There are some stories throughout the week that we may have missed, but are interesting enough to bring to AA.  These are some quick takes from around the AA universe.  This week's stories include a couple of additions at ESPN, a former coach ripping an ESPN analyst, and the curious case of a major analyst and his relationship with his alma mater...

*ESPN adds Bill Parcells...  again (ESPN)
-For the third time,  Bill Parcells will rejoin the self-proclaimed leader as an analyst.  Parcells will tape some sort of 90 minute draft special for the network, although few other details are clear at the time.  Big Tuna also worked for Bristol in 2001-2002 and 2007, so this could start his third go-round with ESPN, after a mysteriously quiet departure from the Dolphins organization.  I've never been a big fan of Parcells as an analyst, especially how Berman would bow down to his feet on Countdown.  ESPN is already oversaturated so much with NFL analysts, that I doubt we'll notice his presence one way or the other.

*Rick Pitino dominates the airwaves (Fang's Bites)
-First, Rick Pitino joined the CBS studio to talk about the NCAA Tournament.  In his second act, Pitino has joined ESPN to talk about the Madness as their star guest analyst for the tourney.  Well, I should take that back.  Pitino's first act was to get knocked out in the first round thanks to Morehead State.  I give credit to Pitino for being a good sport about the loss when ribbed by Charles Barkley, but shouldn't Louisville fans wonder about Pitino being so eager to get on television right after an embarrassing first round loss?  Furthermore, isn't it a little awkward to see Pitino chum it up with the folks at ESPN while totally turning a blind eye to the scandal that has rocked the coach.  Why are Dick Vitale and many others so keen to criticize players who get in trouble, but completely ignore it when it's their buddies who get on set in Bristol?

*Jay Bilas vs VCU and America (SportsGrid)
-One of the stories of the tournament has been VCU's three victories to get to the Sweet 16.  Unfortunately, the story of Jay Bilas has clung to VCU like a piece of used toilet paper.  Ever since Bilas destroyed VCU on Selection Sunday, the analyst has become part of the story.  Bilas has defended his criticism of VCU & UAB getting into the tournament over mediocre major conference schools.  What Bilas doesn't get is that it was the way he criticized and demeaned the schools that got in, which made his analysis a story.  It's been a needless distraction to the real story of VCU's tournament run, and it comes off as the lawyer in Bilas needing to have his day in court to defend his attacks on the Rams.  Former Houston coach Tom Penders had to say about Bilas and his analysis.  I'm generally a fan of Bilas, but this is pretty accurate...

"Takes himself and his opinion far too seriously. I know he works hard and knows the game as a former player, but he goes over the top when he tries to demonstrate a play or gets too technical...  He rarely gives credit to the mid-major teams, and when one of them makes the NCAA Tournament as an at-large entrant he throws a fit... He works the Maui Classic every year with Raftery and Sean McDonough and tries to dominate the telecast with his academic ‘know it all’ approach to basketball... He needs to lighten up and let the game flow once in awhile... I wonder if he’s given any thought to becoming a professor."

Oh no.  It's the moment that all Gus fans have dreaded.  "Rise and Fire" himself botched a call at the end of a Tournament game...... GASP!!!  At the end of regulation during the BYU-Florida game this evening, Gus asked his partners if BYU should foul.  This would have been fine if the game wasn't knotted up at the time...

"If you're BYU, do you foul here.... at all?"- Gus Johnson "NO!!!"- declared Reggie Miller.  Obviously Gus thought BYU was still down one, which is an honest mistake, but come on....YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT, Johnson!!! I mean Reggie Miller had to call you out.  Geez.  In other news, Florida just officially destroyed my already destroyed bracket.

The internet can do wonderful things. We had Jeopardy's Alex Trebek calling highlights of a 2010 college football game just days ago and now this morning Funny or Die released a video of Gus Johnson calling some of the more memorable moments in our wide, wide world's history. So, if you ever wondered what it would sound like if Gus Johnson was there to announce the first moonwalk, the fall of the Berlin wall, the rise and firing first flight, trojan horse, MJ's moonwalk, O.J.'s getting-away-from-the-cops speed, iPhone release, and Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix, this is for you!

I get that ESPN is moving away from having an independent Ombudsman, and I know what the Poynter Institute is, but I'm still not quite sure what they're doing with these monthly articles.  And their first column didn't help me in that regard.  The duo of McCombs and McBride (sounds like a law firm) decided to tackle President Obama's plug of a charity during his annual bracket discussion with Andy Katz, and here's what we learned....

Even before ESPN filmed what has become its annual installment of Barack-etology, Obama's critics chimed in, suggesting that the leader of the free world had better things to do, given the civil unrest throughout Middle East and North Africa, and the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown in Japan.

Katz and the rest of ESPN's crew were not surprised when the president's staffers informed them that Obama planned first to plug the relief site. Katz said he never felt pressured by the White House to leave the president's remarks intact as a condition of the interview......

