Today, ESPN officially removed Hank Williams Jr. from their Monday Night Football broadcasts.  Hank Jr. won multiple Emmys for his role in the Monday Night Football open, becoming a signature voice for fans of the broadcast since he began his role in 1991.  But of course, any time you compare the current president to Hitler, bad things are bound to happen to your employment.  Apparently, that little one-game suspension wasn't enough.  First, here's Hank Jr.'s initial apology after he was sat for a game... 

“I have always been very passionate about Politics and Sports and this time it got the Best or Worst of me. The thought of the Leaders of both Parties Jukin and High Fiven on a Golf course, while so many Families are Struggling to get by simply made me Boil over and make a Dumb statement and I am very Sorry if it Offended anyone. I would like to Thank all my supporters. This was Not written by some Publicist.”

-Hank Williams Jr. 

Just this morning, the other shoe dropped and ESPN officially cut ties with the man known as Bocephus with this statement today:

"We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years.  The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue."

-ESPN 

And just to add further to the confusion, according to this tweet from SportsGrid, Hank Williams Jr. says he made the decision to part ways, not ESPN...

Updated: Here's the full Hank Williams Jr. statement to ESPN as read on First Take this morning...

"After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision.  By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You [ESPN] stepped on the Toes of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE.  It's been a great run."

Whatever the case may be (and we all know ESPN doesn't exactly have the best history recently with short, terse statements), it looks like Hank Jr. now joins the list of people like Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis, Ruch Limbaugh and Don Imus as prominent figures who have said stupid things and lost jobs.  Didn't Marge Schott teach us anything about invoking the name of Hitler?  One thing's for sure, Faith Hill needs to watch what she says until the heat dies down.  As for Bocephus, well, I guess he has plenty of time to have his rowdy friends over tonight...

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The only remaining undefeated teams in the NFL are the Packers and the team featured on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated. Both play in the NFC North and both have the prime time games this week. The 4-0 Packers play in Atlanta on SNF in a rematch of last year's NFC Divisional Playoff game and the 4-0 Detroit Lions play on MNF for the first time since 2001 against the Bears, a game that was sold out minutes after they went on sale back in August. It's about to get weird!

We'll also have a live blog for the MNF game so make sure you visit AA Monday night.  

Week 5 also marks the first week of the byes, so there will be three less games than there were in the 1st four weeks. 

Byes: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins

Broadcast maps courtesty of The 506.

Sunday October 9:

Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers (CBS 1PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts (CBS 1PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots
Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars (CBS 1PM) Bill Macatee, Steve Tasker
Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans (CBS 1PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings (FOX 1PM) Chris Myers Tim Ryan
Seattle Seahawks @ New York Giants (FOX 1PM) Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver
New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers (FOX 1PM) Dick Stockton, John Lynch
Philadelphia Eagles @ Buffalo Bills (FOX 1PM) Sam Rosen, Brian Billick, Laura Okim

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers (FOX 4PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
New York Jets @ New England Patriots (CBS 4:15PM) Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos (CBS 4:15PM) Marv Albert, Rich Gannon

Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons (NBC 8:20PM) Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Monday October 10

Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions (ESPN 8:30PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski

Today on WFAN in New York, radio host Mike Francesa had one of the more embarrassing moments in recent memory after he was asked about Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque. Just watch this first clip that comes to us via Jimmy Traina...

Al Alburquerque is someone that Francesa should certainly be familiar with. In the regular season, he had an impressive K/9 of 13.9 with an ERA of 1.87 as a rookie and also memorably got plunked in the dome during a batting practice in Baltimore where he suffered a concussion. The other reason he should certainly be familiar with him is the fact that he's been an absolute gas can of a pitcher for the Tigers this series against New York. He's the one who gave up the grand slam to Cano in Game 1 and got rocked in Game 4. His ERA is 81.00 this postseason.

But the main reason Francesa should be familiar with Al Alburquerque is the fact that he might possibly have the most hilarious name in all of baseball! Al Alburquerque completely laps Frank Francisco, in my opinion. Anyways, someone on the show must have slapped Francesa and pointed out that his name is indeed Al Alburquerque. At this point, most would probably admit their mistake and have a laugh about it. Francesa instead decided to double down on his stupidity in this clarification again thankfully recorded by Jimmy Traina of SI...

