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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One plus side to the historic events of last night is the schaudenfreude of watching the Boston media fall all over themselves trying to explain the epic collapse of the Red Sox.  The poster boy of everything one may find annoying with the Boston media is Dan "Carrot Top" Shaughnessy.  One only has to Google his name to find a small sampling of the ridiculous and laughable statements he's made over the years...

"Wow. Have there been worse days in the history of New England sports?" - that was Monday morning after the Pats lost a regular season game to the Bills.  No, definitely not an overstatement.

"The champagne toasts and Duck Boat parades are fun and memorable, but we are Bostonians and sometimes we fixate on the losses more than we celebrate the wins.  This one ranks way up there in the pantheon of pain — somewhere on the medal platform alongside Glendale, Ariz., in 2008 and Yankee Stadium in 2003." - after Belichick's loss to Rex Ryan in the postseason last year.  Yea, at least you have your Bostonianness to cling to.

"How about banishing the 2011 Red Sox from postseason play on the grounds of horsebleep play for the entire month of September?  This is where we are with less than a week to go in the regular season. The math says the Sox are probably going to qualify for the tournament, but they should be barred on sheer principle and merit." - Can a sportswriter bar a team from the playoffs on his own?  Sadly, we'll never find out.  Looks like the Sox took care of that on their own.

"Walk out your door and try to find someone who can name five players in this year’s tournament. You won’t find anyone unless you live next door to Bob Ryan, my boss Joe Sullivan, or one of the pudding-eating, basement-dwelling blog boys who’d normally be tracking UZR or NFL fantasy teams." - Somehow he found away to offend NCAA basketball fans AND bloggers in the same sentence!  My pudding eating heart is broken into a million pieces.

Last night then, Dan Shaughnessy, sage of the universe, decided he was going to be the one to end the season of the Tampa Bay Rays.  After all, they were down 7-0 in the 8th inning against the Yankees.  Going against every intricate aspect of baseball karma, Shaughnessy opened his wordhole just a bit too soon.  During the rain delay in Boston last night, Shaughnessy just might have possibly certainly jinxed the Red Sox last night.  Cursed them, if you will.  Although, maybe we should thank Dan for putting into motion the amazing events of last night.  Enjoy this lovely "Dewey Defeats Truman" soundbyte...

H/T Hot Clicks

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As a Cubs fan, I've forgiven Steve Bartman... I haven't forgotten that October night in 2003, but I have forgiven the man so many have cast as a scapegoat for continuing the Cubs championship curse.  And even though it's approaching 8 years since the Cubs most infamous loss in the NLCS to the Marlins, there's never been any real closure to the entire Bartman episode.  Maybe it's because Bartman has gone into hiding, refusing to further address his part in the Cubs' Game 6 loss.  Maybe it's because the Cubs have continued to fail time and again in the postseason in the years following 2003.  Maybe, it's because so many Cubs fans haven't forgiven Steve Bartman.

With ESPN's latest 30 For 30 offering, "Catching Hell", a small, perhaps naive part of me was hoping this documentary could provide some closure for Cubs fans.  Unfortunately, after watching for two hours, that wasn't the case.  The film itself was fantastic in parts and as well-produced as all the 30 For 30 series, except for the director cameos by Alex Gibney as the subject of a radio interview; I think it ranked somewhere between M. Night Shyamalan and Alfred Hitchcock's self-appearances in terms of subtleness.  Let's face it though, we're often critical of parts of ESPN, but the concept and execution of 30 For 30 continues to shine as one of the best things the network has ever done.  But, there was a sense of false advertising after seeing the actual documentary.  As Jim Miller pointed out on Twitter, the film was largely marketed on Bartman alone.  Yet, the first 15 minutes of "Catching Hell" were spent chronicling Bill Buckner and RED SAWX NATION.  

