Earlier this evening, ESPN had reported that Gene Lamont was no longer being considered for the vacant Red Sox managerial job.  Seeing as how he and ESPN's Bobby Valentine were the two reported candidates, the other shoe dropped shortly thereafter.  Mike Lynch from WCVB in Boston reports Valentine has agreed with the Boston Red Sox to be their next manager, thus ending his one year stint in the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball booth.  Time will tell whether ESPN replaces Bobby V in the booth or if the leader goes with the twosome of Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser.  One thing's for sure, not many Sunday Night Baseball fans will be upset with this move.  It remains to be seen how Red Sox Nation will agree with Bobby V's arrival.

H/T The Outside Corner

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Conference supremacy is on the line in college basketball this week.  The Big Ten/ACC Challenge picks up this week across the family of networks, highlighted by #4 Duke visiting #2 Ohio State.  Also, the Big East/SEC Challenge occurs this week as well.  No word on who's televising the Missouri Valley/Horizon League Challenge, maybe it's on the Ocho.  Also, #5 UNC plays #1 Kentucky in another juicy showdown on CBS Saturday at noon, we'll try and get the announcers for that game to you as it becomes available.  

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That's former Vice President of NFL officiating Mike Pereira taking a jab at Gruden's color commentating abilities. If you still can't put a face to Pereira, he's that guy that pops up on FOX many times when a play is challenged and offers his opinion about the challenged play and makes small talk with the announcers covering the game. I think he's a pretty solid addition to the telecasts as he offers another opinion on a controversial play other than the alternative of Joe Buck rambling for minutes uninterrupted without football as a distraction.

Anyways, twitter beef is one of my all-time guilty pleasures. It's especially great when it's two somewhat famous people taking potshots 140 keyboard mashes at a time for the public to see. Sadly, it does not look like Gruden has a twitter account as I have my doubts this one is him, so if he offers a retort it will not be 140 characters of rage coming back @MikePereira.

Since the internet is yet to develop a sarcasm font, I think it's fair to accept this as being the literal way he watches the telecasts on Monday night. Hopefully as he is muting Gruden and unmuting Tirico a couple hundred times a game he is not confusing Jaws with Gruden and missing out on his wonderful pearls of wisdom.

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Back in August we told you about the move by NBC Sports to snag a portion of the MLS television contract.  While MLS certainly hasn't been a ratings gold mine for ESPN and FOX Soccer Channel, the domestic league hasn't truly been a focal point for either network in the past.  But, with nearly 50 MLS games slated for the artist formerly known as Versus, the hope amongst American soccer fans was that NBC Sports could work wonders in raising the profile of MLS on TV, much like the network has helped to revive the NHL after its exile from ESPN.

But, key to how true soccer fans react to NBC's MLS and U.S. National Team broadcasts will be the presentation from the network.  Will they follow the ESPN route and treat soccer with the respect and on-air personalities as they would other high profile TV properties, or would NBC go the FOX route and treat soccer as a second-ring circus act?  Well, the first official move by the network, if initial reports are true, should be highly encouraging.

Reports out of Seattle have NBC Sports hiring Seattle Sounders play-by-play man Arlo White for their lead announcer spot.  White, a name originally floated by SI's Grant Wahl between his reports on David Beckham's every move, is a young British announcer who should provide NBC the best of both worlds in terms of soccer announcing.  The Brit has that classic English soccer prose combined with American enthusiasm that even the great Gus Johnson would be proud to hear.  Just listen to this YouTube compliation of some of Arlo White's goal calls for the Seattle Sounders this season.

Trust me, White may not be a well-known name amongst AA Nation (I feel dirty typing that... since when did everything become a nation anyway?), but the prediction is that he will soon climb the ranks to join the likes of Ian Darke in terms of popularity amongst American viewers.  If NBC can continue to round out their soccer crew with the likes of the polished Kyle Martino (currently of FOX Soccer) and a few more shrewd hires (meaning the opposite of loudmouth bleeding hearts like Alexi Lalas or Erik Wynalda), they could be well on their way to competing with ESPN for the hearts and minds of American soccer fans.  Oh, and they definitely need to give Ray Hudson a call.

[Seattle Times Sounders Blog]

Even though the Pammies season is winding down, Straight Outta Stockton is just reaching the beginning of the home stretch.  The Dickies will be here throughout December and it's looking like a tight race for the season title.  Here are your Week 12 nominees...

1) "If he completes the pass in the endzone, it'll be a touchdown" - Dave Lapham (via kcurr0408)

2) "Rolando Blackmon... I mean Rolando McClain" - Daryl Johnston (via angelfanmp)

3) "Helu dancing... and can't find the dance floor" - Ron Pitts (via JagsFan93)

4) "Patrick Peterson will be giving Newton & Andy Dalton a run for Rookie of the Year." - Chris Myers (via B_Bugg).  This ignores the fact that there is something called Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year.

