben Koo on .

Screen_shot_2011-12-09_at_5.12.55_AM

A couple months back at the Blogs With Balls Conference, former SportsCenter host, Josh Elliott (now with Good Morning America), confirmed what many sports media enthusiasts had concluded for quite some time.

ESPN would often confirm already broken stories without attributing the story to another media organization. Andrew Bucholtz was one of many in attendance who took note of the revelation as this seemingly standard practice hadn't really been confronted or confirmed in any way. 

"Elliott also criticized ESPN for its decision to start putting Chris Mortensen "reports" that were reworkings of other organizations' football stories on their ticker.

"They just started stealing scoops," he said. "It was a practice I never agreed with. ... I felt horrible."

Elliott said he made his concerns known to his bosses, but they never went too far.

"It’s such a big place," he said.

Elliott deserves thorough props for being willing to criticize his employer in front of an audience. It was one of the most interesting moments of the day, and one that gave me a great deal of respect for him. The rest of the panel was notable as well, though."

Of late the practice has begun to rankle those within the business as ESPN continues to utilize the tactic in the moments and hours after news initially breaks.

Dan Patrick has quite the monologue on the topic, which I implore you to listen to below as ESPN tried to piggyback off Yahoo's Tim Brown's scoop of the Angels' signing of Albert Pujols. 

Those are strong words and you can tell it's a topic the former ESPN host is passionate about. I'd quote the good parts, but really the entire two minutes packs a good punch.

Patrick isn't alone though as there has been a noticeable outcry within the industry as ESPN continues to get beat to the punch, but still goes through the act of "breaking" the story on Twitter and on live television without attributing to real people. 

Below are some of the many instances where media folks are speaking out. We're so cool, you can just click read more rather than make you endure a slide show...

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