....Sources, guests and partners will always try to influence ESPN content. Everyone wants to plug their favorite charity, Doria said. Although it seems innocuous, most of the time ESPN cuts the material because it isn't central to the story.

Those are tough choices to make. Aid to Japan had nothing to do with the president's NCAA picks. But Katz went into the story thinking it was relevant, so the charity plug made the cut. Ultimately the ESPN staff directly involved in the story had a lot of independence....

....Will that make it harder for the next producer to say no to a source who wants to plug a charity? That's going to be a constant battle no matter what, one that the front-line professionals at ESPN are accustomed to tackling

I'm so confused.  So the article is on whether or not ESPN lets every guest plug something?  Because if that's the case, I'm pretty sure First Take and Mike & Mike gave someone plugging something every five seconds.  Or is it that the President shouldn't be doing a bracket when there are so many problems in the world?  Also, is anyone really pissed that the President would plug relief for a country that is facing one of the biggest tragedies of our lifetime??? 

Maybe it was a slow news month for controversies at ESPN, but I would hope they could come up with something better for their next installment.

Straight to the point (ESPN)

In case you can't get to a television for the Sweet 16, here are the announcing assignments for Westwood One's radio coverage of the NCAA Tournament.  You can check out the TV announcing teams for CBS & Turner that we posted earlier in the week here.  

Thursday, March 24

7:15PM, Anaheim I,  (2) San Diego St. vs. (3) UCONN,  Wayne Larrivee and Bill Frieder

7:27PM, New Orleans I,  (2) Florida vs. (3) BYU,  Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen

9:45PM, Anaheim II,  (1) Duke vs. (5) Arizona,  Wayne Larrivee and Bill Frieder

9:57PM, New Orleans II,  (4) Wisconsin vs. (8) Butler,  Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen

Friday, March 25

7:15PM, Newark I,  (2) UNC vs. (11) Marquette,  Ian Eagle and John Thompson

7:27PM, San Antonio I,  (1) Kansas vs. (12) Richmond,  Kevin Harlan and Kevin Grevey

9:45PM, Newark II,  (1) Ohio State vs. (4) Kentucky,  Ian Eagle and John Thompson

9:57PM, San Antonio II,  (10) Florida State vs. (11) VCU,  Kevin Harlan and Kevin Grevey

If you've ever wondered what it would sound like to have the soothing voice of Jeopardy's Alex Trebek announce a football game or run down some game highlights during a post-game show, the folks at The Solid Verbal have given us a small taste, as they graciously dubbed in Trebek over these 2010 Stanford/Oregon college football highlights. Let's listen in, shall we?

Random French. Integrating Johnny Cash lyrics. "The hinged barrier at the entrance" -- I heard Keith Olbermann in that one. And a very refined Stuart Scott-like "this young looking brute seen here, daddio." ESPN's interested, Alex.

[H/T Cosby Sweaters]

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with the lead anchor of the Big Ten Network, Dave Revsine, both for AA and the new Big Ten blog that we just launched at Bloguin, Delany's Dozen.  Double D just started up, but it's got a great team of writers and your humble AA friend will write there from time to time.  It's been 4 years since Big Ten Network launched and Dave Revsine has been there since the very beginning.  Below are some excerpts from the full interview you can check out here.  Dave talks to us about his decision to leave ESPN for Big Ten Network, his time at Bristol, where BTN can still improve amidst its success, and the future of the conference with Nebraska's addition.


Q: What interested you in sports broadcasting and how did you get your break in the business?

A: I always wanted to be a sportscaster since the time I was very young.  Like many, I was interested in sports but I realized at an early age that I wasn't going to make money as an athlete.  I was always fascinated with sportscasting.  I grew up in Chicago at a time with a lot of great sportscasters and I just thought it was really neat and a way to stay around sports.

In college I did play by play for the college radio station, I didn't major in communications or journalism, I actually majored in European history.  I kept my hand in it and did some other things.  I spent a year in Ireland on scholarship, came back and got a job with Chase as a financial analyst and hated every minute of it.  I didn't want to resign myself to doing that.  I wanted to pursue sportscasting and see where it would take me.  I had a buddy in Sherman, Texas just north of Dallas.  I called him and basically said, could you hook me up somehow.  He was going to Tulsa for a job and the station actually hired me for their next job that came open.  I was down there four months later as a general news reporter and if something came up in sports I could move there.  I went from there to the Quad Cities and from there to ESPN.

Q: What went into your decision to leave ESPN and join Big Ten Network?

A: Originally I didn't think I would leave.  I went into the interview process with Big Ten Network thinking it would give me leverage at ESPN.  I felt you needed leverage internally to get where you needed to go.  I was a Northwestern grad and grew up in Chicago, so I was interested.  There was some hesitation because it was a startup, but I met some people in Chicago and was really blown away.  I bought into the vision and had dinner with Jim Delany... and was impressed and thought about all the innovations that he's thought of and how he's always a step ahead of the game.  

