As you know, NBC and Versus (soon-to-be the NBC Sports Network starting January 2) have been getting busssssy. In their attempt to reconstruct the sports media landscape, Versus has announced that they will be adding a couple programs in September involving NBC's Pro Football Talk blogger Mike Florio and CNBC's Sports Business guy Darren Rovell.

Here's the gist of it [via Variety]: 

[Versus] will go forward with an hourlong NFL roundup show featuring Mike Florio, editor of the popular pigskin website Pro Football Talk. He will offer analysis and assessment on an assortment of games, players and trends. [...]

The still untitled show will air Fridays from 6-7 p.m. throughout the NFL season. It will be followed by a half-hour skein featuring CNBC reporter Darren Rovell, who covers sports for the business cabler.

Rovell, who also has a blog titled "Sports Biz," will look at the off-the-field financial aspects of sports. He has been at the net since 2006, handling sports news on a daily basis for CNBC as well ads anchoring several documentaries.

And get this: Versus is also planning to air an hourlong sports roundup show that will air, yup, you guessed it, 6 p.m., the same time Sportscenter airs. GASP! The doors at the Worldwide Leader are getting chopped down as we speak, all while Colin Cowherd delicately holds a knife and screams helplessly in his little corner ... Here's NBC!

 

Shortly after Razzie Award nominee Shaquille O'Neal joined Turner, reports began to surface that a pending 2008 robbery and kidnapping case involving seven Crips very well could've also involved the new Turner analyst. The obvious speculation taken from the reports was that Shaq may have called in a favor to the Crips to retrieve a sex tape from a man who was allegedly trying to use it to extort The Big Aristotle. The man was a spurned business partner of Shaq's, who also supposely had a fling with Shaq's ex-wife around the time they got divorced.

But that's just baseless speculation and an LA judge decided to dismiss the case altogether today [via the LA Times]:

[The] prosecutor conceded that the alleged victim and star witness had credibility problems.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar de Longoria ordered the case against seven Main Street Crip members dismissed after the prosecutor announced that his office would not proceed with the case.

In some respects, it's too bad because this would've been such a compelling case. It's obviously great news, though, for those who love Shaq as an entertainer; its dismissal means we can just worry about Shaq inevitably competing with Sir Chuck for fan favoritism as a Turner TV analyst instead of his alleged role in a criminal case involving one of the most violent street gangs in the U.S.

Now, please click over to the Create The Caption pic of Shaq and his new pocket-sized girlfriend and leave your best.

 

It's time for our second rendition of the AA Fan Forum.  You can check out our first post here with thoughts on announcers from New York to Oakland.  Throughout the month of August (and maybe even beyond), we'll be giving you the floor at AA to write about your favorite MLB team's local announcers.  Check back this weekend for more thoughts from baseball fans and AA readers from around the country in the AA forum.


Mets fans around the world don't have a whole lot to be proud of these days when it comes to our team and what goes on around it. We have had our moments of glory and of course many moments of despair the past five years, but for 125 games or so, Mets fans do have one thing to be very proud of, win or lose.  I'm talking about our television announcers in the Sportsnet New York booth, Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and the always famous (and the inspiration behind my blog) Keith Hernandez.

Gary Cohen is considered the best baseball announcer in the game today behind the legendary Vin Scully and was able to move from the radio booth in 2006 to television without missing a beat. His signature home run call "Its Outta Here" is simple and not over the top. He is a fair broadcaster who does not shy away from the big issues surrounding the team and has no problem voicing an opinion that is not team friendly. He has an amazing knowledge of team history and also knows when to speak and when to let the game breathe before being able to again explain the action perfectly.

Ron Darling is one of the best analysts in the game today and you all may know him from his work nationally for TBS during the playoffs since the 2007 season. He has a great knowledge of the game and is the perfect compliment to Keith who focuses on the hitting side while Ron does the pitching part. Darling is the best analyst in New York, and even Yankee fans can agree with that.

Finally, we have the man, the myth and the legend, Keith Hernandez. A former MVP and 2 time world champion, he is able to bring not only great knowledge to the game, but also some funny moments which works perfectly with the straight man attitude that Darling and Cohen bring to the broadcast. Keith is very much an old school announcer and does a great job of relating what he did in his playing days as compared to what he sees during the game. He is also not afraid to rip any and all players, although has his moments as a "homer." It's comparable more to Ron Santo's lovable style and not Hawk Harrelsson's moronic style.

Like I said, Mets Fans don't have much going in our favor, but since 2006, we have the best announcers in the game today and when Vin Scully retires, our booth will be the best. We don't win much in Queens, but in this case, it's not even close.

