There will be a new era in Bristol beginning January 1, 2012 as ESPN President George Bodenheimer steps down and Executive VP John Skipper steps in.  Bodenheimer will stay on as "Executive Chairman" when Skipper takes over the day-to-day operations of running a multi-billion dollar empire.  Here's the announcement from ESPN and quotes from Bodenheimer and Skipper:

"Bodenheimer, currently President of ESPN and ABC Sports and Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks, will relinquish his day-to-day operating responsibilities January 1.  As Executive Chairman of ESPN, Bodenheimer will continue to chair ESPN’s Board of Directors, provide strategic direction and support a seamless transition to Skipper, who will assume day-to-day operating responsibilities January 1.  Skipper has served as ESPN’s executive vice president, content, since October 2005."

“I’ve been with ESPN 31 years – my entire professional career. Constant change and consistent growth have marked each of those years, and to me those two themes underscore today’s news.  We’ve demonstrated that change managed well is healthy – for companies and for people.  After 13 years as President, I felt it was a good time to step away from the day to day management of ESPN and let others take the lead. I very much appreciate Bob's support over the years, and look forward to my future role with ESPN." - Bodenheimer

“I am humbled and excited to be given the opportunity by Bob and George to lead this terrific company.  George set a high bar and an impeccable example, and I will dedicate all of my energy to follow George's lead in both empowering and supporting my 7,000 ESPN colleagues who do such great work every day.  I look forward to working alongside them in meeting the many challenges that lie ahead.” - Skipper

Bodenheimer has been with ESPN from the early years of the network and rose from working as a driver for the company all the way to the top.  In his thirteen year reign as lord and master of the sports world ESPN President, Bodenheimer has seen the network grow exponentially to even new heights.  He's been very highly thought of as ESPN President both inside and outside Bristol as a respected leader in the industry.  

Skipper, who came over from Rolling Stone, has been in charge of the network's content for several years.  His influence is seen in several rights deals ESPN has won in the last few years and he was the driving force behind the 2010 World Cup success in South Africa.  It's a wise move for ESPN as far as I'm concerned.  As important as Skipper has been in driving ESPN's evolution and growth as the mothership, he's the natural choice to step in as ESPN President.  With Bodenheimer staying on to chair the board of directors, Skipper's arrival shouldn't change ESPN much at all and the transition should be rather simple.  Time will tell if Skipper can cement his own legacy at ESPN and join Bodenheimer as one of the Good Emperors.

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The following was featured as the Call of the Day in SI's Hot Clicks and is certainly worthy of being shared, even though the video isn't embeddable.  Click the link to listen as St. Louis University's basketball announcer Bob Ramsey reacts to a series of plays resulting in a physical brand of college basketball that you just don't see all that often anymore.

"YOU WANNA PLAY ROUGH?  LET'S PLAY!"

What goes around comes around.

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Of course Lee Corso was going to win the Pammies this week.  In fact, he did so with the highest vote total so far this season.  However, the real battle was for second place where an unsuspecting name makes an appearance high up the Pammy toteboard.  Also, no Craig James this week?  Was he announcing?  The envelope please...

10) "Mario Dovell gives a laissez-faire effort." - Ray Bentley [video]

9) "He's hotter than July in the month of November." - Mark Jones (via ak482)

8) "Scoreless first half in Champaign." - Beth Mowins (via BloggerJustinF) at the end of the 1st quarter.

7) "You know where they practice that? practice." - Rod Gilmore (via bjo109)

6) "When you pull out early there is embarrassment" - Danny Kanell (via steve5643)

5) "NC State Leading BOSTON COLLEGE 30-6 in the 3rd Quarter." - Pam Ward (via sctvman) That's all well and good, except NC State was playing Clemson.

4) "Giuseppi, that was play action." - Matt Millen (via Sctvman) to Joe Tessitore.  Given Millen's history with ethnic humor...

