First & Second Round NCAA Tournament Announcing Schedule

(Once again we'll be live blogging the entire NCAA Tournament, starting Tuesday night with the First Four games. The announcing schedule is completely via Awful Announcing.)

 Louisville: Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery
Pittsburgh: Kevin Harlan, Len Elmore, Reggie Miller
Portland: Brian Anderson, Dan Bonner
Albuquerque: Spero Dedes, Bob Wenzel
Nashville: Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel
Columbus: Tim Brando, Mike Gminski
Greensboro: Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg

FIRST ROUND GAMES
TUESDAY, MARCH 13
6:40 PM truTV Dayton I
Mississippi Valley St. vs. Western Kentucky
Nantz/Kellogg/Kerr//Wolfson
after conc. I truTV Dayton II

BYU vs. Iona
Nantz/Kellogg/Kerr//Wolfson

FIRST ROUND GAMES
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14
6:40 PM truTV Dayton I
Lamar vs. Vermont
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

after conc. I truTV Dayton II
California vs. South Florida
Eagle/Spanarkel//Johnson

TBS Announcers For Divisional Series

TBS has announced who will be their announcing teams for each divisional series along with the dates and times of the games. Here's the press release.

Friday, September 30th (All times eastern)
Tampa Bay at Texas, 5:00 (Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez, Jamie Maggio)

Detroit at New York, 8:30 (Brian Anderson, John Smoltz, Ron Darling, Ton Verducci)

Saturday, October 1st 
Arizona at Milwaukee, 2:00 (Victor Rojas, Joe Simpson, Sam Ryan)

St. Louis at Philadelphia, 5:00 (Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly, Craig Sager)

Tampa Bay at Texas, 7:00 (Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez, Jamie Maggio) Note: This game will air on TNT

Detroit at New York, 8:30 (Brian Anderson, John Smoltz, Ron Darling, Ton Verducci)

Sunday, October 2nd 
Arizona at Milwaukee, 4:30 (Victor Rojas, Joe Simpson, Sam Ryan)

St. Louis at Philadelphia, 8:00 (Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly, Craig Sager)

Monday, October 3rd 
Texas at Tampa Bay, 5:00 (Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez, Jamie Maggio)

New York at Detroit, 8:30 (Brian Anderson, John Smoltz, Ron Darling, Ton Verducci)

Couple of Notes:
- No dates or times yet if these series' go more than three games.
- Eat in Philly. We had to deal with Stockton last NLDS, so you should have to deal with him this year.
- I think it's hilarious the Red Sox announcer (Don Orsillo) has to call the Tampa Bay series.
- Should be a great baseball postseason.

ESPN 2011 College Football Announcing Teams

You'll always be in our hearts Ray & Pam.

ESPN announced their announcer pairings for the upcoming college football season. There's thankfully been some changes with the pairings for instance:

- Davie Joneses Locker has been splitten up. Mark Jones will call games with Ed Cunningham.
- Urban Meyer will call the ESPN Noon game with Dave Pasch and Chris Spielman.
- Dan "Go Play Inter murals Brother" Hawkins will join Pammy for the ESPNU afternoon telecast.
- Brian Griese will now call the ESPNU night game with Clay Matvick.
- Beth Mowins will call the ESPN2 noon game with former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti
- Bob Davie will call the ABC afternoon game with Bob Wischausen.
- Danny Kanell will join Rob Stone to call the ESPNU noon game.

Everything else stays the same. Yes Matt Millen will continue to work with Sean McDonough on the ABC afternoon game. Musberger and Herbstreit will continue to do the ABC night game. And Craig James is still around to ruin everyone's lives.

What wasn't in this press release was word on Gameday. I'm curious to see if Lee Corso is returning for another year. I thought after ESPN gave Corso that tribute last December that he might retire. Corso, not surprisingly so, hasn't been the same since having that stroke. It's going to be interesting if anything is announced from now until the first Saturday of the year.

