Above you can see the entire UFC Heavyweight Championship fight on Fox from Saturday night, where Junior Dos Santos defeated Cain Velasquez to win the belt.  The fight lasted all of 64 seconds, but provided a decisive, exciting knockout finish.  The same can't be said for Manny Pacquiao's bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, also on Saturday night.  Pacquiao won a questionable decision, which seems to be the rule rather than the exception in boxing.  How many boxing fans have grown tired of the neverending supply of controversies, disappointments, teases, and fractures?  In fact, the highlight of Pacquiao/Marquez fight night may in fact have been the role of this strategically placed sombrero.

The contrast of trajectories between UFC and boxing couldn't be more apparent than Saturday night.  On one hand, you had the UFC making its debut in primetime network television.  Sure, it wasn't the first MMA appearance in primetime, but this was finally the time for MMA's premier organization to take centerstage.  This wasn't a Youtube fighter trying to make a name for himself in a fourth rate bout, Dos Santos v Velasquez was the real deal.  It was also a winner in the ratings.  Here's the numbers from MMAJunkie...

With updated figures, network executives say this past weekend's first-ever UFC on FOX event scored a 3.1 household rating and an average audience of 5.7 million viewers.

That's up for sharply from the initial estimates of 4.64 million viewers.

According to FOX officials, the Nov. 12 broadcast was the highest-rated event in UFC history, and once final figures are in, it's expected to win the adults 18-34, adults 18-49, men 18-34 and men 18-49 demographics.

5.7 million viewers for a single 64 second fight is fairly impressive.  And hey, it's almost three times as long as Armen Keteyian's interview with Mike McQueary!  But perhaps more importantly, it's winning those young demos that will have Fox and the UFC popping the champagne bottles.  Networks obsess over winning those young/male demos and the fight delivered.  And really, this could only be the beginning for Dana White and UFC...

As you can tell by the tweets above from the CBS Evening News feed, the network heavily promoted an exclusive interview with Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary, the man that allegedly walked in on Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in the shower.  McQueary has been one of the key men in the Penn State scandal as one of the few eyewitnesses to Sandusky's alleged actions, and has also undergone criticism for his perceived lack of action in reporting the abuse.  Until tonight, McQueary had not spoken publicly about the scandal, Sandusky, or his being placed on administrative leave by the university.

In light of Jerry Sandusky's in-depth, mesmerizing interview with Bob Costas, McQueary's interview with CBS's Armen Keteyian was heavily anticipated.  Would McQueary try to defend his actions?  Would he explain the e-mails he sent claiming he went to the police and stopped the rape?  Would he respond to Sandusky calling him a liar the previous night and blaming him for fabricating the allegations of abuse in that shower?  Given the outstanding interview Costas gave the night before, expectations were high that McQueary's answering of questions would be just as provocative and eye-opening.

Instead, we got this...

Keteyian: "Do you have any idea when you think you might be ready to talk?"

McQueary: "This process has to play out, I just don't have anything else to say."

Keteyian: "Ok, ok... and then just one last thing, just describe your emotions right now."

McQueary: "All over the place, just kinda, uhh... shaken."

Keteyian: "Crazy?"

McQueary: "Crazy."

Keteyian: "And you said what, like a..."

McQueary: "Snowglobe."

Keteyian: "Like a snowglobe."

McQueary: "Yes sir."

Keteyian: "All right."

LIKE A F*C&ING SNOWGLOBE?!?!!!  THAT'S YOUR EXCLUSIVE, CBS?!?!  THAT'S THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW???  THAT'S THE "WINDOW INSIDE HIS EMOTIONS?!?!  WHAT THE HELL???

You can not pull a bigger bait and switch as a network.  CBS's big exclusive with Mike McQueary was that his world is a snowglobe.  The entire interview lasted 23 seconds.  Keteyian asked "just one last thing" as his second question!  23 seconds!  That's it!  

Bravo, CBS, bravo.

The immediate reaction from Twitter was deservedly mocking and cut-throat from many notable sportswriters and bloggers...

ChrisMottram FYI, ABC World News also had an on camera "no comment" from McQueary tonight. They did the right thing and didn't lie about what they had.
JimmyTraina Kim Kardashian is laughing at the sham CBS just pulled.
darrenrovell The FCC should fine CBS for false advertising in the McQueary "exclusive."
PaulPabst CBS next exclusve interview will be Paterno chasing them off his lawn.
PeteThamelNYT So much for that McQueary interview. Bad job by CBS promoting it. That was a no comment.
CFBROCKER What an embarrassment CBS
PeterBurnsRadio: CBS did not Rick-Roll America with the McQueary Interview because Rick would have never let us down like that
AmyKNelson on CBS interview, top of mind: "Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it."
WhitlockJason Wow. CBS just embarrassed all TV networks and TV journalists. Just embarrassing. Surprised Armen Keytenian would be part of that.
TiricoSuave BREAKING: CBS reporting Mike McQueary currently flying somewhere over Colorado in giant gas balloon.