Now, the connection between the two clubs is obvious, especially during the 2003 postseason where both teams fell five outs short of the World Series.  But, as the documentary mentions, the Red Sox went on to break their curse... twice.  The Cubs are still waiting for their championship.  So, the last thing I needed to see as a Cubs fan was having the Red Sox, their failures, and their success shoved down my throat during a documentary that was supposedly about my team and their failures.  As soon as I saw Dennis Leary on my screen in that patronizing Bruins hat, I almost turned off the documentary entirely, especially when I had this in the back of my mind.  

But, I pressed forward, and for that I'm glad, because "Catching Hell's" finest moments came when it captured the atmosphere of Wrigley Field right after the Bartman incident.  To see the vitriol and anger even to this day towards Bartman from the raw footage in the stadium was eye-opening. And even though it was healthy to see the animals sports fans can unfortunately become in the heat of the moment, at times the film felt like it overvilified Cubs fans just a little bit too much for my liking. Wouldn't any fan at least be angry at one of their own "costing" their team such a crucial out?  Maybe not to the point of hurling death threats or beer, but can anyone honestly be so pious to say they wouldn't join in on the chants of "asshole?"  Is it too wild to assume there was a sect of hardcore Sox fans who, until the Sox won the World Series, might have held Bill Buckner in the same disregard as a sect of Cubs fans still hold Steve Bartman...

I'll be honest, regular season baseball isn't my favorite pasttime as a sports fan.  I know every game counts (which tonight definitively proved), but it's hard for me to get excited about 1 game out of 162.  With so many other sports to choose from, it's difficult for me to invest in regular season baseball games.  Without anything of immediate substance on the line throughout the year, having the patience to sit down and watch a baseball game for three hours (five if it's YANKS/SAWX) doesn't interest me.  Sure, I appreciate the history of the game and some of the more romantic elements of baseball, but the slow pace of the game and all the inaction doesn't match my sports brain that fits better with other faster moving sports.

And that's why tonight was so amazing to me.  Every reservation I have for not wanting to invest in regular season baseball was shattered.  There weren't just one, but three games on at the same time that had direct do or die playoff implications.  162 games boiled down to 1 for the Cardinals, Braves, Red Sox, and Rays.  Tampa Bay and Boston were tied atop the AL Wild Card race while St. Louis and Atlanta were tied for the NL Wild Card.  A month ago it seemed improbable with a combined 17 games separating the Wild Card races.  Nevertheless, a wild month of September set up possibly the most awesome night in the 142 year history of Major League Baseball.

September 28th, 2011 was baseball's night to have its own version of March Madness, and it was exhilirating.  Memorable.  Perhaps even unforgettable.  In fact, it may go down as one of the most entertaining nights a sports fan can experience...

Undoubtedly, this was the best and most entertaining night in the long and distinguished history of Major League Baseball.  Hopefully 30 for 30 and Ken Burns are already at work to put what we saw tonight in its proper context.  Chris Carpenter pitching a complete game shutout for the Cardinals.  The Braves falling in extra inning drama in Atlanta to complete their collapse.  The Orioles coming from behind to beat the Red Sox with 2 outs in the 9th.  But the most improbable and dramatic of all was Tampa Bay's comeback from 7-0 in the 8th inning to beat the Yankees in 12 innings. 

The Rays were down to their last strike, trailing 7-6 after that 6 run 8th inning when Dan Johnson stepped to the dish.  Johnson hadn't hit a home run since April 8th.  Until tonight.  Rays play by play man Dewayne Staats with the call...

If all that drama wasn't enough, only 3 minutes after Baltimore shocked the Red Sox, Evan Longoria sent Boston crashing out of the postseason.  Longoria hit his second home run of the night in the bottom of the 12th to complete the Rays' amazing comeback on this night and in September.  YES Network's Michael Kay is on the call, and he sounds as excited as anyone to see the Rays knock Boston out of the Playoffs...

A fitting end to one of the best sports nights we'll ever see...

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Week 4 is already upon us. Will the undefeated Bills and Lions continue living in a bizarro world? Will Jon Gruden fall in love with some guy? Will Gus Johnson miraculously make a game between two 0-3 teams worth watching? Who knows?

Week 4 broadcast map via The 506.