Announcer Pairings Table Via ESPN:

Saturday Night Football (on ABC): Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, SR: Erin Andrews
ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday): Brad Nessler , Todd Blackledge, SR: Holly Rowe
ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday): Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham
ESPNU SEC Saturday Prime Time: Clay Matvick, Brian Griese, SR: Allison Williams
ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday): Rece Davis ,Craig James and Jesse Palmer SR: Jenn Brown
ABC Saturday Afternoon: Sean McDonough ,Matt Millen ,SR: Heather Cox
ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoon): Dave Pasch , Chris Spielman and , Urban Meyer
ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon): Beth Mowins , Mike Bellotti
ABC Saturday Afternoon: Mike Patrick , Craig James
ABC Saturday Afternoon: Bob Wischusen , Bob Davie
ABC or ESPN Saturdays (primarily West Coast): Carter Blackburn , Brock Huard
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon: Rob Stone , Danny Kanell
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon: Pam Ward , Dan Hawkins
ESPN and ESPN2 Friday: Joe Tessitore , Rod Gilmore
ESPNU Thursday: Anish Shroff ,Jay Walker
ESPNU late Saturday (WAC): Adam Amin , David Diaz-Infante
ESPNU late Saturday (HBCU): Adam Amin ,Jay Walker
ESPN 3D (Saturday): Joe Tessitore ,Tim Brown
ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski , David Norrie ,Joe Schad
SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games): Dave Neal, Andre Ware , SR: Cara Capuano
BIG EAST Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games): Mike Gleason , John Congemi , Eamon McAnaney
ESPN Regional Television MAC Syndication: Michael Reghi, Doug Chapman

Vin Scully Talking About Joe Montana

 During last night's Giants-Dodgers game there was a moment in the game where 49ers legend Joe Montana was speaking with Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp while Kemp was in the on-deck circle. Vin Scully describes the action.



Awesome. Vin Scully knows what he is talking about when it comes to "The Catch." He was at Candlestick that day.



God love Joe Montana. God love Vin Scully. 

This Should Be Interesting

Anyone who has ever watched Baseketball remembers that Bob Costas and Al Michaels stared in that movie. Costas even had the great line, "You're excited? Feel these nipples!" Well Costas and Michaels will once again team up for the MLB Network next Friday July, 8th to call the Mets-Giants game. There's a little catch though, they're also going to call an inning each for the Mets station SNY and for the Giants station CSN Bay Area.

"Legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels will join MLB Network's Bob Costas in the broadcast booth when the two call the New York Mets at NL West first-place San Francisco Giants at 10:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 8, part of MLB Network's live game schedule in July. The game marks the first time Michaels and Costas will call an MLB game together and the first MLB game Michaels will call since 1995. Costas and Michaels will also make special appearances on SNY's broadcast and on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's broadcast in the game's middle innings, while Mets announcers Gary Cohen and Ron Darling and Giants announcers Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow will appear in MLB Network's booth during that time, as its telecast will not be available in the Giants' and Mets' home television markets.

MLB Network will host a media conference call with Michaels and Costas, who are expected to be joined by Cohen, Darling, Kuiper and Krukow, on Tuesday, July 5 to discuss the game telecast. Additional details on the call will be sent to media from MLB Network."

Well this certainly should be interesting. By watching old baseball games from the 80's it's clear that Michaels was a solid baseball announcer. Costas is my opinion is a better studio host than broadcaster but he makes a good pairing with Michaels. 

Here's my other question. How the hell is this broadcast going to work? Are they going to rotate calling the game between innings without interrupting each other? Pairing two play-by-play announcers work on radio because you have to be more descriptive. Television doesn't work that way so there's a color analyst to describe what is happening. So this broadcast will certainly be interesting.

I'm just hoping Kruk and Kuip don't drink before the game like usual* and show up on the MLB Network drunk.

