The final Second round matchup of the Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament pits two of the biggest loudmouths on the sports airwaves against each other.  In one corner we have the small, skinny loudmouth Stephen A. Smith, who unfortunately is slowly starting to pollute ESPN's airwaves once again.  In the other corner, is the more prototypical big fat loudmouth, Tony Siragusa.  The choice is yours!  Which bag of hot air will you send to the next round to complete the not-so-Elite 8 in our quest to find the next face to be immortalized on AA's Mt. Rushmore!  We'll be back Monday with all the Second Round results and the draw for the quarterfinals.

Stephen A. Smith vs. Tony Siragusa

Stephen A. Smith

Fact File: ESPN NBA reporter/analyst/debater... well, actually he's not around that much anymore

Why He's Here: Stephen A. is a hard man to find these days.  After the mistake that was Quite Frankly and his period of overexposure, Smith faded away.  Somehow, he has a job hosting shows on ESPN Radio in New York and Los Angeles and still makes the sporadic TV appearance appearing on First Take, subbing for Jim Rome, and in other various nether regions of the leader.  It's enough for us to give Screamin' A. a place on the list.

Links:

Stephen A on Kwame Brown
Stephen A voted AA/AOL's Worst Sports Announcer (2007)
Stephen A Says Goodbye To ESPN
Stephen A Has Heard Something Terrible About LeBron James

Round 1 Result: Defeated Stuart Scott 51.45% - 48.55%

 

Tony Siragusa

Fact File: NFL on Fox sideline reporter and analyst

Why He's Here: Siragusa has been one of the pioneers of the field level analyst.  Hockey has gone to an analyst/reporter inside the glass, but Siragusa's role in Fox's coverage is basically the same thing.  The idea in theory isn't bad, but in practice it usually disappoints.  Siragusa is much more useful telling bad jokes, talking about food, or wasting time rather than providing anything of substance.... like analysis.

Links:

Tony Siragusa Is Serious About Honey
#5 Worst Announcer Of The Year
Irritating Habits Of NFL Announcers

Round 1 Result: Defeated 'Crazy' Jack Edwards 71.55% - 28.45%

Results:

Stephen A. Smith defeated Tony Siragusa  63.91% - 36.09% 

I'll freely admit that this matchup might be the hardest of the Second round to predict.  On one hand we have Michael Irvin, who many fans are seeing in a new light after his comments in support of gay athletes.  Despite his sometimes non-awfulness, there's still plenty of self-promotion and forced guffawing to go around for the former playmaker.  On the other hand, there's Pierre McGuire, who probably doesn't grate on casual hockey fans the way he does on the hardcore hockey followers.  Heck, the way some despised McGuire, you'd think he was the commissioner of the league or something!  The winner joins these six names in the Quarterfinals: Joe Buck, Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Chris Berman, Jim Gray, and Craig James.  Do your best AA Nation!  Tell us which analyst is more worthy of following in Joe Morgan's awful footsteps.

Pierre McGuire vs. Michael Irvin

 

Pierre McGuire

Fact File: NHL on NBC inside the glass analyst

Why He's Here: There are many hockey fans that just don't like Pierre McGuire.  It could be the way he gushes about certain players, the way his cliches and style grates, or even how he pronounces certain words.  Mainly, it's the way McGuire carries himself as an expert in spite of his 23-37-7 record as an NHL head coach.

Links:

Why Do People Hate Pierre McGuire?
How Full Of It Is Pierre McGuire?
Pierre McGuire Is Effin Creepy
Caps Fans Hate Us

Round 1 Result: Defeated Reggie Miller 57.62% - 42.38%

 

Micheal Irvin

Fact File: NFL Network studio analyst

Why He's Here: The former Cowboys receiver is the poster child for the staged guffawing that has infested NFL studio shows.  Irvin has never lasted in one place too long, jumping from Fox Sports Net to ESPN and now to NFL Network.  Irvin can be sincere, honest, and moving when he wants to be (see his Hall of Fame speech and statements in Out Magazine), but it's rarely ever seen in his television work.

Links:

Michael Irvin Might Have A New Home
ESPN Fires Michael Irvin
Michael Irvin Says Something Stupid

Round 1 Result: Defeated Dick Stockton 71.61% - 28.39%

Results:

Michael Irvin defeated Pierre McGuire  69.1% - 30.9% 

Let's see...our next matchup to crown the newest face on AA's Mt. Rushmore doesn't feature anyone who's been in the news recently.  It's not like revelations and accusations about Craig James's quest to ruin journalistic integrity at ESPN have been running rampant the last few days.  Thank God Bruce is free by the way.  Yes, Senator James has been making many enemies in the blogosphere recently. But will his newfound villainy be able to match the lame longevity of Rick Reilly?  While I'm trying to think of a stupid Reilly-esque essay, why not go ahead and vote on who's the more repulsive sports media personality?

Rick Reilly vs. Craig James

Rick Reilly

Fact File: ESPN reporter, essayist, and columnist

Why He's Here: Reilly isn't primarily a TV guy, but appears enough on the family of networks to make the cut.  Whether it's Homecoming, analysis on golf or other sports, or just pointless segments... Rick Reilly usually leads one to reach quickly for their remote.  In addition, Reilly has been caught mailing in columns and dismissing bloggers and new media.  Does anyone in sports do less for their millions of dollars?  Bobby Bonilla not withstanding...

Links:

Rick Reilly on Rory McIlroy
Surprise! Rick Reilly Takes Down Bloggers In Journalism Speech
Reilly Column On Jimmer Fredette
Rick Reilly Takes A Page From His Own Book

Round 1 Result: Defeated Hawk Harrelson  58.7% - 41.3%

 

Craig James

Fact File: ESPN college football game and studio analyst

Why He's Here: James became an integral part of one of college football's biggest stories when his son Adam's allegations of being locked in a closet led to Mike Leach's firing at Texas Tech.  This led to an awkward series of revelations made by Leach about Craig's meddling in his program, lawsuits, and other developments.  ESPN was put in the position of having one of their analysts be an integral part of the controversy.  How did Craig James respond?  Well, rumor has it he wants to be a Senator of course.  And now that his coverup and controversy briefly resulted in the "suspension" of respected CFB writer Bruce Feldman, James is more despised than ever.

Links:

Craig James Wants You To Help Texans Help Save America
Announcer working Alamo Bowl gets Alamo Bowl coach suspended
Craig James running to the Senate
Craig James loses it

Round 1 Result: Defeated Mike Patrick  75.17% - 24.83%

Results:

Craig James defeated Rick Reilly  66.32% - 33.68% 

In the first of today's matchups we have what can best be described as a contrast in styles.  Though neither of these two were considered favorites at the start, both were impressive in their 1st round victories.  Gray walloped the King of Puns Jim Nantz in taking over 75% of the vote while Thom Brennaman comfortably took out "THAT GUY" Jon Gruden.  But, who has enough awfulness to make it to the not-so-Elite 8?  So who will advance to join Skip Bayless, Joe Buck, Chris Berman, and Colin Cowherd?  The snake in the grass reporter, or the monotone man with the unending Tebow love?

Jim Gray vs. Thom Brennaman

Jim Gray

Fact File: reporter and interviewer for ESPN...or the highest bidder

Why He's Here: Two words - The Decision.  Jim Gray's involvement in The Decision  led to plenty of jealousy from fellow sports media personalities and plenty of fury from sports fans.  At least his pointless stalling in that interview wasn't as contentious as his infamous interview with Pete Rose. But, there's also many other examples of Jim Gray's sterling career.

Links:

Jim Gray's Awful Super Bowl Sign Off
What Happened To Jim Gray?
Jim Gray Tries To Fight Corey Pavin, Gets Dumped By Golf Channel
How Jim Gray Helped Orchestrate The Decision

Results:

Jim Gray defeated Thom Brennaman 77.89% - 22.11% 

ESPN finally released a statement on the Bruce Feldman saga this afternoon.  Bruce has indeed been freed.  Here is what the leader had to say:

"There was never any suspension or any other form of disciplinary action. We took the time to review his upcoming work assignments in light of the book to which he contributed and will manage any conflicts or other issues as needed.   Bruce has resumed his assignments."

A few obvious questions... 1) If there was no suspension why did he have the need to "resume his assignments?"  2) If there was no suspension, why did it take ESPN nearly 24 hours to dispute the report?  3) What conflicts does ESPN envision?  4) Why has Craig James still not been disciplined yet?  

We'll leave those questions and the actual validity of ESPN's statement for another day.  For now, rejoice in the power of Twitter and sports fans to do the right thing.  If you've ever doubted your ability to make change and have a voice, doubt them no more.  I feel like there should be some sort of inspirational movie scene to play me off...

In the short time that I've been writing and blogging, I have never seen sports fans, bloggers, and media come together in one movement as they have to support suspended ESPN college football writer Bruce Feldman.  We offered our strong position on Feldman's suspension as ESPN's Waterloo last night, but we are far from the only ones to publicly state support for Feldman and vehemently criticize ESPN for what appears at this time to be one of their worst moments.  The network has still not released a statement as of 1:45 ET on Friday.  Within hours of the initial report by Brooks, the Feldman story swept across Twitter as Bruce Feldman was transformed from a mere ESPN writer to a rallying cry for standing up for what is right.  Write to ESPN, call them, e-mail them, tweet their editors and on-air personalities, cancel your ESPN Insider subscriptions and take steps to show the ESPN executives that made this decision that their company has lost its way.  As always, these are Real Tweets From Real People...

