Joe Buck apologists (wait, do those exist?) can't blame this one on his vocal cord virus. On the Cowboys' final possession with 11 seconds remaining in the game, Buck and his partner Aikman thought the Cowboys' 4th-and-20 -- clearly marked by the chain gang and TV graphics -- was 3rd down.

He wasn't the only one who thought it was 3rd down, though, as Felix Jones took a screen pass and ran out of bounds to preserve the final four seconds on the clock. Hey, at least he remembered his team didn't have any timeouts! [video via SportsGrid]: 

Aikman started to mention that the Cowboys had enough time to throw one into the end zone, but Buck finally realized what was going on and brought up that the last play was actually 4th down and the game was all but over. 

This mistake should never happen, especially at the biggest point of the game when a failed conversion by the Cowboys there would result in the completion of the biggest collapse in Cowboys history and the Lions improving to 4-0 for the first time since 1980. Not one of Buck's finer moments.

Before we get to the Pammy nominees Monday morning, let's take a minute to check out Brett Favre's analyst debut at the Rice-Southern Miss game this weekend.  Unfortunately, there weren't any Pammy quotes for Favre's performance sent in on Saturday.  Either he was pretty decent, nobody actually watched the game... or we need to expand our Gulf Coast readership.  Let's check the videotape!

Wow, Favre already looks ten years younger.  I'm just impressed he didn't hint at a comeback, we dodged a bullet there.  Good for him to admit his nervousness, which was very noticeable in the open.  One can only hope Mike Morgan didn't bow down to him the entire broadcast like he did in those first two minutes.  He's your broadcast partner, you don't have to beg for him to send you naughty text messages!  Even Southern Miss alums are probably tired of all the Favre worshipping that has occurred the last decade.  Favre did play it off well though and actually (gasp!) seemed humble.  Who knew!  

Since none of us are located in the deep south, we're calling on anyone who watched the game to let us know how Favre did in his analyst debut.  Is Brett Favre in the booth something you'd like to see more of or would you like him to hold a teary eyed retirement press conference and walk away from announcing?  

As an added bonus, there were no sideline reporters harmed in Favre's first broadcast.

Update: A huge thanks to Rick Limpert for letting us know that he tweeted some Favre quotes from Saturday's game.  Needless to say, a couple of these will definitely show up in the Pammy nominees for this week and Favre has some work to do to.  He still may be better than Craig James and Matt Millen though...  

RickRoswell Brett Favre's analysis after a long Southern Miss TD pass... "Great throw."
RickRoswell More Favreisms from his commentary doing the Southern Miss / Rice game. "The good teams are good at what they do."
RickRoswell Favre after the Rice Owls turn the ball over on downs while driving in the 4th quarter.. " ." #silence
RickRoswell Favre on the high school football talent in Mississippi. "I'll tell you...I can't begin to tell you."
RickRoswell Favre on Peyton Manning... "He doesn't have to play anymore. When it's the neck, it's risky."
RickRoswell Some of Favre's color commentary tonight: "Yea, baby!". "There it is." and "He got in."

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Pam Ward's run in the chronicles that bear her name is temporarily halted this week as she's away on WNBA duty.  That opens the door for Gary Danielson, Matt Millen, and Craig James to catch up in the standings.  It should be an awesome day of college football, which follows the Australian Football Grand Final that I'm sure you were all up watching till the wee hours of the morning.  Leave us with all the best and most awful quotes you hear throughout this football Saturday and we'll put it to a vote on Monday.

Week 5 Announcing Schedule Week 4 winners and updated standings _________________________________________________

"Dave Wannstedt did a great job here at Pittsburgh" - Craig James (via many people).  Wanny never reached a BCS bowl and was 42-31 as a coach.

"Bands playing, excitement in the air, that's what happens when conference play comes around." - Rece Davis (via Sctvman) 

"I see it on film. Skip Holtz's team is playing better between the lines." - Craig James (via bjo109)... as opposed to playing better out of bounds?

