By now you've about the tragic death of Indy car driver, Dan Wheldon. While certainly major news, it was no easy decision in Bristol on how to report the news on a jam packed Sunday Night SportsCenter.

To ESPN and SportsCenter's credit, they opened the week's most revered edition of the highlight show jumping right into Wheldon story and staying with it for a full eleven minutes. Solid coverage from multiple angles including a very nice tribute by Jeremy Schaap. Halfway through SportsCenter, another well done six minutes of coverage surrounding Wheldon's death.

Now the knee jerk reaction from our readers might be "So what? That's what they should have done." While I certainly think it was the smart way to go, it was definitely not a clear cut decision.

Sunday SportsCenter during football season is an institution. You have "The Blitz", Sunday Conversation, pumping MNF, an elimination game in the NLCS, the first BCS standings, major injury news (Jason Campbell and Marcus Lattimore), QB benchings (Grossman and McNabb), and some interesting stories of the day like the Harbaugh and Schwartz handshake.

Multiple guests are slated to do segments, some of the better anchors (Levy and Cohn) are on hand, and there is just a massive amount of ground to cover. In a nutshell, SportsCenter is ESPN's flagship and Sunday Night SportsCenter during football season is quintessential piece of non live event programming the network has.

Indycar racing is not a first tier sport in America. To be honest, I don't really know if it's even in the second tier. The vast majority of our readers and general sports fans probably could have not have told you heading into today where today's race was held, who won this year's Indy 500, or name 5 Indycar drivers.

ESPN could have skimped on the coverage here if they chose to do so and it wouldn't have been a big deal. Instead of the first eleven minutes and six more, they could have maybe done something like two five minute segments on the death and not opened with the story.

With all that was going on in the world of sports, as long as the coverage of Wheldon's death was sensitive and substantial, there really wouldn't be any blowback cutting the corners surrounding the story. 

For all the crap we and others out there give The Worldwide Leader, credit to ESPN here for not marginalizing this story and covering the tragedy with vigor. Certainly not ideal to condense an overloaded SportsCenter by more than 25%, but a smart decision that showed integrity and compassion. 

Of course our thoughts and prayers go out to Wheldon, his family, his teammates, and the Indycar racing community. 

Viewers who stuck around for the final moments of Oregon vs. Arizona State were treated to a memorable testy exchange between Chip Kelly and an overexuberant fan. Swarming around Kelly, who was starting his post game interview with Erin Andrews, was an overzealous fan met with a very terse "Hey! Will you just shut up?" from the Oregon head coach. Video below:

Serenity Now!

A couple of things strike me as odd in the clip. Do Oregon fans really rush the field when solidly beating an opponent that was a 15 point underdog? Is Chip Kelly always this surly after beating a ranked team by two scores? 

The odd thing is that post game clusterf*cks around on field interviews is nothing new for college football or even college basketball. The chaos around Kelly and Andrews, while potentially a bit loud, was pretty modest compared to some of the pandemonium you can see moments after a game. Apparently Kelly likes a more calm and relaxing atmosphere when given the opportunity to humbly brag about his football team to Erin Andrews. 

To her credit, Andrews cracked a smile thanked Kelly, and then immediately put the game face back on and finished out the interview. Musberger would also poke fun of the incident immediately after insinuating he knew it was internet gold. 

Not a big deal but certainly an off-color moment for Kelly who showed a bit of a short fuse and unexpected exasperation in what should have been a more celebratory moment. 

With Craig James and Mike Patrick getting a week off today, I tried to do a little extra research on Twitter and go beyond the Pammies submissions to make sure we found all the awful Craig James quotes from Thursday night.  Somehow, I wasn't disappointed, as there were some "exspecially" good ones out there in the Twitterverse.  You can check the full Pammy standings and the Week 7 announcing sked below.  Gameday is in Eugene for Oregon/ASU later tonight, but there are some other interesting games throughout the day.  Leave us the most flabbergasting quotes in the comments below or by tweeting us.  And, don't forget the first ever week of the soon to be named NFL Pammies start tomorrow, so come back on Sunday for even more fun!