5) "There's the challenge flag. he threw it! i don't think they see it!" - Dick Stockton as Raheem Morris threw the flag to a coach (via bjo109)

6) "When he gets possession there, he doesn't have possession." - Chad Pennington (via bjo109)

7) "Ndamukong Suh is like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls" - Keyshawn Johnson (via LobShots)

8) "The 53 yard touchdown run by Beanie Wells leads to the 22 yard field goal." - Terry Bradshaw (via sctvman)

9) "This organization had to move forward with their 12th round pick (Christian Ponder)" - Brian Billick (via siggfya)

10) "I want to measure the large intestine of andy dalton because this kids got guts like ive never seen" - Dave Lapham (via rossmallaley)

11) "This is an incestuous night" - Mike Mayock (via TheLoadedOne)

12) "Hardly anything wrong can go bad." - Phil Simms (via AA)

13) "Right tackle, Cherilus Gosder." - Aikman Troy (via Dascenzo) saying Gosder Cherilus' name backwards for some reason.

14) "Right cheek, left cheek, control all the way through." -Brian Billick (via poundthehole)

15) "I don't wanna sound like a cheerleader up here but way to go Brees! That's awesome!" - Jon Gruden (via ConnorKiesel)

16) "Every day Brees comes to work, Payton stimulates him." - Jon Gruden (via CaptTouchback)

Vote For Your Week 12 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 13 announcing sked later this week!

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Someone who is quickly becoming an internet superstar is AC Milan soccer announcer Tiziano Crudeli. Known for his passionate play by play (which we saw earlier this month), another video has surfaced much to our amusement.

Out of the 5-minute video clip, I could gather at first Crudeli is pissed off because Milan falls behind Lecce 3-0 in the first half. Then he gets excited, followed by what almost looks like tears, as AC Milan comes back to tie and then win the game 4-3.

The words I could understand [in order] are also quite fitting: Stupid, Bologna, Grande’, and then Squash. He then repeatedly screams “BOA BOA BOA TENG TENG TENG” which I assume is crazy old guy talk for “my team just came back from a huge deficit to crush your sorry excuse for a team."

Usually I’m all for someone getting angry at their favorite team throwing away a win early on in a matchup, but for an announcer to get up, scream and wave his finger into the camera as if his son just shot up a bank miiiiiiight be considered a tad over the top.

As annoying it may be for any non-Milan fan to have to listen to Crudeli call plays in any game, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I would happily support any MLB or NFL team hiring this guy STAT.

And here's the video evidence of Milan's 4-3 win over Lecce from last month.

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Thursday, December 1:  

8 PM- West Virginia at South Florida [ESPN/ ESPN3]- Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer, Jenn Brown

Friday, December 2:  

7 PM- MAC Championship: Ohio vs. Northern Illinois [ESPN2/ESPN3]- Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore, Jeannine Edwards

8 PM- Pac 12 Championship: UCLA at Oregon [FOX]- Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster, Dhani Jones

Saturday, December 3:  

12 PM- CUSA Championship: Southern Miss at Houston [ABC]- Mike Patrick, Craig James, Lisa Salters

12 PM- UConn at   Cincinnati   [ESPN/ESPN3]- Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Quint Kessenich

12 PM-   Syracuse   at Pitt [ESPN2/ESPN3]- Dave Lamont, Mike Bellotti

12:30-  Iowa   State  at   Kansas   State   [FSN]- Joel Meyers, Brian Baldinger, Jim Knox  

1 PM- Old Dominion at   Georgia   Southern [ESPN3]- Doug Bell, John Bunting  

2 PM- Maine at Appalachian State [ESPN3]- John Sadak, Rene Ingoglia

2 PM- Central Arkansas at Montana [ESPN3]- Ryan Rose,Adam Archuletta

2 PM- Wyoming at Colorado State [mtn.]- Todd Harris, Todd Christensen, Roger Bailey

2:30- UNLV at TCU [VERSUS]- Paul Bermeister, Shaun King, Anthony Herron

3 PM- Troy at Arkansas State [Sun Belt Network/ ESPN3]- Joe Davis, Cole Cubelic, Erin Cofiell

3 PM- New Hampshire at Montana State [ESPN3]- Trey Bender, Jay Taylor

3 PM- Stony Brook at Sam Houston State [ESPN3]- Dan Gutowsky, Warrick Dunn

3:30- Texas at Baylor [ABC]- Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Samantha Steele

