Last week we told you World Cup TV rights in 2018 and 2022 were up for grabs as ESPN was in competition with Fox and NBC.  ESPN was seen as a firm favorite to retain the World Cup rights given the success the event has brought the network, the deep pockets in Bristol, and the passion ESPN #2 John Skipper has for the sport.  However, in an upset the likes of Senegal over France, Fox has come from nowhere to win the rights for all FIFA events from 2015-2022 including those World Cups.  Here's the report from John Ourand at SBJ...

The FIFA World Cup will have a new U.S. TV partner in '18 and '22, with several sources saying that Fox will pick up the English-language rights. FIFA has informed the bidders and is planning to announce the winners at some point today or early next week. The decision to award the rights to Fox is a shocking development, since incumbent ESPN was widely believed to be the front-runner to retain the World Cup rights.

I only pegged Fox at 20% last week, so this is definitely a surprise.  Fox has been agressive in going all-in with soccer the last couple years.  They got the Champions League away from ESPN, have rebranded and put money into updated sets and graphics for Fox Soccer, and have even gone as far as putting taped EPL games from Sunday mornings on Sunday afternoons in an NFL window.

I am frankly shocked ESPN let the World Cup go considering all the factors above.  This is a company that hates losing more than it loves winning.  It'll be a bitter pill to swallow seeing how they have helped to build the World Cup into must see television here in the states.  Now, Fox will get to profit off ESPN's investment into the World Cup and the sport of soccer.  ESPN sent along this statement to AA regarding the news...

"We made a disciplined bid that would have been both valuable to FIFA and profitable for our company, while continuing to grow our unprecedented coverage of the World Cup and Women's World Cup events. We were aggressive while remaining prudent from a business perspective.  ESPN remains committed to presenting the sport of soccer at the highest level across our platforms with coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship, English Premier League, La Liga, MLS and other top leagues and tournaments, including the 2014 World Cup in Brazil."

It's unclear at this time how much Fox broke the bank for these World Cup rights and where ESPN's cutoff point was in the bidding process.  While the effects of this bid won't be felt until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, this is a landmark moment for the course of televised soccer and the sport in general in the United States.  Let's try to make sense of what the World Cup's move from ESPN to Fox may mean for all the parties involved...

ESPN had a tall order this evening. Two bottom feeding Pac 12 teams playing during a close World Series game as well as going up against popular shows like Jersey Shore, The League, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Not helping was the fact UCLA was getting ridiculously crushed 42-7 as the first half was winding down (Neuheisel a TV analyst by the end of November perhaps?)

Enter Jacen Lankow, the alleged streaker dressed up as referee, to spice up the night. ESPN followed the television protocol of not showing the ensuing fun and actually had a juicier story unfolding as a pretty substantial brawl which led to ejections broke out on the field. Meanwhile, Lankow continued on before being corralled as you see below. Before you watch this video, I am giving you some strong advice to turn down the volume as the cameraman's shrill cheers for the event are a bit painful on the ears. It's pretty clear, given the streaker was zoomed in on before he even entered the field of play, that he was open about his intentions.

Who doesn't like a good video of a drunken streaker getting chased down by authority figures? 

ESPN shrugged off the incident and focused on the brawl and subsequent ejections. 

It used to be that not showing these type of incidents on camera prevented people from ever seeing the incident play out. However with smaller video cameras and cell phones, in addition to Youtube, it's pretty much standard now for these sophomoric guilty pleasure videos to always see the light of day.

It's unclear if Lankow intended to get caught or just didn't really have an exit strategy. Regardless he seemed to lack good field vision as he was bottled up near the end zone.  All in all, he lasted 20 seconds of on field antics before getting tackled. Not bad, but not that impressive, which popular to contrary belief is not Arizona's school saying.

Below is how it looked on ESPN. The most disdain Rece Davis can conjure up is calling Lankow a "knucklehead." Weren't we all back in college?

Watching this made me think back when I witnessed one of the most epic streaker escapes at a football game of all time. Barry Sanders like moves mixed with Chris Johnson like speed. He hurdled back into the stands after running the entire field being chased and seemingly cornered several times. The heftier security guys couldn't jump back into the crowd to chase him down and to this day I think he got away as he made it into the concourse tunnel without any hint of a chase behind him. This was really before the explosion of Youtube and I yearn for footage of it to this day. 

