The College Baseball World Series begins Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, NE. ESPN will bring you all the action with Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura, Orel Hershiser (& Jenn Brown) being the main announcing crew. 

Here are some notes from the press release: 

-- Two of the eight qualifying teams are making consecutive College World Series appearances, including defending National Champion South Carolina and Florida. No team has won the national championship back-to-back in over five decades.

The first four matchups:
-- First-time College World Series participant Vanderbilt will take on North Carolina, playing in its fifth College World Series in the past six years.
-- Texas will play in its record 34th College World Series, taking on Florida which is making its second since 2005.
-- California, making its first College World Series appearance in 19 years, will take on Virginia, which earned its second berth in the event ever and finished the season with the best record in college baseball.
-- Champion South Carolina will take on Texas A&M, playing in its first College World Series since 1999.

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Matchups / Commentators	Network
Sat, Jun 18	2 p.m.	1	Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
	7 p.m.	2	Texas vs. Florida Dave O’Brien, Nomar Garciaparra & Kyle Peterson	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Sun, Jun 19	2 p.m.	3	California vs. Virginia Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
	7 p.m.	4	Texas A&M vs. South Carolina Dave O’Brien, Nomar Garciaparra & Kyle Peterson	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Mon, Jun 20	2 p.m.	5	Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
	7 p.m.	6	Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 Jon Sciambi, Orel Hershiser & Kyle Peterson	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com
Tue, Jun 21	2 p.m.	7	Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 Jon Sciambi, Nomar Garciaparra & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com
	7 p.m.	8	Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser & Kyle Peterson	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Wed, Jun 22	7 p.m.	9	Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 5 Jon Sciambi, Robin Ventura & Kyle Peterson	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com
Thu, Jun 23	7 p.m.	10	Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 7 Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser & Kyle Peterson	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com
Fri, Jun 24	2 p.m.	11	Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 9 Jon Sciambi, Orel Hershiser, Nomar Garciaparra & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com
	7 p.m.	12	Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10 Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura & Kyle Peterson	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Sat, Jun 25	2 p.m.	13 **	If necessary Jon Sciambi, Nomar Garciaparra & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
	7 p.m.	14 **	If necessary Mike Patrick, Robin Ventura & Kyle Peterson	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Mon, Jun 27	8 p.m.	1	Series Final Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser, Robin Ventura, Kyle Peterson & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Tue, Jun 28	8 p.m.	2	Series Final Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser, Robin Ventura, Kyle Peterson & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV
Wed, Jun 29	8 p.m.	3 *	Series Final Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser, Robin Ventura, Kyle Peterson & Jenn Brown	ESPN HD/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Mobile TV

** If only Game 13 is necessary, it will be played at 7 p.m. on ESPN2

H/T Fangs Bites no comments

   

The Bruins and Canucks are currently playing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  Players on both teams have talked about leaving everything on the ice for the final game of the season.  Thankfully, so is Don Cherry, well, in his own special way.  The Hockey Night in Canada analyst either got into an accident with a floral truck on his way to the studio, or that is the most audacious suit I have ever seen.  This selection vaults to the top of the list for the most extraordinary suits ever witnessed on television.  Bravo fine sir.  Your move, Sager.  

H/T @the506  no comments

Not too long ago, some controversy broke out in the sports media world when bumbling Around the Horn "star" and Denver Post columnist Woody Paige blatantly stole a quote from John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal without attribution.  Ourand took the step of even tweeting Paige asking him about lifting a direct quote from his story.  The controversy came and went when Paige admitted to mistakenly cutting an attribution to SBJ.  However, more questions on Woody Paige and plagiarizing have come to the front thanks to the sports blogosphere's resident investigative reporter, Brooks of Sports by Brooks.  Brooks has a full all-out assault on Paige and a questionable history of Paige and plagiarism that is worth the read.  One highlight is this from Dan Le Batard during a 2009 Miami Herald chat, who Paige also allegedly plagiarized:

...his career has kind of amazed me….my friend call him woody plaige….pre-internet, during a super bowl in miami, i went to ricky jackson’s pahokee home….wrote scene…..described town….had a scene in which ricky was coming home with a big check for his family….a few days later, paige writes the same column….but he never went to the home and he just made up some bait shop and gave some black guy a quote in ridiculous black dialect

This quote is referring to articles both men wrote about Super Bowl winning 49ers LB Rickey Jackson (tough to write that as a Saints fan) in 1995.  Paige quoted Jackson's mother in Florida and referenced a bait shop to add context to his story, with most of the quotes and info similarly appearing in Le Batard's previous article.  However, a few sources Brooks mentions refute Paige's visit to see Jackson's mother or the truthfulness of "Harold's Bait Shop" that is described in Woody's article...