*Slight exaggeration. Kruk & Kuip only drink during home games**. 
**Okay that is an exaggeration as well. Giants fans do wonder though if these guys drink before games. 

(Via sfgiants.com) 

Gus Johnson Will Call Pac-12 Games This Fall

After 16 years with CBS, Gus Johnson has left and joined Fox Sports.  Johnson will call NFL and Pac-12 games next season but it's not clear yet what exactly Johnson's roll will be with Fox. Will he be the lead broadcaster for the Pac-12 on Fox? Will he be the 2nd or 3rd announcer for the NFL on Fox? Will Fox drop someone like Kenny Albert or Thom Brennaman in favor of Johnson? (We all know they're not getting rid of Joe Buck as the lead NFL announcer.) Will Johnson call MLB games on Fox? Will Gus replace Glen Beck on Fox News? There's a lot of possibilities and hopefully Fox gets it right and gives Gus great assignments. (You know somehow Fox will screw this up.)

Now for the reason why Gus Johnson left CBS in the first place. According to Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News, Gus left CBS for other reasons besides money.

A CBS source who wanted Johnson - a former Knick radio voice - back said that not only money, but politics was an issue. The source said some of CBS Sports' college hoops voices were not thrilled with Johnson's rise to March Madness' most popular voice.

I know Jim Nantz took his divorce hard, but did he really have to push out GuJo?

(Via SB Nation)

Sweet 16 Times and Announcer Pairings

I know the tournament is now broadcast as a joint venture by Turner and CBS, but why do they feel the need to inject Reggie Miller into all the broadcasts now? Here's the Sweet 16 times and announcer pairings via Awful Announcing.

Thursday, March 24
7:15, CBS, Anaheim- San Diego State vs. UConn (Lundquist, Raftery, SR: Visser)
7:27, TBS, New Orleans- Florida vs. BYU (Johnson, Elmore, Miller, SR: Marty Snider)

9:45, CBS, Anaheim- Duke vs. Arizona (Ludquist, Raftery, SR: Visser)
9:57, TBS, New Orleans- Wisconsin vs. Butler (Johnson, Elmore, Miller, SR: Snider)

Friday, March 25
7:15, CBS, Newark- UNC vs. Marquette (Nantz, Kellogg, SR: Wolfson)
7:27, TBS, San Antonio- Kansas vs. Richmond (Albert, Kerr, SR: Sager)

9:45, CBS, Newark- Ohio State vs. Kentucky (Nantz, Kellogg, SR: Wolfson)
9:57, TBS, San Antonio- Florida State vs. VCU (Albert, Kerr, SF: Sager)

Times and Announcer Pairings for the First Two Rounds of the Tournament

As always Justin and Myself along with the gang will be live blogging the entire tournament starting on Tuesday with the play-in-games First Four. Via CBSSports.com here's the times and announcer pairings for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

FIRST ROUND GAMES
TUESDAY, MARCH 15
6:40, truTV, Dayton -- UNC Asheville vs. UALR (Nantz/Kellogg/Kerr)
9:10, truTV, Dayton -- UAB vs. Clemson (Nantz/Kellogg/Kerr)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
6:40, truTV, Dayton -- UTSA vs. Alabama St. (Gus Johnson/LenElmore)
9:10, truTV, Dayton -- Southern California vs. VCU(Johnson/Elmore)

SECOND ROUND GAMES
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 17 (12:00 Noon-5:00 , ET)
12:15, CBS, Tampa -- West Virginia vs. UAB/Clemson (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
12:40, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Butler vs. Old Dominion (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
1:40, TBS, Denver--I Louisville vs. Morehead St. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
2:10, TNT, Tucson -- Temple vs. Penn St. (Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner)