"Georgia will run the dickens out of the ball against Vanderbilt." - Randy Cross (via sctvman)

"A 39 yard touchdown collection" - Wendi Nix (via Michael Necci)

"Andrew Luck is so good he bores you with completions." - Jesse Palmer (via rob_laser)

"Well-dressed Joe Tessitore eats well, is a legend." - Jesse Palmer (via BenBeach) is just killing it tonight.

"He was frustrated by the bigness." - Craig James (via sctvman)

"The defense needs to step up, EXSPECIALLY the secondary." - Craig James (via Mikrino)

"The I-Form is a traditional running formation." - Craig James (via TheBullGator)

"Six Trojans are going to come" - Craig James (via SenatorGiggity)

"when that USC band started to play, what was the first thing we thought? Trojans." - Craig James (via jasondschwartz)

"He's a guy ... that can make a play ... after the first play is called" - Rod Gilmore (via CSalner)

The above pic from last week's Steelers/Titans game via Guyism may be my favorite screengrab of all-time.  Somehow I had the game on when this play happened.  After this pic, the referees then turned around and pointed the opposite way like it was some sort of rehearsed Three Stooges scene.  Welcome to Roger Goodell's NFL.

Reader nyybrandonc sent in the following pic from ESPN.com.  Seems the leader is a bit confused as to which team Ryan Raburn plays for.  Who can blame them though, when was the last time ESPN actually cared about baseball?

I had to go back and check the boxcore, but I believe these stats from Oklahoma's win over Texas in the "Big Red Shootout" are actually correct.  According to the Longhorn Network, the game was an exhibition designed to make Oklahomans feel better about themselves.  At least ESPN bothered to spell Oklahoma right this week... (via ktquick)

Jason Ross tweeted in this snafu from the ALCS where someone in the Fox control room may have been falling asleeeeeeeeeeeep at the keyboard.  Probably from listening to Joe Buck sleepwalk his way through a broadcast wishing he were anywhere else in the world other than a baseball game...

Can you spot the snafu here from the Red Zone Channel during last Sunday's NFL action?  Look closely... (h/t TlkSuperstation via @richiewhitt)

From springrubber, "Apparently the Rangers played an ALDS Game 5 without anyone knowing..."

And finally, NOTSCWill tweeted us this pic from last night's ESPN broadcast depicting a Heisman race where the percent of total votes equal 167%.  Yes, a network worth billions and billions of dollars cannot properly calculate percent.  And we thought QBR was the only jacked up statistic from the leader!

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

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I'm actually scared to admit this... but I routinely watch ESPN2's First Take. You know, the show that runs opposite SportsCenter weekday mornings and "stars" Skip Bayless somehow making a living out of being... well, Skip Bayless.  The show had a simple enough premise - take a loudmouthed, polarizing contrarian (Bayless), have him take part in debates, and sprinkle in expert analysis, news, and relevant interviews.  Debates were even marketed as 1st & 10 and appeared later in the afternoon.  To be honest, in spite of Skip's professional, theatrical douchebaggery, the show was watchable... especially for someone that operates a blog called Awful Announcing.  

But recently, the show has gone from entertainingly awful (like an intentionally wretched scary movie where we're supposed to be in on the joke) to just awful awful (think Ecks vs Sever or Battlefield Earth).  Skip Bayless is more empowered and ridiculous than ever (the troubling part is his incredible self-awareness).  The interview and news segments are largely gone.  Now, the show largely focuses on Skip Bayless: Villain Of The Sporting Universe.  First Take has gotten away from the diversity that made it tolerable, to a revolving door of ESPN analysts and columnists to argue with Bayless.  If you're thinking this gets old quickly... it does.

Nevertheless, I was particularly intrigued by Wednesday's First Take from this week because of the perfect storm that had the potential to produce the single most awful sports show of all-time.  Not only was Screamin' A. Smith in to debate Skippy, not only was a pointless, in jest LeBron James tweet to John Clayton treated as breaking news, but we also had the story of the decade in sports - Tim Tebow being named the starter in Denver.