3) "he has thrown three picks, but no interceptions" - Pam Ward (via sctvman)

2) "That looked like a clean muff." - Gus Johnson (via NCAAFB_LikeABos)

1) "Ah, f*ck it!" - Lee Corso [video]

Week 12 Top 5 -

1) Craig James 110 pts

2) Matt Millen 77 pts

T3) Pam Ward 60 pts

T3) Gary Danielson 46 pts

5) Chris Spielman 35 pts

Others receiving votes - Brent Musburger 28 pts, Lou Holtz 21 pts, Mark Jones 18 pts, Shaun King 18 pts, Mike Patrick 17 pts,, Lee Corso 17 pts, Gus Johnson 16 pts, Beth Mowins 16 pts, Brett Favre 13 pts, Sean McDonough 13 pts, Jesse Palmer 12 pts, Tom Rinaldi 10 pts, Rod Gilmore 10 pts, Artrell Hawkins 9 pts, Warrick Dunn 9 pts, Dan Hawkins 9 pts, Jenn Brown 9 pts, Andre Ware 8 pts, Verne Lundquist 8 pts, , Wendi Nix 7 pts, Steve Martin 7 pts, Tom Cole 7 pts, Danny Kanell 7 pts, , Dave Pasch 5 pts, Bill Land 5 pts, Alex Flanagan 4 pts, Mike Morgan 4 pts, Paul Burmeister 4 pts, Joe Tiller 3 pts, Keith Jones 3 pts, Desmond Howard 3 pts, Charles Davis 3 pts, Steve Beuerlein 2 pts, Ray Bentley 2 pts, Scott Van Pelt 2 pts, Kevin Kugler 1 pt, Eric Collins 1 pt, Todd McShay 1 pt,  Tim Brando 1 pt.

The Full Week 13 Announcing Schedule will be coming soon, where you can find the dates and times of games and all the announcing pairings as well.  With football throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, the Pam Ward Chronicles will be up on Friday.  Be thankful for old men who swear on live television.

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The build-up to Skip Bayless interviewing Tim Tebow yesterday on ESPN2's First Take was the most nauseating thing I've seen on television since Donovan McNabb blew chunks in the Super Bowl.  I've said my share on First Take and Tebow here before so there's no sense rehashing in any great detail.  I'm a fan of Tebow the person.  Tebow the quarterback I really don't care much about.  He can be decent if given a chance, I suppose (see, not everyone has to live and die with their opinion on Tim Tebow).  However, it's what the media has done in obsessing about Tebow that is just gross.  First Take is proudly the chief offender.  Each and every day there is a new topic (or topics, God forbid) for Skip Bayless to pantomime fear/shock/ecstasy in defending Tebow against evil hoardes of apocalyptic monsters.  Wash.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Sure, it's fun to mock First Take and TebowMania (especialy when the first attempt at the Tebow interview failed epically yesterday), but it really is maddening to believe ESPN plays along with this each and every day.  What's also maddening was the drama surrounding the Tebow interview by Skip.  It was even given its own hashtag - #WhenSkipMeetsTebow.  Jay Crawford trumpeted Skip Bayless and First Take trending on Twitter yesterday morning (notice he conveniently didn't tell you why).  The hoopla surrounding the interview was that it was billed as the "first meeting" between Tebow and his biggest cheerleader, Bayless.

Supposedly, Skip had refused to meet Tebow to keep his journalistic integrity.  (I'll give you a second to stop laughing.)  He admitted as much before the interview regarding the chance of an encounter earlier this year:

"To keep my objectivity, I'm going to politely say no."  

Which leads to the video below.  Yesterday morning was not the first "meeting" between Tim Tebow and Skip Bayless.  First Take, ESPN, Bayless, and everyone else was misleading you in incessantly hyping this thing in such a way.  Hard to believe for a show with such an pristine reputation, I know.  This is the same program SI's Richard Deitsch referred to as "the morning equivalent of hell."  The amazing aspect of this facade is that Skip's previous meeting with Tebow happened... on FIRST TAKE ITSELF... IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR!!  Watch!

What's even more hilarious is that Bayless actually referenced their prior meeting on First Take in yesterday's segment!  You've got to be kidding, right?  No, he did!

"Back in June you did call me out about my clutch gene on the golf course so you owe me a golf date Tim Tebow and you will pay for that comment."

So how can #WhenSkipMeetsTebow be their first meeting when we have this shot from the show in June of them talking to each other!  (Never mind the mental images of a Skip & Tim "golf date.")

That happened!  I'm just so disappointed in ESPN and First Take that they would try to fudge their endless promotion machine in desperately making Skip Bayless a part of the story.  I can't believe their clever Twitter hashtag wasn't really all it was made out to be.  Why... if First Take is willing to stretch the truth to this extent... what can I believe as a sports fan anymore.  I think I'm gonna freak out.

H/T Krupy445

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Let’s face it, when you look at the NFL post game show and see Stu Scott, Steve Young, Trent Dilfer, and Rick Reilly you should right away not expect the most in depth coverage. Even the announcers should know the level of expectations just by looking to the left and the right.