Tino Sunseri has to play with a "fast clock in his head gear tonight." - Jesse Palmer (via sctvman)

"Darrell Scott has a lot to prove and you can hear that proving when his body hits others." - Craig James (via bjo109)

"USF have been lacked with a big physical runner." - Jesse Palmer, you have been lacked with 3rd grade English. (via bjo109)

With great reviews, a successful opening weekend, some Oscar buzz, and of course Brad Pitt, you wouldn't think that Moneyball would have to go through the normal Hollywood marketing makeover treatment. However, looking at the newest spots for Moneyball, it's clear the marketing geniuses were given some creative latitude in terms of how they were able to position the film.

 

The feel good movie of the year? Moneyball is certainly a lot of different things, all of which are good. A great sports movie, well acted, well written, smart, and compelling, but I don't think anyone is going to bestow that it's the feel good movie of the year especially considering it doesn't really fit in that bucket at all. I noticed others on Twitter we're also a bit perplexed by the positioning as well.

The thing is that every movie, good or bad, needs to be marketed relentlessly to bring in as much revenue as possible - either to turn a profit or at least help cover the production costs. Impressive trailers, media tours, appearances, events, interviews, screenings, out of context quotes from reviews, and endless commercials and sponsorships. All along the way it's being guided by a couple dozen marketing folks pulling the strings. Even if the product speaks for itself, you can't just sit on your hands thinking and hoping that word of mouth alone will be enough.

The lead-up to the release of Moneyball focused on the story, the comedic dialogue between Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, and the "based on a true story" angle of a recent sports story. The marketing then pivoted to really focus on the positive reviews as most were smitten by the movie.

With a full week out in the theaters, Hollywood seems to have decided a movie that most wouldn't tab as a "feel good movie" will now wear that title. In fact if you look below, The Atlantic labels it "melancholy and complicated," a far reach from "feel good."

Maybe it's because 50/50 and Dolphin Tale are vying for that audience. Maybe it's because they know sports fans, Pitt aficionados, and general movie buffs have likely already seen the movie hence it's time to focus elsewhere.

Take a look again at the new spot as it really drifts away from the core of Moneyball:

- There actually isn't a single shot of a baseball player in uniform.

- There are two clips of family members hugging.

- Johah Hill's character (who is the second lead) gets less screen time than Pitt's on screen daughter, Kerris Dorsey

- To be honest I think a good amount of people wouldn't even be able to tell this movie is about baseball given how the commercial sells the family angle so hard.

All in all, the movie is good and the marketing up until this point has really stayed true to what the product is. It's just funny to see Hollywood stretching this far to sell some additional tickets for a movie that really sells itself. This has me wondering just how Hollywood envisions positioning the ESPN movie if it indeed makes its way onto the screen.

While Moneyball's new commercial was a good showing of marketing slight of hand, I have to say it dramatically pales in comparison to Jerry The Great.

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The big news with the announcing schedule this week is the absence of current Pammies leader Pam Ward.  Adam Amin steps into her slot alongside Dan Hawkins while Pam works Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday with Rebecca Lobo (Atlanta at Minnesota by the way, Terry Gannon takes over starting in Game 2 of the Finalsfor those interested).  As far as the rest of the college football slate goes, there are no shortage of Top 25 matchups starting with A&M vs Arkansas in Cowboys Stadium at noon and ending with Bama/Florida on CBS and Nebraska's first Big Ten game in Madison during primetime.

September 30

Utah State @ Brigham Young (8PM ESPN) Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore

October 1

Air Force @ Navy (Noon CBS) Ian Eagle, Randy Cross
No. 13 Texas A&M v. No. 18 Arkansas (Noon ESPN) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer, Shelley Smith – Cowboys Stadium
Northwestern @ No. 22 Illinois (Noon ESPN2) Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti
Penn State @ Indiana (Noon ESPNU) Clay Matvick, Brian Griese & Allison Williams
Texas Tech @ Kansas (Noon FSN) Bill Land, Dave Lapham, Courtney Jones
Tulane @ Army (Noon CBSSN) Gary Thorne, Tim Brant, Kristina Keltner
Minnesota @ Michigan (Noon BTN) Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller
Kentucky @ Louisiana State (Noon SECN) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
Mississippi State @ Georgia (Noon SEC Net) Bob Rathbun, Tim Couch, Kristina Akra
Robert Morris at Monmouth (Noon MSG+) Dave Popkin, Steve Levy
Rutgers @ Syracuse (Big East Net/SNY/MASN/ESPN3) Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAnaney
Toledo @ Temple (ESPN3/Gameplan) Michael Reghi, Doug Graber
Kentucky at No. 2 LSU (SEC Net/ESPN3/Gameplan) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
Buffalo @ Tennessee (12:30 CSS) Matt Stewart, Chris Doering, Maria Taylor
Wake Forest @ Boston College (ACC Net/ESPN3) Steve Martin, Dave Archer, Scott Pryzwansky
Yale @ #14 Lehigh (SE-2 in Pennslyvania) Steve Degler, Mike Yadush, Al Di Carlo
Cincinnati @ Miami (OH) (1:00 ESPN3) Jim Barbar, John Gregory
Harvard @ Lafayette (2:00 Lafayette Sports Net) Gary Laubach, Mike Joseph, John Leone
Illinois State @ #6 North Dakota State (2:00 CSN Chicago) Don Hammer, Lee Timmerman, Kevin Feeney, Jamal Spencer
#2 Northern Iowa @ Missouri State (2:00 Mediacom Missouri) Don West, Mike McClure

Nevada @ Boise State (2:30 VS) Paul Burmeister, Shawn King, Anthony Herron
#24 North Dakota @ #19 Southern Utah (3:00 KMYU Utah) Mychal Clanton, Jordan Buscemi
#5 Delaware @ Maine (3:00 WABI Maine) Walt Abbott, George Hale
#3 Appalachain State @ #6 Wofford (3:00 SoCon Net/ESPN3) Darren Goldwater, Doug Chapman
#10 Richmond @ #8 James Madison (3:00 Comcast) Scott Graham, TBA
Northern Colorado @ #16 Montana (3:05 Montana Television Net) Dennis Patchin, Bob Hermes, Derek Buerkle
Auburn @ No. 9 South Carolina (3:30 CBS) Spero Dedes, Steve Beuerlein, Otis Livingston
No. 25 Michigan State @ Ohio State (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox
No. 21 Georgia Tech @ North Carolina State (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Mike Patrick, Craig James
No. 15 Baylor @ Kansas State (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Bob Wischusen, Bob Davie
Arizona @ USC (3:30 FSN) Craig Bolerjack, Joel Klatt, Petros Papadakis
Bethune-Cookman @ Miami-FL (3:30 ESPNU) Adam Amin, Dan Hawkins
SMU @ No. 20 Texas Christian (3:30 CBSSN) Dave Ryan Rich Rodriguez Kaylee Hartung
Washington State @ Colorado (3:30 FOX College Sports) Steve Physioc, Yogi Roth, Desmond Purnell
Towson @ Maryland (3:30 ACC Net) Rich Waltz, Keith Jones, Jenn Hildreth
Bowling Green @ No. 23 West Virginia (3:30 MASN/ESPN3) Rob King, John Thornton
Western Michigan @ Connecticut (3:30 SNY/Altitude2/ESPN3) Bob Picozzi, John Bunting
Marshall @ Louisville (3:30 WHAS Kentucky/ESPN3) Drew Deener, Doug James
Weber State @ Eastern Washington (3:30 Altitude/CSN California/Northwest) Chris Marlowe, Scott Hastings
Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan (3:30 ESPN3) Dan Gutowsky, Bob Chmeil
Bethune-Cookman @ Miami (FL) (3:30 ESPNU) Adim Amin, Dan Hawkins
San Jose State @ Colorado State (4PM mtn) Todd Harris, Todd Christensen
Arkansas State @ Western Kentucky (4:00 CSS/CST/ESPN3) Joe Davis, Cole Cubelic, Erin Cofiell