Matthew Falkenbury
Daily Stache
Twitter: DailyStache

***Matthew was also the originator of the famous Vin Scully World Series petition.  We're still counting on you to make that happen, Fox!

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I am spoiled.  Vin Scully has lost a little bit, although part of it may be due to trying to serve TV and radio when he simulcasts, but he is still better than anybody else on the air now.  Charley Steiner and Rick Monday are fine on radio -- Steiner is less descriptive than I like in radio pbp and Monday doesn't add much, but he doesn't talk too much, which is a refreshing change from most color commentators.  When Scully misses a telecast -- he doesn't travel east of Denver -- Eric Collins and Steve Lyons fill in.  Alice Roosevelt Longworth said if you can't say something nice about someone, sit by me.  She'd love hearing about these two.  Collins tries.  Lyons tries my patience.

Michael Green
Las Vegas, Nevada

We were lucky enough to nab an interview with ESPN's Ian Darke, who Matt labeled the "hottest announcer in the country," before yesterday's big USA-Mexico friendly on ESPN2.  From there it was all downhill as ESPN's soccer coverage trudged through a very long day.

The first setback occurred when it was announced that NBC/NBC Sports Network has procured a very significant soccer package starting in 2012. The bulk of games will be on NBC Sports Network (currently Versus), with select games airing on NBC, which will also include some national team games.  ESPN already has their soccer package and it's considered the top package, but the long term implications are a bit ominous.

ESPN was pretty comfortable with the sports tier channel, Fox Soccer, as both their partner and competitor in soccer coverage. That's not a slight to Fox Soccer but just a tip of the hat to NBC/NBC Sports Network who is well known to be the only real possible threat to the ESPN empire. The folks who continues to clamor for a true ESPN competitor need to realize it's probably going to take a full decade to materialize and that progress will be slow.  The addition of the soccer package to NBC Sports is a very nice win for them and a smart bet.

Things only got worse for ESPN as a Little League World Series game, well, actually a regional semifinal or something, ran long and interrupted the broadcast of the soccer match.  Not the biggest deal in the world as most folks were able to flip over to ESPN News, but a lot of people were surprised and maybe even offended by the decision to stick with the baseball game. SI's Grant Wahl certainly took note:

• Come on, ESPN. It was strange: ESPN sure treated USA-Mexico like a big game before it started. The SportsNation crew was here today with Michelle Beadle, and a cavalry of a half-dozen ESPN broadcasters was also on-hand, causing me to think the network was sort of overhyping this friendly. But the Worldwide Leader undermined everything by shunting the first 20 minutes of the game over to ESPNews so that a Little League World Series *qualifier* could finish on ESPN2. The network may have policies that call for such measures, but it sure came off as a statement that this game didn't mean much at all.

ESPN has done an excellent job in their soccer coverage and today was another solid effort, but to the trained eye there were a couple of modest missteps that stood out as uncharacteristic. The first came in the seconds leading up to the climatic moment of the game when the US tied the game with a slick goal, the first of the Klinsmann era. Unfortunately, though, the majority of the setup work was not shown live as ESPN was showing replay of the previous attack.

That's not a big deal and is more just bad luck as opposed to sloppy production. Still, the moment was cheapened a bit as you were left wondering "how did they set that up?"  Nothing else really stuck out as abnormal during the rest of the game, but in the Sportscenter following the game there was some type of miscommunication/production snafu as Bristol went to Bob Ley live while he seemed to be in the dark on that:

Ley is a pro and ESPN's soccer coverage has been superb. Still, this odd moment with the missed setup of the goal, the ESPN News kickoff, and NBC's foray into soccer all combine for a pretty rough day for a network that has had nothing but high marks over the last year or so broadcasting the world's most popular sport. This got me thinking........ Is this the start of the Matt Yoder AA podcast curse? 

The first new sports entity to join the expanding NBC Sports empire is officially Major League Soccer (including Eddie Gaven of my hometown Columbus Crew, pictured above).  Reports today indicate MLS has inked a very favorable deal with the NBC/Comcast/NBC Sports Channel conglomerate.  The best sports media writers in the biz have been all over the story today, so you can read Deitsch or Ourand for all of the details.  In short, the league will have exposure on broadcast television with 4 MLS games (2 regular and 2 post-season) and 2 U.S. Men's National Team games appearing on NBC.  Meanwhile, 45 MLS games and 4 USMNT games will appear on the artist formerly known as Versus, the NBC Sports Network.