2:45, CBS, Tampa -- Kentucky vs. Princeton (Eagle/Spanarkel)
3:10, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Pittsburgh vs. Asheville/Ark-LR (Brando/Gminski)
4:10, TBS, Denver -- Vanderbilt vs. Richmond (Lundquist/Raftery)
4:40, TNT, Tucson -- San Diego St. vs. Northern Colorado (Harlan/Miller/Bonner)

THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 17 (6:30 -12:00 AM, ET)
(announce and production teams same as day games) 
6:50, TBS, Tampa -- Florida vs. UC Santa Barbara(Eagle/Spanarkel)
7:15, CBS, Denver -- BYU vs. Wofford (Lundquist/Raftery)
7:20, TNT, Wash D.C. -- Connecticut vs. Bucknell (Brando/Gminski)
7:27, truTV, Tucson -- Wisconsin vs. Belmont (Harlan/Miller/Bonner)

9:20, TBS, Tampa -- UCLA vs. Michigan St. (Eagle/Spanarkel)
9:45, CBS, Denver -- St. John’s vs. Gonzaga (Lundquist/Raftery)
9:45, TNT, Wash. D.C. -- Cincinnati vs. Missouri (Brando/Gminski)
9:57, truTV, Tucson -- Kansas St. vs. Utah St.(Harlan/Miller/Bonner)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 18 (12:00 Noon-5:00 , ET)
12:15, CBS, Tulsa -- Texas vs. Oakland (Marv Albert/Steve Kerr)
12:40, truTV, Charlotte -- Michigan vs. Tennessee (Nantz/Kellogg)
1:40, TBS, Chicago -- Notre Dame vs. Akron (Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel)
2:10, TNT, Cleveland -- George Mason vs. Villanova (Gus Johnson/Len Elmore)

2:45, CBS, Tulsa -- Arizona vs. Memphis (Albert/Kerr)
3:10, truTV, Charlotte -- Duke vs. Hampton (Nantz/Kellogg)
4:10, TBS, Chicago -- Texas A&M vs. Florida St. (Dedes/Wenzel)
4:40, TNT, Cleveland -- Ohio St. vs. UTSA/Alabama St. (Johnson/Elmore)

FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 17 (6:30 -12:00 AM, ET) 
6:50, TBS, Tulsa -- Kansas vs. Boston U. (Albert/Kerr)
7:15, CBS, Charlotte -- North Carolina vs. Long Island (Nantz/Kellogg)
7:20, TNT, Chicago -- Purdue vs. St. Peter’s (Dedes/Wenzel)
7:27, truTV, Cleveland --   Xavier vs. Marquette (Johnson/Elmore)

9:20, TBS, Tulsa -- UNLV vs. Illinois (Albert/Kerr)
9:45, CBS, Charlotte -- Washington vs. Georgia (Nantz/Kellogg)
9:50, TNT, Chicago -- Georgetown vs. Southern California/VCU (Dedes/Wenzel)
9:57, truTV, Cleveland -- Syracuse vs. Indiana St. (Johnson/Elmore)

TBS Baseball Schedule and Announcer Pairings

Question for everyone: How many of you watch the Sunday afternoon baseball coverage on TBS during the regular season? I've probably watched two baseball games on TBS during the regular season. Sorry but watching non-stop Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies games aren't really my cup of tea. Well no surprise, but TBS once again will air a ton of Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies games for this upcoming season. How do I know this? That's because they announced as much in this press release.

 “Sunday MLB on TBS” Returns with Multiple Appearances by the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies

Schedule gets underway on April 3 with AL Champion Texas Rangers hosting the Red Sox

TBS announced today the first two months of its “Sunday MLB on TBS” schedule for the 2011 season.  The package, which includes match-ups on TBS every Sunday afternoon throughout the regular season, includes multiple appearances by the New York Yankees (May 1, May 8 and May 22), Boston Red Sox (April 3, April 17 and May 29) and the Philadelphia Phillies (April 10 and May 15).  The schedule will also feature a rematch of the 2010 ALCS when AL MVP Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers host Derek Jeter and the Yankees on May 8 at 2 p.m. (ET). 

