Craig James is way too excited to be seeing Jesse Palmer.  Awkward bromance or horrible Shining-esque slasher film in the making, you be the judge...

Elsewhere in the snafus this week, Ndamukong Suh was in the news for going into the principal's office to meet with NFL grand and supreme ruler commish Roger Goodell.  According to Fox, a position change was also in order.  How'd you like to be a receiver coming over the middle against safety Ndamukong Suh...

From our friend Willy Yoder comes Yahoo finally getting their act together in terms of his local Wizards updates.  Looks like they've finally come to grips with the lockout...

Back to college football and two snafus from our friend Tim Burke from this week's Midweek MAC Madness.  First, in the pandemonium of NIU 63, Toledo 60, it may have been easy for ESPN to have a graphical gaffe or two with the scoreboard ticking over so much.  What makes this snafu great is ESPN happening to christen analyst Tim Brown "Tin."  Here I thought that was Joe Buck's nickname...

The next night's game was a much lower scoring game.  Ohio only managed one behind in their game with Temple midway through the 3rd Quarter (bonus points if you recognize which sport's scoring I just referenced).

And finally, Andrew Luck and Trent Richardson may be getting all the Heisman hype, but Firstname Lastname may have something to say before this season is all said and done...

That was your week in Screengrab Snafus, next time be careful out there!

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Let's get one thing straight, LSU/Alabama can't be called the "game of the century" before kickoff, but it won't FAIL to entertain, I'm sure.

Tuesday, November 1

Northern Illinois @ Toledo (7PM ESPN2) Dave Lamont, Tim Brown

Wednesday, November 2

Temple @ Ohio (8PM ESPN) Mark Neely, Ray Bentley

Thursday, November 3

Akron @ Miami-OH (7:30 ESPNU) Anish Shroff, Jay Walker
Florida State @ Boston College (8PM ESPN) Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Craig James, Jenn Brown
Tulsa @ Central Florida (8PM CBS Sports Net) Todd Harris, Doug Chapman

Friday, November 4

Central Michigan @ Kent State (8PM ESPN2) Mike Morgan, Tom Luginbill
USC @ Colorado (9PM ESPN) Dave Lamont, Rod Gilmore