In essence, MLS has kept their partnership with ESPN (who will still carry plenty of MLS and USMNT games, including the MLS Cup) and has exchanged their package with FOX Soccer for the new NBC/NBC Sports venture.  At first glance, the move has several advantages for the growth of MLS as a league and the continued growth of soccer in the United States.  So, just who are the winners and losers of this potential rights deal...

Winner: MLS And Soccer's Growth In The USA

Yes, yes, I know, you've heard it a hundred times before.  Soccer is going to take over the USA! Blah blah blah!  But, if our podcast today with Ian Darke should tell you anything, it's that people in the soccer community believe in the potential of MLS to grow the game domestically.  Yes, we'll always flock to the best the sport has to offer, hence the success of the EPL on ESPN.  But, the domestic league has lacked a television partner who is equally invested in the growth of the league.  Heck, even FOX Soccer treated the MLS as an afterthought compared to more talented leagues around the world like Serie A and La Liga.  It's not like ESPN treats the league any better.  Ask yourself when was the last time you saw the league standings on SportsCenter?  The MLS on NBC and NBC Sports Channel will be able to reach more homes than FOX Soccer while gaining more attention than it does on ESPN...

In the newest edition of the AA Podcast, perhaps the most popular announcer in America joins us, the brilliant Ian Darke of ESPN. Darke has been at the center of ESPN's soccer revolution as lead play by play voice of the EPL and this summer's Women's World Cup in Germany.  Darke became a cult phenomenon with his call of Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria at the 2010 World Cup and has quickly become one of the most popular announcers anywhere.  In the podcast, Ian talks with AA about...

-His popularity amongst American soccer fans 
-The memorable USA/Brazil Women's World Cup Quarterfinal 
-The challenges facing the growth of MLS 
-Wednesday night's USA-Mexico friendly and the debut of Jurgen Klinsmann
-The upcoming EPL season and his picks to win the league
-The next steps for the growth of soccer 

Many thanks to Ian for taking some time away from his matchday preparation in Philadelphia for joining us on the AA Podcast.  This is a must listen for any soccer fan or fan of great broadcasting.  You can catch Ian in the booth with John Harkes for the USA-Mexico friendly in Philly at 9 PM ET on ESPN2 Wednesday night.  Saturday, Darke will be back in England as the EPL season begins at 10 AM ET on ESPN2 with coverage of Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton.

You can download all of the AA Podcasts at ITunes.
 

We already told you yesterday that Jerry Rice is joining ESPN as an analyst, but today ESPN sent out the official press release, adding that two-time Super Bowl winning ex-coach Bill Parcells will join the Hall of Fame wide receiver. If you recall, Parcells has already been a slow-talking head on ESPN, previously working as a studio analyst on both Monday Night Countdown and Sunday NFL Countdown after spending part of the 2001 season as a guest analyst.

Parcells will make his debut  return this upcoming Monday, August 15 on Monday Night Countdown (7 p.m. ET), before the New York Jets-Houston Texans preseason game. His duties during the regular season will not be unlike what he previously did with the Leader, including SportsCenter Special shows Super Bowl Confidential and Draft Confidential, similar to the 90-minute Bill Parcells Draft Confidential from earlier this year.

Parcells' co-workers are ecstatic to reunite with their third ex-Jets coach: 

Adam Schefter could only bother mustering up a RT.

Anyway, taking into account Michael McCarthy of USA Today's report that Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks will no longer be analysts at ESPN, that leaves ESPN's laundry list of talking heads as follows: 

Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Millen, Steve Young, Eric Allen, Tedy Bruschi, Trent Dilfer, Mike Golic, Herm Edwards, Tim Hasselbeck, Merril Hoge, Antonio Pierce, Mark Schlereth, Marcellus WIly, Darren Woodson, Andrew Brandt, Lomas Brown, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Jon Ritchie, Kordell Stewart, Ross Tucker, Damien Woody, Hugh Douglas, Eric Mangini, Bill Parcells, Jerry Rice, The San Diego Chicken, Red Grange, Rich Kotite, This Guy, He Hate Me, Leon Taylor, Rex Ryan, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Terry Tate, Office Linebacker. 

Oh, no, I've gone cross-eyed.

Remember Roy Williams?  No, not the former Lions and Cowboys wide receiver that just signed with the Bears, Roy Williams the former Oklahoma star and Cowboys safety that spent the last two years in Parts Unknown Cincinnati.  Williams is a free agent, but hasn't been picked up by a team this offseason.  However, he's making the most of it.  Reportedly, Roy Williams will star in a Dallas based spinoff of the hit A&E show Storage Wars.  YEEEEEEP!!!  From ESPN Dallas...

