FanHouse JoeBuck

It's been three days since their on-air confrontation, but Joe Buck and Artie Lang aren't done with their war of words. Buck has accused Lange of coming onto his show with an agenda to make the other guests look bad, and now Lange has responded on the Howard Stern show, ripping Buck for having a "boring" show and for, according to Lange, lying about what really happened. A video of Lange talking about Buck from Howard Stern's "Howard TV" On Demand channel is below.

Joe Buck and Artie Lange had an interesting exchange Tuesday night at the debut of HBO's Joe Buck Live, with Lange telling several off-color jokes on TV and then getting even more ribald during a web-only "overtime" segment. The video is below; the audio is not safe for work.

Ratings for Saturday's national baseball broadcasts on FOX are down 9 percent against last season at this time, the continuation of a trend that's troubling to the network. Last year's World Series was the lowest rated in history, regular season games are down 23 percent since 2000 and, since they're paying $255 million a year to show baseball games, they'd like that to change.

Following the long-standing axiom that there's no better way to get people excited than to bring Bud Selig into the mix, network executives will be meeting with the baseball commissioner next week to talk strategies. Hopefully, they'll come up with some new ideas because the ones they have aren't too inspiring.

There are many fantastic things about Fox's baseball coverage. Their music, for starters, is second to none, often featuring the dulcet tones of Phish, Widespread Panic and the White Stripes during Saturday games. Another fantastic thing: any excuse to show this picture of Rupert Murdoch. Two things that aren't awesome, however, are Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Fortunately, when they screw up, it's quite amusing, and when they show the wrong man as John Mayberry, Sr., following his "son's" first career homer Saturday, well, good times ensue.



Bats via Deadspin

Just two days after losing Bob Costas to MLB Network, HBO has added another sports broadcaster best known for baseball play-by-play.

Joe Buck, who calls the NFL and Major League Baseball for FOX, has taken a job moonlighting at HBO, where he'll host a quarterly sports show that uses a town hall meeting format. The news was first reported by the New York Post and later confirmed by HBO.

A few weeks ago, MDS pointed out that during last year's Super Bowl, FOX tag-team duo Joe Buck and Troy Aikman enjoyed a free ride to University of Phoenix Stadium as they prepared to call the Giants-Patriots game. According to the Inspector General (via the Smoking Gun), it was "inappropriate" for the United States Marshals Service to use federal vehicles to transport Buck and Aikman to the game. You think?

Seems like common sense, really, but clearly it's not. At least that was the story a FOX spokesman was pushing after the fact. "We were unaware, however, that those arrangements were in any way inappropriate, and regret to learn now that they apparently were."

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Every fall, die-hard baseball fans are treated to national coverage for every playoff game. We don't get to choose the announcers, and their voices become ingrained in our heads. For years, people have bemoaned the existence of Joe Buck for being insufferable, monotonous, and boring, in addition to many other not-so-redeeming traits.

But with TBS ramping up their baseball coverage this past few years, we are currently being treated to someone much more annoying than Buck: Chip Caray.

There was little reason to think -- at least as soon as 15 real time minutes ago -- that the Philadelphia Eagles had any chance of beating the Arizona Cardinals and advancing to the Super Bowl. Adrian Wilson was sacking Donovan McNabb frequently, Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were smothering the Guls' receivers (whom are average at best anyway, DeSean Jackson's youth aside).

Then, all of a sudden, McNabb hit Kevin Curtis on a laser-rocket-arm 50 yard completion on third and 19 that set up the Eagles up in the Arizona red zone, a rare occurance today indeed. Four plays later, D-Nasty found Brent Celek in the back of the end zone and the Eagles were suddenly within nine points.

The Inspector General of the Department of Justice says that the United States Marshals Service used federal vehicles and on-duty agents to give rides to FOX broadcasters Joe Buck and Troy Aikman at last year's Super Bowl.

The Smoking Gun has the full report, which also says the U.S. Marshals inappropriately gave rides to Buck and Tim McCarver at the World Series. The Department of Justice investigation centered on a lawyer for the Marshals Service, Joseph Band, who also worked as a FOX Sports statistician.

A Fox spokesman gave the New York Times the following statement:

"At select events, he did offer transportation to some Fox Sports personnel. We were unaware, however, that those arrangements were in any way inappropriate, and regret to learn now that they apparently were."

It's surprising that FOX wouldn't be aware that it's inappropriate for federal vehicles and on-duty agents to be giving rides to sportscasters. While no one is accusing Buck, Aikman or McCarver of breaking any laws, they should have known better. It would be nice if Buck and Aikman offered an apology on the air before Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

Donovan McNabb is a curiously odd fellow. However, he should probably remember to not do anything that involves fun when Joe Buck is calling his games. Buck and Troy Aikman gave McNabb some guff for picking up a phone by the Giants sideline during today's game and really, while he drew a flag, who cares? The game was over and Donovan was just doing something that made him smile. Unlike sitting behind Kevin Kolb.



Again, it's really not that big a deal; Buck just thinks that everyone should play the way he announces -- with zero emotion.