Shunned by traditional media, reviled by authority figures, and beloved by the web and the common drunken fan. I'd imagine that some sporting events are too "holy" for lack of a better word to disrupt, but UCLA vs. Arizona in a lopsided affair? Young rebel rousers certainly get my stamp of approval under those conditions. 

Update: Yes, there is an interview with the streaker!  Thanks to friend of AA Ryan Recker and the folks at KVOA in Arizona for the clip.  And yes, he may face a year and a half in jail.  Oy.

 

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This week's slate of games really do suck, which means it should be a good week for The Dickies. Stop by on Sunday to leave all the awful announcing you may hear throughout these games in the comments or you can also tweet us on Twitter. Keep your eyes/ears peeled.

Bye Weeks: Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers

Sunday, October 23

Chicago Bears v Tampa Bay Buccaneers - London (FOX 1PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions (FOX 1PM) Dick Stockton, Brian Billick
Washington Redskins @ Carolina Panthers (FOX 1PM) Chris Myers, Tim Ryan
Seattle Seahawks @ Cleveland Browns (FOX 1PM) Ron Pitts, Jim Mora

San Diego Chargers @ New York Jets (CBS 1PM) Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
Denver Broncos @ Miami Dolphins (CBS 1PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots
Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans (CBS 1PM) Marv Albert, Rich Gannon

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Arizona Cardinals (CBS 4PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf 
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders (CBS 4PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts 

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings (FOX 4:15PM) Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver
St. Louis Rams @ Dallas Cowboys (FOX 4:15PM) Sam Rosen, John Lynch, Laura Okmin

Indianapolis Colts @ New Orleans Saints (NBC 8:20PM) Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Monday, October 24

Baltimore Ravens @ Jacksonville Jaguars (ESPN 8:30PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski

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I would've guessed the only water sport at Ohio State University is the Mirror Lake Jump, but that's not accurate. Ohio State actually has plenty of water sports and one is water skiing.

In fact, they were proudly represented over the weekend at the NCWSA (National Collegiate Water Ski Association) Nationals by water skier Kyle Dammeyer.

Thanks to our friend Matt Clapp at Sharapova's Thigh, and waterskibroadcasting on YouTube, we have footage of Kyle's attempted jump:



Of course, something like this is always much more enjoyable when there is an announcer who sounds like Bear Grylls, or Randall. (And we can say "enjoyable" because Kyle's okay!)

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"OH NO! OH, WOW! ... Are you okay, Kyle?" (he's fine)

"Ladies and gentleman, let's hear it for Kyle Comintoyaaahaaa."  

"Oy, oy ... And I don't care what anyone says, but that is going on YouTube." (and we thank you very much indeed for that)

"Buhh, I don't want to look at it again." (it's played again) 

Indeed.

This week launched Straight Outta Stockton, our NFL version of the revered Pammies here at AA.  For the final 12 weeks of the NFL regular season (and possibly the postseason), we'll gather every week to count down the top 10 Straight Outta Stockton quotes as voted by you.  When the points are tallied up at the end of the season, we'll crown our Dickies champ!  Dick himself gathered 7th place on the totem pole while an underdog claimed top spot in the first week of competition.  NFL announcers are competing for this, right?  Anyways, the envelope please...

10) "Endonken Sue." -Tony Siragusa (via SFOrangeMan)

9) "When you're the Dolphins, and you're winless, you need to win bad" - Jon Gruden (via kenosando)

8) "I'm just gonna guess it's a run, you know why? I'm watching the left tackle... Oh I was wrong" - Phil Simms (via TheLoadedOne)

7) "There he is, lined up in the slot. Wait, no he's not." - Dick Stockton (via bjo109)

6) "Alex Smith steps up in the pocket and completely exposes himself" - Moose Johnston (via djstevem)

5) "There it is! Knee's down! Wait, I don't know." - Phil Simms (via bjo109)

4) "Jay's gonna unleash this one, trying to squeeze into that tight, little hole" - Cris Collinsworth (via gooner_)

3) "Lets Snooki our way back to the Jersey Shore" - Chris Berman (via JKoenAU)

2) "You've got a lot of beef up in there" - Brian Billick (via MatttheKuhn)

1) "The Lions undefeated season is over... for now" - Scott Hanson (via Real_DWM) uhh.. Scott, it's over period.