Ahh, yes. If the caller would have said "Alberto Jose" then Francesa would have known exactly who he was talking about. Of course, everyone who follows baseball closely would not have any idea who the hell this Alberto Jose is because he has never been called that once this season - just Al Alburquerque.

Like Bugs Bunny, Alburquerque must have confused Francesa as well.

[H/T Jimmy Traina]

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This morning on ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith entered the realm of the gladiators to verbally joust with Skip Bayless.  Normally, this would cause any sane human being to reach for the remote faster than Usain Bolt.  However, as part of my duties at AA, I had to tune in to this matchup of titans.  When I discovered the lead story of discussion was Brett Favre's comments on Aaron Rodgers, I knew it would be a hideous train wreck I couldn't take my eyes from.  What added to the twisted enjoyment watching this debate was Skippy and Stephen A. on split screens as Smith was joining the show via satellite in Los Angeles.  We've captured the actual facial expressions from both Stephen A. and Skippy during that one debate that depict disgust, anguish, disbelief, and perhaps even a bit of constipation.  Quite frankly, it's precisely what viewers across the country were feeling at the same time...

A bit of surprising news out today involves the indomitable MLB on Fox partnership of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.  It was announced today that former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona will replace McCarver for the first two games of the ALCS on Fox.  From CSN New England...

"Francona has been hired by FOX to serve as a color commentator for the network's coverage of the American League Championship Series. Francona, who parted company with the Red Sox last Friday, will be replacing Tim McCarver, who is sidelined with a medical issue. McCarver is expected back by Game 3 of the ALCS, meaning Francona will likely work only the first two games of the telecasts with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck."

McCarver will miss Games 1 & 2 due to a minor heart procedure according to Dan Bell of Fox.  We certainly wish Tim the best of health.  Yea, he's on AA's Mount Rushmore, but we are compassionate human beings first and foremost. 

As for analyzing the hiring of Francona - it's a risky, but bold move by Fox.  To install Francona as the sole analyst for these games places a lot of pressure on someone that is new to the enviornment and will have to work as a solo analyst.  It's surprising Fox didn't replace McCarver with Francona and one of their present analysts like Eric Karros.  However, Francona's addition has the potential of being a home run.  Fox has found some success in the past bringing in analysts either still in or just out of baseball - Al Leiter's work in the Cubs/Marlins NLCS stands out off the top of my head.  Other managers like Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Gruden were able to add interesting insights in their early days as broadcasters being just removed from coaching as well.  For the World Series, Fox is also adding White Sox catcher slash pro wrestler slash knucklehead AJ Pierzynski to their studio team.

Whatever you think of McCarver or Francona, you have to give Fox credit for at least trying something new.  We've noted Fox's stale baseball presentation in the past, so the addition of a new voice like Francona is a welcome move.  Sure, he may be Brett Favre in the end, but it's encouraging to see a network willing to take a high profile gamble in this situation.  If Francona works out, it wouldn't surprise me to see him stick with Fox throughout the rest of the postseason.

[H/T CSN New England]

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Ratings are once again down for the MLB playoffs. There are many ways to spin the various stats or attribute them to specific variables like weather, scheduling, and match ups, but the fact is that it's a gloomy start of October on the ratings front.

"The audience has dropped significantly over the first four days of the 2011 postseason for Turner Sports. Through 10 telecasts on TBS and TNT, ratings declined 28% to a 2.1 from a 2.8 average in 2010, while viewership decreased 25% to 3.32 million from 4.45 million, according to Nielsen."

Monday night's head to head showdown between ESPN's MNF and TBS's Yankees and Tigers game three served as a telling exhibit of ESPN's gravitational pull away from other competitive programming. Per TV By The Numbers, MNF squashed the playoff game by a comfortable 2-1 margin in the 18-49 demographic. 

Let's think about this for just a second. A pivotal playoff game featuring two great television markets and star pitchers that was close throughout up against one of the worst Monday night draws this season. Furthermore, the MNF game featured a winless team, two modest sized television markets, and very little national appeal.  It won out by a huge margin.

There are many ways to frame the television matchup. Football vs. baseball, fantasy sports and gambling vs. playoff drama, and of course TBS vs ESPN.

For the sake of discussion, let's say you flip the games and MNF for that one night is on TBS and Tigers/Yankees is on ESPN, how would those ratings be affected?

