I’ve seen enough movies to know that love happens under unusual circumstances. Samantha Steele’s relationship with Christian Ponder has been anything but usual.

Steele, in her first year as host and sideline reporter for ESPN, has faced scrutiny ever since it was disclosed that she was dating the Minnesota Vikings quarterback; they now are engaged. It is generally frowned upon by women sports reporters to go out with athletes.

In an interview with SI.com’s Richard Deitsch, Steele said that her relationship with Ponder does not conflict with her role at ESPN.

From the post:

Steele said she told her bosses and colleagues about the relationship early  on, and inquired of her agent how she should approach things regarding any  journalistic landmines. She said she would reconsider her assignment if she  believed her relationship with Ponder posed a conflict editorially.

“I don’t do anything in the same circles professionally as him,” Steele said.  “When it comes to doing my job and covering the sports that I cover and doing my  best to do that with journalistic integrity, there has not been a single time  where that has ever come up and been a problem. I understand what you are saying  in the sense that there has never been something as clear-cut as this, but I did  not invent this wheel. This has definitely gone on before. The main thing for us  is we were going to be honest about this situation once we realized this was the  real deal. Obviously, I had zero interest in people knowing about it, but once  people started asking I certainly was not going to lie.”

ESPN expressed its take early this year, saying via a spokesperson:  “Regarding any policies, we expect any commentator to raise any relationship  that could be a conflict with the sport they cover. This does not fit that  scenario as she covers college football.”

The relationship probably precludes Steele from covering the NFL as long as Ponder still is playing. That might not be a problem for long if Ponder doesn’t step up his game. He has failed to throw for more than 100 yards in each of his last two games.

Last week, I yelled while watching SportsCenter. In a segment featuring Tedy Bruschi, the subject was….You guessed it.

“Enough with Tim Tebow and the Jets quarterback situation,” was the translation of my yell that startled the dog.

So it was good to read that there finally might be some sanity regarding the over-hyped quarterback and team in Bristol. In an interview with Street and Smith’s Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand, ESPN president John Skipper admitted the network went overboard with Tebow mania.

Skipper said:

“I said, ‘Guys, we didn’t handle this very well.’ Going to training camp wasn’t a problem. We just stayed on it relentlessly and too long.”

Skipper admitted that he was upset when he heard former ESPNer Doug Gottlieb tell Dan Patrick, “I was told specifically, ‘You can’t talk enough Tebow.'” Skipper’s reaction: “I didn’t love that.”

More Skipper:

“We’ve had some good discussions internally about trying to be careful. In some ways, the more difficult internal conflict is between long-term story telling and ratings. We all know that if you focus on the Tebow story, for the next 10 minutes you’re going to do better. But the question is trying to take a long-term perspective and saying, ‘Guys, let’s not get over excited about one story and hyping it.'”

Skipper is correct, although he should have put a cap on it much earlier. The extreme Tebow fascination, with the crescendo of SportsCenter celebrating his birthday, damaged the network’s credibility. It all became a joke, never a good thing.

Enough is enough. That is, until Tebow actually gets into a game at quarterback.

This one is a natural to air after the Heisman Trophy presentation (ESPN, Saturday, 9 ET). You could get all sorts of arguments about who is the greatest Heisman winner. But if the question was, who was the greatest athlete to win the Heisman, the answer is simple: Bo Jackson.

Titled You Don’t Know Bo, the latest 30 for 30 focuses on the amazing athletic feats of Jackson and how an injury didn’t allow the story to play out in full.

Here’s a link for the preview.

Jackson, director Michael Bonfiglio and 30 for 30 executive producer John Dahl participated in a conference this week. Here are the excerpts.

Jackson on participating in the film: Well, first of all, I am very, very busy, and my first concern was that how much time was this going to take up, because I’m busy trying to handle some ‑‑ I’m busy trying to handle some business out west, trying to deal with things here and so forth and so on.  And once they told me about the time frame that they needed me, I restructured my schedule so I could allow them to have that time with me.

But as far as everything else, hey, the people that are in the film talking are the people that did all of the work.  I just one day went and sat down for an hour or so and I talked, I answered questions, and I left and went back home and did what I was doing.  So it really wasn’t that hard for me.

Jackson on younger generation not being as aware of him: Well, listen, my three kids are in their 20s, and it’s kind of comical.  My three kids, I think they were ‑‑ how old were they?  They were eight, six and four, and they didn’t realize that daddy was Bo Jackson until they saw daddy get thrown out of a baseball game in Chicago and I kind of lost it a little bit and threw the garbage can out on the field and bats and the bubble gum tray and so forth and so on.  So it really doesn’t bother me that people don’t know who I am.  It’s kind of nice in a way.