Safety Roy Williams, the Cowboys’ first pick in the 2002 draft, still wants to play in the NFL.

But if you don’t catch him playing on Sundays, then you can watch him this fall on the reality show "Storage Wars: Dallas," a spinoff of the successful A&E show that just finished its first season.

“My agent is trying to find me a team,” Williams said in a text message. “I’m not retired, but I am filming Storage Wars here in Dallas, which I’m having a blast doing.”

The show features professional buyers and their teams going through repossessed storage units in hopes of finding valuable goods.

Williams spent the last two seasons playing for Cincinnati. He played 12 games last season, finishing with 59 tackles, a sack, an interception and three fumble recoveries.

As a sometimey connoisseur of reality based programming, Storage Wars has quickly turned into one of my favorite television shows.  Much like Pawn Stars, the format is simple and consistent, but the characters are truly what makes the show compelling.  There's the added element of dreaming to yourself that you could go around old storage units and make money or actually own some old piece of crap that's really worth thousands of dollars.  If Roy Williams (who I assume has deep pockets and hasn't Antoine Walkered his money away) can turn into the Dallas version of either Dave or Barry, this Dallas spinoff will be off to a great start.  I'll be very disappointed though if there isn't at least one buyer wearing a cowboy hat.  While we're at it, I'd love to see an hour long special where Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones go around Dallas and bid on random things.  Could Cubes buy JerryWorld?  That could be fun too.

[ESPN Dallas] 

While we're hyping interactive features here at AA like our Fan Forum, why not bring back an old favorite...Create the Caption!  In this installment, newest NBA on TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal steps out with his girlfriend... or is that tries not to step on his new girlfriend.  Leave a comment below and give us your best caption for the picture.  Feel free to let your imagination run wild with this one... well, not too wild.  After all, think of the children!  Thanks to SportsGrid for the pic.

Links

Bloguin's new college football blog, Crystal Ball Run, has an interview with guru Phil Steele about the upcoming season (Crystal Ball Run).

Our friend Richard Deitsch has a podcast up with ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit. (SI)

According to Fang's Bites, Kurt Warner is now exclusive to the NFL Network. No word if Kurt's analysis will be spliced with incessant cutaways to his wife in the stands.  (Fang's Bites)

Hulk Hogan weighed in on the riots in London...wait, what? (Deadspin)

Details on the contract between ESPN and Texas involving the Longhorn Network have been released, and they're as ugly as we all suspected (SportsNewser)

 

This past weekend, the Yankees/Red Sox three-game series was televised nationally on MLB Network, FOX, and ESPN, respectively, and all three games received record-like ratings. Here's the breakdown, courtesy of timesunion.com's Sports Media blog: 

MLB Network’s Friday night telecast, which was blacked out in the Capital Region as well as the New York and Boston areas, was the second highest-rated game in network history, drawing 563,000 viewers. Only last year’s Stephen Strasburg’s major-league debut gained a larger audience.

The Saturday afternoon matchup on Fox (part of the country saw Phillies-Giants) drew 4.1 million viewers, the network’s biggest audience for a non-prime time baseball telecast. It was the biggest regular-season Saturday baseball audience since July 5, 2008 (Yankees-Red Sox, Cardinals-Cubs).

The teams generated a 3.6 overnight Nielsen rating, ESPN’s highest “Sunday Night Baseball” rating of the season and largest total audience (4.7 million) for the network since June 3, 2007, when the same teams attracted 5.3 million. ESPN’s Sunday night package shows a 9 percent audience gain from last year.

Fans complain that the networks shove this historic rivalry into our eye sockets on a yearly basis, but some of the same people have to be contributing to its record ratings. These ratings certainly are not going to convince MLB Network, FOX, or ESPN to stop scheduling this rivalry on a regular basis.

Now, the ratings do not necessarily suggest viewers can't get enough Yanks/Sawx because it's must see TV. First of all, a match up between two teams involved in one of the closer divisional battles in baseball is inherently compelling on its own. When the games also last for 1/5 of the day, it's not uncommon for fans to want to at the very least check in on it.

Pete Dougherty of the aforelinked Times Union Sports Media blog also noted that the Friday night telecast received 33-percent higher ratings than last year's match up on the same weekend, suggesting it had something to do with the fact that the NFL Hall of Fame game, scheduled to air on NBC, was cancelled this year. 

Whatever it might be, the numbers these three games received are only going to reinforce the scheduling of Yanks/Sawx series in every available nationally televised slot - awesome, go ahead and pat yourselves on the back for that.