Saturday, November 5

15 Michigan @ Iowa (Noon ESPN) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer, Quint Kessenich
Syracuse @ Connecticut (Noon ESPNU) Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins
Texas Tech @ 21 Texas (Noon FX) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster
Minnesota @ 17 Michigan State (Noon BTN) Matt Devlin, Glen Mason, Jon Jansen
Indiana @ Ohio State (Noon BTN) Tom Hart, Derek Rackley, Lisa Byington
Vanderbilt @ Florida (Noon SEC Network) Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Cara Capuano
Louisville @ 24 West Virginia (Noon Big East Network) Mike Gleason, John Congemi, Eamon McAnaney
Ball State @ Eastern Michigan (Noon ESPN+) Michael Reghi, Doug Graber
New Mexico State @ 18 Georgia (12:30 CSS) Matt Stewart, Chris Doering, Maria Taylor
Kansas @ Iowa State (12:30 FOX College Sports) Steve Physioc, Yogi Roth, Desmond Purnell
Virginia @ Maryland (12:30 ACC Network) Tim Brant, Riley Skinner, Mike Hogewood
North Carolina @ North Carolina State (12:30 ACC Network) Steve Martin, Dave Archer, Scott Pryzwansky
Texas Christian @ Wyoming (2PM mtn) Todd Harris, Todd Christensen, Andrea Lloyd
Duke @ Miami-OH (3PM ACC Network) Rich Waltz, Keith Jones, Jenn Hildreth
Army @ Air Force (3:30 CBS) Spero Dedes, Steve Beuerlein, Lewis Johnson
Purdue @ 20 Wisconsin (3:30 ABC/ESPN2) Mike Patrick, Craig James
Texas A&M @ 6 Oklahoma (3:30 ABC/ESPN2) Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Heather Cox
4 Stanford @ Oregon State (3:30 ABC) Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard
UTEP @ Rice (3:30 FSN) Ron Thulin, JC Pearson, Jeremy Bloom
Mississippi @ Kentucky (3:30 ESPNU) Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, Allison Williams
Troy @ Navy (3:30 CBS Sports Network) Josh Lewin, Randy Cross, Kaylee Hartung
Northwestern @ 10 Nebraska (3:30 BTN) Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller
UL-Monroe @ UL-Lafayette (3:30 Sun Belt Network) Joe Davis, Cole Cubelic Erin Cofiell
25 Southern Mississippi @ East Carolina (4PM CSS) Mike Morgan, Chuck Oliver, Craig Ackerman
Idaho @ San Jose State (4PM WAC Network) Barry Tompkins, Joe Glenn
Utah @ Arizona (6PM Wildcat Sports) Dave Sitton, John Fina, Glenn Howell
Washington State @ California (6:30 CSN California) Roxy Bernstein, Mike Pawlawski, Kate Longworth
Missouri @ Baylor (7PM FSN) Joel Meyers, Brian Baldinger, Jim Knox
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh (7PM ESPNU) Rob Stone, Danny Kanell
13 Houston @ UAB (7PM CBS Sports Network) Dave Ryan, Rich Rodriguez
Middle Tennessee @ Tennessee (7PM SEC Network) Bob Rathbun, Tim Couch, Kristina Akra
USF @ Rutgers (7PM ESPN3.com) Dave Popkin, Rob Harley
9 South Carolina @ 7 Arkansas (7:15 ESPN) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe
19 Arizona State @ UCLA (7:30 VS) Ted Robinson, Glenn Parker, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
1 Louisiana State @ 2 Alabama (8PM CBS) Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson
14 Kansas State @ 3 Oklahoma State (8PM ABC/ESPN2) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Lisa Salters
Notre Dame @ Wake Forest (8PM ABC/ESPN2) Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham
New Mexico @ San Diego State (8PM mtn) Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, Jenny Cavnar
8 Oregon @ Washington (10PM FSN) Craig Bolerjack, Joel Klatt, Petros Papadakis
Louisiana Tech @ Fresno State (10PM ESPNU) Adam Amin, David Diaz-Infante
5 Boise State @ UNLV (10PM CBS Sports Network) James Bates, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Collins
Utah State @ Hawaii (11:59 Oceanic PPV) Robert Kekaula, Darren Hernandez, Lori Santi, Rob DeMello
Southern University @ Texas Southern University (6pm TSU Sports Network) Nick Strong, Lemont Williams, Ken Burrough

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ESPN formally announced their official commentator lineup for the upcoming college basketball season. You'll continue to see the usual suspects, but also for the time being, an influx of ESPN's NBA talent to the mix.

In particular, Mike Tirico will be partnering with Dan Dakich to do the Big Ten's weekly Super Tuesday game while Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy have been given some early season one off assignments. 

Breen, who told us a couple weeks back he was on call to do some college games in light of an extended lockout, will work with Doris Burke who will be doing both men's and women's games.

Most of these guys have done college games in the past and I'd imagine given that they're not focused on NBA action right now, there should be ample time to get acclimated and prepared for the individual games they're calling.

It will be interesting to see how they perform and mesh with the college game as TNT's NBA basketball talent had somewhat of a mixed first year covering the NCAA tournament as Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Steve Kerr were utilized in conjunction with CBS's NCAA talent.

This group of mainly NBA announcers join not only TNT's talent but also Gus Johnson as announcing talent that have moved over to the college ranks due to various changing media dynamics in the past year. 

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Screencap of Musberger from last night's episode. Don't ask....

If there is one announcer who had a chance of rendering me starstruck in person, I'd definitely give the nod to Brent Musburger. With that in mind, I've been impatiently awaiting his cameo appearance on a show I've never watched an entire episode of, Happy Endings.

The juice was certainly worth the squeeze as Musburger had three scenes, one of which features him recalling his infamous Doug Flutie Hail Mary touchdown call. Below is the video (and we promise to switch in the Hulu version when it becomes available).

I love how the scene ends with a kiss and the words "Don't ever change, Brent Musburger."

Given the Flutie Hail Mary occurred while I was still in diapers, for a second I thought it was just a verbatim call. However, watching the original (below), the Happy Endings play by play is a bit tweaked but still in the same spirit as the original.

What other Musburger cameo magic did you miss outside of that one scene?

- Musburger and the mask at the top of the post.

- A joke about a Mus Burger menu item (loved it!)

- An odd duck-quacking moment.

That's really about it, but all in all I was entertained and there was almost a unanimous reaction on Twitter as almost all tweets were something positive about the apperance. 