Since the summer months and Merril Hoge's rant out of nowhere, Tim Tebow has been ESPN's obsession.  Let me be clear - I like Tim Tebow.  I like that he takes a stand for who he is, I buy into his character, I believe he's a good guy that may or may not find success in the NFL.  Whatever.  Let him play it out.  End of story, right?  No.  ESPN has made Tebow into some sort of Frankenstein character and debated his quarterbacking skills, personality, character, hygiene, sex life, and everything in between.  It's nauseating.  They have shoved so much Tebow down our throats that 98% of the country hates him because of how much ESPN (and other networks - I'm looking at you CBS, Fox, and everyone else) have obsessed over him.  It makes Brett Favre look like an under the radar player.  

So, facing a two hour show of Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Tim Tebow, and LeBron James, I did what any insane, mentally imbalanced sports blogger would do.  I dived headfirst into an in-depth statistical study and retro blog on Wednesday's First Take.  Do I need a psych eval?  Probably.  Do I feel like scooping my eyeballs out with a melon baller?  Possibly.  Did I discover some disturbing, horrifying statistics that you want to read and laugh about?  Absolutely...

Fox has the doubleheader this week, so Dallas/New England is the national game in the 4:00 window.  With Joe Buck on MLB Playoff duty, Thom Brennaman comes into the "A" booth alongside Troy Aikman.  The 1:00 and 4:00 slates are particularly strong with Saints/Bucs, Texans/Ravens, 49ers/Lions, and Panthers/Falcons all worth a look.

Broadcast maps courtesty of The 506.

Sunday, October 16

Buffalo Bills @ New York Giants (CBS 1PM) Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers (CBS 1PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Indianapolis Colts @ Cincinnati Bengals (CBS 1PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots
San Francisco 49ers @ Detroit Lions (FOX 1PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (FOX 1PM) Sam Rosen, Brian Billick, Laura Okmin
St. Louis Rams @ Green Bay Packers (FOX 1PM) Chris Myers, Tim Ryan
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons (FOX 1PM) Dick Stockton, John Lynch

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens (CBS 4PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders (CBS 4PM) Marv Albert, Rich Gannon
Dallas Cowboys @ New England Patriots (FOX 4:15PM) Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX 4:15PM) Ron Pitts, Jim Mora

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (NBC 8:20PM) Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Monday, October 17

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets (ESPN 8:30PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski

Bye Week: Arizona Cardinals , Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans

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This article originally ran on our partner site, Crystal Ball Run which we encourage you to check out. 

Full-disclosure, I’m a little bit of a sports media dork. While you were busy growing up worshipping people like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Rebecca Lobo (ok, maybe not the last one), I always found people like Keith Jackson, Michael Wilbon and Bill Raftery far more fascinating.

(In a related note, that’s also probably why I couldn’t get a girl to talk to me until I was about 19-years-old. But that’s another story for another day)

Anyway, over the last few months, I’ve been fascinated at the musical chairs that’s taken place in the college sports online print media. In particular, CBS.com has built itself a nice little juggernaut on both the college football and college basketball side, adding Brett McMurphy, Tony Barnhart and eventually Bruce Feldman in football, and Jeff Goodman in basketball. For sports media dorks like me, this was like the NBA’s free agent class of 2010 all over again. Only with notepads, tape recorders and side parts, instead of headbands and neck tattoos.

Well with all that said, the biggest domino to fall in the whole online sports media shuffle may have hit today, with the Big Lead’s report that Pat Forde - he of the Forde Yard Dash and Forde Minutes - is now leaving ESPN.com for Yahoo.

From the Big Lead:

Pat Forde, the longtime ESPN.com columnist who is the Worldwide Leader’s foremost college football and basketball writer, is leaving ESPN for rival Yahoo Sports, according to multiple sources. Forde’s contract at ESPN expires Nov. 1, at which point he’ll move to Yahoo.

Forde didn’t answer a phone call or reply to a text, and ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Rob King refused comment when reached on his cell phone.

To stick with the NBA 2010 free agent analogy, this may not totally be LeBron going to Miami, but would probably be like, say, Carmelo going to the Knicks...

Saying the name M*tt Mi**en is about as offensive a thing as you can say in the state of Michigan. Simply the mere mention of his name will cause normally mild-mannered people to spew the most vile (and deserved) hatred they can fathom. M*tt Mi**en was a pox on the city of Detroit and its beloved football team. In his reign of terror, the Lions went 31-81 and ruined Sundays for everyone who bleeds the honolulu blue and silver for 7 bitter years.