Week 6 Top 5 -

1) Scott Hanson 10 pts

T2) Brian Billick 9 pts

T2) Phil Simms 9 pts

4) Chris Berman 8 pts

5) Cris Collinsworth 7 pts

Others receiving votes - Daryl Johnston 5 pts, Dick Stockton 4 pts, Jon Gruden 2 pts, Tony Siragusa 1 pt.

The Full Week 7 NFL Announcing Schedule will be coming soon, where you can find the dates and times of games and all the announcing pairings as well.  Then, make sure you check back every Sunday when the fun begins for another week Straight Outta Stockton!

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Tim McCarver can apparently spell, he just can't count. He delivered this gem after a huge strikeout kept the St. Lunatics ahead going to the bottom of 7th in Game 1 of the World Series.  Is now a good time to mention McCarver is announcing his record 22nd World Series?

Ed Note: Thanks to MLB's oppressive and archaic Youtube policy, AA's Youtube video was taken down.  Video now via the fine folks at SportsGrid.

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Joe Buck and Tim McCarver begin announcing their record 14th World Series together tonight as the Cardinals host the Rangers in Game 1.  Seeing as how most baseball fans view Buck & McCarver with the same excitement as an extended visit to the mound, this is not a cause celebre for America.  Nevertheless, that's how Chris Rose intro'd Buck as he threw it up to the broadcast booth.  

And it was in this moment, before Game 1 of the World Series, that Joe Buck shockingly said the one word America has wanted to hear from him for those 14 years.  "Sorry."

Yes, Joe Buck actually apologized to the American public for his unbreakable, borderline tyrannical reign in the MLB on Fox broadcast booth.  Crazy, right!  Maybe Joe's relationship with baseball fans is finally going to turn over a new leaf!  Or... maybe Joe was being sarcastic and the following video will actually make America dislike him even more...

"And for the fourteen years, I'd like to say to you the viewing public... SORRY!" - Joe Buck

If you haven't thrown a mug at your computer screen and you're still with us, I think Joe was trying to be cute and funny with that joke and let us all know he's aware America despises him as the voice of major pro sports in this country.  Except, Joe's "apology" came off as pleasant as Tony La Russa's nasty shingles.    What better way to start another Fall Classic with our buddies Joe and Tim!

Time will tell if America accepts your "apology" Joe.  My guess is baseball fans are checking for their radio feeds first.

Thanks to Nathan Heitkamp for sending in the video!

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Awful Announcing doesn't just troll the mainstream for examples of the funniest announcing videos. In fact, as an alum/broadcaster of D-III athletics, it's videos like the following that warm my heart the most. If you dare, you are about to view the worst three minutes of soccer play-by-play in recorded history from this Valparaiso vs IPFW game. There's so many gems in here that it's hard to pick a favorite. Maybe the way too over-the-top analyst? The small child joining in on the goal call? The completely blase play-by-play man that makes Joe Buck seem like Andres Cantor? We hesitate to poke too much fun at student announcers or non-professionals, but this announcing is so awful, I wonder if these guys actually dreamed up appearing on our site. At least... that's what I hope...

H/T Brett Myhres

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Thursday, October 20

Bethune-Cookman @ Norfolk State (7:30 ESPNU) Anish Shroff, Jay Walker 
UCLA @ Arizona (9PM ESPN) Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer, Jenn Brown

Friday, October 21

15 West Virginia @ Syracuse (8PM ESPN) Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore 
Rutgers @ Louisville (8PM ESPN2) Dave Lamont, David Diaz-Infante

Saturday, October 22

North Carolina @ 7 Clemson (Noon ESPN) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer & Quint Kessenich 
23 Illinois @ Purdue (Noon ESPN2) Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti 
Jacksonville State @ Kentucky (Noon ESPNU) Rob Stone, Danny Kanell 
Cincinnati @ South Florida (Noon Big East Net) Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAnaney 
9 Arkansas @ Mississippi (Noon SEC Network) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano 
4 Oklahoma State @ Missouri (Noon FX) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster 
11 Kansas State @ Kansas (Noon FSN) Bill Land, Dave Lapham, Emily Jones 
Northern Illinois @ Buffalo (Noon ESPN3) Michael Reghi, Doug Graber
Yale @ Penn (Noon VS) Randy Moss, Ross Tucker, Carolyn Manno
Indiana @ Iowa (Noon BTN) Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller 
Wake Forest @ Duke (12:30PM ACC Net) Steve Martin, Dave Archer, Scott Pryzwansky
New Mexico @ Texas Christian (2PM mtn) Todd Harris, Todd Christensen, Amanda Mazey 
Boston College @ 12 Virginia Tech (3:00 ACC Net) Rich Waltz, Keith Jones, Jenn Hildreth 
Louisiana Tech @ Utah State (3:00 ESPN3) Trey Bender, Jay Taylor 

