FanHouse FrankCaliendo

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Comedian Frank Caliendo is a premier impressionist. And he's made a mark in the sports world through his work on FOX NFL Sunday, and his spot-on imitations of some of sports biggest stars.

Caliendo recently stopped by to grace FanHouse with his comedy stylings. He tackled all the issues, from what Charles Barkley thinks of Lamar Odom's wedding, to John Madden's Super Bowl prediction.

Video after the jump.

When talking about John Madden's legacy, MDS has it right: he's an "American original", and football will be worse off without him. NBC has already named Cris Collinsworth as his successor, and that softens the blow, but no one will ever replace Madden.

It's not all bad news, though; Madden video games will live on, and Frank Caliendo's impersonation of Madden will not. Via CNBC.com's Darren Rovell:

Here are a few random thoughts during the Eagles-Giants game that have absolutely nothing to do with anything ... besides questionable commercials, comedians and commentators.

-- The "safety" symbol has to be the most fun motion to make in sports. Honestly, whenever a safety occurs, every defender on the field tosses up the safety symbol. I think it is like the "fist blow up" thing from three years ago. Everyone loved doing that.

-- Did Eli Manning call his brother and ask him, "How do you do that 'God, I can't believe my kicker sucks this bad,' face?" Because he sure has perfected it.

-- Do you think Jesus points back when athletes stick their finger towards the sky after a good play?

This morning, Mr. Lackey touched on the self-canceling nature of Frank Caliendo's apology. For the second consecutive baseball postseason, Frank TV commercials have carped-bombed the baseball-watching experience, and Caliendo expresses remorse. In the same breath, though, he suggests that it wouldn't be advertised so much if the ratings were higher.

Math time. I think it's fair to say that Frank TV gets twenty thirty-second slots per game. Multiply that by, say, four games you might watch in a week on TBS. From commercials alone, that's 40 minutes of Frank TV. Nearly two episodes' worth. I believe we have already paid our Caliendo tax, sir.

Regardless, he is capable of the occasional funny impression, so I have allowed him to perform today's Dugout! It's after the jump.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his face-mask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's our new feature, Studs and Duds:

Here's Week 4 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Matt Bryant, K Tampa Bay (3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP) -- A day after burying his 3-month-old son, Matthew Tryson, Bryant decided to suit up for the Buccaneers, and in an emotional battle most could never imagine, didn't miss a kick all game, helping Tampa Bay beat Green Bay. Some things in this world make absolutely no sense, this being one of them, but the toughness of Matt and his wife is something to be respected. Amazing effort Matt, we are all sorry for your loss.

FanHouse's Top Five scans the sports blogosphere for the best posts of the last 24 hours so you don't have to. Got something for this feature? Hit us up at fanhouse@googlegroups.com.

1) Anyone who watches FOX's Sunday NFL pregame show is familiar with the fantastic parodies by comedian Frank Caliendo. Well, he completely outdid himself in his latest sketch where he plays all four characters from Seinfeld. Great job by SI's Hot Clicks for spotting this -- it's a must-see.

2) It's pretty thrilling to watch fans participate in halftime contests like kicking a 40-yard field goal, or trying to make a half court shot. But what happened at halftime of this Trailblazers game is downright unbelievable. (via The Postmen)

3) Can't imagine that getting hung upside down by a ceiling fan would be much fun. Especially if it's by your coach who's torturing you.

4) SPORTSbyBROOKS says Vladimir Guerrero's mother is giving Donovan McNabb's mom a run for her money.

5) And finally, we would be remiss if we didn't share an ode to the late Phil Rizzuto, in a way only Adam Sandler knows how. Veronica Vaughn, so hot, want to touch the hiney.

Frank Caliendo, sometimes known as "the only good thing about Fox's pregame Sunday studio show," might not be returning to the network. His contract expired after this season, and no one's sure if he's going to come back.

FOX wants him back, and he sort of wants to come back ... but they have differences on the amount of appearances that Caliendo will be making (FOX wants 23, Caliendo would prefer about 10). And since each appearance takes between 10 and 30 hours of prep time, you can understand why he'd want to limit them.

My advice to Fox is ... well, my advice would be to assign Joe Buck to Figure Skating, and give his entire salary to Frank Caliendo ... but I'd settle for them just working out a deal with Caliendo. He's an amazingly talented impressionist (and I don't even really like impressionists), and if they don't give him what he wants, someone else will. And then we'd be down to 0 reasons to watch Fox NFL Sunday.

And in other Caliendo news, he's working on a Chris Berman impression ... which will hopefully include ruining NFL drafts, a nasty combover, and a predilection towards women in white leather.

Some examples of his work: his Jim Rome, his President Bush, and his impeccable John Madden: