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...

James Harrison started a firestorm yesterday when excerpts from his interview with Men's Journal (and picture above) spread quickly like a wildfire across the internet and the sports world.  If you're wondering why I'm using all the fire analogies, one of Harrison's most notable quotes was this beauty about a hypothetical situation where NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was lit on fire...

“My rep is James Harrison, mean son of a bitch who loves hitting the hell out of people,” he says. “But up until last year, there was no word of me being dirty — till Roger Goodell, who’s a crook and a puppet, said I was the dirtiest player in the league. If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it. I hate him and will never respect him.”

Happy lockout.  Here's a tip James - if you're going to talk about hating your boss and refusing to even piss on his conflagrated body, it's best not to do it on the slowest sports day of the year.  Word gets out.  But, as the quote above and the rest of the Men's Journal excerpt proved, there's really only one newsworthy story out of this whole interview.  James Harrison is an idiot and an embarrassment to sports.

You can start with the quotes that publicly call out his teammates.  Saying Ben Roethlisberger should "stop trying to act like Peyton Manning" or calling Rashard Mendenhall a "fumble machine" isn't the best way to build togetherness in the locker room.  The comments about Goodell are inflammatory and insensitive, but won't those quotes about his teammates do more damage in the Pittsburgh locker room?

Then there is Harrison's whining about the fines he received due to hits like these.  I despise the NFL's hypocrisy on "safety" as much as anyone.  (How can a league proclaim to be protecting its players while pushing an 18 game schedule?)  But Harrison can't be serious about these tough guy quotes.  Remember how he said he would quit the league after being fined $75,000 for his hit on Browns WR Mohamed Masaquoi?  I wish he would have walked away.  Then we wouldn't have to hear him cry about his fines for illegal hits.  But that's not even near the worst of the Men's Journal interview of James Harrison...

The Second Round of the Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament kicks off today.  In case you're just joining us, we're holding a tournament to find a current sports media personality to replace Joe Morgan on AA's Mount Rushmore and it's all voted and decided on by you.  Here's a link to the full First Round results where we've cut 32 entrants to 16 over the last week.  The Second Round matchups are as follows:

Joe Buck vs Deion Sanders, John Sterling vs Skip Bayless (Thursday); Chris Berman vs Mark May, Colin Cowherd vs Joe Theismann (Friday); Jim Gray vs Thom Brennaman, Craig James vs Rick Reilly (Saturday); Michael Irvin vs Pierre McGuire, Tony Siragusa vs Stephen A. Simth (Sunday).

Round 2 begins with a huge matchup featuring two highly polarizing personalities.  Joe Buck has been quite the topic of conversation this week, with his vocal cord issues and weakened voice getting centerstage attention during the MLB All-Star Game (even getting awkwardly called out by Justin Timberlake).  Honestly, all the heat Buck has been taking is almost turning him into a sympathetic figure.  Deion Sanders has been out of the spotlight recently, but that can't last for long with the NFL lockout hopefully coming to an end.  Who gets your vote to move on to the Quarterfinals in our tournament to put a new face on AA's Mount Rushmore?

Joe Buck vs Deion Sanders



Joe Buck

Fact File: Fox's #1 play by play man for NFL and MLB.  Has announced several World Series and Super Bowls.

Why He's Here: Joe Buck has quickly risen to the top of the most disliked sports announcers.  His dry, monotone style doesn't quite fit in with an age where Gus Johnson and Kevin Harlan are two of the more popular sports announcers in the business.  Beyond that though, Joe Buck has a certain air of smugness towards his announcing duties, even admitting in the past that he isn't that big of a sports fan.  His attempted and failed late night career told sports fans that he had bigger and better things to do than announce the biggest games in sports.  