But because Steve Young has a little extra pep in his step these days and likes to ruffle Reilly's feathers, he decided to pick on Reilly in the classic tone of “I’m better than you because I actually played the game.”

Rick Reilly starts off with a rant on the Pats and how they aren’t worried enough when he makes a couple terrible jokes that translate to crickets and/or forceable, awkward laughs by his co-anchors.

Steve Young apparently didn’t like the Pats/Chiefs game being compared to “beating a Prius off the line” and “beating a blind man in a coloring contest” because he jumps in while Reilly is still talking with the tone of “let Daddy take it from here.”  He then proceeds to tell us how the Patriots are just at the start of their eventual Super Bowl run because they’ve made some sacks in the past two games.  Ok...

While the Reilly jokes (?) and analysis wasn’t slap your knee type of comedy, he is a writer and the jokes sometimes don’t translate as well in person as they do on paper.

Could the Pats be on their way to a Superbowl? Who the hell knows, but Steve Young is no genius in this media game and should have a bit more respect for someone that, while goofy at times, is still a successful sports writer.  Where's the guy with the oxygen tank when you need him...

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Back in August we told you of FOX's plans to air tape-delayed English Premier League soccer matches on NFL Sundays.  Back then, we were cautiously optimistic that FOX was helping to finally usher in the permanent advancement of soccer as one of the top sports on American television.  And while the ratings from this weekend's most recent Chelsea/Liverpool clash aren't staggering, they are showing promising signs for the future of soccer on FOX broadcast television, especially when compared with the lack of ratings by America's own MLS.  According to our friend John Ourand of SBJ, FOX has to be very happy with how their non-live soccer stacked up against stiff competition in the afternoon, including the NFL and NASCAR's finale...

Admittedly, it's very tough to see some big picture trends out of one isolated weekend of TV ratings, but why not give it a shot?  Obviously there are two points to take away from FOX's rating.  One, the success of FOX's tape-delayed EPL match versus the most important MLS match of the year on ESPN. Second is the growing confidence FOX must be gaining to push soccer alongside MMA as the next emerging television property in sports.  Let's tackle each of these points in more detail...

Be thankful this week for the neverending supply of hilarious quotes that are provided week after week by the nation's football announcers.  Can Dick Stockton rise to the top of the Straight Outta Stockton leaderboard, or will Phil Simms and Brian Billick enter the holiday season atop the standings?

For the Straight Outta Stockton vote, each week we'll nominate 15-20 quotes for you to pick the best 10.  The winning quote of the week will earn that person 10 points all the way down to 1 point for 10th.  Remember, you can vote for your favorite five quotes.  Here are your Week 11 nominees...

1) "That's Tony Scheffler's 5th touchdown of the game, 2nd only to Calvin Johnson...." - Dick Stockton (via Packey)

2) "Interesting receiving corps they have here in Dallas" - Phil Simms (via SpringRubber).  Phil was in Chicago to announce Chargers-Bears.  Yipes.

3) "The defense is having a hard time getting the defense in." - Tony Siragusa (via JoshuaBatelli)

4) "And if you're a Bronco fan... you gotta do something to turn the field position" - Mike Mayock (via WAFriNightLight) Uh, how does a fan do that?

5) "The ball hits the leg in the Chief" - Mike Tirico (via JMPTrillOG)

6) "I have a man crush on Frank Gore." - Brian Billick (via JTscherne)

7) "It's so tough to score down inside the one." - Phil Simms right AFTER the #Bears score from the 1 (via BKibbs). I swear he's said this on multiple occasions this year.

8) "It's a mute point"- Daryl Johnston (via smyoung17)

9) "DeAngelo Stewart looks like he was shot out of a cannon." - John Lynch (via ShutdownLine) on the Carolina running backs evidently fusing into one person.

10) 'TOUCHDOWN BUFFALO! I MEAN TO SAY MIAMI!' - Marv Albert (via AlexFromBuffalo)

11) "We got a football game here in Detroit." - John Lynch. Well that's what my channel guide says, so that's refreshing to hear. (via sharapovasthigh)

12) "Now he'll just have to take the loss. A gain of 1 yard there." - Dick Stockton (via Dascenzo)

13) "The Lions beat the stuffing out of the Packers..." - Bob Costas (via thesportsgeeks) wins bad Thanksgiving pun of the week.

14) "Call me crazy, but I'm excited to see Tyler Palko tonight." - Ron Jaworski (via glokkenspx)

15) "You can't NBCee it any clearer than that." - Cris Collinsworth (via ConnorKeisel)

16) "There has never been a pass caught in the history of the NFL caught out of bounds." - Brian Billick (via AlexFromBuffalo)  He also called 49ers K David Akers, "Fred."