On a totally random note, I just realized how old Musburger is. Recently I heard on Jimmy Traina's podcast that both Jimmy and Jason McIntyre were impressed with how Musburger was still doing spirited play by play at a very high level. I believe the quote was something similar to "Nothing has really come off of his fastball as he's aged."

I agreed but thought "Well, he's not that old." 

I would have guessed he was somewhere in his 60s but turns out he's 72 which is mighty impressive considering in a recent poll of our readers, Musburger and his partner, Herbstreit, were selected by a wide margin as the best college football announcing pair. Musburger is actually a year older than Verne Lundquist, which I found to be a bit of a surprise as well.

TV cameos, announcing the biggest college games, and being in a three person entourage with Erin Andrews and Kirk Herbstreit. Not bad for an old man right? Okay, maybe I am starstruck.....whatever. 

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Just a week ago, there was finally a ray of hope in the dark ages that have been the NBA lockout.  Talks between both sides were happening, ticket offices were reportedly being prepared to handle sales, and optimism was high the lockout would be ended.  And then, just as we've grown accustomed to happening in this most maddening period in the Association's history, negotiations broke off once again.  MORE games were cancelled, an 82 game season is now out of the picture,, and NBA fans are left to curse the decimation this lockout has done to a sport that had been peaking.

And now, as if possible, we've reached a dizzying new low in the lockout saga thanks to professional mudslinger Jason Whitlock of Foxsports.com.  Usually, most columns Whitlock writes aren't worth being taken seriously.  He's an online version of Skip Bayless, just less theatrical.  At least with Skip, we know that it's all pretend and no human being with the thinking capacity of prehistoric man would believe the things he says.  With Whitlock, I'm not so sure.  

Whitlock's newest target is NBA players union president Derek Fisher of the LA Lakers.  The whole saga involves unnamed sources, tales of fractures in the players union, Fisher reportedly going behind the backs of his own union to make a secret deal with David Stern, not one but two letters by Fisher debunking Whitlock's columns, and even the threat of a lawsuit from Fisher to Whitlock.  Happy days are here again, indeed.

So when the NBA season was supposed to kick off, the union president plans on possibly suing an online columnist.  Not quite the ray of hope we're looking for.  Here's the Reader's Digest version of how this he-said, she-said controversy has broken down thus far...

As we hyped the brewing Billick/Simms duel in last week's awards, this week it's the former Giants QB that vaults to the top spot in the Dickies standings.  In fact, the quote that comes in at #3 this week is so good it should go on Simms' announcing tombstone.  Elsewhere, I'm a bit surprised Mike Tirico mistaking Norv Turner for Ted Turner rates so much higher than Terry Bradshaw calling Ryan Fitzpatrick, "Ron Fitzgerald."  Oh, well.  At the pole position for Week 8's Dickies, it's Simms that provides the rebuttal to this week's winner, his broadcast partner Jim Nantz.  The envelope, friends...

10A) "And right now the crowd is saying 'Release the Kraken'!" - Dan Dierdorf (via sa9273)

10B) "And the Kraken is on the loose." - Dan Dierdorf (via CK29).  He sure loves his Kraken...

9) Al Michaels: "Herremans is like the Swiss Army Knife of offensive linemen."
Cris Collinsworth: "I called him a tool in the meeting earlier." (via BloggerJustinF)

8) "Quarterback Ron Fitzgerald, Buffalo, he will reward that Buffalo franchise for giving him that contract. Big day..." - Terry Bradshaw (via AlexFromBuffalo) Just all wrong.

7) "And a timeout is called for delay of the game. Excuse me." - Dick Stockton (via ClarkbarTweets)

6) "St Louis will try to spread them out here and then slide it in." - Tim Ryan (via bjo109)

5) "Ponder thinks about Harvin. Harvin doesn't have to Ponder the throw.  That sets up the veteran, he's been around a LONG time, Ryan Longwell." - Chris Berman (via CK29) in rapid succession on The Blitz

4) "Bills in Toronto, there's the Space Needle." - Dan Patrick (via bjo109)

3) "I'm trying to guess run or pass but I'm wrong on every play" - Phil Simms (via jackbutler505)

2) "Ted Turner takes the timeout" - Mike Tirico (via Frigidevil)