With the end of the NBA Finals, it's safe to say that the sports media is going overboard on LeBron James.  Of course, there was the outrage and reaction to the outrage from his Game 6 postgame press conference, the subsequent apology and reaction to the apology, and a lot of talk about LeBron needing a sports psychologist.  All the LeBron talk finally reached its saturation point with the video below - for some reason, ESPN thought that Herman Edwards giving an imaginary pep talk to James with a knockoff of The Patriot soundtrack playing in the background was a great idea.  Have a listen and be inspired...



Here's my problems with this video...

1) ESPN feeling the need to give a "pep talk" to James only gives more ammo to folks saying that their coverage has been biased towards Miami all season (cough, Heat Index, cough) although Herm has given other "pep talks" in the past.
2) What is the point of this video?
3) Herm Edwards is a football coach, not a basketball coach.
4) LeBron James is not going off to war tomorrow, as the music would imply.
5) Herm Edwards was an inspiring 54-74 in his career as a football coach.
6) Herm Edwards did not say, "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! in this video."
7) What is the point of this video again?

I like Herm Edwards as an analyst and as a TV personality, but an NFL analyst giving a pep talk to LeBron James is puzzling.  Was Lou Holtz not available?  Maybe Barry Melrose or Ditka can give it a try this week as well!  Let's just have every former coach on ESPN give LeBron an imaginary pep talk, now that could be entertaining.  Just imagine Digger Phelps tossing highlighters around the studio or Lee Corso using mascot heads to elicit motivation.  

Don't worry though, if you still need more LeBron, Skip Bayless is planning to say that LeBron's legacy is permanently tainted on First Take this morning.  The first three debate topics on 1st & 10 are about LeBron James.  It's not like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight or anything... I can see all of you reaching for your remotes right now!

 

If you aren't a golf fan, you may not know the names Ben Crane, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, or Bubba Watson.  However, you probably will know them now with the release of this Youtube video that made its world premiere on the Golf Channel tonight.  The four PGA pros have teamed up as the "Golf Boys" and have released their first single and music video, "Oh Oh Oh."  The video is...well... different.  The PGA Tour boy band idea is totally off the wall and the end result is hilarious - there's plenty of ridiculous farmer tans, a man wearing full overalls, and incredibly awful golf-related lyrics.  Watch and be amazed...



It's always great to see athletes show a humorous side (yes, golfers are athletes, at least in this golfer's mind) and this video is for a good cause - Farmers Insurance has teamed with Crane and will donate $1,000 for every 100,000 views.  So, go tell your friends to watch it and let them know that there are indeed some PGA Tour pros that have some personality (for better or worse).  I really hope Watson makes the final pairing on Sunday of the US Open and breaks out the full overalls.  Crazy Youtube videos like this are a great way for the sport to get through the absence of Tiger Woods and hey, these guys have at least as much musical talent as Taylor Swift.

Yep, I went for the cheap joke right in the headline.

This fall we officially will not see the return of the entertaining Rich Rodriguez to the sidelines, but rather on the renamed CBS Sports Network as a studio analyst and color commentator. On gamedays, Rodriguez and his delightful country twang voice will be teamed up with play-by-play man Dave Ryan. Love him or hate him, (as an MSU alum, I'm definitely a fan) there really is no denying that Rich Rodriguez is charismatic and him in the booth providing his insights might very well be a good fit.

This football season will not be Rich Rod's debut on the broadcasting side of things. In February, he served as an analyst for CBS Sports' National Signing day coverage. Easily the highlight of that day was the very awkward interview with his newly hired replacement, Brady Hoke. Despite the extreme tension, I give Rodriguez credit for not stepping out during that interview and handling it pretty well. Like most, I'm sure after watching it you were somewhat disappointed Rich Rod did not use live television to cut a Macho Man-like promo on Hoke, but rather showed some professionalism. How he dealt with that situation is probably a large part in why he'll be employed by them this football season.

I think almost everyone expects Rodriguez's broadcasting career to be short, with a return to coaching coming as soon as the 2012 season. For Pammy Award enthusiasts, let's hope that Rodriguez's likely brief stint will provide some gems like Mike Leach gave us last fall.

GOO!

Seen here shitting the bed like me with a belly full of liquor and lamb over rice, the Miami Herald ran an ad for Macy's (Macy's'?) line of Heat Championship gear. 