17) "Rod Smart remember him? He Hate Me! That's what it said on the back of his jersey. Well not in the NFL." - Dick Stockton (via matthoeppner)

Vote For Your Week 11 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 12 announcing sked later this week!

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I don't work in television, but if there was one thing Chris Berman actually did teach me it would be to not disrupt live on air talent.

While that clip is online video gold, perhaps this is silver or at a very least bronze. The on site Monday Night Countdown crew unexpectedly had to scramble when a facilities employee walked right into their shot just as they were starting their live analysis. 

Stuart Scott and Trent Dilfer seemed to have a second of "Can you believe this?" and stayed focused looking at each other before getting back into gear. The real star is Steve Young as his reaction is just absolutely priceless.

I think the real joy of that clip is that you can totally infer what is going on in Young's head at every single second in between when he first spots the lost employee to when he jumps back into commentator mode several seconds later. 

In order we have 

"What the hell?"

"No....get out of here!"

"Holy crap that was close"

"Did that really just happen?"

"Yikes, I am on TV. Refocus!"

"Where is that idiot going now"

"Stuart Scott is talking too much, so I am going to cut him off. That's my go to move and part of the reason I am not doing draft coverage anymore"

I also enjoyed how the intruding Oxygen tank guy doesn't really seem to break stride or care that he's made a major faux pas as he reverses course and then loops around the set. Sadly, this may have been the most enjoyable part of the night as Monday Night Football failed to provide a competitive game yet again. We can't blame ESPN, but hope that going forward Howard Katz and the NFL are a bit more giving in their scheduling for next year.

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After merely moving a couple early games back to to the 4:15 p.m. slot in Weeks 10-12, the NFL decided to really mix it up in Week 13. Although it was decided almost two weeks before Week 11 that the Suck4Lucks-Patriots game would not be the Week 13 SNF game, the announcement as to who would slide into the primetime slot wasn't made until Monday. It took a little mixing and matching, but it was finally all figured out: 

The NFL on Monday announced that the Detroit Lions-New Orleans Saints game was flexed to the Sunday night spot on NBC. The Broncos-Vikings game, which originally was on CBS, was switched to Fox at 1 p.m. ET. Also, the Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots game, which was the scheduled Sunday night game on Dec. 4, reverts to 1 p.m. on CBS and the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game was moved to 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

The NFL couldn't leave Fox with only two early games in its doubleheader week, so it took a game from CBS who had eight, according to a league source.

It is the first time that this has happened to the league's knowledge. In the new NFL deal, there will be lots of this -- switching games between networks and less emphasis on CBS being the home for AFC games and the same for Fox and NFC games.

Lions-Saints ultimately made the most sense. Texans-Falcons would've been a worthy candidate had Schaub not been injured. It'll still be an entertaining game with playoff implications, but it definitely lost some of its sex appeal. The up-and-coming Lions have never played on SNF since the game moved to NBC and there's no denying the allure of two of the game's most explosive offenses going head-to-head -- it'll be a ratings monster.

As for potentially seeing NFC games on CBS and AFC games on FOX? Ohhh, I LIKE that.

It was a bit unclear who would be calling the conference championship games for Fox next weekend, but USA Today has confirmed that Fox's A team will announce both games:

"Fox will announce today that its lead on-air college football team —Gus Johnson and analysts Charles Davis and Tim Brewster— will call its prime-time Pac-12 title game Dec. 2 and its prime-time Big Ten title game Dec. 3. "We'll roll the dice," Fox Sports President Eric Shanks says. "It's hard to tell either conference you wouldn't give them your lead crew."

Most have given Johnson and Davis high marks this season in their work on FX. Given Fox is known for not being particularly deep in their announcing talent, I think most will embrace the move of doubling down on Johnson and the rest of that crew. 

Fox will be alternating the Pac 12 Championship game with ESPN starting in 2012 (with Fox leading off), but landed this year's exclusive television rights before reaching that long term arrangement with ESPN.

Fox also has exclusive rights for the Big Ten Championship game through 2016, somewhat of an odd arrangement given no Big Ten games will air on Fox or FX during those years.

Unfortunately, neither game will have National Championship intrigue, which is somewhat of a downer for Fox, as well as fans who hate hearing chants of "SEC" at sporting events.

For those of you who still haven't checked out Gus Johnson calling a college football game, this is what you're missing.

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