3:30- Utah State at New Mexico State [Aggie Vision/ KCSG/ ESPN3]- Glen Cerny, Danny Knee [Aggie Vision/ESPN3]; Mychal Clanton, Kevin White, Brooks Hansen [KCSG]

3:30- Lehigh at Towson [ESPN3]- Bob Picozzi, John Gregory

4 PM- SEC Championship: LSU vs. Georgia [CBS]- Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson

4 PM- Idaho at Nevada [WAC Sports Network/ESPN3]- Barry Tompkins, Joe Glenn

4 PM- James Madison at North Dakota State [ESPN3]- Jim Barbar,  Jay Walker

5 PM- Wofford at Northern Iowa [ESPN3]- Shawn Kenney & Rob Harley

6 PM- New Mexico at Boise State [mtn.]- Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, Darius Walker

7:30- BYU at Hawaii [ESPN2/ ESPN3]- Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard

8 PM- Big Ten Championship: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State [FOX]- Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster, Dhani Jones

8 PM- Oklahoma at Oklahoma State [ABC]- Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe

8 PM- ACC Championship: Virginia Tech vs. Clemson [ESPN/ ESPN3]- Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit,  Heather Cox

8 PM- Fresno State at San Diego State [CBSSN]- James Bates, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Collins

H/T Daniel

We haven't heard from AA favorite Crazy Jack Edwards so far this NHL season... and that needs to change!  You can check out this clip of Jack calling Milan Lucic's fight against Paul Gaustad of the Sabres last week, "UNANIMOUS DECISION: MILAN LUCIC."  Well, here's another dramatic video from Jack after the Bruins defeated the Canadiens 1-0.  If you had Jack declaring Tim Thomas to be the best goalie on earth after a relatively routine save on the Jack Edwards Wheel of Insanity, you're a winner.  

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A stunning story in the world of sports is the tragic death of Wales soccer manager Gary Speed.  Speed, only 42 years old, was a former Premier League player and Welsh international.  He was reportedly found hanged in his home on the weekend.  Tributes immediately poured in for Speed from all over the UK and beyond.  Perhaps the most wrenching piece of video involving this awful news comes from Sky Sports News, where reporter Bryn Law visibly breaks down in tears discussing Speed's death and his correspondence with the late Wales manager...

Just a terrible story, certainly thoughts and prayers go out to all those touched by the tragedy.

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The Urban Meyer to Ohio State reports really kicked into high gear when Buckeye blog Eleven Warriors sent out this tweet eleven days ago, saying ESPN analyst Urban Meyer was 99.7% sure to take the Ohio State head coaching job.  As much as Sports by Brooks wants to take credit for breaking the story, it seems like Eleven Warriors had the reports first.  (Which has developed an interesting case of blogger on blogger violence in its own right.)  Since then, what has evolved is a quagmire of reports, sources, and denials that makes Baghdad Bob look like a public relations savant.  I've lived through 62 Brett Favre retirements and comebacks and this is by far the messiest story I can ever remember.  Hopefully it ends today and Urban Meyer is FINALLY announced publicly as Ohio State head coach.  But that doesn't mean there haven't been nauseating twists and turns along the way.  Let's take a look back, shall we?

*Urban Meyer's First Denial, November 19th

After the initial Eleven Warriors report, the question had to be put directly to Urban Meyer with regards to him becoming the next coach at Ohio State.  At least ESPN had him address it publicly (not so on the next Saturday as you'll see later).  Broadcast partner Dave Pasch asked Meyer about the OSU reports during the Michigan/Nebraska game.  Here's what Urban had to say via SBNation:

"Well there's no truth to that," Meyer said of the rumors. "I know it's that time of year, but I have not been offered any job and I have certainly not accepted any job."

After that first denial we learned one thing, Urban Meyer isn't a good actor.  Immediately, top college football writers questioned Urban's denial...

*More reports keep pouring in, November 22-23

There were some rumblings that Scout had the Urban to OSU story as early as Eleven Warriors, but the first word on Twitter from Scout's Ohio State writer Bill Greene on November 22nd called Meyer to OSU a done deal.

It was also at this time that more traditional media piled on the story and issued their own reports.  Tim May and the Columbus Dispatch confirmed reports of a done deal on November 23rd.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer also issued their own report that same day.  From an ESPN search, it appears they issued their first story on Meyer actually accepting the job on the ESPN Big Ten blog only after the Dispatch and Plain Dealer reports.  For what it's worth, CBS also had their own source that said a deal wasn't done yet.  

Meyer, stubbornly sticking to his guns, denied the story AGAIN:

"I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place," Meyer said in a statement. "I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further."

Hopefully Urban and his family (ya know, the one that he left coaching for) enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving.  If you're still following along, I'm going to warn you, here's where things get difficult...