On today's podcast we venture into the world of Formula 1 to chat with globetrotting NBC Sports pit reporter Will Buxton. Will covers every F1 race on the calendar live on-site for NBC and is in Monaco this week for the world's most glamorous race, the Monaco Grand Prix. NBC will be airing live coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix on broadcast network television this weekend. We chatted with Will from Monaco after Thursday's practice session about his work for NBC, the F1 season, and the magic of Monaco. Topics include...

-How he went from paying the way himself and camping at all the European grand prixs to working in television. 
-How Monaco is different than any other Formula 1 circuit and the magic of Monaco. 
-How Monaco compares to Indianapolis and Daytona. 
-Working with a broadcast crew that's often a continent away. 
-Growing F1 in the USA and why Formula One needs an American audience moreso than America needs F1. 
-The tire debate swirling around F1 at the moment. 
-How 3 time champ Sebastian Vettel compares to another multi-time German champion, Michael Schumacher, and more all-time greats. 
-The question surrounding Vettel's young legacy and who really is the most talented driver in F1. 
-The favorites this week in Monaco.

In case you've missed any of our podcasts, check out all of our interviews by subscribing to the AA Podcast on iTunes or our AA Podcast RSS Page.  For more from Will, follow him on Twitter @willbuxton and bookmark his blog.

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Despite heading to overtime, Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals between the Grizzlies and Spurs once again struggled in the ratings. Game 2 on ESPN drew 4.6 million viewers, down a whopping 48% from Game 2 of the Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN, which drew 8.8 million viewers. The series was also down 34% from Game 2 of 2011 Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and Mavericks on ESPN, which had 7.0 million viewers.

All Times Eastern

Australian Rules Football
Collingwood Magpies vs. Sydney Swans -- Fox Soccer Plus, 5:30 a.m.
Port Adelaide Power vs. Geelong Cats -- Fox Soccer Plus, 11:30 p.m.

College Baseball
ACC Tournament, Durham, NC
Pool Play
NC State vs. Miami -- Fox Sports Net-regional, 11 a.m.
Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech-- Fox Sports Net-regional, 3 p.m.
Clemson vs. North Carolina-- Fox Sports Net-regional, 7 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament, Minneapolis, MN
Semifinals
Illinois vs. Minnesota -- Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
Nebraska vs. Illinois/Minnesota winner -- Big Ten Network, 4:30 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Indiana -- Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

Big 12 Tournament, Oklahoma City, OK
Pool Play
Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech -- Fox College Sports Central, 10 a.m.
Kansas State vs. Baylor -- Fox College Sports Central, 1:30 p.m.
West Virginia vs. TCU -- Fox College Sports Central, 5 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Kansas -- Fox College Sports Central, 8:30 p.m.

This gem appeared on Fox Sports Kansas City tonight during their coverage of the Royals-Angels game.  A simple poll about the best young stars in baseball... and there are so many screw-ups here, they are worth counting one by one.

1) There is no such major league player as Bryce Hunter.
2) Bryce Harper plays for the Nationals and a Tigers logo appears beside him.
3) Matt Jones was a quarterback at Arkansas or is the guy that runs Kentucky Sports Radio.  He is not an MLB pitcher.  That's a guy named Matt Harvey.
4) Harvey plays for the Mets, not the Orioles.
5) Manny Machado does play for the Orioles, and yes that is his real name... and a White Sox logo appears next to him.  So close!
6) Mike Trout is not a member of the Yankees... yet.

Good job, good effort FS Kansas City.

H/T travdawgsks

While many of the ESPN layoffs on Tuesday came in departments (technology and sales) where you wouldn't recognize any names, one layoff is someone who is very familiar in the sports blogosphere: Lynn Hoppes, the former editor of Page 2 and current writer for ESPN's Playbook. Deadspin initially reported Hoppes' ouster, along with the news that Playbook is also being shut down.

Photobombs, water coolers, shaving cream, and general hijinks have become a beloved part of postgame interviews around sports.

The Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team are the 1927 Yankees of the postgame interview.  Just watch and enjoy this montage below of photo and videobombs the likes of which have never been seen before...

With the 2012-13 TV season in the book, the top primetime show on the major networks isn't a scripted or reality program. Instead, it's Sunday Night Football. This marks the second straight year that a sports program has been the most-viewed primetime program. NBC's weekly NFL presentation averaged 21.5 million viewers this year, barely edging out CBS's NCIS, which averaged 21.3 million viewers for the season.

Stephen A. Smith loves dissecting opinions. In a new commercial for McDonald's, he discusses LeBron James Tweeting about his love for McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. Smith claims LeBron doesn't know what he's talking about and that Nuggets are no match for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. This stance gets viewers talking, debating which item is the greatest of all time on the McDonald's menu. 

It's worth noting that LeBron never actually Tweeted about McDonald's or Chicken McNuggets, though it would have been an impressive tie-in if he had. Still, the commercial does have viewers talking because it yet again features Smith arguing about something no one really cares about, only this time it's fast food and not Tim Tebow.

Ed Note: This article appears via our sister site Awful Ads.  For more insights and laughs at the expense of the colliding worlds of sports and advertising, visitawfuladvertisements.com and follow @awful_ads on Twitter.

This clip comes from ESPN's postgame coverage from Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.  Near the end of the game, Tony Allen of the Grizzlies got a flagrant foul from Manu Ginobili.  Even though the call was fairly accurate, Allen writhed on the ground like David Luiz, holding his head that was never touched.

After the game, Jalen Rose had a great line planned for the occasion... and messed it up.

"Whether it was a flagrant foul or not, Tony Allen, Pulitzer Prize winner."

Of course, the Pulitzer is for writing and not acting, as the rest of the ESPN set pointed out.  Maybe ESPN NBA Countdown can win the Pulitzer for Best Studio Show one of these days and finally beat Inside the NBA.

[Video via AirChecked]

There was huge news in MLS this week as the league unveiled plans for the league's 20th team - a joint venture between Manchester City and the New York Yankees - two of the richest, most powerful teams in the world.  After a YES promo for the press conference earlier this week, Mike Francesa expressed his disdain and complete non-interest in the sport of soccer.  What follows was one of the more predictable, humorous, get off my lawn soccer rants from Mikey.  

Instead of prank calls making fun of Mike's sleepiness, what we really need today is callers asking Mike to break down the Champions League final or fake transfer scenarios for how Borussia Dortmund can replace Mario Gotze.

[Video via Cork Gaines]