No. 15 Clemson @ No. 10 Virginia Tech (6PM ESPN2) Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham & Quint Kessenich
Penn @ Dartmouth (6PM FCS-Atlantic) Eric Frede, Steve DeOssie
#20 UMass @ Old Dominion (Comcast/Cox-11 Virginia) John Castleberry, William Fuller
No. 17 Texas @ Iowa State (7PM FX) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster
Ball State @ No. 1 Oklahoma (7PM FSN PPV) Chuck Cooperstein, Dean Blevins, Kelly Cull
Washington @ Utah (7PM FSN) Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom
Duke @ Florida International (7PM ESPNU) Rob Stone, Danny Kanell
Florida Atlantic @ Louisiana-Lafayette (7PM Cox-4 Louisiana) Jimmy Fredrick, Scott Brazda, Blair Abene
Kentucky Wesleyan @ Liberty (Flames Sports Net/ESPN3) Mike Tilley, Ray Jones
Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech (7PM CST/ESPN3) Trey Bender, Jay Taylor
#23 Indiana State @ South Dakota State (7PM Midco Sports) Tyler Merriam, Mike Struck, Scotty Kwas
UAB @ Troy (7PM SportSouth) Sam Smith, Kelin Johnson
Rice @ Southern Mississippi (7:30 CSS) Mike Morgan, Brett Favre, Craig Ackerman
No. 2 Alabama @ No. 12 Florida (8PM CBS) Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
No. 8 Nebraska @ No. 7 Wisconsin (8PM ABC) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews
Notre Dame @ Purdue (8PM ESPN) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe
North Carolina @ East Carolina (8PM CBSSN) James Bates, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Collins
New Mexico State @ New Mexico (8PM Mtn) Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, Toby Christensen
Mississippi @ Fresno State (9:15 ESPN2) Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard
UCLA @ No. 4 Stanford (10:30 FSN) Joel Meyers, Brian Baldinger, Jim Knox
Oregon State @ Arizona State (10:30 FSAZ) Tom Leander, Adam Archuleta, Mark McClune

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It's Friday, so it's time for the best snafus of the week!  We start with the US Women's National team that won our hearts this summer.  One of the leading stars was striker Abby Wambach.  With the US women back in action in a friendly against Canada, Wambach took her heroics to the next level.  Somehow, she managed to score "both goals" in a 3-0 victory.  That's math logic that would make Pam Ward proud.  Thanks to Stupid Sideline Reporters for sending it in...

It hasn't been a great season for the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning's neck injury has led to the team starting 0-3.  They've gone from being talked about every week at the top of every show to being a mere afterthought, like the Bengals or the Jaguars.  ESPN doesn't even feel the need to get their logo right anymore...

Darren Rovell tweeted the following two snafus from the college football weekend.  See if you can spot what may be amiss here in "Sunday's Headlines."

And finally, Fox hasn't had the best history with college football, so perhaps the source here isn't necessarily a surprise.  Fans in Virginia likely won't take too kindly to this snafu, which combines Virginia Tech and Virginia into one mythical program.  I wonder if the Virginia Tech Cavaliers would combine Virginia Tech's ability to lose big games with Virginia's ability to lose almost every game... geez, that's a little harsh, isn't it?  Virginia did beat Indiana this year after all!

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

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Oh, and it also features Drake, Mark Cuban and JP from Grandma's Boy. In the commercial, a bunch of crumb bums argue which NBA team is the greatest of all-time. But, who really cares about that, because in it there's San Francisco reliever Brian Wilson in a blonde wig wearing a Celtics warmup with 80's length NBA shorts lounging on a cheetah while defending the manliness of layups.

I try not to make it a habit of arguing with actors who are reading a script, but a guy in this commercial argues the Knicks were the greatest by pointing out the star power of John Starks, Charles Oakley and either Anthony Mason or Greg Anthony. C'mon actor, that is weak.

There's no real appropriate way to end this post, so here's a LENGTHY best of Larry Bird dunking montage set to Foreigner's "Dirty White Boy."