1) Jim Nantz: "What a heads up play!"
Phil Simms: "Well, that's illegal." (via several)

Week 8 Top 5 -

1) Phil Simms 24 pts

2) Brian Billick 19 pts

3) Chris Berman 14 pts

4) Jon Gruden 12 pts

5) Scott Hanson 10 pts, Jim Nantz 10

Others receiving votes - Mike Tirico 9 pts, Cris Collinsworth 9 pts, Rich Gannon 9 pts, Troy Aikman 8 pts, Dan Patrick 7 pts, , Jim Mora 6 pts, Daryl Johnston 5 pts, Tim Ryan 5 pts, Dick Stockton 8 pts, Warren Moon 3 pts, Terry Bradshaw 3 pts, Thom Brennaman 2 pts, Tony Siragusa 1 pt, Dan Dierdorf 1 pt.

The Full Week 9 NFL Announcing Schedule will be coming soon, where you can find the dates and times of games and all the announcing pairings as well.  Then, make sure you check back every Sunday when the fun begins for another week Straight Outta Stockton!

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What better way to fill the void left by the NBA lockout than... MAC FOOTBALL baby!  As a born and bred Ohioan, I can testify to the thrilling football produced by this little conference that could.  It's been on full national display the last two nights.  First, Northern Illinois defeated Toledo 63-60 on Tuesday night in the final seconds with a score that makes Big Ten basketball fans jealous.  Then on Wednesday night, the Ohio Bobcats defeated Temple 35-31 in a game that again went down to the wire... which leads to the following clip.

Ohio had that four point lead with the ball facing 4th and 17 from the Temple 40 and 10 seconds left.  After initially bobbling the snap, Ohio QB Tyler Tettleton does a great job to scramble around and run out the clock, thus securing an Ohio victory and vaulting them to the top of the MAC East.  However, ESPN analyst Ray Bentley was befuddled at Ohio's decision to not take a knee!!  What were they thinking!!!  Oh yea, it was 4th down.

Oops...

"That's just not smart football to me though, all you need to do is take a knee... and the clock will continue to run... oh it was 4th down???  My bad, nevermind, good play (laughs nervously)..." - Ray Bentley

Annnd we have Week 10's Pammy frontrunner before Craig James even takes a mic!

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Give NBA players credit, they've been much more creative at how to pass the time waiting to play than their NFL counterparts were earlier this season, at least besides Ochocinco.  Granted, the NBA has now begun to actually miss regular season games, but that isn't stopping the stars of the hardwood from keeping themselves busy.  A new LeBron James McDonald's commercial showed up to give a nice break from the endless talk of international barnstorming tours.  Then Kevin Durant went and played a game of flag football with a random dude.  But my new favorite locked out NBA player has to be Chris Paul. The video below comes courtesy of our friends over at SportsGrid.  My only disappointment with the following is that fat Louie Anderson isn't the host anymore, or Al Borland for that matter...

Hopefully for Chris Paul, the lockout can end soon so he doesn't have to become a professional game show contestant.  I suppose it could have been worse.  He could've followed the Family Feud playbook of this guy... TURKEY!  

Don't forget for all the latest on the NBA Lockout you can check out Crossover Chronicles, Bloguin's flagship NBA blog.  

[h/t SportsGrid]

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Finally, someone has topped Craig James in a weekly Pammy poll!  We all owe the genius of Matt Millen a debt of gratitude.  He picks up some major ground this week and moves into second place with the #1 and #4 quotes this week.  Almost as brilliant as the drafting of Charles Rogers and Mike Williams.  There's still time left for Millen to make a St. Louis Cardinalsesque run to the Pammy championship as we hit November.  (Note: On appeal the Pammy committee removed Verne's "this year's Game of the Century" remark from the nominees due to its ironic quality.  Well played, Mr. Lundquist, our apologies.)  The envelope please...

10) "Can't quite tell you the number, but I can tell you it is an offensive lineman" - Ray Bentley (via AlexfromBuffalo) Uh, Ray, WVU is on defense.

9) "...and Woods has got it at the...incomplete." - Brent Musberger (via mattyzucks)

8) "He's a first time starter going thru everything for the first time." - Andre Ware (via sctvman)

7) "You're only effective when you're productive" - Chris Spielman (via RYbbc34)

6) "Nothing doing as Tech stiffens against Jeff Woody." - Bill Land (via Matt Kennedy)

5) "This is what you get when two hungry trains get on the same track and don't want to get off" - Gary Danielson (via DerekLynch64) Hungry... trains???