Sunday, October 2

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans (CBS 1PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns (CBS 1PM) Marv Albert, Rich Gannon

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals (CBS 1PM) Andrew Catalon, Steve Tasker

Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys (FOX 1PM) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver

Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears (FOX 1PM) Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick, Laura Okmin

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams (FOX 1PM) Chris Myers, Tim Ryan

San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles (FOX 1PM) Ron Pitts, Jim Mora

Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs (FOX 1PM) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster

New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars (FOX 1PM) Sam Rosen, Chad Pennington

 

New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals (FOX 4PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks (FOX 4PM) Craig Bolerjack, John Lynch

Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers (CBS 4:15PM) Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers (CBS 4:15PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders (CBS 4:15PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots

 

New York Jets @ Baltimore Ravens (NBC 8:20PM) Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Monday, October 3

Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (ESPN 8:30PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski

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Your latest Pammy awards update is here along with the Week 4 standings.  America's least favorite analyst Craig James was undoubtedly the star of the week.  Even though he didn't get the top spot, the Senator racked up 17 points to double his season total thanks to three Top 10 quotes this week.  Jenn Brown's unfortunate slip was just good enough for second place this week.  But as the name suggests, the Pammies are all about the one and only Pam Ward - she nabs the top spot for the third week out of four this season.  The envelope please...

10) "San Diego State finally breaks the seal here at the Big House." - Eric Collins after SDSU scored their first TD. (via SBisho12)

9) "Braxton Miller is like Barry Sanders" - Craig James (via sctvman)

8) "LSU plays grown man football. If you have any Hello Kitty in you, they're gonna bring it out of you." - Desmond Howard (via CaptTouchback)

7) "And... Incomplete... And INTERCEPTED... No... EDDIE POOLE? EDDIE POOLE?! EDDIE POOLE CAUGHT IT?! UNBELIEVABLE! HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE GRAB THIS ONE?!" - Mike Morgan (VIDEO)

6) "He comes in the backdoor." - Gary Danielson (via AndyO)

5) "If you're not conditioned, guys will start to suck... suck air." - Matt Millen (via tedemrich)

4) "Cincinnati has to have a coming out party tonight for Butch Jones." - Craig James (via Sctvman)

3) "The Big 12 has everything going their way" - Craig James (via sctvman)

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

1) "2 of the last 3 Central Michigan passes have been intercepted. The last one for an interception." - Pam Ward (via SBisho12)

Week 4 Top 5 -

1) Pam Ward 38 pts

2) Craig James 34 pts

3) Matt Millen 20 pts

4) Gary Danielson 16 pts,

5) Beth Mowins 13 pts

Others receiving votes - T6) Artrell Hawkins 9 pts, Warrick Dunn 9 pts, Dan Hawkins 9 pts, Jenn Brown 9 pts, 10) Sean McDonogh 8 pts, T11) Wendi Nix 7 pts, Steve Martin 7 pts, Tom Cole 7 pts, 14) Lou Holtz 6 pts, 15) Andre Ware 5 pts, T16) Alex Flanagan 4 pts, Mike Morgan 4 pts, T18) Joe Tiller 3 pts, Keith Jones 3 pts, Desmond Howard 3 pts, T21) Danny Kanell 2 pts, Jesse Palmer 2 pts, T23) Kevin Kugler 1 pt, Eric Collins 1 pt.

The Full Week 5 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 Saturday for the Pam Ward Chronicles and another week of the Pammies!

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Midfielder Jone Samuelsen from Norwegian club Odd Grenland (awesome name) scored what is thought to be the longest header in the history of soccer last weekend.  With Odd leading Tromso 2-1 entering into injury time on Sunday, the Tromso keeper came forward on a corner kick.  This created the opportunity for Samuelsen to do something that nobody has ever seen before.  As the ball was pinballed around the midfield, Samuelsen launched a header that somehow reached the goalline.  According to the Odd manager, Samuelsen's header went 57.3 meters.  I can barely run that far, let alone head a soccer ball.  Of course, the video is accompanied by what I assume to be a great and very excited call in Norwegian.  

 

H/T UK Guardian 

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