So once again I won't be watching much baseball on TBS during the regular season. Look I get TBS can't run into the Sunday Night game on ESPN, but they can't at least show a couple of west coast games or gasp central division games? There must be some sort of time constraint issue they have to deal with so that's why they'll air pretty much every game on the East coast. Seriously, look at their April/May schedule. Besides a random Cubs/Dodgers game, they're going to air nothing buy Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies games. And I'm sure this will continue throughout the season.

TBS also announced the announcers who'll be calling games for the network. Once again that old fossil Dick Stockton is back. Also TBS will air the NLCS this season after airing the ALCS last year and once again will air all of the LDS series'. TBS will also air an All-Star selection show just like they've done for the NBA over at TNT.

A rotation of play-by-play announcers will call the action, including Emmy winner Ernie Johnson, Dick Stockton and Brian Anderson.  The network’s play-by-play announcers will be paired with TBS analysts Ron Darling and John Smoltz.  Additionally, Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and David Wells,three-time All-Star and owner of a perfect game, will provide color commentary for a select number of live game broadcasts as part of Sunday MLB on TBS, in addition to their studio work during the network’s exclusive coverage of the LDS and NLCS.  Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. will be a part of the All-Star Selection Show studio team, as well as during the network’s coverage of the LDS and NLCS.

Darling is the only play-by-play announcer I can stand. I find Smoltz uninteresting and Wells try's to hard to be the baseball version of Charles Barkley. I'm disappointed TBS has decided to stick with EJ calling baseball games when it's obvious he's more suited for the studio. Everyone knows my feelings about Stockton and I haven't heard enough of Anderson to pass judgment. I wish though TBS would use more people like Anderson who call baseball games every day instead of using part-time baseball announcers like EJ or somebody who just wants to stay relevant like Stockton. 

Then again, why am I complaining about the announcers when I hardly watch TBS baseball games?

Where Darrell Waltrip Ruins Mike Joy's "Jim Nantz" Moment

Full disclosure, I'm a NASCAR fan. I know the people who read this blog aren't, so I stay away from talking about NASCAR. I have to talk about NASCAR today because yesterday was the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of stock cars.

Trevor Bayne, who just turned 20 two days ago, won the Daytona 500 in just his second career NASCAR race. An incredible accomplishment for an incredible race that saw a record amount of caution flags and race leaders. At the end of the race though the moment was ruined for race play-by-play announcer Mike Joy.

Mike Joy is the Fox NASCAR play-by-play announcer. He's teamed up with former crew chief Larry McReynolds and former racer Darrell Waltrip. I enjoy Joy's work because he gives you insight into a race that a first time viewer might not know without sounding like he's doing you a favor. Joy though suffers from Jim Nantz disease. He likes coming up with corny one-liners at big races like the Daytona 500.

Joy's "Jim Nantz" moment though was ruined yesterday by partner Darrell Waltrip. Knowing that Bayne was such an huge underdog to win yesterday's race, Joy has a corny one-liner to celebrate Bayne's victory. The moment though was ruined by a screaming Waltrip and McReynolds.



Yes. Joy tried a Cinderella/Glass Slipper line about Bayne, but was talked over by Waltrip and McReynolds. Don't worry though, if you watch that video a little further, Joy got in his Cinderella/Glass Slipper line about Bayne's victory.

Despite the checker-flag mash up between the announcers, that will certainly be a Daytona 500 I'll remember for a long time. Congratulations to Trevor Bayne and Woods Brother Racing.

Will Someone Wake Up Eric Snow

The Philadelphia 76ers are having a nice season after a dreadful start. The Sixers are currently 27-29 and sitting as the 7th seed in the East. That doesn't mean their brand of basketball is all that exciting to watch, just ask broadcaster Eric Snow. Snow apparently dozed off during the Rockets-Sixers game a couple of nights ago. Watch



Wow that exchange between Snow and Sixers play-by-play announcer Marc Zumoff. I love how Zumoff asked snow if he was meditating. No Marc, Snow was falling asleep. Nice try though.

