The Final Four in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set.  In the East, it's Bruins-Lightning and in the West, it's Sharks-Canucks.  NBC/Versus have all the games, but 12 of the possible 14 games are scheduled to be on Versus.  Only Game 4 of both series will be televised on NBC.  And, as a treat for our Canadian readers (we gotta have some, right?), we also have the TV schedule and announcers up North as well.  I've always been partial to Jim Hughson from hours and hours and hours of playing NHL 2000 as a kid.  Here's the entire schedule from our pal Ken at Fang's Bites...

#3 Boston vs. #5 Tampa Bay
Game 1: Saturday, May 14, 2011, 8 p.m., Tampa Bay at Boston – VERSUS, CBC
Game 2: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 8 p.m., Tampa Bay at Boston – VERSUS, TSN
Game 3: Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8 p.m. , Boston at Tampa Bay – VERSUS, TSN
Game 4: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Boston at Tampa Bay – NBC, TSN
*Game 5: Monday, May 23, 2011 8 p.m., Tampa Bay at Boston – VERSUS, CBC
*Game 6: Wed., May 25, 2011, 8 p.m., Boston at Tampa Bay – VERSUS, CBC
*Game 7: Friday, May 27, 2011, 8 p.m., Tampa Bay at Boston – VERSUS, CBC

Announcers:
Versus/NBC: Mike Emrick/Ed Olcyzk/Pierre McGuire (Games 1, 5-7)/Joe Micheletti (Games 2-4)
CBC (Games 1, 5-7): Bob Cole/Gary Galley/Mike Milbury/Scott Oake
TSN (Games 2-4): Gord Miller/Pierre McGuire

#1 Vancouver vs. # 2 San Jose
Game 1: Sunday, May 15, 2011, 8 p.m., San Jose at Vancouver – VERSUS, CBC
Game 2: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 9 p.m., San Jose at Vancouver – VERSUS, CBC
Game 3: Friday, May 20, 2011, 9 p.m., Vancouver at San Jose – VERSUS, CBC
Game 4: Sunday, May 22, 2011, 3 p.m., Vancouver at San Jose – NBC, CBC
*Game 5: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 9 p.m., San Jose at Vancouver – VERSUS, CBC
*Game 6: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 9 p.m., Vancouver at San Jose – VERSUS, CBC
*Game 7: Saturday, May 28, 2011, 8 p.m., San Jose at Vancouver – VERSUS, CBC

Announcers:
Versus/NBC: Dave Strader/Brian Engblom/Darren Pang
CBC: Jim Hughson/Craig Simpson/Glenn Healey/Elliotte Friedman

 

LeBron James and the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in five games with their 97-87 win in Miami.  The Heat closed the game on a 16-0 run, including the last ten points from the most dramatic man in sports himself, LeBron James.  But, it was after the game was over that LeBron continued to make headlines.  A mere 307 days after one of the most ridiculous moments in sports history, LeBron James apologized for The Decision...

"I knew deep down in my heart, as much as I loved my teammates back in Cleveland and as much as I loved home, I knew it couldn’t do it by myself against that team,” James said.

“The way it panned out with all the friends and family and the fans back home, I apologize for the way it happened. I knew this opportunity was once in a lifetime. To be able to come down here and pair with two guys and this organization — in order for me to move on with my career, that team that we just defeated, we had to go through them."

Is this apology too late for many fans?  Absolutely.  I'm all for forgiveness, but excuse me if James' apology seems hollow...

Last week, we told you about a cricket commentator in Wales that was nailed by a ball that crashed into the commentary box.  Edward Bevan was definitely spooked by the entire episode.  Amazingly, a similar episode occurred stateside when a baseball smashed through a window at a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville game.  In case you were wondering, the team is 21-24 and plays in the Ohio Valley Conference.  Evidently, the university also has their own CougarNet... but many of you will likely be disappointed by the results.  Anyways, baseball announcer Joe Pott handles this ball-smashing-window situation with much more confidence and bravery than his Welsh counterpart.  He even laughs off the incident.  Maybe this act of heroism is why we won that little war all those years ago.  Cue the Jack Edwards Tea Party symphony and roll the footage!



[Deadspin]

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Bad news for fans of douchebags and hypocrites, your boy, Mariotti, just got charged with three felonies. Mariotti is charged with felony stalking, domestic abuse and assault charges after he confonted his ex-ladyfriend once again. These charges are another strike against Mariotti and further proof of his habitual "off the field" problems. If convicted, Jay faces 5 years in prison.

Even though the chances were already slim of Mariotti making a comeback, these new charges will definitely serve as the final "mute" of his TV career.


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For a cheap laugh it's always enjoyable to watch a real man scream like a girl. I'm sad to say that I've fallen victim to this before and sometimes even followed it up with a loud high pitched scream and blabbering, odd jibberish intermixed with swear words. Kenny Smith doesn't have that problem, and luckily avoided any damage to his image by taking this prank last night on TNT in stride.