Tim Elfrink of The Miami New Times, already in enough pain it appears, explains that the ad ran on the same page as a story about the series with the headline "Heat just never got the point during Finals loss to more-organized Mavs" and a banner that reads "DALLAS WINS BEST-OF-7 SERIES 4-2."

What is this El Nuevo Herald? 

Or is someone just trying to burn my loins? Perhaps it's that man upstairs that told LeBron it wasn't his time yet. I expect this from the rest of the galaxy, Mijammy, but not from you. Not only because this ran the morning after Game 6, but because even if the Heat had won, they would have tied the series and forced Game 7. Of course an ad should have been prepared, but under no circumstances should it have been within 2 days of circulation. Way harsh. 

Professor Elfrink went on to say it's alright if they ran the wrong ad because you still have to wake up and go back to the real world tomorrow. So there. 

I got some news for you, Timbo. Newspapers? #notthefuture. Those went out with powdered wigs!

Dirk Nowitzki had this to say about the Herald's faux pax:

Follow Mike on Twitter @mickeyvee and read his grumblings on other topics @wannabe_genius. 

This is about as good as it gets as far as clueless announcers go.  From our research department, I believe this comes from the 2nd Inning of Friday's Yankees/Indians game in the Bronx.  Cleveland's Carlos Santana is at the plate and hits a ball down the right field line.  Luckily, Yankees play by play man John Sterling is there to clearly decipher the action in a way that only Chip Caray could possibly understand...



This "sterling" call (oh God, I'm starting to sound like Sterling now) is worthy of a breakdown...

1) Sterling first says it was lined deep down the right field line
2) Then, he calls a base hit (as the Yankee crowd audibly cheers in the background)
3) Nope, on second thought, Sterling sees a foul ball
4) Sterling comments that Santana is mysteriously told by somebody that it is a foul ball
5) Suzyn Waldman informs John that Yankee OF Nick Swisher actually caught the ball
6) Sterling goes on oblivious to the fact that he is announcing a baseball game

That's a lot to digest.  I love everything about this botch though - Sterling's several layers of not having a clue what is going on in front of his eyes, making things up on the fly, Waldman's matter of fact correction as if she needs to remind John where he is and what he's doing, and then Sterling's totally oblivious reaction to everything that just happened.  Perhaps his mind was preoccupied with his next great home run call... or maybe there's not much that occupies his mind at all.

Thanks to @LevityNYC for the clip!

The Dallas Mavericks won their first championship last night in Miami with a 105-95 victory in Game 6.  There were plenty of heroes for Dallas that answered the prayers of millions of fans around the country.  Dirk Nowitzki won the Finals MVP and scored 10 in the 4th quarter after a 1-12 1st half and Jason Terry came up clutch with 27 points off the bench.  JJ Barea was huge once again and Deshawn Stevenson of all people made big threes in the 1st half.  Vets like Kidd, Marion, Stojakovic, and Chandler won their first ring as well.  Heck, even Mark Cuban finally made an appearance and came up with a classy gesture of having David Stern hand the trophy to original Mavs owner Don Carter.  

Of course, since the Mavs beat the Heat though, the failure of one LeBron James is the story to come out of the 2011 NBA Finals.  Unfortunately, the story of the Mavs and their great run through the Playoffs from the #4 seed and Dirk's 13 year quest for a title will largely be overshadowed because of one fact.  The NBA Finals came and went and the King is still without a ring.  LeBron James went missing for large portions of the game once again last night and will likely face even more criticism, laughter, and venom from fans not just in Cleveland, but around the country.  I've never seen schadenfreude referenced more in a 14 hour period.

So, when LeBron went to his postgame presser with bff Dwyane Wade, someone was bound to ask about the sheer glee that his haters experienced with his failing in the Finals.  Perhaps all the hate finally got to LeBron as he had this not so measured response...



The more I listen to that quote, the more cringe worthy it is.  I understand James' point of view... yes, it's fun to root against LeBron and the Heat for most of us (save a thought for a true Heat fan though, our own Mike Vitiello, don't turn it on ESPN today), but we do all have real lives to live.  However, referencing your great life and the personal problems of real people are not going to endear King James to the masses once again.  The more you listen to this soundbyte, the more disconnected and arrogant James sounds.  LeBron even lost his personal beat reporter, Brian Windhorst of ESPN's Heat Index, who didn't hold back the harsh words:

If anything, LeBron is more cemented in the villain role than ever.  So with that, some of those real people had to welcome James back to the real world today.  Here's a mini Real Tweets from Real People with some of their tweets @KingJames...

cavsdan Congrats to Mark C.&entire Mavs org. Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings. Old Lesson for all:There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE.