Thom Brennaman Reveals Dark Secret Of Troy Aikman

I am not going to pretend like this in anyway trumps Thom Brennaman's man love for Tim Tebow, but I think it comes pretty close to it. Behold, the announcing quote of the year!



"Troy Aikman, you know all about getting blasted in your chin."

That's more information about Troy Aikman than I ever needed to know.

Sean McDermott Gets His Thom Brennaman On When Discussing B-Dawk

There are certain words, phrases, and expressions that hold true in life, but at the same time, should never be uttered in a public forum. These are the types of things that you tell your friends or family when discussing a person, yet should not be said in public situations. The phrase, I am talking about is "You're a better person for spending time with such-and-such a person".

When discussing Brian Dawkins, Sean McDermott decided to follow that route, channel his inner Thom Brennaman and said "You're a better person for being around Brian Dawkins". From Philly Inquirer Staffwriter Bob Brookover

"I thought he had a heck of a year last year," he said yesterday. "I think he was the first or second most productive player on defense for us last year and, as Brian Dawkins has done over the course of his career here, when we were making our stretch run last year, he was in the zone as they say. He was putting together back-to-back games that were as good as any safety in the league at that time.

"It was sick. There were times I was just hands off with him. Just like any guy who is in a groove, you just give him what he needs and let him go."

When Dawkins left as a free agent, McDermott was saddened by the news.

"We had a special relationship," McDermott said. "How often do you coach a guy that is older than you are? He embraced me when I was one of the youngest position coaches in the NFL. We grew together and we developed a lot of trust in one another, at least from my perspective.

"With the impact that Brian has had on this city and this organization, you hate to see the business side of it be the reason for the separation. Because of the way this organization has embraced Brian and the way Brian has embraced this organization and this city, you hated to see that relationship come to an end."

McDermott, who is five months and eight days younger than Dawkins, said he called the safety shortly after he signed with Denver, but it was only to say thank you.

"I told him I appreciated everything that he'd done for me," McDermott said. "He's been a positive influence on my life. You're a better person for being around Brian Dawkins."

Okay, maybe that is true and maybe that's not, but I do have a basic problem with such a statement that goes well beyond the obvious and the laughable.

And maybe McDermott is right about Brian Dawkins and maybe what Thom Brennaman says about Brennaman is true and that you really are a better person by spending 15-20 minutes with Tebow, I can't tell you for sure, I can't give my opinion of Tebow or Dawkins like that, I've never met them, but my problem is that there are other people out there like that. You know, everydays joes and janes who go above and beyond anything ever asked of them in helping people out and improving their lives and inspiring people that never get the public credit that they ever deserve. Of course, we are talking about athletes and everything they do gets more attention than everyday people, that's not news.

I guess my beef all comes down to the fact that I can honestly say I have met someone that changed and positively affected my life in a short time, and it bothers me that the glorifying of these athletes almost takes away from all she does and all that everyone like her does.

Meet Your 2009 BCS Announcers!

Both Fox and ABC have decided to release their BCS announcers and I must say, there are definitley some surprises. I know that I normally save posts like these for when the whole schedule is released but seeing as I have a few quips and snarky comments, I'll post them with today's official release.

Rose Bowl - January 1 (ABC, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)
Allstate Sugar Bowl - January 1 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - January 4 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
FedEx Orange Bowl - January 5 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
BCS National Championship Game - January 7 (ABC - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)

Fox has obviously decided to stick with their NFL pairings instead of reuniting the dreadful pairing of Brennaman and Mangina, but they may have instead created a whole new monster the likes of which this country has never seen before.

Dick Stockton is calling a BCS Game! As if he was not senile enough in an NFL booth, he is now going to be on the call of a college game, where surely the slight rule varifications will drive him to a greater depth of senility in the booth the likes of which this world has never seen before. Add to the fact that once again he is working with Charles Davis (And His Mangina) and the awfulness could reach epic heights.

That being said, isn't it sad when there is a list of 4 PbP announcers and the best one out of the 4 is Brent Musburger??? And isn't it even sadder when of the 3 Fox PbP guys, the best one is Sam Rosen? If Rosen can get a grasp of the college game, then there is a chance that he could overtake Musburger has the best PbP guy on the list. As far as analysts go, there is no doubt that Herbie will just blow all of the Fox guys away. End of story.

FOX and ABC release BCS bowl game announcers (Awful Announcing)

Major Changes In The Fox NFL Announcing Teams

After a long and tiring day of walking around an amusement park, I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing night of watching Eagles pre-season games and having a chat or 2 over at Awful Announcing about some of the games and the few future UFL stars that we recognized. Nothing more. Nothing less. And now, another huge story about Fox's NFL coverage has been released and to say that there are changes is quite the understatement. As we all know, Brian Baldinger and Matt Vasgersian are no longer with Fox so we knew changes would be coming, but nothing quite like this. Here are the changes courtesy of Michael Hiestand's USA Today column.

Fox's lead NFL game teams — Joe Buck/Troy Aikman and Kenny Albert/Darryl Johnston — remain intact. So does its studio show, except for weather reporter Jillian Reynolds being on maternity leave.

The changes:

Billick, who worked in two- and three-man booths last season, will this season step up — after what Goren calls "an outstanding rookie season" last year — to a full-time two-man booth with Thom Brennaman.

•Charles Davis, Fox's lead analyst on BCS games, will work NFL games with Dick Stockton. With Fox's BCS deal in its last season, Goren says, "we looked for an opportunity to keep Charles with us."

•John Lynch, the nine-time Pro Bowler who called a few Fox games after retiring last season, will work games with Ron Pitts this season.

•Trent Green, who retired in June after playing 11 NFL seasons, will call games with Chris Myers. Goren says Dick Vermeil, the ex-ABC analyst who coached Green, recently "called me out of the blue and said, 'You just made the best hire of the year.' "

•Gone from Fox's NFL games: Analysts Brian Baldinger, J.C. Pearson, Tony Boselli and play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian.

When it comes to TV wild card Favre, Goren says there's "no indication he's interested in starting a broadcasting career at this time."

If I recall correctly, other than the studio show, Buck/Aikman and Albert/Johnston/Siragusa, the only announce team at Fox that is in tact are the 2 doofuses that are doing the Eagles-Panthers Week 1 opener, Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan.

As far as my view on the changes, while the jury is obviously still out on Lynch and Green, I'm surprised that Fox is so high on Charles "Mangina" Davis who was noticably bad in all of his BCS games. As far as Thom Brennaman goes, while I like him calling dramatic moments in dramatic games (i.e. the Boise miracles), when there is no earth-shattering excitement going on, I find him bland and unexciting, and oh, let's not forget, his man-love for Tim Tebow. In other words, when he is not screaming his head off, Thom Brennaman is a bad announcer. And wait, Chris Myers??? I suppose that he will be the first PbP man ever to call games in the booth while simultaneously giving out reports from the sidelines. In all seriousness, though, if I recall correctly, he has done PbP before and he was actually quite bad at it. And lastly, while I do feel utterly despise Dick Stockton's announcing, Fox is not helping him at all with partners. First it's Goose and Moose, then Baldinger, and now Charles Davis (and his Mangina). Oy ve. Maybe Mike Vick will draw us so much publicity and the Eagles will be so good this year that every Fox game the Eagles get Buck/Aikman. In my view, at least, they are better than most of the other garbage that Fox seems to be putting out there this year.

(Big time hat tip to SSReporters/Mookie!)

Never Trust Someone In An Online Video Game Forum

As I reported in a post earlier this week, someone said that the Madden 2010 soundtrack, of which I eagerly anticipate, would be released Friday at 11:00. Well, it's now Saturday and no soundtrack has been released. Sigh......

Seeing as I'm sure I got a whole lot of hits at the 11:00 hour of all my gamer readers eagerly awaiting a post that never came, I guess I have to find a way to make it up to you. And lucky for you, I have the perfect video to do so! Enjoy the video and I'll get that soundtrack to you........sometime........eventually.....



TIM TEBOW YOU LIAR! We all know what happened between you and Thom Brennaman in the hotel room immediately following the BCS National Championship game!

Thom Brennaman Just Bought A First Class Ticket To Gainesville, Florida

Actually, Thom Brennaman may not make it onto the plane. He'll probably hyperventilate and pass out before he gets on there. Why all of the excitement from Thom Brennaman? It's because Tim Tebow's speech after the 31-30 loss to Ole Miss has been immortalized in a plaque at the University of Florida! Seriously. From the AP

Meyer had Tebow's speech engraved on a plaque and placed outside the front entrance to the new football facility at Florida Field. Although it might seem like a strange move since Tebow still has one year remaining with the Gators, Meyer said he didn't want to wait.

"I'm not interested in 10 years from now because who knows if we're — I might be toes up somewhere," Meyer said Wednesday as Florida opened spring practice. "I'm not a big fan of, 'Hey, let's wait down the road.' It was a speech that everybody in Gator Nation has a right to see on the side of the building."

Tebow's speech was an emotional promise he made after the Rebels upset Florida 31-30 on Sept. 27. Fighting back tears, Tebow vowed that no one would in the nation would work harder than him and his teammates the rest of the year. The Gators responded by running the table and beating Oklahoma 24-14 to win the program's second national title in three years.

And always remember, if you spend 15-20 minutes in Gainesville worshipping this plaque dedicated to Tim Tebow, your life will be better for it!