4) "Consistent consistency" - Matt Millen (via ThaNardDawg)

3) "Come on guys, it's football, get tough" - Craig James (via dmcalpi).  Umm Craig why you talk about that with your son first...

2) "Spurrier used to say you can't spell UT without Citrus... wait." - Mark Jones (via CaptTouchback)

1) "You come in and bite, I'm pullin' that sucker out" - Matt Millen (via Chris Schenkel)

Week 9 Top 5 -

1) Craig James 95 pts

2) Matt Millen 60 pts

3) Pam Ward 45 pts

4) Gary Danielson 41 pts

5) Chris Spielman 22 pts

Others receiving votes - Lou Holtz 21 pts, Brent Musburger 19 pts, Beth Mowins 13 pts, Brett Favre 13 pts, Sean McDonough 13 pts, Mark Jones 9 pts, Artrell Hawkins 9 pts, Warrick Dunn 9 pts, Dan Hawkins 9 pts, Jenn Brown 9 pts, Mike Patrick 9 pts, Andre Ware 8 pts, Gus Johnson 7 pts, Lee Corso 7 pts, Wendi Nix 7 pts, Steve Martin 7 pts, Tom Cole 7 pts, Jesse Palmer 6 pts, Rod Gilmore 6 pts, Dave Pasch 5 pts, Bill Land 5 pts, Alex Flanagan 4 pts, Mike Morgan 4 pts, Joe Tiller 3 pts, Keith Jones 3 pts, Desmond Howard 3 pts, Shaun King 3 pts, Charles Davis 3 pts, Danny Kanell 2 pts, Steve Beuerlein 2 pts, Scott Van Pelt 2 pts, Kevin Kugler 1 pt, Eric Collins 1 pt, Verne Lundquist 1 pt, Todd McShay 1 pt, Ray Bentley 1 pt.

The Full Week 10 Announcing Schedule will be coming soon, where you can find the dates and times of games and all the announcing pairings as well.  Then, make sure you check back every Saturday for the Pam Ward Chronicles and another week of the Pammies!

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ESPN reporter Jenn Brown had a bit of an adventure this morning when she evidently found herself locked inside her own hotel bathroom.  It's a slow news day, what can I say.  Here's the proof via Twitter...

You can decide which is slightly more embarrassing - publicly locking oneself in a hotel bathroom or calling a head coach "Bitch Jones" on national television.  Fortunately for Jenn, she had her cell phone with her so she could call somebody to rescue her.    Fortunately for us, this also means she had a chance to tweet about it and answer your important questions in the moment...

JennBrownESPN Any one who wants to stay warm whilst taking a shower...Duh RT @SchwarzAdam: who closes the bathroom door in a hotel!

JennBrownESPN Pretty much... RT @tcumike: So you are just sitting in there chilling, and tweeting?

JennBrownESPN think I'll go with my flavored vitamins first, but good to know! RT @ROTHENbenRG: I heard the decorative soaps taste like candy.

JennBrownESPN That, my friend, is a very good question... RT @ttintn: just curious... Had you not had your cell what woulda been your plan?

JennBrownESPN Someone who listens to ESPN Radio in the morning RT @SchwarzAdam who brings their phone into the bathroom to take a shower to begin with?

JennBrownESPN Could have come in handy in this situation...could have MacGyvered my way out. RT @bustedcoverage: did you open my wedding gift yet?

Nobody asked if she doesn't like Craig James, too?  I'm disappointed Twitter!  Oh well, we can now cross live tweeting being locked in a hotel bathroom off the "Things Twitter Can't Do" list.  At least she didn't lock her keys out of her car.  Thankfully after what must have seemed like an eternity isolated from the non-tweeting outside world, Jenn Brown was finally freed...

Seriously though, I can definitely empathize with Jenn Brown's escapades.  You may want to snarkishly label this a "blond moment" but I've been known to try to open random cars in parking lots that just happen to look like mine.   Things like this happen to me all the time.  I'm such an expert at being locked out of places, Billy Hunter has been calling me for help in negotiations. (rimshot)  

Hey, Frank Caliendo can't be the only person allowed to do lame semi-culturally relevant sports jokes, can he?

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