I'll venture a guess that MNF is somewhere near a four rating and Game 3 potentially moves up to a three rating. Maybe that is overstated, but for the last week or so it's been eye opening how viewers migrate to ESPN by habit. Below is a recap of examples of this type of gravitational pull...

Tuesday afternoon I had a chance to chat with Peter Gammons of MLB Network.  Although a podcast was in the works to follow our podcast with Barry Larkin, the evils of technology prevented our interview with Peter from being preserved.  A cruel twist of irony considering the early parts of our conversation focused on the technological advances in covering sports.  While that was maddening it would be an injustice to leave the insights of a man like Peter Gammons on the virtual cutting room floor.  What follows is reflections on the notes from my conversation with Gammons and an attempt to place his career in its proper perspective...

The connection of sports fan to sportswriter has largely been relegated to watching a writer slash television personality yell across a debate desk recent years.  With the advent of a 24/7 sports conversation and the growing influence of social media, the number of influential, respectable sportswriters is dwindling while many fashion an outlandish identity to help them stand out in the crowd.  Additionally, following your favorite team may now involve following their beat writer on Twitter or reading a blog instead of opening up the newspaper every morning.  The changing landscape of how we consume sports has had a monumental effect on the sports media.  Even in the last five years, the relationship between the sports fan and the sportswriter has changed dramatically.

Perhaps more than any other sport, baseball is symbolic of this changing sports landscape.  The romantic element of the national pasttime seen through the eyes of Ken Burns has been given a makeover by Bill James.  As baseball remains the same game from Ruth to Mantle to Jeter, it continually evolves as well.  Our evaluations of what is valuable and what isn't in baseball transitions from more qualitative to quantitave seemingly by the hour.  It's quite the journey from Pride of the Yankees to Moneyball.  The old conflicts with the new as the two battle and blend together simultaneously.  As the sport of baseball and the media that covers the sport has changed, there has been one constant at the top - Peter Gammons.

Gammons began his writing career at the Boston Globe in 1969.  From Carl Yastrzemski to Carl Crawford, Gammons has covered the sport for over four decades.  He's won every award and accolade imaginable including National Sportswriter of the Year three times and the prestigious JG Taylor Spink Award in Cooperstown.  He was even recognized by bloggers and traditional media with his own Muppet for winning Best Sportswriter 65 or older at BWB4 in New York City a couple weeks ago.  But it's not just the longevity of Gammons that is striking, it is his continual ability to remain at the top of his profession in the midst of an everchanging sports world.  He's been a nationally recognized and respected baseball writer since his days at Sports Illustrated in the 1970s to joining ESPN in 1989 and now MLB Network since late 2009.  The evolution of his industry isn't lost on Gammons.  "I've come a long way from filing stories with Western Union," he reflected.

Gammons has moved from sending telegrams to tweets.  The veteran reporter has embraced Twitter and is rapidly approaching a milestone of 100,000 followers.  Gammons infuses his legendary baseball commentary with tweets about music, giving shoutouts to a vast array of singers from Grace Potter to Merle Haggard to The Byrds.

In contemplating his career covering baseball, Gammons doesn't push back against the changes to his industry, but continues to stay ahead of the curve.  He has written articles online for several years, tweets regularly while interacting with followers, and encourages young and aspiring sportswriters to take hold of the opportunities presented by the sports blogosphere by gaining writing experience.

In truth, this evolution in the sports media mirrors the growth of sabermetrics and statistical analysis in baseball as a revolutionary method for evaluating players merges with old school ways of thinking.  In discussing Billy Beane and the success of the Moneyball movie, Gammons is quick to note the importance of not just Oakland's ability to make the most of their resources, but their ability to combine sabermetrics and scouting to bring the best possible talent to Oakland.  While Moneyball may be synonymous with the Oakland A's, the advanced number crunching made famous by the book and the movie has made its way into front offices around Major League Baseball.  

In baseball and the media, Gammons is careful of absolutism in either realm.  In speaking on the evolution of baseball analysis, he told AA, "it's not black and white, it's about the shades of gray."  Perhaps we see those shades of gray in his own ability to continue to relate to fans through so many different mediums.  Whether it be a magazine feature, radio interview, online article, television appearance, or 140 character message, Gammons maintains his uncanny insight and perspective...