But no, I had my fun in the sun, as you could say, and I am happy.  I would not go back and change a thing in my life of sports.

Jackson on his thoughts about the movie: What did I think of the movie?  My wife and I sat in the kitchen and watched it on her laptop.  It was nice.  It was very, very nice.  There was only one discrepancy in the whole film, which is fine, and I’m kind of embarrassed because it has to do with the killing of the pigs, but that ditch that I jumped wasn’t 40 feet, it was more like 20 feet.  But I did jump that ditch and run home and still got busted for it.

Jackson on the toughest part of playing two sports: What was the toughest aspect of playing two sports on a high level?  Simple:  Going to the supermarket and shopping and trying not to be recognized.  That’s it.  Because I am the cook in the family, I do all the cooking.  I don’t allow my wife around sharp objects, so I do all of the cooking.  So in turn, I have to go to the grocery store because I know what I need, I know what to get and so forth and so on.  And sometimes she goes with me, and sometimes back when I was doing both sports, that got a little hectic going to the supermarket in Kansas City, going to the supermarket in Los Angeles, and that was about it.  Everything else was just fine.  I had no problems with actually both sports and so forth and so on.  It comes with the territory as far as being recognizable and noticed.

Bonfiglio on the title of the movie: I came up with the title probably in the late summer, and we had been banting about a couple of different working titles, and I sort of landed on this one in thinking about a couple of different things.  First of all, obviously it’s an acknowledgment of the Nike campaign, the Bo Knows campaign, but it’s also the idea that ‑‑ I remember I was talking to my 13‑ and 16‑year‑old cousins who are big sports fans and I was telling them that I was working on this film, and they’d never heard of Bo.  And I talked to more people, people in their early 20s, and they’d never heard of Bo.  You mentioned your wife, who’s old enough to know Bo but didn’t know who he was.  That was a very interesting thing to me, that this guy who was so incredibly famous for a brief period of time, he was one of the most recognizable names and faces in the country, people don’t know who he is.

I think that there’s an incredible enthusiasm for him by fans, but he ‑‑ I think if you know who he is, you assume everybody else does.  But in actuality, I think because he is not in any of the Halls of Fame, he’s not a record holder in very many areas, he is at risk of being forgotten a little bit, and I think that that was part of this film.  The impetus behind this is to celebrate how exciting he was and what he did to us as fans and as people and as a culture.  So to me, the title plays on a couple of different levels.

Dahl on his favorite Jackson’s highlights:  Well, there’s two that jumped out at me in the film.  One was the throw from the warning track to Harold Reynolds at the plate.  I still just can’t believe it when I see it.  And the other one was his first Major League hit.  It was just kind of a routine ball that he hit up the right side of the infield, and he didn’t just barely beat it out, he easily beat out what should have been a routine ground ball, and in those two days you definitely got a sense that there was something different about Bo Jackson.

Note: I saw that first hit, as the White Sox beat writer for the Chicago Tribune. I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

ESPN released its announcer lineup for the 8,478 games it will air during the bowl season. OK, it’s only 34.

I looked to see if one name was on the list: Sean McDonough.

Sure enough, McDonough is set to do two games: The Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.

Those will be McDonough’s first broadcasts since undergoing surgery last Friday for superior canal dehiscence syndrome, a condition he was diagnosed with in spring of 2012.

From ESPN:

Superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) is a thinning or hole in the bone that separates the inner ear from the brain. McDonough, who discussed his condition with USA Today in June, experienced several of the symptoms associated with SCDS: a loud bang with each step he took, hearing his eyeballs move, hearing his heartbeat in his left ear and more.

“I want to thank my family, friends and colleagues who were so supportive and caring through this process,” McDonough said Monday morning. “I was blown away by the phone calls, emails and texts. This has been a very emotional experience and that means more to me than I can possibly explain. It has been a rough nine months and the surgery was tough but it is great to not hear my footsteps as I walk anymore. It’s a rare condition and surgery, I was fortunate to have Dr. Lee and his amazing staff of doctors and nurses.”

Something to be thankful for during the holiday season.

Here is ESPN’s complete announcer lineup:

Bowl Championship Series

Additional Postseason Games

Looks like Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser are going to be in for some bigger meals on the road.

ESPN announced that John Kruk will be the third man in the booth for its Sunday night games. Kruk replaces Terry Francona.

It’s a good move. Kruk is a fun listen, and this sets up the hitter-pitcher dynamic with Hershiser.

