One constant in the games thus far — besides China’s willingness to besmirch its athletic reputation in the name of cuteness — has been Bela Karolyi’s enthusiasm. (And his harsh criticism of the Chinese.) The man really, really loves gymnastics, which you would be able to tell if all you ever saw was his commentary. Fortunately, NBC is giving us more.

Karolyi’s outbursts have become something of a running joke on Bob Costas‘ gymnastics broadcasts, and they’re picking up steam in Blogfrica, too, with AWFUL ANNOUNCING leading the way: Read more…

Seems like the Jets trading for quatrogenarian mad bomber Brett Favre and dispatching weak-armed Chad Pennington was a home run for Eric Mangini’s charges, eh? If you listened to NFL TV domepieces since the deal, you’d think the move means the Jets now will do a better job throwing the ball deeper down field.

One small detail though, the Elias Sports Bureau reports that over the past four years, Pennington has been much, MUCH more effective than Favre on passing attempts of 20 yards or more.

Tim Graham of ESPN.com yesterday highlighted the figures in his blog, which I heard about today on Dan Le Batard’s WAXY-AM show in Miami. As you might expect, those statz has South Florida a little more excited about Pennington, with equal parts bemusement.

Great find by A.J. Daulerio over at DEADSPIN:

(Someone might consider upping the wattage on those softboxes)

Sean “The Brand” Salisbury has been unearthed doing commentary for a new site called OpenSports.com. Salisbury will apparently be on the Mike Florio schedule (seven days per week). We’ll see how long that lasts.

Honest to god, the first thing I thought of when I saw the URL “OpenSports.com” was it was somehow related to the gay sports site OutSports.com. But alas, Tim Hardaway is apparently not among the new site’s early wave of hires (though he’s available).

It’s a little amusing to see Cris Collinsworth covering the Olympics, but he’s no less qualified than half the reporters on-site. NBC Universal employees right now must feel a little like the National Guard. You can be 50-years-old and hopelessly underqualified for the job, but that doesn’t mean you won’t soon be in a funny looking uniform, halfway ’round the world on 48 hours notice.

Sports TV execs are enjoying a brief respite from Jim Gray, as the mostly-unemployed broadcaster has called off the stalking for now, after landing the prestigious role of “boxing reporter,” on NBC’s Olympic coverage. I wonder if a monitoring anklet was part of the arrangement - and Dick Ebersol checking into his hotel as “Charles Bronson.”

In case you don’t know it, SbB is based in Los Angeles and most of our writers also emanate out of the west coast.

(View from my eighth story apt. building ok maybe not)

In the aftermath of today’s 5.4, everyone, at least from what I can tell, survived to write another day. It was also a relief to know that I had my trusty Los Angeles earthquake survival kit handy, which includes a flashlight, candles, fresh water and a good book to curl up with.

It’s rather ironic that here in the shadow of Hollywood, the L.A. TIMES and DAILY NEWS employ nary a gossip. The closest thing is probably T.J. Simers, and Daulerio at DEADSPIN spots this quote from Jeff Kent in today’s T.J.: “I don’t hang out with the guys — never have. I don’t go out drinking, look at porn, have a girlfriend or get divorced — so I’m selfish.”

He doesn’t hang out with guys? And to think TMZ’s quasi-homeless camera crew has been camped outside Rage in WeHo waiting all this time for the longtime second sacker.

And Kent doesn’t look at porn, either? Perhaps that means he’s got something in common with Marlins closer Kevin Gregg when in comes to an aversion for adult entertainment.

Or at least I think he does, if the following strange sports radio exchange involving Gregg is any indication. Read more…

Interesting photo (with my goofy inset) of Erin Andrews I hadn’t seen before:

(‘Should’ve never told Tebow the interview was uncut and uncensored. Nuts!’)

Nice to see The Grip™ is back! And of course, The Grip™ takes on a whole different meaning depending on the context.

BTW, leave your own caption in the comment thread if you please.

From the I’m-Not-Making-This-Up-Dept.: SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY reports that Stats LLC today unveiled “a joint venture with Naveen Aranha, CEO of India-based Sportz Interactive, to create Stats Middle East.

“The operation will be headquartered in Dubai, and the move continues a marked global expansion for the sports data provider that last year opened a European operation and also has made significant inroads into India, China and Japan.”

STATS Middle East? That no doubt means President Bush is soon to be confirmed as the only man on the planet with a lower save percentage than Joe Borowski.

As you know, we’ve quite the homeless problem here on the westside of Los Angeles.

And then there’s the bums.

Oh man, DEADSPIN’s A.J. Daulerio today has a deconstructive dissertation that unloads on Rick Reilly - much like Rick Majerus after unscrambling Cinemax at the local La Quinta. Read more…

• Michael David Smith of AOL FANHOUSE tells Buzz Bissinger to make room for Michele Tafoya on the DEADSPIN bash-wagon.

• Meanwhile, MR. SUNSHINE berates Bob Costas in the same show for his snide opinions on sports radio.

• VIKINGS BLOG notes that after his arrest for assault, lineman Darrion Scott won’t likely be asked back to the Metrodome. But we bet Carl Eller would still want him around.

• The BOSTON HERALD reveals yet another woman claiming that Roger Clemens tried to start something - this time, it’s the ex-wife of wrestler Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.

Read more…

Deadspin’s Will Leitch was en-paneled last night with Braylon Edwards (?) and author Buzz Bissinger on HBO’s “Costas Now.” The three were supposedly to examine the role sports blogs have in affecting journalism at large.

But instead of an insightful discussion, Leitch was shouted down with profanity from a bizarre behaving Bissinger throughout. From the look and sound of the celebrated author of “Friday Night Lights”, it appeared to us that he might’ve forgotten his meds before the show went to air. And we’re not trying to be funny.

Leitch writes about the experience here. Jon Weisman of BASEBALL TOASTER also has an eloquent, thorough treatment, as does MDS at AOL FANHOUSE.

As noted in all of the accounts, the credibility Bissinger might’ve had in his analysis of blogs and the MSM was hidden behind a veneer of vitriol aimed at Leitch. Normally we would find the scenario of the dinosaur media member lashing out at the internet as, well, amusing. But in Bissinger’s case, it was actually quite sad. It appears the man is troubled by serious demons that go way beyond his disdain for “Big Daddy Balls” latest rantings.

Leitch handled the strange proceedings like a champ, but we can’t say the same for ol’ Buzz. We still love his work, so based on that, our only wish is that very, very few people watched the show.

UPDATES from: Dan Shanoff, Spencer Hall, Brian Powell, Ken Tremendous.

Last Friday, buried in the business section of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, we found out that longtime Tribune “basketball expert” Sam Smith was “among 25 veteran Chicago Tribune writers and editors to take voluntary buyouts.“

Mr. Smith, of course, is a dear friend on bloggers everywhere, and will be sorely missed. Sadly, we’ll now have to check Smith off the list of a seemingly growing number of dinosaur media types who have lashed out at folks like us over the past year. Read more…

We’re a little surprised it took Joe Buck this long to quit his nominal duties as a local St. Louis Cardinals TV broadcaster. With his frighteningly busy network schedule, it was only a matter of time before Buck made the decision to let go of his however small, St. Louis-aired broadcast ties.

Buck is at the pinnacle of the sports broadcast biz, and he’s made it look oh-so-easy. For that reason, we don’t think he’s going to stay in sports forever, either. Read more…

There’s never any worries about telling us to sex it up. 

• Gilbert Arenas learns some lessons in when it comes to groin grooming:

• Jimmie Johnson’s road to the Oval Office hits some speed bumps - er, actually, door jams.

• Here’s a fond video trip down memory lane - back when Bob Costas told how to pronounce “Brett Favre“, O.J. Simpson wasn’t looking for any real killers, and NBC wasn’t burdened with John Madden.

• Shaq’s already prepared to lay down the law in the Ol’ West, while he backtracks from earlier comments about new teammate Steve Nash.

• UNC’s women’s basketball coach rolls out the fun by T.P.-ing the town - much to the chagrin of the Chapel Hill cops.

• Chinese athletes certainly have balls to enjoy bull penis soup:

• Speaking of nuts, one Ohio State recruit has a keen enough (Buck)eye to tell when his scholarship withdrawal is a fake.

• Roger Clemens’ steroid saga might have been a family affair.

• Ocho Cinco proves he’s muy loco en la cabeza by shoving an NFL employee.

• The martinis better be tasty, as the new Yankee Stadium will be costing $1.3 billion to complete.

Mike Florio at PRO FOOTBALL TALK, which we probably check more on a daily basis than any other site out there, has a 1992 vid clip of “NBC LIVE!!!” It features Bob Costas, Buddy Ryan (someone check his glucose meter) and as Costas says, “as always, O.J. Simpson.”

The vid shows highlights of Brett Favre’s first major appearance with the Packers, as he led the team to a comeback win over the Bengals that day. From the postgame interview, looks like it was Skoal Bandits for Favre before he started dipping into the Vicodin.

We also enjoyed how Costas advises us on how to pronounced Favre’s last name: “By the way that is the way it’s pronounced, even though it’s spelled F-A-V-R-E.”

Bob, how else would you pronounce it?