(Via Larry Brown Sports)

ESPN Is Trying To Make Me Sick

The older I get the more I'm becoming like my father. Some ways good, some ways bad. One of the ways turning into my father is bad, I get motion sickness like him. So when ESPN starts using other camera angles for college basketball games besides the standard mid-court shot, it makes me nausea. This week ESPN has experimented with different things with their broadcasts. On Monday they had Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery sitting at the corner's of the opposite baselines while lead announcer Sean McDonough sat at the normal mid-court position. ESPN also had camera's at each of the corners of the baseline. Those type of camera angles make me sick. Last night though ESPN unveiled a camera angle that I couldn't even look at without becoming sick and dizzy, the over-head camera angle at the Kentucky-Mississippi State game.

Just looking at that picture makes me dizzy.

I like that ESPN is experimenting with their broadcast. Can we please leave the camera angles alone please? I'm just fine with the standard mid-court camera angle. Truly I am. 

(Via Instant Replay)

CBS and TNT Announce NCAA Tournament Pairings

CBS and TNT, who already announced they would partner up to call the NCAA tournament, have announced today their NCAA tournament announcing pairings. Here's what it will look like.

- Final Four and Championship game will be called with Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr with Tracy Wolfson taking care of the sideline duties.

- Kerr and Marv Albert will call regional games. This will be the first time Albert has called NCAA tournament games since the late 70's and early 80's when NBC held the coverage rights.

- The studio will originate from both the CBS studios in New York and the TNT studios in Atlanta. The main anchor chair will be shared by Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson.

- Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will provide studio analysis alongside Greg Anthony in New York.

- Remember the tournament added four more teams. "The First Four" games will be broadcast on a Tuesday and Wednesday before the 1st and 2nd round weekend begins with Nantz, Kellogg, and Kerr calling the first two games on truTV. Gus Johnson and Len Elmore will call the last two games of the "First Four" with Gumbel, Johnson, Barkley, Anthony and Smith in the studio.

- Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis and TNT analyst Reggie Miller will join the New York studio rotation for the second week of the tournament. Davis will be in Turner's Atlanta studio the first week with host Matt Winer and Steve Smith.

- Here are the other announcing pairings: Johnson and Elmore, Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner, Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, Tim Brando and Mike Gminski and Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel

- Sideline Reporters: David Aldridge, Sam Ryan, Craig Sager, Marty Snider, Lesley Visser and Tracy Wolfson

- Games will be aired on: CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV

I have to admit this sounds like one big clusterf*ck. Maybe once the schedule is announced it will be easier to figure out how this will work, but right now it looks like a mess.

I along with a lot of other people will be interested to see how well the TNT guys (Johnson, Barkley, Smith, Kerr, and Albert) adjust to calling college basketball games. Also how controversial will Barkley be? He's gone on record before stating he believes college athletes should be paid? He can get away with saying controversial remarks about the NBA, but the NCAA cringes at things like that. What happens if he says college athletes should be paid while he's on air? Will he be pulled from the broadcast? This whole agreement is very intriguing and I'm interested to see how it will end up. Bring on the NCAA tournament!

(Via Sports Illustrated)

An Appreciation For My Local Announcers

The NBA is allowing TV viewers to view their League Pass package for free for this entire week. Since this package is free at the moment I've taken advantage of it and watched a lot of NBA games recently. While watching these NBA games I've noticed a trend. Most NBA announcers dreadful to listen too. I mean they're truly terrible. I haven't found one broadcast team where I haven't hated either the play-by-play broadcaster or the color commentator.