20 Auburn @ 1 Louisiana State (3:30 CBS) Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson 
13 Nebraska @ Minnesota (3:30 ABC/ESPN2) Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard 
Maryland @ Florida State (3:30 ABC/ESPN2) Mike Patrick,Craig James 
17 Texas A&M @ Iowa State (3:30 ABC)  Mark Neely, Ray Bentley 
22 Georgia Tech @ Miami (3:30 ESPN) Bob Wischusen, Bob Davie, Samantha Steele 
NC State @ Virginia (3:30 ESPNU) Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins 
10 Oregon @ Colorado (3:30 FSN) Joel Meyers, Brian Baldinger, Jim Knox
Air Force @ 5 Boise State (3:30 VS) Paul Burmeister, Shaun King, Anthony Herron 
Temple @ Bowling Green (3:30 ESPN3) Greg Franke, Tom Cole
Ohio @ Akron (3:30 SportsTime Ohio/ESPN3) Matt Underwood, Frank Stams
East Carolina @ Navy (3:30 CBSSN) Josh Lewin, Randy Cross, Kaylee Hartung 
Memphis @ Tulane (3:30 FOX College Sports) Steve Physioc, Yogi Roth, Desmond Purnell
Fresno State @ Nevada (4PM WAC Net) Barry Tompkins, Joe Glenn 

Army @ Vanderbilt (7PM ESPN) Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, Allison Williams 
Utah @ California (7PM CSN-Bay Area) Roxy Bernstein, Mike Pawlawski, Chris Townsend
Tulsa @ Rice (7PM FSN) Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom 
Miami (OH) @ Toledo (7PM ESPN3) Bill Clark, John Ross
21 Penn State @ Northwestern (7PM BTN) Tom Hart, Derek Rackley, Lisa Byington 
Tennessee @ 2 Alabama (7:15 ESPN2) Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards
USC @ Notre Dame (7:30 NBC) Tom Hammond, Mike Mayock, Alex Flanagan 
SMU @ Southern Mississippi (8PM CBSSN) Dave Ryan, Rich Rodriguez 
Texas Tech @ 3 Oklahoma (8PM ABC/ESPN3) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe          
25 Washington @ 8 Stanford (8PM ABC/ESPN3) Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Heather Cox    
6 Wisconsin @ 16 Michigan State (8PM ESPN) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews 
Florida A&M @ South Carolina State (10:30 ESPNU) Adam Amin, Jay Walker
Oregon State vs Washington State - CenturyLink Field, Seattle (10:30 FSN) Craig Bolerjack, Joel Klatt, Petros Papadakis
New Mexico St @ Hawaii (Midnight ESPN3) Robert Kekaula, Darren Hernandez, Rob DeMello 

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With the NBA missing games, inflamed rhetoric is bound to increase on both sides as negotations get heated and frustrations increase.  That should come as no surprise.  The fact that it's Bryant Gumbel throwing out the most explosive statement regarding the lockout to date may be one though.  Gumbel destroyed NBA commish David Stern on Real Sports with a brief editorial that ended the program.  He described Stern by saying the NBA's "infamously egocentric commissioner seems more hellbent lately on demeaning the players than resolving his game's labor impasse."

But it's Gumbel describing Stern as a "modern plantation overseer" that is garnering buzz, controversy, and headlines.  Believe it or not, this isn't Gumbel's first racially toned pipebomb regarding a league commissioner.  While there will certainly be criticisms of Gumbel invoking slavery imagery as ludicrous when discussing multi-millionaire athletes, it signifies the deep mistrust and venom Stern himself has fostered with the way he has terribly handled the lockout.  Unfortunately, the inflammatory nature of these comments will likely create a firestorm of controversy instead of a real discussion of the role race is playing in the NBA lockout.

Here's the video below as well as a partial transcript from our pal John Karalis at Crossover Chronicles...

"Stern’s version of what’s been going on behind closed doors has, of course, been disputed. But his efforts were typical of a commissioner, who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It’s part of Stern’s M.O. Like his past self-serving edicts on dress code or the questioning of officials, his moves are intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place."

Who knew Beach Justice could take the form of a cable sports show editorial?

H/T Crossover Chronicles

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