Much like the excellent spoof Ben posted, here's another fantastic one from Funny Or Die:

While the casting choices leave a little to be desired, sadly much of the content of this trailer is true. The Lions failed for 7 years, but never were they boring. Also, if you told someone from Detroit that M*tt Mi**en was getting advice from a kid, there is many that would believe that were true. I mean, this is a guy who called one of his players a "devout coward" and also had that ugly Johnnie Morton incident. Fans organized the "Mi**en Man March" and much of the entertainment (since none was to be had on the field) came from the outstanding "Fire Mi**en" phenomenon and the embarrassing attempts to silence rational thinking.

When the M*tt Mi**en era came to a merciful end, us Detroiters rejoiced that we were rid of the demon that haunted our weekends. Incredibly, after demonstrating his complete lack of football wherewithal he was hired as a football analyst. A football...analyst? WDIV in Detroit rightfully pointed out the lunacy in one of the most destructive scrolls you'll ever see as he was offering his "expertise" on that year's Super Bowl teams.

In sick and sadistic fashion, his focus is on football in the midwest (he called last weekends MSU/OSU game). ABC even had the gall to assign Mi**en to last years MSU/UM game and in a strange but not welcome twist (irrational hatred is the lifeblood of this and other great rivalries) actually united those wearing green and those wearing maize in their hatred of Mi**en.

Now that the Lions are 5-0 and likely to never lose ever again, I can somewhat laugh at the insanity of the Mi**en era. Anything M*tt Mi**en says should be taken with a shovel of salt and I sincerely hope he is assigned to cover beach volleyball so us Mi**en survivors will never have to see him again. Plus, he probably offers as much expertise in beach volleyball as he does in football.

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With postseason ratings again in the crapper, it's good to see MLB's marketing group reinventing the wheel with this doozie of a commercial...

The already insanely overplayed "Written In The Stars" campaign has been largely panned by fans as both Fox and TBS seem to cue it up on almost every commercial break during games as well as breaks throughout the day (not that I watch Friends reruns or anything like that). If you thought you could escape the abrasive tune by actually attending a playoff game, our own Brady Green chimed in with his game experience tonight:

"For the 7 hours+ I was at the stadium they played "WRITTEN IN THE STARS" at least 10x (no exaggeration) so it's not just a TBS thing. I'm going to go find some kittens to punch before I go to sleep."

Regardless if you like the song and theme of the campaign, the bottom line is that it's overkill at this point. We're only midway through the league championships and the shtick has worn thin. 

Have no fear though, a squirrel running across home plate a week ago is now the featured commercial in hopes of getting fans excited? Eesh, fresh out of ideas apparently.

This got me thinking of past playoff campaigns that stood out both good and bad. Although people weren't so bullish on last year's NBA talking ball campaign, a lot of that was due to the success of the "There Can Only Be One" split screen commercials as well as the very well received and subsequently copycatted, "Where Amazing Happens" campaign.

I think the gold standard though of recent memory is the NHL's unbelievable campaign heading into the Stanley Cup. Don Draper would be very proud...

Whether the blame lies with MLB or their ad agency, the reality is baseball is continuing to lose mind share with other major sports as ratings continue to decline. The playoffs should be a great way to go out on a high note and build up momentum for the following year. The NBA and NHL have had success in this regard getting fans emotionally charged for postseason action. 

MLB's effort, although good in principle, just doesn't take into consideration people's natural instinct to turn on an overplayed song or fad. Adding the squirrel to the mix was just a desperate attempt to pump new life into a tired campaign. Not every postseason can produce success both on and off the field, but if a sport ever needed a good product on the field with good marketing air cover off the field, it would be MLB.

With Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, there was already ample reasons to avoid or mute the MLB playoffs. MLB's marketing seems to hurt more than it helps and obviously that is not a good thing. Historically though, MLB has struggled with their postseason marketing, so you would think change could be on the horizon in terms of the creative direction of the league's marketing efforts.