The NBA isn't the only league who will show off their sports package for free for an entire week. MLB and the NHL will also do the same thing in hopes they can lure some people into buying their game packages. When the MLB package is for free I'll surf the channels and look for a game that might be interesting. I've noticed that most of the baseball announcers are dreadful except a few teams (Baltimore, NY Mets, Vin Scully) have competent announcers that I like listening to.

Listening to these other announcers has given a greater appreciation of the guys who call games for my favorite teams the San Francisco Giants, Sacramento Kings, and the San Jose Sharks. Here's the TV broadcasters I listen to and the reasons why I appreciate them.

The Best of Gus Johnson

We had another classic Gus Johnson moment yesterday. At least once a year in the NFL, Gus Johnson calls games that have crazy endings. Gus has also had his moments during the NCAA tournament. So today's post is the Best of Gus Johnson.

Of course Gus was on the call for this spectacular Brandon Stokley game-winning touchdown.



Gus called that great Xavier-Kansas State Sweet 16 game last year.



Yes, Gus called the Vermont-Syracuse game.



Gus also called the UCLA-Gonzaga game also known as the "Adam Morrison crying on the floor game."



Gus' first upset call was when Princeton upset the defending National Champion UCLA Bruins in the 1st round of the 96 tournament.



"The Slipper Still Fits!"



Gus also called Vanderbilt's comeback against NC State in the 04 tournament.



If I missed any classic Gus games/videos post what I missed in the comments and I'll update the post.

2010 ESPN College Basketball Announcers

Amazing to think about, but college basketball begins next week. ESPN will once again host their annual 24-hours marathon on November 16th and the Maui Invitational and other tournaments are right around the corner. ESPN will once again provide non-stop college basketball coverage throughout the year. ESPN though has made some changes to their announcing teams. Here are some of the changes via Satellite TV News.

- Dickie V returns for another year of college basketball. Dickie V will call his normal Wednesday Duke ACC game with Mike Patrick or Dan Shulman. Dickie V. will also call the Saturday Night game of the week with Shulman and Erin Andrews that will proceed College Gameday.

- Bob Knight will once again join Brent Musberger for the Big XII Monday night game. Knight will also be a part of the College Gameday crew.

- Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery, and Jay Bilas will once again form the best ESPN team to call the Big East Monday night game. Send it in Jerome!

- Changes have been made to the college basketball version of Gameday. College Basketball Gameday will now be two hours with the first hour on ESPNU and the 2nd hour on ESPN beginning at 10 AM. Rece Davis will host with Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Bobby Knight, and Hubert Davis.

ESPN Announces Their College Football Announcer Assingments

ESPN PR announced their college football announcer assignments this morning. Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit return for the ABC Saturday night game and Brad Nessler and Blackledge return for the ESPN Saturday Night Game. There are though several changes to the announcing teams, including Pammy moving to the ESPN U afternoon game. Here are the new assignments:

- Rece Davis, who will continue to anchor ESPN’s Saturday studio coverage with analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May, will add play-by-play duties for ESPN’s popular weekly Thursday night ESPN College Football Primetime game series with returning analysts Craig James and Jesse Palmer. Jenn Brown will join the Thursday team as the sideline reporter.

- Analyst Brian Griese and commentator Bob Wischusen will work the ESPN2 Saturday noon telecast. Last year, Griese and Wischusen called various games across the ESPN networks.

- Analyst Herm Edwards, who regularly works as an analyst on ESPN’s NFL coverage, will join Clay Matvick on ESPNU’s Saturday prime-time game.

- Erin Andrews will join an expanded three-hour College GameDay, anchoring several segments of the new first hour on ESPNU beginning at 9 a.m. and contributing reports, interviews and features during the ESPN portion of the show. Chris Fowler will return as show host with analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard. As part of her role, Andrews will work as the sideline reporter on the game from which College GameDay originates, if the game is on an ESPN network (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, etc.).

- In addition to Andrews, reporters Holly Rowe, Heather Cox, Jeannine Edwards and Quint Kessenich will return to work the sidelines with specific game assignments to be determined weekly.