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Photo H/T: @MattSebek

St. Louis Cardinals play-by-play announcer, Dan McLaughlin, was arrested and charged with DWI Sunday in Missouri after crashing into a street sign and fleeing the scene. This is after he was arrested for DWI in August of 2010 and took that hilarious mug shot that you can see in the bottom left of the above picture.

Here's more on the story, from STLToday.Com:

Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin has been cited for drunken driving for a second time after a stop by Chesterfield police on Sunday.

Police said McLaughlin, 37, was stopped at 10:13 p.m. on Baxter Road and Isleview Drive after he crashed his vehicle. No other vehicle was involved, police say, but they declined to elaborate.

Police also accused McLaughlin of leaving the scene of an accident and negligent driving. He was released on $750 bond.

McLaughlin has not yet appeared in court on the charges. Police declined to provide any more information until formal charges are issued.

After two DWIs in just over a year, you have to wonder if the Cardinals and Fox Sports Midwest allow McLaughlin to return as the Cardinals' television play-by-play man next year. I'm not liking his chances. 

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All games are on TBS in the Divisional Round and the fun starts with the two AL series beginning in Arlington and the Bronx.  Unfortunately, Ernie Johnson will miss the postseason due to the illness of his son.  Brian Anderson will take the top spot during the playoffs for TBS alongside Ron Darling and John Smoltz.  All the divisional announcer assignments are listed below...

League Division Series on Turner Sports

New York Yankees vs Detroit Tigers - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci (reporter)

Friday, September 30 (TBS 8:37) Game 1 @ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Saturday, October 1 (TBS 8:37) Game 2 @ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Monday, October 3 (TBS 8:37) Game 3 @ Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

Tuesday, October 4 (TBS TBD) Game 4 @ Comerica Park, Detroit, MI*

Thursday, October 6 (TBS TBD) Game 5 @ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY*

Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals - Dick Stockton, Bob Brenley, Craig Sager (reporter)

Saturday, October 1 (TBS 5:07) Game 1 @ Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, PA

Sunday, October 2 (TBS 8:07) Game 2 @ Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, PA

Tuesday, October 4 (TBS TBD) Game 3 @ Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

Wednesday, October 5 (TBS TBD) Game 4 @ Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO*

Friday, October 7 (TBS TBD) Game 5 @ Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, PA*

Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays - Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez, Jaime Maggio (reporter)

Friday, September 30 (TBS 5:07) Game 1 @ Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, TX

Saturday, October 1 (TNT 7:07) Game 2 @ Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, TX

Monday, October 3 (TBS 5:07) Game 3 @ Tropicana Field, Tampa, FL

Tuesday, October 4 (TBS TBD) Game 4 @ Tropicana, Field, Tampa, FL*

Thursday, October 6 (TBS TBD) Game 5 @ Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, TX*

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks - Victor Rojas, Joe Simpson, Sam Ryan (reporter)

Saturday, October 1 (TBS 2:07) Game 1 @ Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI

Sunday, October 2 (TBS 4:37) Game 2 @ Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI

Tuesday, October 4 (TBS TBD) Game 3 @ Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

Wednesday, October 5 (TBS TBD) Game 4 @ Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ*

Friday, October 7 (TBS TBD) Game 5 @ Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI*

H/T Sammy!

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Six months of baseball came down to about 3 minutes last night. In those 3 minutes, two team's fortunes completely changed on some of the most dramatic and improbable plays in regular season sports history. It's beyond Disney to put in words what happened to the Rays this September. They overcame a nine-game September deficit to a team with a payroll 120 million dollars more than them. If that wasn't cornball enough, they even overcame a 7 run deficit with just 6 outs remaining and their season on the line against their division rivals whose payroll is 160 million more than them. All it took was one of the most improbable pinch-hit HR's in MLB history and a monumental late game collapse by the Sawks which featured a biffed play by the Tampa's former star, Carl Crawford, to put them in.

That was Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac reacting to the insanity of last night. It's always nice to see some genuine enthusiasm when they don't even know the camera is on. My personal highlight is the high five (?) that takes place 45 seconds in.

Tigers/Yanks and Rays/Rangers start this Friday. Phillies/Cardinals and Diamondbacks/Brewers start on Saturday.

[Midwest Sports fans]

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