Links:

Joe Buck Doesn't Enjoy Baseball Anymore
Real Tweets From Real People - Joe Buck
It's Time For Fox To Sit Joe Buck
The Artie Lange Interview

Round 1 Result: Defeated Chris Rose 72.53% - 27.47%

Deion Sanders

Fact File: NFL Network analyst

Why He's Here: Deion Sanders could be given a nightly two hour long show to talk about only himself, and fill it with 20 hours to spare (he would have to sleep some).  No other analyst is so self-aggrandizing than Primetime, who has carried that same swagger to his analyst positions to something less than nationwide acclaim.  To put it in perspective, CBS dumped Deion for Shannon Sharpe.  Ouch.

Links:

Deion Dropped By CBS
Deion Sanders' Extremely Awkward Appearance On Mike And Mike
Deion Criticizes Former Pupil Dez Bryant, In Other News, Pot Calls Kettle Black 

Round 1 Result: Defeated Mike Tirico 69.59% - 30.41%

Results:

Joe Buck defeated Deion Sanders  55.21% - 44.79% 

Round 2 opens today with another great matchup between the only local announcer to make the last 16 and ESPN's windbag of debating debauchery.  The voice of the Yankees, John Sterling, battles with the centerpiece of ESPN's First Take, Skip Bayless.  Like Round 1, polls will be open until the next matchups go live the next day and we'll have two Second Round matchups going each day.  That means Round 2 will go from Thursday-Sunday with the recap and Quarterfinal draw coming Monday.  

John Sterling vs Skip Bayless



John Sterling

Fact File: New York Yankees play by play man

Why He's Here: Sterling is one of those rare announcers that has become a caricature of himself.  His Bermanesque homerun calls can be painful even for the most ardent of Yankee fans.  They wouldn't be so bad if Sterling didn't routinely botch even the simplest of commentary.  His trademark "Yankees win, THHHEEEE YANKEEEEES WIIIINNN" call is the anthem of the seventh circle of hell for baseball fans outside New York.

Links:

Derek Jeter's 5,000th hit?
John Sterling Is Utterly Confused
John Sterling Being John Sterling
The Sterling Shake

Round 1 Result: Defeated Matt Millen 58.69% - 41.31%

Skip Bayless

Fact File: "Star" of ESPN's First Take and 1st & 10

Why He's Here: The former antagonizing columnist transformed into an antagonizing TV personality with his transition to first Cold Pizza and then First Take on ESPN2.  Bayless traditionally squares off against a debate partner in segments that contain enough hot air to lift the Hindenburg.  Often, Bayless will say outlandish things just for the sake of saying outlandish things.  Thankfully, most people have stopped listening.

Links:

Rob Parker & Skip Bayless Said What About Chad Ochocinco
Skip Bayless And Chris Broussard Have Exchange For The Ages
Nelly: Why rappers want to kick Skip Bayless' butt on ESPN
The Best (Worst) Of Skip Bayless - 2006 

Round 1 Result: Defeated Woody Paige 77.91% - 22.09%

Results:

Skip Bayless defeated John Sterling  64.14% - 35.86%
 

It was another thrilling game for the United States Women's National Team as they battled France in the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup.  Lauren Cheney scored inside the first ten minutes to give the United States another early lead, but the French dominated possession for large portions of the first half and were rather unlucky to be trailing at the interval (said in my best British accent).  All of the French possession and quality chances paid off when Sonia Bompastor equalized on a fluky cross that bounced pass Hope Solo.  With the USA team up against the wall, it was Abby Wambach once again that "saved the USA's life in this World Cup" scoring a goal off a corner in the 79th minute.  Here's the game-winning goal from @bubbaprog at SportsGrid with the ever popular Ian Darke on the call...



Only three minutes later, Alex Morgan provided the clinching goal on a fantastic chip over the French keeper to seal the 3-1 victory...



The USA plays upstart Japan (who beat Sweden on Wednesday) in the World Cup Final in Frankfurt, Germany.  Ian Darke and Julie Foudy will be on the call at 2:45 ET Sunday afternoon on ESPN.  It's amazing how this team has captivated the nation over the last week.  Let's bring home the World Cup, shall we?