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⚽ Fox Sports has pulled off a huge coup in signing the enigmatic and charismatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a studio analyst for the 2026 World Cup.

🏎️ NASCAR truck series driver Daniel Dye was suspended indefinitely for homophobic comments about IndyCar driver David Malukas on a live stream.

🖥️ Sports livestreaming platform Playback is coming under the ESPN and Disney umbrella.

🏀 ESPN somehow included men’s team records in a preview for the women’s college basketball tournament.

Read more of today’s top stories at Awful Announcing.

Tuesday night's First Four game between the Texas Longhorns and NC State Wolfpack was a milestone moment for two of the most iconic broadcasters to ever step in front of a microphone. It was the first NCAA Tournament game called by Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley. And it was unlike any NCAA Tournament broadcast that you will likely ever see... for better and for worse.

Barkley and Vitale have long shared an admiration for each other and have dreamed for years of working together. Those wishes were finally granted when ESPN licensed Inside the NBA and entered into a working relationship with TNT for the 2025-2026 NBA season. The pair called their first game together in December for an Indiana-Kentucky game on ESPN, where they worked alongside Dave O'Brien. They called the First Four game alongside Brian Anderson on truTV.

The introduction to the broadcast focused plenty of attention on the announcers. And it was certainly worth celebrating, as this was the 86-year-old Vitale's first NCAA Tournament game on American television. As the face of college basketball for decades while at ESPN, it's incredibly deserving. And to do so alongside Charles Barkley (who himself was returning to TNT Sports after appearing on loan at ESPN this season) made it a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that rarely happens in the industry.

But as for the broadcast itself... well... it probably depends on what you were watching the game for as a viewer and fan.

Barkley and Vitale spent much of the game broadcast, especially in the first half, talking nonstop about broader issues in college athletics, such as NIL and the transfer portal. In fact, at one point in the first half, the pair went on for so long talking about the sport's macro issues that it was up to Vitale himself to try to bring the focus back to the action on the floor.

That's right, Dick Vitale was trying to get a college basketball broadcast back on track.

The pair traded stories and shout-outs throughout much of the telecast as well, whether it was various people that they knew, Charles Barkley's love of hockey, or Vitale's work for cancer research with The V Foundation. Meanwhile, Brian Anderson was trying to call the game on the floor while obviously battling some gnarly vocal issues.

All of it combined to make the broadcast one of the more bizarre that you will ever see. With a minute left in the game during a timeout, the pairing was caught up in giving props to NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan and family as the Wolfpack were trying to stage a furious comeback. That’s just one example of what took place throughout the entire telecast.

If you were a fan of Texas or NC State, you were likely less than pleased with the TruTV broadcast. There was so little attention spent on the game itself that it sounded like you were listening to a Charles Barkley and Dick Vitale podcast rather than an actual NCAA Tournament broadcast. Although you would expect Vitale to be familiar with both teams, the depth of Barkley's knowledge of college basketball has been subject to debate since CBS and TNT joined forces to broadcast March Madness. Before the final inbounds play, he asked his colleagues whether NC State could advance the ball to the frontcourt, as in the NBA. They could not.

That may work for a regular-season game in December, but is that really the best broadcasting decision for a real, live NCAA Tournament game? Most of the social media comments about the broadcast trended in the critical direction as viewers thought it was just way too much of the follically challenged duo and way too little of the action. And with a World Baseball Classic thriller playing out on Fox Sports as Venezuela defeated the USA in the final, there were opportunities to check out of the First Four game.

Of course, there was likely a decent share of fans who tuned in to see Barkley and Vitale finally work together in tournament action. It's not like the First Four is The Masters when it comes to sacred ground for sports media. For casual fans, they may have loved all of the banter and discussion between Vitale and Barkley, but it was clear that they were the main attraction instead of the First Four game itself. It was like a two-hour Lifetime Appreciation Award given to both of them instead of the pair calling an NCAA Tournament game as analysts.

Both Charles Barkley and Dick Vitale are deserving of receiving all those plaudits, awards, and accommodations. It was a great sight to see them finally get to work together for a tournament game, and it was clear how much it meant to both. They are true legends in the field and beloved for the humor, entertainment, and insights they have delivered throughout the years.

If ESPN and TNT wanted to give them a weekly studio show throughout March Madness, they could give them all the time and space they need to express themselves. Let them do a podcast, a documentary, whatever they want. But calling a tournament game together? Sometimes those dream scenarios are better in our minds than they are in real life.

Speaking of Charles Barkley, he had an incredible exchange with Bruce Pearl on the pregame show, which spiraled into jokes about cheap TNT security.

Kenyon Martin confronted a Gil’s Arena podcast staffer live on the air for mocking his speech impediment in a surreal moment.

Many of Ken Rosenthal’s sports media colleagues came to the reporter’s defense after criticism from Dan “Big Cat” Katz.

"The reason these games have been as fun as they are, beyond the quality of the ball itself, is just seeing how into it the players are. And you see those individual cultures come out in real time, and it's a beautiful thing to witness." - Jeff Passan thinks MLB can do better at celebrating Latin baseball culture.

“Two old guys got together and started talking about how much better they did their jobs than these young whippersnappers that are working today. Give me a friggin’ break, will you please?” - Angelo Cataldi is continuing the generational war of words in Philly sports talk radio.

“Its only a select few college brain washed up, woked kids pushing their agenda within the organization.” - Former NHL analyst Ron Duguay went on an astonishing rant against the New York Rangers celebrating Pride night.

“I said, ‘Absolutely f*cking not.’ I am never going to unretire my jersey for some random dude who by the way now could wear No. 11 and transfer after a year.” - Matt Leinart is not giving up his USC number for anyone.

The opening to the 2026 NFL season will look vastly different compared to previous years, and it’s all to fit the schedule around the league’s international expansion and unending desire to maximize revenue.

The NFL will open its season on a Wednesday night when the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks host what is now the traditional curtain raiser for the new season. That game has been played on Thursday night every year since 2002, except in 2012. On that occasion, the game also took place on a Wednesday to avoid a conflict with the Democratic National Convention.

However, this year it’s happening for vastly different reasons. The NFL’s first game in Australia between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will reportedly take place on Thursday instead. Given the extreme time difference, a Thursday primetime telecast would be a noon kickoff on Friday in Melbourne.

The NFL has added an international game to Week 1 in Brazil the last two seasons. The league can’t follow that playbook because of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which restricts when the NFL can play on Fridays in the fall, from the second Friday of September through the second Saturday of December. The game in Melbourne will represent a like-for-like replacement in that regard.

However, what is fascinating is that this represents the second Wednesday night that the NFL has expressed interest in from a scheduling standpoint. The league has already indicated its desire to start playing on Thanksgiving Eve on another Wednesday.

The NFL first opened Pandora’s Box to midweek games by stating its desire to play every year on Christmas. But it now seems like there are truly no guardrails to where and when the NFL wants to play. There are no restrictions on when and where they want to open the season, where they want to play internationally, or even which games they can pull out to sell to desperate broadcasters who want to be in business with them.

So far, the NFL has been able to survive without over-extending their product. But the question is where the limits might be for the league, networks, and fans. How long is it before the NFL starts playing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to open the season?

If the league plays on Wednesday night to open the season this year and it’s successful - let’s be honest, why wouldn’t it be - then the league might see one more national TV window to open. And to put to the highest bidder.