Here’s the info from ESPN:

ESPN’s John Kruk will join Sunday Night Baseball – the exclusive national Major League Baseball game of the week – as an analyst beginning in the 2013 season. Kruk, who has served as a Baseball Tonight studio analyst since joining ESPN in 2004, will team up with NSSA Sportscaster of the Year Dan Shulman and analyst Orel Hershiser to form the new Sunday Night booth. The trio is also joined by reporter Buster Olney.

 “It’s a real honor to work with Dan and Orel, and to be front and center on baseball’s biggest game of the week,” said Kruk. “When I was asked to join the team, I couldn’t have been happier.”

 Kruk has served as a guest analyst for ESPN’s MLB game telecasts over the years, including Sunday Night Baseball. Additionally, he’s contributed to the network’s coverage of the State Farm Home Run Derby, Little League World Series and Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Show.

 Mike McQuade, ESPN Vice President, Production, added, “Kruk has every attribute that makes an analyst great. He’s intelligent, he’s opinionated, he brings a ton of personality and his track record at ESPN speaks for itself.”

 Kruk played 10 MLB seasons (1986-1995) as a first baseman and outfielder with the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. He was a three-time All-Star and finished his career with a .300 batting average and 100 home runs.

 “I always admired the way John competed on the field, and every time I’ve been on Baseball Tonight with him, I’ve been impressed with his depth of knowledge about the game,” said Sunday Night’s Orel Hershiser. “Now I’m looking forward to sitting next to him every Sunday Night.”

 “Krukkie is funny, knowledgeable and passionate about baseball,” said Dan Shulman. “I think he and Orel will make a terrific analyst combo in the booth, and I can’t wait for the three of us getting started.”

A fun, entertaining, and dare we say, refreshing look at the drink inspired by Arnold Palmer.

Props to ESPN and director Bryan Gordon for this short video. It is well worth your time. Here is the link.

From ESPN:

The next installment in ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts series premieres today on Grantland.com. The Arnold Palmer is an exploration into the history, mystery and industry surrounding The Arnold Palmer, the lemonade-and-iced tea beverage that has become a piece of Americana.

Golf legend Arnold Palmer, in his own words, tells of how the drink mixture came to be and quickly gained popularity. The short is directed by TV and film producer, writer and director Bryan Gordon (Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office) and features comedian and actor Will Arnett as well as golf pros Peter Jacobsen, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jim Thorpe, Fred Funk and Brad Faxon.

In the no-surprise department, ESPN landed the rights to the new college football playoff, beginning with the 2014 season.

And the playoffs will be in ESPN’s possession for a long time, as in 12 years.

On an ESPN Front Row podcast, Burke Magnus, Sr. VP, College Sports Programming, explained why this deal is so much longer than the four-year run of the current BCS package.

“They thought it was important to lock in over the long term so fans and conferences could be familiar with the format and see how it plays out over time,” Magnus said. “From our perspective (the four-year BCS deal) was a short window. It felt like a presidential election, where you’re always running for re-election.”

ESPN now will have the new playoff system for more than decade. It plans to provide blanket coverage across all of its existing outlets and those that haven’t even been invented yet. Who knows what awaits in 2022?

“We are going to try to reinvent coverage of this property,” Magnus said. “It’s a new format. It will present a lot of opportunities for us.”

Magnus said the last two BCS championship games pulled in the biggest ratings ever on cable for any telecast (sports and non-sports). The potential is there for even bigger numbers with the buzz generated by college football’s first playoff.

Ultimately, ESPN wasn’t about to lose this package. The network has too much invested in college football. It needed the biggest games of the year to make it complete.

“Our commitment to college football is year round,” Magnus said. “We attempt to superserve the fans. With that kind of commitment to the college football enterprise, it was very, very important that we pay it off with this new and exciting playoff format.”

The Alabama-LSU game is two weeks old, a lifetime in the new media age. So why did ESPN The Magazine decide to dedicate its latest issue to the game?

It’s all part of a magazine strategy to have theme issues focused on one subject. This is the third time it has centered its resources on one game.

It’s all about total immersion, said Rob King, ESPN senior vice-president.

“It’s storytelling in and around the game,” King said. “Every corner of the stadium experience. Every corner of the parking lot. Locker room. Coaches and administration. We try to find stories that are unique to the venue.”

King joked that having Wright Thompson on the loose in Baton Rouge “is a scary proposition.” Thompson, though, wrote a terrific profile on Les Miles.

King said ESPN requested fans submit photos via Twitter. The picture gallery on ESPN.com produced 657,000 page views during that game weekend.

“I really like this franchise,” King said. “(Editor) Chad Millman and his team are really ambitious about doing this beautiful work. It’s a good example of the magazine’s placement in the ESPN ecosytem. ”