- Former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti and former Washington quarterback Brock Huard will team up with commentator Carter Blackburn to work ESPN and ABC Saturday games primarily featuring West Coast sites.

- Veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins will call ESPN and ESPN2 midweek games with analysts David Norrie or Robert Smith.

- Former Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell will join ESPN as an analyst on the ESPNU afternoon game with announcer Pam Ward, who worked ESPN2’s Saturday noon telecast last year. Kanell will also serve as a studio analyst on College Football Live, SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and more.

- Rob Stone will move from the studio to call play-by-play on the ESPNU noon telecast with former Georgia standout David Pollack, who also worked in the studio last year.

The Links: Perfection & Dan Patrick to Host NBC Hockey Studio

Brooklyn Decker to start the week..... R.I.P. Kevin Correia's little brother...... Dallas Braden's grandmother is awesome..... Joe Mauer returns after missing time with a heel injury..... When flopping goes wrong..... The Kimbo Slice-UFC experiment if mercifully over...... LeBron Who? Rondo is the MVP of the Celtics-Cavaliers series...... 'Iron Man 2' destroyed the box office...... Betty White boosts SNL ratings..... Tiger Woods withdraws from The Players Championship

Everything you need to know about Dallas Braden's perfect game (SB Nation)

Alex Rodriguez reacts to Dallas Braden's perfect game (ESPN NY)

A Chinese man who spent nearly 10 years in prison was set free after his supposed victim was found alive (BBC)

Everything you need to know about the NHL (Pokecheck)

How the mighty have fallen: Dan Patrick (Puck the Media)

Cal could be playing their games at AT&T Park by next year (Dr. Saturday)

After a disappointing show against Orlando, with Atlanta change direction with their coach? (Fanhouse)

Steve Nash: "Cut me Mick." (The Big Lead)

Sami Salo's ruptured testicle has a Twitter and Facebook account

Announcer slip up (Fire Andy Reid Now!)

Video of the Day: Jon Miller is the Greatest

When I found this video I thought I would post it in dedication of kt1000. After all it is a profile of Jon Miller when he was broadcasting with the Baltimore Orioles. Then I decided I had to post this video for everyone can see the genius of Jon Miller.

ESPN has done a terrible job featuring Miller at what he does best. For one he is brought down by the stupidity of Joe Morgan. Second he's been further pulled down by the third man in the booth (Steve Phillips and now Orel Hershiser). The ESPN audience doesn't get to fully know Jon during the broadcasts.

That's why I love this video. You can see what Miller is really like calling a baseball game on the radio. He's funny, tells great stories and does dead on impersonations of Vin Scully, Chuck Thompson, Harry Kalas, and Al Michaels.

I've grown up listening to Miller since the 1997 season. After Baltimore owner Peter Angelos decided not to renew Miller's contract, Jon returned to his home in the Bay Area to replace the retiring Hank Greenwald. My favorite Miller call with the Giants was when that idiot Ruben Rivera completely screwed up running the bases which prompted Jon to say, "That was the worst base running in the history of the game!" It was no surprise that Miller was selected as the Ford Frick Winner taking his seat in the Hall of Fame.

So go on and enjoy this profile of Jon Miller and Joe Angel during the 1989 season with the Baltimore Orioles.



You have to love that impression of Vin Scully.

Video of the Day: Pam Ward Disrespects an Injured Marshall Player

Deadspin found this great video of Pam Ward during the Marshall-Ohio game on Saturday.



Ward believes she has sent the audience to the studio crew while an injured Marshall player lays on the field. What she doesn't realize is that her microphone is still live. She can be heard muttering, "Get him off the field, please..." and "Come on" while the Marshall player lays on the ground. Not very professional if you ask me.

Stay classy Pam.

Pam Ward is Frustrated With This Damn Injured Marshall Player(Deadspin)