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Here's your Week 7 college football announcing schedule.  Brent and Herbie and Gameday are all in Eugene for the Top 25 matchup between Arizona State and Oregon (on ESPN at 10:15 ET instead of ABC at 8:00 ET).  Pammy leader Craig James calls USC/Cal tonight, but no game on Saturday, so make sure you tweet your Pammy submissions to us tonight.  In two other Top 25 matchups, Gus Johnson calls a noon game on FX between Baylor and Texas A&M and the Pasch/Spiels/Urban trio is in East Lansing for Sparty vs the Wolverines.  All times are eastern...

Thursday, October 13

San Diego State @ Air Force (8PM CBS Sports Net) James Bates, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Collins
USC @ California (9PM ESPN) Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Craig James, Jenn Brown

Friday October 14

Hawaii @ San Jose State (9PM ESPN) Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore

Saturday October 15

10 Michigan @ 19 Michigan State (Noon ESPN) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer, Quint Kessenich
Indiana @ 4 Wisconsin (Noon ESPN2) Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti
Utah @ Pittsburgh (Noon ESPNU) Rob Stone, Danny Kanell
24 Baylor @ 23 Texas A&M (Noon FX) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster
Purdue @ 25 Penn State (Noon BTN) Tom Hart, Derek Rackley, Lisa Byington
13 South Carolina @ Mississippi State (Noon SEC Net) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
Louisville @ Cincinnati (Noon Big East Net) Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAnaney
Toledo @ Bowling Green (Noon ESPN+) Michael Reghi, Doug Graber
Miami @ North Carolina (12:30 ACC Net) Steve Martin, Dave Archer, Mike Hogewood
UNLV @ Wyoming (2PM mtn) Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, Andrea Lloyd
Navy @ Rutgers (2PM ESPN3.com) Dave Popkin, Adam Archuleta

Florida State @ Duke (3PM ACC Net) Rich Waltz, Keith Jones, Jenn Hildreth
2 Louisiana State @ Tennessee (3:30 CBS) Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
7 Oklahoma State @ 21 Texas (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Samantha Steele
Ohio State @ 15 Illinois (3:30 ABC/ESPN) Bob Wischusen, Bob Davie, Heather Cox
12 Georgia Tech @ Virginia (3:30 ESPNU) Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins
Central Florida @ SMU (3:30 FSN) Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom
UTEP @ Tulane (3:30 FOX College Sports) Steve Physioc, Yogi Roth, Desmond Purnell
Colorado @ Washington (3:30 ROOT) Tom Glasgow, Jason Stiles, Jen Mueller, Alanna Rizzo
Ball State @ Ohio (3:30 STO) Matt Underwood, Frank Stams
South Florida @ Connecticut (3:30 Big East Net) Jim Barbar, Christian Fauria
Brigham Young @ Oregon State (4PM FOX College Sports) Dave McCann, Mike Lamb, Robbie Bullough
North Texas @ UL-Lafayette (5PM COX) Jimmy Fredrick, Scott Brazda, Blair Abene

3 Alabama @ Mississippi (6PM ESPN2) Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards
6 Boise State @ Colorado State (6PM mtn HD) Bill Doleman, Todd Christensen, Roger Bailey
17 Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest (6:30 ESPN3.com) Dave Weekley, Rene Ingoglia
Florida @ Auburn (7PM ESPN) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe
8 Clemson @ Maryland (7PM ESPNU) Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, Allison Williams
18 Kansas State @ Texas Tech (7PM FSN) Joel Meyers, Joel Klatt, Jim Knox
Northwestern @ Iowa (7PM BTN) Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller
Georgia @ Vanderbilt (7PM SEC Net) Bob Rathbun, Tim Couch, Kristina Akra
East Carolina @ Memphis (7PM WITN) Patrick Kinas, Kevin Miller, Billy Weaver
5 Stanford @ Washington State (7:30 VS) Ted Robinson, Glenn Parker, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
UAB @ Tulsa (8PM CBS Sports Net) Dave Ryan, Rich Rodriguez
1 Oklahoma @ Kansas (9:15 ESPN2) Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard, Shelley Smith
Utah State @ Fresno State (10PM ESPN3.com) Trey Bender, Jay Taylor
20 Arizona State @ 9 Oregon (10:15 ESPN) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews

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