They had a 20 year agreement to run it, so it made sense for me on a lot of different levels.  I had a chance to be the #1 guy and I've never had that.  Even in my two local jobs I wasn't the number one guy.  I don't know if there's a #1 guy at ESPN, but it certainly wasn't me.  There were a lot of factors that made me feel like if there was ever a risk worth taking, then this was the one.

Q: How would you compare working at ESPN to working at Big Ten Network?

A: I was not one of those guys who left ESPN bitterly.  There have been guys like that through the years, but I wasn't one of them.  I loved it.  I was the weekend guy in the Quad Cities, they took a chance on me and I really enjoyed it.  The one thing about being in Bristol is you are at the epicenter of sports broadcasting.  The difference though is you're involved at arms length.  I was fortunate enough to go out and be a part of it, got to go out and do play by play and have the College Gameday radio show and visit campuses and be at big events.  If there's any frustration in Bristol it's that you're in the epicenter, but you're so far removed from the games because you're always in the studio.  I was one of the fortunate guys there to have that mix. 

I just left because I felt like this was a good opportunity and a chance to try something different.  I was excited to be in on the ground floor and that's the neat thing about Big Ten Network.  I've had such an active role in helping to shape it.  What do we want to show every day, what do we want to convey to our viewers... here it's a smaller operation (than ESPN) and I can give input and it's been great all along to help shape something.

Are you fan of all access documentaries like Hard Knocks or 24/7? While HBO has been the flag bearer for this type of all-access content, Showtime is looking to get in the game with a series following the 2011 season of the reigning World Series Champions.

Recently a trailer debuted on Showtime and while the folks at Showtime haven't put up the official trailer, peoples of the internet have.

 

There are still a lot of details that haven't been finalized or announced yet, such as number of episodes, the actual debut timing, etc.  It seems unlike Hard Knocks or 24/7, Showtime will make these determinations based on how compelling the footage is as well as how nationally relevant the Giants are. 

If the preview on April 13th pulls good ratings and the Giants find themselves as front page news early and often, I'd imagine you'll see "The Franchise" earlier in the summer and with additional episodes. If interest is lackluster and the Giants get off to a slow start, it's possible we'll see the scope of the project reduced. Either way if you're a baseball fan, Giant's fan, or find Brian Wilson to be the second coming of Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn, this should be a fairly interesting program and an excuse to subscribe to Showtime/call your cable provider and threaten to leave so they give it to you for free.

Hello.

Tuesday March 22

Chicago Bulls @ Atlanta Hawks (TNT 8PM) Dick Stockton, Mike Fratello - Philips Arena, Atlatnta, GA
Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers (TNT 10PM) Kevin Harlan, Kevin McHale - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday March 23

Orlando Magic @  New York Knicks (ESPN 8PM) Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
San Antonio Spurs @ Denver Nuggets (ESPN 10:30) Michael Tirico, Hubie Brown  -Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

Friday March 25

New Orleans Hornets @ Phoenix Suns (NBA TV 10PM) Local Broadcast - US Airway Arena, Phoenix, AZ

Saturday March 26

New Jersey Nets @ Atlanta Hawks (NBA TV 7PM) Local Broadcast - Philips Arena, Atlatnta, GA
Chicago Bulls @ Milwaukee Bucks (WGN 8:30PM) Neil Funk, Stacey King - Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

Sunday March 27

Portland Trailblazers @ Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN 8PM) Dan Shulman, Jeff Van Gundy - Oklahoma City Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns (ESPN 10:30PM) Dave Pasch,  Doris Burke - US Airway Arena, Phoenix, AZ

H/T Sammy!

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Unfortunately, our European basketball correspondent at Bloguin never answered my relentless Facebook messages, Tweets, and telegrams... so I don't have too many details about this video below.  All I know is that it blew up over the blogosphere (with AA's Matt Clapp at Sharapova's Thigh) and Twitter (via Simmons & Chad Ford) and it is one of the most amazing basketball videos I've ever seen.  Real Madrid and Unicaja Malaga trade amazing clutch shots in the last minute all the way down to the final buzzer.  This is like last year's Xavier-K State game kicked up several notches, and it's only helped by someone who may in fact be the Spanish Gus Johnson.  Disfrutar de las imagenes sorprendentes!!  (Yes, I just used Google translator for that!)



Our own Mike Vitiello, who evidently speaks more Spanish than I do, says the commentator shouts, "Tell me I'm not dreaming" at the end among other great phrases.  I love it.  Combine that use of language with absolutely losing your voice in excitement and you've got one of the best announcing clips of the year.  The only thing that could have made this video better was for our Spanish friend to shout ONIONS!