 

A great idea and well executed. Unfortunately though Smith didn't flinch leaving, which definitely lessened the potency of this prank. Kudos to TNT for again having some fun with their studio broadcasts which has been a staple for them that NBA fans have grown accustomed to.

First thing's first... I'm the biggest Saints fan you will ever meet.  Seriously.  February 7, 2010 is the happiest day of my life.  As a diehard Saints fan, the Reggie Bush Era has been one of both incredible highs and deflating lows.  There has been a fair share of highlight reel plays like his breathtaking TD in the 2007 NFC Championship Game and his best game ever as a pro in the 2010 Divisional Game against the Cardinals.  However, there has also been way too many injuries and ineffective performances to justify his massive contract from being the #2 overall pick in the 2006 Draft.  

Reggie Bush's career in New Orleans is now at a crossroads.  The Saints can't pay a role player (a darn good one at that) $11.8 million in the last year of his contract, but he is still probably worth more to the Saints than any other team.  In recent weeks though, it appears that the stress with Reggie Bush's uncertain future has spilled over into misstep after misstep due to the terrifying athlete trap known as Twitter.  Reggie Bush is just the latest athlete to fall victim to the dark side of 140 character public statements.

First, there was his poorly timed and worded Tweet after the Saints traded back into the first round to select Alabama RB Mark Ingram...

reggie_bush It's been fun New Orleans.

Bush's Tweet was a Class A example of how an athlete should not use Twitter.  (Rashard Mendenhall's insane Tweets don't even deserve classification.)  This whiny, "woe is me" Tweet doesn't sell to fans, his fellow players, or his .  Furthermore, Ingram and Bush theoretically wouldn't even get the same touches in Sean Payton's offense.  Ingram fills the Pierre Thomas/Chris Ivory every down back role while Reggie Bush has become the prototypical "satellite" player as a runner, receiver, and returner.  The Ingram v Bush situation was downplayed through Saints coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees, but this only began his Twitter tailspin...

We've had our fair share of Gus Johnson news over the past few days, so we'd be remiss to not point out that Gus Johnson officially joined on at FOX Sports Media Group today. Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The voice renowned for March Madness buzzer-beaters is now the voice of fall’s gridiron glory and more as FOX Sports Media Group has named Gus Johnson lead play-by-play announcer for its college football coverage and men’s basketball on the Big Ten Network. He will team with FOX Sports football analyst Charles Davis to form the Group’s lead college football announce team. The announcement was made today by FOX Sports Executive Producer and Co-President & COO, FOX Sports Media Group, Eric Shanks.

This season, Johnson and Davis call Big 12, Conference USA and Pac-12 regular-season games on FX, as well as a pair of games for Big Ten Network, one of FOX’s two conference football championship games and the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. In 2012, they’ll call FOX’s regular-season over-the-air broadcast schedule, culled primarily from the network’s recently completed rights agreement with the Pac-12, as well as the aforementioned postseason assignments. In addition, Johnson also continues as the lead play-by-play voice for college basketball on Big Ten Network, will call FOX’s Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament games come 2013 and select NFL on FOX broadcasts following the college football season this year.

Johnson, who dropped a patented Ahhhhh at his press conference, is undoubtedly happy with his decision to join FOX. While I can't help but think his name has peaked, he's now in a spot to be No. 1 at his station, which was simply not going to happen at CBS. Still, I feel like the Gus Johnson brand blew up with March Madness and probably could've only gotten bigger if he was given an opportunity to fulfill his dream and call the Final Four. That's unlikely to happen now, but only time will tell if his cult-like following will die down a little bit in the years to come.

For some more reading, check out Ben Koo's quality piece on Johnson's run with CBS and its inevitable end. Congrats to Johnson, and congrats to FOX for finally improving its announcing crew.

By now you've heard that Gus Johnson has indeed parted ways with CBS and will likely be touching down at Fox in the coming days. The bad news is that Johnson will no longer be the signature voice that captures and at times drives the riveting action of March Madness. There is no doubt that in 10 months we'll all fully feel the void of his absence as one of the best sporting events will revert back to a more reserved style of announcing without Johnson's unique voice. Heartbreak city. 

I thought Clark Kellogg did a great job summarizing Johnson's unique appeal when we spoke several months ago.

"His natural enthusiasm, and his uniqueness on how he combines his excitement and passion with terrific calls. I've heard this from countless people around the country as they love him doing NCAA games.

I think he's a tremendous fan, play by play guy, and that his rhythm is hand in glove the style for basketball. He has a nice understanding for pace, flow, his excitement rises as the game goes from possession to possession. He just has a really intuitive sense for calling basketball that appeals to fans and makes him a lot of fun to work with."

CBS has said goodbye to Johnson leaving a lot of people scratching their head, but really you could have seen this coming for ages. I actually thought about writing about Johnson's imperfect relationship with CBS and how it would effect his career going forward many times over but could never nail down exactly when his contract expired with CBS. I asked around and nobody knew, hence it was hard to gauge when we could see some type of decision/drama regarding Johnson. Seemingly out of nowhere this news came and went as his contract with CBS lapsed and there stood too many issues for him to come back to the network...