This is an embarrassment for the network, for the CBS Evening News, and for Keteyian.  What they promoted as an exclusive interivew was nothing more than a glorified no comment.  We learned precisely nothing from an EXCLUSIVE 23 second interview.  Hell, there was better and more detailed, more newsworthy material in the portion CBS replayed from the Sandusky interview on NBC!  What does that say about you, CBS!  Bob Costas and Rock Center gave us the interview America is still talking about.  Costas gave us a relevant interview that asked tough, direct questions that captivated the country.  The contrast to the traveshamockery CBS produced simply cannot be greater.  CBS gave us nothing more than a small pile of hot garbage as an exclusive.  But hey, at least that hot garbage was encapsulated in a pretty snowglobe.

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After the week that Penn State has had, many of you may be wondering how on earth someone can make light of this child rape investigation. But if you were around a TV on Saturday night and witnessed SNL, you probably are thinking that they handled this situation about as best as humanly possible.

In the SNL news segment, Seth Meyers introduces Jason Sudeikis (the Devil) and begins to describe the entire situation to him, knowing nothing about what has transpired. The Devil actually gets so disgusted, he starts ranting about how terribly everyone in this situation has handled the events that have transpired.

When the Prince of Darkness is calling Sandusky a monster, warning rioting students about their actions, and scolding Joe Pa for not reporting these allegations to the police, that’s pretty bad.

So while you can never make light of a child rape scandal, in a story that is too big too ignore, SNL skillfully cracks on the idiots that performed these actions and the ones that never did enough to stop it.

This week's Straight Outta Stockton nominees present a deep field of screwups, misspeaks, bloopers, and headscratchers.  In other words, there's plenty of our favorite announcers represented in this week's list!

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 10 nominees...

1) "A major, major mistake throwing an interception in the red zone when you already have points on the board" - Steve Beuerlein (via TheBlightning)

2) "Ken Whisenhunt and Andy Reid in a robbery that has been dead even down through the years." - Dick Stockton (via CK29) I'm not even going to try and guess what this was supposed to mean.

3) "That is how you drop a load on somebody." - Dan Dierdorf (via JoeCNC)

4) "The NFL will be able to operate a hedge fund after all the filed fines from this game." - Thom Brennaman (via DevsFan30)

5) "Both of Skelton's interceptions have been in the red zone.. of his own territory.." - Dick Stockton (via JoshuaBatelli)

6) "They're gonna call timeout here, which would be my guess, but they're not" - Troy Aikman (via bmitchelf)

7) "That was a very strange challenge...oh wait it wasn't a challenge!" - Brian Billick (via sjwest86)

8) "The Packers quarterbacks coach spends a lot of time teaching the quarterback position." - Jon Gruden (via CaptTouchback)

9) "Jason Snelling 'Salts'" - Chris Berman (via AA) grasping at nicknames.

10) "D'Brickashaw Ferguson is one of the best pass rushers in the game" - Cris Collinsworth (via Bflo360)

11) "The wheels are coming off their snowmobile." - Dan Dierdorf (via Dan_Ciarrocchi) on Buffalo's season.

12) "Great punt by Weatherford." - Joe Buck (via StPOConnor) during a 29 yard punt that reached midfield

13) "And this throw against Atlanta, I fell off my bed. I almost hit my head and died." - Jon Gruden (via GreatScottsman) to Aaron Rodgers

14) "Here comes the beef! The beef is coming in!" - Tony Siragusa (via cgmv123)

15) "Did he catch it? No. Oh he did but he is short of the goalline." - Dick Stockton (via bloggerjustinf)

16) "If you want to be a good point guard, you have to have some turnovers..." - Phil Simms (via MCamerlengo)

Vote For Your Week 10 Dickies Nominees! (vote for up to five)

The winners will come Thursday morning so make sure you vote early and often and check back for the full NFL Week 11 announcing sked later this week!

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Al Michaels and Howard Stern discussed the extremely delicate Penn State situation on Monday's show. In true Stern fashion, he does not tiptoe around the outrage and disgust he feels about those who were allegedly responsible and covered up the unfathomable scandal that has rocked sports in the last week. The majority of Stern's venom is directed at Mike McQueary, the man who saw one of the alleged sexual assualts take place. His inaction has been severely questioned although he believes he did take appropriate action.

Unfortunately, Michaels brings up a depressing point. It's apparent that many were aware of the unimaginable accusations against one of the most prominent public figures at Penn State for as long as a decade and simply hoped it would never be discovered. Because of this, many kids were directly put in harms way because he was still allowed to be apart of his foundation and make use of the facilities at Penn State. It's sad, but it's looking likely that we haven't reached rock bottom yet.

[H/T The Big Lead]

I have a huge obsession with ESPN's 'Streak for Cash,' so much that I always need to have a pick in play, even if it means dipping into the obscure soccer match ups I have no business attempting to predict.

China v. Iraq, however, seemed like a lock. I even wrote that in my journal the day before when looking at the next day's options: "Iraq's a war zone, they're scrounging together a soccer team to play against China? China's a lock." I laughed at it later that night! I also asked my co-worker, who plays semi-pro soccer, for his 'expert' advice and he agreed that China would win.

Well, that wasn't so:

I have no idea what the announcer is saying here, but I'm imagining it's Iraqi Arabic for something about an awesome goal, Iraq beating China, and Nelson Muntz mocking my 'Streak for Cash' loss that ended a seven-game winning streak. Thanks, China. 

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Last night, Bob Costas shocked much of the country by getting an interview with alleged child rapist Jerry Sandusky.  This morning on MSNBC, Costas related that he was preparing to interview Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola (himself in the news for ghastly reasons) when the lawyer suggested Costas also interview Sandusky.  This happened 10-15 minutes before the scheduled Amendola interview.  If there is such a thing as a "PR move" when you now have even more cases accusing your client of sexual abuse of children, being interviewed via phone by Bob Costas is not it.  Even Costas questioned the move as the right thing to do for Amendola's client.  

Especially given such a short period of time to prepare, Costas was superb in the interview.  This interview was Bob Costas at his best - a well prepared, cutting interview that asked many of the questions viewers at home would have likely asked themselves.  Costas is a bit of a difficult person to try to grasp in terms of his importance and legacy in the sports media.  To tell you the truth, it feels like his talent hasn't always been put to its full potential (consider his Sunday Night Football "halftime essays").  Maybe it's just that Costas is so skilled, so smooth at whatever it is he does that he's been taken for granted and not been able to be pegged as "the baseball guy" or "the interview guy" or what have you.  He's been around forever (without aging somehow, would you believe he is 59 YEARS OLD!!), called the NBA Finals and World Series, had interview shows on NBC and HBO, and hosted the Olympics since 1992.  That's quite a diverse, lengthy, impressive resume.

The Sandusky interview has been praised as some of his finest work and his direct questioning including, "Are you a pedophile?" and "Are you sexually attracted to young boys?" have produced the most alarming soundbytes.  Some have expressed a missed opportunity for Costas to follow up when Sandusky talked about horsing around in the shower, which is a good point.  However, given the setting and the context of the interview it truly is an outstanding job by Costas.

You're free to make your own judgment on what this interview says about Sandusky...

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As the professionals leave the basketball court behind for the courtroom, there are 24 straight hours of college ball that begin tonight at midnight for all the hoops junkies out there.  Seriously though, if you're tuning in to CS-Northridge/Hawaii at 4 AM you are either a hugely dedicated hoops fan, have serious sleep deprivation issues, or you're already up watching old episodes of Cheaters.  With all the great players that had the prescience not to turn pro, this could turn out to be one of the best college basketball seasons in many years.  The highlight game on Tuesday night might be Coach K going for the wins record with Bobby Knight in the house (that should be fun) in NYC.  But, Kansas-Kentucky and Florida-OSU may be two of the better games we'll see all season.  Several tournaments all over the country tip off later this week as well.  

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You can kiss the 2011-2012 NBA season goodbye.  This afternoon, the NBA players rejected the NBA's last, best offer to end the lockout that began July 1st of this year.  The NBA players union plans on disbanding and taking the league to court.  If you're looking for a ray of hope in this news... there isn't one.  Both sides will now dig their trenches deeper - the union marching towards decertification and the courts, the owners promising to drop their next offer to a 53-47% income split from a more reasonable, negotiable position.  I'm guessing nobody on either side is thinking of all the arena and ticket workers that will lose their jobs in this, but that's the cold, hard reality of what these two sides have done and are planning on doing.

I'm no labor expert, and I'm not even sure which side is most to blame (my heart tells me the owners), but if the 2004-2005 NHL lockout and history is any aide, then the season is finished.  And, all the good things the NBA had going for it is down the crapper in this instant.  Opinion seems to be on the side of the players eventually being crushed under the weight of the extended lockout and folding to a deal that is much worse in the long run, while sacrificing the season.  Perhaps the players show more resolve than that, but I wouldn't count on it.  The owners are in this for the long haul... which sucks for NBA fans.

So here we are.  Any good vibes about the NBA was just given a Bill Laimbeer clothesline.  There's no telling just how damning a lost season will be to the league's popularity.  The NHL was hurt badly after their own lost season, but the sport is back on an upward swing (albeit, playing their games on Versus).  Will the NBA be punished more than the NHL because of their increased popularity, or will it mean that more fans get pissed off at the league and its players?  Depending on how the next few months evolve, it could speak to just how much damage will be done to the sport.  In my opinion, losing any fans to a lockout is too much, but some have cynically stated this is what Stern and the NBA wanted all along.  If so, it's one of the most maddening, selfish, ridiculous power plays in the history of sports.

Congratulations, David Stern and company.  Well played.  You had the league at its highest point in over a decade.  You had more young, personable, likable stars than any league except the NFL.  Hell, you even had LeBron James and the Miami Heat as the perfect supervillains too!  I'm an NBA fan through and through.  While everyone else was out partying in high school, I was watching Clippers/Warriors on League Pass Friday nights.  That's how much I love the Association... and a sad social commentary on my life.  This news rips me up on the inside.  Sure, I'll come back eventually, but it won't be easy and it won't be without a lot of conflicting emotions of rage, anger, and regret.  You had everything going for you and you decided to blow it up. 

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