With Pam Ward taking a bye week from her own awards (shouldn't she have asked AA for permission first?), the door was opened for a new leader in the Pammies clubhouse.  Craig James, who's used to winning his fair share of awards/tournaments around here, takes the lead this week.  Gary Danielson also continues his rise up the standings with a couple beauties this week.  Brett Favre jumps into the top five with his only performance of the season in what could be the best week of Pammy quotes so far this season.  There's certainly a definitive theme of incredibly obvious, laughable statements amongst the winners this week.  The envelope please...

10) "Nice throw but it was overthrown by a foot and a half." - Gary Danielson (via bjo109)

9) Quan Bray was wide open, which gave the perception that he was wide open." - Steve Beuerlein (via BenBragg)

8) Paul Burmeister: "Shaun, what do you like about Kellen Moore?"
Shaun King: "He is really good."
Thanks, Shaun. (via bjo109)

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

6) "The good teams are good at what they do." - Brett Favre (via RickRoswell)

5) "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.

4) "To upset Wisconsin, Nebraska has to outscore them." - Lee Corso (via sctvman)

3) "I'll tell you... I can't begin to tell you." - Brett Favre (via RickRoswell) on Mississippi HS football.

2) "Could have been a completion had he caught the ball." - Matt Millen (via kbrownatc)

1) "There is a good possibility one of these teams will suffer their first loss." - Gary Danielson (via ATLNagel) in a game featuring unbeaten Florida vs unbeaten Alabama.

Week 5 Top 5 -

1) Craig James 40 pts

2) Pam Ward 38 pts

3) Matt Millen 29 pts

4) Gary Danielson 27 pts,

T5) Beth Mowins 13 pts, Brett Favre 13 pts

Others receiving votes - Artrell Hawkins 9 pts, Warrick Dunn 9 pts, Dan Hawkins 9 pts, Jenn Brown 9 pts, Sean McDonogh 8 pts, Lee Corso 7 pts, Wendi Nix 7 pts, Steve Martin 7 pts, Tom Cole 7 pts, Lou Holtz 6 pts, Jesse Palmer 6 pts, Andre Ware 5 pts, Alex Flanagan 4 pts, Mike Morgan 4 pts, Joe Tiller 3 pts, Keith Jones 3 pts, Desmond Howard 3 pts, Shaun King 3 pts, Danny Kanell 2 pts, Steve Beuerlein 2 pts, Kevin Kugler 1 pt, Eric Collins 1 pt.

The Full Week 6 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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College Humor is usually good for a solid laugh every month. I've particularly enjoyed the Prank Wars series and I even tuned into their short lived television series on MTV as well. Unfortunately though the venture backed company IAC owned property has been having a bit of an identity crisis of late. Many of the more prolific comedians of the site are like myself dangerously approaching their thirties and their comedic style may even be maturing a bit as well.  

The branding of the type of comedy they provide needed to be broadened away from just being hi-jinks for the college crowd. With that in mind, College Humor launched jest.com and subsequently knocked it out of the park with this terrific Moneyball satire trailer poking fun of the Yankees.

 

While College Humor may have found the college audience a bit limiting, there is certainly a large audience that will embrace this well executed jab at the Yankees. Given the Onion's poor foray into poking fun of the sports world, maybe Jest/College Humor can successfully resonate over time with sports fans? 

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We celebrate our tenth podcast (Woo! *blows kazoo*  I seriously thought we would've been lucky to make it to one) by welcoming one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history and one of the best analysts on television, Barry Larkin. Barry has been noted as one of the top baseball analysts around and is the featured analyst on ESPN's live stadium editions of Baseball Tonight on Sunday nights. AA chats with Barry about a multitude of topics including...

-How he got started in his media career 
-Why he made the switch from MLB Network to ESPN 
-The excitement of taking Baseball Tonight on the road each week for the first time 
-The dramatic end of the 2011 regular season 
-The player's perspective on postseason baseball 
-Which team reminds him of his World Champion Reds team 
-His thoughts on a possible induction into the Hall of Fame next year

There's also plenty of talk dissecting the Divisional Series in both leagues from one of the sharpest analysts in the game. If you're a baseball fan or have any interest in the MLB postseason, this is a podcast you won't want to miss.  Also, don't forget to check out all of our podcasts at ITunes.

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