- NESW SPORTS has video of Bill Simmons’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.

- Over on BLEACHER REPORT, “Jersey Al Bracco” rips into Mike McCarthy for giving the beat reports the same old platitudes after the Packers’ embarrassing loss to the then 0-7 Bucs last week.

- THE BIG LEAD discusses statistical guru Nate Silver’s plan to try to predict the winner of the World Cup.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has video of a WGN reporter dunking and talking trash to a little kid. The kid starts crying. Nice.

- FANHOUSE explains how those refs at the LSU/Alabama game could not see that Patrick Peterson’s feet were indeed inbounds. The televisions that they use to review plays are not in HD. Seriously.

I watched the game as an objective observer — I didn’t really care who won, and still don’t — but this was clearly a pick and I thought the Tigers got screwed on this play.

I’m not focused so much on whether or not he gets his right toe in. When I originally saw the play, I thought he clearly had possession of the ball and had his left foot in.

The first shot is from behind and establishes his position relative to the sideline. The ball is in his hands and his left foot is down.

The second shot is from the side. The ball is under his control and his left foot is down.

The third shot is from the front. At this point, Peterson has already caught the ball and is turning it to tuck it. His left foot is clearly down and his right one may be as well.

Alabama fans can rationalize it if they want — by point out earlier calls that went LSU’s way or by saying that officiating is never 100% correct. But the bottom line is that in this crucial point in the game, LSU should have been awarded the ball.

It’s one thing for a linesman to blow this call in live action, but there’s no excuse for the call to stand after the replay. What’s worse, the lead official didn’t even explain why the ruling on the field was confirmed, he just said that it was and went on about his day. Did he think that Peterson didn’t have possession? Or did he think that Peterson didn’t get his foot down?

Ridiculous.

Thanks to Vcize over on YouTube. I pulled these screenshots from his video of the play.

Last night, “The League” debuted. It’s a half-hour comedy that follows a group of friends that are all in a fantasy football league together. One guy is the defending league champ, and his wife doesn’t want him to play, even going so far as giving away his lucky draft shirt. Another’s wife is supportive, and actually runs his team for him. Then there are the two clueless friends that are either too high or too ill-informed to compete in the league.

But fantasy football doesn’t dominate “The League,” which is more like “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” for the married, suburban set. It’s raunchy, but often funny.

FX is replaying the premiere tomorrow (Saturday) night and before the second episode next Thursday.

Taking advantage of its free preview week, I test drove NBA League Pass Broadband last night, and I was pretty impressed.

My cable company (Time Warner) offers the NBA League Pass, and access to the Broadband package is included. Unfortunately, Time Warner does not offer the package in my area in HD, so the picture is pretty crummy. After using Broadband, I think I may instead watch NBA action on my computer.

The interface is intuitive and powerful. There is a list of games at the bottom, and users can pick up to three games to watch at once. One game is bigger (on the left) while the other two games are on the right. Audio can be instantly switched by clicking on the game. Tired of watching a game? No problem. Any of the three windows can be swapped out by clicking on a game in the list below. Want to watch one of the games full screen? No problem. It’s just a click of the mouse. Want to see a replay? No problem. Each game has DVR functionality, so you can pause, rewind and fast forward, just like you would on a TiVo.

Fantasy hoopsters can easily check the stats of a game by clicking a button. There’s also a function (”My Players”) that allows users to track the stats of up to 12 players, which makes it easy to check the status of a fantasy team.

The picture quality leaves a lot to be desired, but with all the motion in basketball, it’s going to be tough to get clear, clean picture without going full HD. But the picture isn’t much worse than the standard video feed that I get from Time Warner, so no harm, no foul.

Another downside is that the nationally televised games (and local games) are blacked out on Broadband, so if there’s a game on TNT, ESPN or ABC, users won’t be able to watch it on their computers. This was a little inconvenient last night, since I wanted to catch some of the Hornets/Spurs game. I had to run into the kitchen to do so. Radio broadcasts of the blacked out games are available, however.

There are only two games on tonight, and they’re both on TNT, so if you want to check out Broadband, give it a test drive tomorrow (Friday), when there are 13 games on the docket. It’s worth a look.

The free preview lasts through Nov. 3.

I’ve always wondered if a series based on fantasy football could survive, and I guess we’re about to find out, because FX debuts “The League” this Thursday. Check your local listings.

Via Shutdown Corner…

The play was close enough to warrant a measurement, and the picture above is a screenshot of that measurement. The guy pulled the big first down stick, the ball wasn’t quite there, so no first down, correct?

Incorrect, as it turns out. The official, Walt Anderson, looked at what you’re seeing above, and he ruled that it was a first down. The Steelers ended up getting a field goal out of it.

Odd. I would use a stronger word, but the Steelers were going to beat the Browns, regardless of that first down or the ensuing field goal. It didn’t affect the outcome.

Predictably, the official in question stands by his call, saying that the ball broke the plane even if the angle on the TV didn’t show it. But that’s a fairly straight on shot of the football and even if the angle were changed by a few degrees, it would still be short.

NFL
Mon, 8:30 PM: Jets @ Dolphins – ESPN

CFB
Thurs, 7:30 P M: #8 Cincinnati @ #21 South Florida – ESPN

MLB
Mon, 6:07 PM: Phillies @ Rockies – TBS (Philly leads, 2-1)
Tues, 8:07 PM: Rockies @ Phillies – TBS

NHL
Mon, 8 PM: Flames @ Blackhawks – Versus
Tues, 7 PM: Red Wings @ Sabres – Versus
Wed, 8:30 PM: Oilers @ Blackhawks – TSN