The Roger Clemens Trial was kind of a big deal. It was such a big a deal in fact that the BBC across the pond decided to give it a go and provide some coverage of the trial. As a first step, they planned to have Ben Walker on, who writes about baseball for the Associated Press. This would seemingly be a good first step for a country that largely doesn't care much about America's pastime. Unfortunately for them, the BBC did not have Ben Walker. Instead, they had an imposter Ben Walker who looks to be communicating through Morse Code with his blinks and when he finally speaks he sounds like a folksier Tim Kurkjian. Luckily for all of us, Sportsgrid was there to provide video of their valiant attempt that ended in flames.

Of course the big news of the day was that the trial ended prematurely when the Government's prosecutors 'dun goofed' causing a mistrial to be declared. Ever since Marv Albert recommended me to watch Franklin & Bash, I feel like I'm kind of an expert now at these lawyery things so that is probably the correct technical term. Most did not expect Clemens to fare well in this trial. Mostly because Brian McNamee was a major creeper and kept old syringes he probably injected on or near Clemens' butt for years to use as evidence. Today's result likely means that Clemens will never spend time in the clink. This is good for Clemens because he's notoriously thin-skinned and would have probably been tormented by his fellow prisoners for his big head and his subpar 1993 season.

[Sportsgrid]

Seeing as how ESPN turned the entire internet against them last night for their insane suspension of college football writer Bruce Feldman, it's only appropriate that two ESPNers go head to head today in the Joe Morgan Memorial.  Mark May continues to beat the drum against his hated Buckeyes at all costs (check the bizarre video here) while Chris Berman is in back, back, back, back withdraw from announcing the Home Run Derby this week.  Only one Bristolite will advance to the last eight and send the other back, back, back... ok, I'll stop.  #FreeBruce

Mark May vs Chris Berman

Mark May

Fact File: ESPN college football game and studio analyst

Why He's Here: Mark May is persona non grata in Big Ten country, especially with Ohio State fans as his bizarre feud with the Buckeyes led to "Mark May sucks" chants at the Sugar Bowl.  May's analysis and teams that he dislikes or criticizes seems to be completely random and changes every 8 minutes.  May must like playing the villain role because his analysis often takes an antagonistic, critical role.  Therefore, it's not just Buckeye fans that don't take a liking to him, but rather most all college football fans.  If he offered good analysis, this might be more acceptable.

Links:

Conspiracy Theory Starring Mark May
In Something New, Mark May Is A Joke
Terrelle Pryor vs Mark May
Lou Holtz laughs at Mark May getting booed and a "Mark May Sucks" chant

Round 1 Result: Defeated Dave Lapham 65.07% - 34.93%


Chris Berman

Fact File: Host of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, Home Run Derby, and golf's US Open, occasional SportsCenter anchor and baseball play by play man

Why He's Here: How much time do we have?  Chris Berman has been synonymous with ESPN for over 30 years, but his schtick of nicknames, bad jokes, and bellowing humor has grown old.  His protection of the NFL and the stars of the league leave his journalistic bite at zero.  The #1 best selling ESPN book painted him as a man drastically out of touch with the modern day world, and it shows.

Links:

Somebody Should Explain The Concept Of A Walk Off Win To Chris Berman
Real Tweets From Real People - Berman and the US Open
Tossed Salas Nickname
Classic Youtube Rant

Round 1 Result: Defeated Erik Kuselias 76.83% - 23.17%

Results:

Chris Berman defeated Mark May 70.09% - 29.91% 
 

Round 2 of the Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament continues today with two more 2nd Round matchups.  Thanks to everyone that voted today and we hope you come back through Sunday as we cut the field from 16 to 8.  Here are your results from yesterday...

Joe Buck d. Deion Sanders  55.21% - 44.79%
Skip Bayless d. John Sterling  64.14% - 35.86%

Today's matchup is quite intriguing.  Colin Cowherd has emerged as one of the favorites in the Joe Morgan Memorial for obvious reasons.  However, Joe Theismann has a long history of awful announcing in his own right.  Can he upset the Thundering Herd?  It's up to you to decide.

Colin Cowherd vs Joe Theismann

Colin Cowherd

Fact File: Host of ESPN Radio's The Herd and co-host of SportsNation on ESPN2

Why He's Here: When polled last month, nearly 85% of respondents said that ESPN should end its relationship with Colin Cowherd.  His stereotyping and pontificating are legendary for all the wrong reasons.  Very few in the sports media get away with offensive and flat out wrong statements like Cowherd has the ability to do.  Cowherd likes to pander to intellectual elites and openly mock large portions of his audience.  Thankfully, CBS passed on a sitcom pilot based on the life of Cowherd.

Links:

Cowherd Shuts Down The Big Lead Just To Be A Douche
Cowherd's Ignorant and Insensitive Take On Sean Taylor's Death
Cowherd's Race Bating Includes Ridiculous Comments Towards John Wall
Cowherd Tells The Unemployed It's Your Own Fault

Round 1 Result: Defeated Bobby Valentine 88.47% - 11.53%

Joe Theismann

Fact File: NFL Network analyst

Why He's Here:  Joe has long been one of the blogosphere's least favorite analysts, but his legendary infamous run with Matt Millen was his "finest" hour.  Although Theismann was axed from the game broadcasts after only a year, he's still listed as an on-air personality, so he makes the field.  After all, NFL.com is still touting his "wealth of knowledge and expertise."

Links:

Real Tweets From Real People - Matt Millen And Joe Theismann
Joe Theismann: Don't Forget Danny Woodcock Out Of The Backfield
Jaws Replaces Joey T On Monday Night Football

Round 1 Result: Defeated Mike & Mike 65.7% - 34.3%

Results:

Colin Cowherd defeated Joe Theismann 61.71% - 38.39%
 

Typical.  Bullsh*t.  Punks.  F*ckery.  Abhorrent.  Shameful.  Hypocritical.  Disgraceful.

Those were just some of the words that our followers on Twitter used to describe what ESPN did to Bruce Feldman.  I really don't know where to begin with the following story because it is so ludicrous, so misguided, so enraging, and so unbelievable that it cannot be fathomed by rational human minds.  Thursday, ESPN executed one of the worst decisions and worst PR moves I've ever seen made by a major media company.  The following story makes Colin Cowherd look like Edward R. Murrow.  

Sports by Brooks reported Thursday that ESPN college football writer Bruce Feldman was suspended indefinitely by the "worldwide leader."  Now, indefinite suspensions are not something that is to be taken lightly, especially at ESPN.  Hell, Jemele Hill got one week for talking about Hitler, Dana Jacobsen got a week for bad-mouthing Jesus, and Tony Kornheiser got two weeks for dissing Hannah Storm's wardrobe.  So you know that ESPN is taking something very seriously when one of their top and most respected writers gets suspended indefinitely.  What Bruce Feldman did must be vile, reprehensible, and unbecoming of the journalistic and professional integrity expected by the "worldwide leader."  In a way, what Bruce Feldman did was much worse.  

He helped Mike Leach write his book.  

Here's the story from Brooks:

ESPN Vice President and Director of News Vince Doria, ESPN THE MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief & ESPN Books Editorial Director Gary Hoenig, and ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Pat Stiegman participated in the conference call and were behind the decision to punish Feldman.  Doria, Hoenig and Stiegman informed Feldman today that he has been banned from writing for any ESPN entity, is forbidden from appearing on any ESPN platform, is not allowed to Tweet from his Twitter account nor participate in any promotion of a recently-released book in which Feldman played a role.

Multiple management and editorial sources at ESPN have told me in recent months that Feldman would only participate in the Leach book project upon direct approval from ESPN management - which Feldman indeed received.  Since the book was released on Monday, Feldman has deliberately avoided any personal promotion or mention of the Leach book. (You will find no mention of the book on Feldman’s Twitter account and ESPN blog.)  Despite those facts, Feldman was told by ESPN executives Doria, Hoenig and Stiegman today that he was being suspended indefinitely for his participation in the Leach book.

Let's break this down step by step so we can more clearly understand the giant clusterf*ck that ESPN has created for themselves here according to Brooks and other reports around the internet...

1) As background, Mike Leach enters into a feud with ESPN college football analyst Craig James over a controversy involving Craig's son Adam.
2) Bruce Feldman helps Mike Leach write his book, Swing Your Sword, including comments about the James controversy and ESPN's possible role in hyping, twisting, and let's just say making up and promulgating lies about the Adam James controversy.
3) Bruce Feldman, and this is important now, receives permission from ESPN to participate in Leach's book.  You'll see why this is crucial in a second.
4) Excerpts of Leach's book are published incriminating Craig James and others in the Leach controversy.
5) Feldman is indefinitely suspended for participating in Leach's book.
6) SEE #3 WHERE ESPN GAVE HIM $%#&ING PERMISSION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BOOK.
7) #FreeBruce and Bruce Feldman are now trending on Twitter as the internet, media, and any person with one shred of decency or common sense realizes the travesty that ESPN pulled...