All of the buzz surrounding the upcoming America's Cup (if you were aware enough to hear any of it) was centered at the influx of speed, technology, and danger that the new AC72 Catamaran was transforming the event as well as the sport itself. 60 Minutes Sports was wise in selecting the upcoming event as one of its featured segments for their upcoming June episode. Below is the teaser of the feature that aired in this month's edition.

Dan Shaughnessy is at it again. The long-time Boston Globe columnist posted an article on Wednesday entitled "David Ortiz rejects talk of steroid use." I'm sure you can see where this one is heading already. In the article, Shaughnessy not so subtlely says that Ortiz is taking steroids (with only a 2009 New York Times column stating Ortiz tested positive in 2003 as any link with him to PEDs). The entire column is really just a massive hit piece on Ortiz for playing out of his mind to start the year, but it really can all be summed up in the first paragraph.

In this week's AA Podcast we welcome one of the pioneers of people with sports blogs taping podcasts - Dan Levy! Dan is the current National Lead Writer at Bleacher Report and had one of the blogosphere's most successful podcasts at On the DL. He was on our panel for our Sports TV Awards so we chat with Dan about fake awards and actual real sports topics including...

-The disconnect between the sports media establishment and sports fandom.

-ESPN being dissed by the award giving establishment and the network's depth chart.
-Which personalities deserve more recognition at ESPN.
-NBA and NHL Playoff coverage, especially Derrick Rose's injury drama and how the media has handled the story.
-Ian Darke's impact on soccer in the states.
-Why Dan thinks Gus Johnson is "ruining soccer coverage in America"
-Is Fox Sports One the "next" or "best" challenger to ESPN to emerge.
-Why he feared being featured on The Daily Show.
-The continued evolution of Bleacher Report

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 Dan, catch his work at Bleacher Report and follow him on Twitter @danlevythinks.

The cable television industry could be in store for a serious shake-up if Senator John McCain gets his way.

The Capitol Hill veteran and former Republican presidential candidate introduced legislation Thursday designed to lead to a move towards a-la-carte cable subscriptions. The bill would also prevent broadcasters from pulling “Aereo-proofing” their content, a move threatened by networks such as Fox and CBS in response to the rise of the new streaming service.

Earlier this year it was revealed ESPN Radio NBA analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Dr. Jack Ramsay would be retiring from his announcing duties at the end of the season at 88 years of age.   Ramsay's longtime partner Jim Durham passed away in November and Ramsay cited the struggle it had been working without Durham.

Unfortunately, the end of Ramsay's announcing career may come sooner than he originally planned.  Due to undisclosed medical issues, Ramsay will be unable to work the rest of this year's NBA Playoffs and his media career has most likely come to an end.  The news comes via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:

At the age of 55, one of America's premier sports media personalities is in a hiring position for the first time in his life. Sports Illustrated's Peter King is adding talent to the roster for his yet-to-be-named, all-football microsite, which is slated to launch on July 22, but he's also adjusting to the idea of being a manager instead of an employee. 

"I've never done that before," King told Awful Announcing this week, "so there will be a whole new group of people to hate me." 

That group includes Greg Bedard from the Boston Globe, Jenny Vrentas from the Newark Star-Ledger, Robert Klemko from USA Today, Andrew Brandt from ESPN and Richard Deitsch from SI, the latter two of whom will write weekly columns. 

Earlier this year, King seriously considered leaving SI after 24 years with the company. There were several factors in play, but the green light for the new site was a big reason why King decided to re-sign. 

The competition was also offering opportunities like these, though, which is why that decision didn't come easy. 

ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter will reportedly be featured in some capacity of this summer's release of Madden 25. Schefter's involvement came about because of a tweet from Madden creative director Michael Young to Schefter, thanking him for his work with the game this week. A fan asked Young when more details of Schefter's role with the game, and Young more or less confirmed that we'd know more on May 20th.

All Times Eastern

Australian Rules Football
Geelong Cats vs. Essendon Bombers -- Fox Soccer Plus, 5:30 a.m.

College Baseball
Oregon at Ohio State -- Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Memphis at Rice -- Fox College Sports Central, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State at Tulsa, OK -- ESPNU, 8 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

College Softball
SEC Tournament, Lexington, KY
Semifinals
Florida vs. Georgia -- ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Tennessee vs. Missouri -- ESPNU, 5:30 p.m.

UCLA at Oregon State -- Pac-12 Network, 6 p.m.
UNLV at San Diego State -- CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
Oregon at Arizona State -- Pac-12 Network, 8 p.m.
Cal at Washington -- Pac-12 Network, 10 p.m.

The launch for Fox Sports 1 is now 100 days away, and Fox has announced the lineup for the intial day of programming on August 17th. The good news is that there is 16 and a half hours of live programming on the first day of the channel's launch. The bad news is that the main sports on the day will be NASCAR and UFC, two sports that really lack the mainstream appeal that many were hoping for from Fox Sports 1 to start.

Launch day will begin with seven and a half hours of NASCAR coverage, beginning with a half hour presentation of NASCAR Live. That will be followed up with an hour of Sprint Cup practice for Sunday's race in Michigan (broadcast on ESPN), and an hour and a half of qualifying for the NASCAR Camping Series truck race that afternoon. After another hour of Sprint Cup practice, Fox Sports 1 will present the truck race, the first live sporting event on the network. Following the race, there will be an hour-long Trackside Live broadcast.

Last night was not the Oakland A's night. Oakland was trailing Cleveland 4-3 going into the 9th inning when shortstop Adam Rosales smacked a fly ball to deep center that was originally ruled a double. But manager Bob Melvin asked for a review. However, replays showed that hit the railing above the yellow line which should have been a home run. The video from MLB.com that you can see above has three of the four TV and radio crews from both Oakland and Cleveland in agreement that the ball did go out.

But the umpires did not see it that way and ruled that the ball did not go above the yellow line so Rosales had to stay at second. Melvin went ballistic and was thrown out of the game. The A's lost as a result and now there are calls the replay system to be changed. 

Umpire Angel Hernandez didn't give an interview as to why the ruling was made. Despite the result and the anger, it appears the game will stand. If the A's lose a playoff spot by one game, fans can point to May 8 as one of the reasons why. 

[The Outside Corner]