Though one of the most consistently hilarious campaigns in the history of television advertising, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a “This is SportsCenter” spot really knock it out of the park. That is, until today.

ESPN and W+K NY fulfill the fantasies and daydreams of fans nationwide with this spot, in which mild-mannered, buttoned-up NFL analyst John Clayton finally shows his true colors, or at least the colors that we’ve all been hoping he’s been secretly hiding. Yes, Clayton’s mythical ponytail makes an appearance. Yes, Clayton is secretly the world’s biggest Slayer fan. And yes, he still lives with his mom.

I don’t know what else to say about this, other than bravo ESPN, bravo W+K, and take a bow, John Clayton. Not that we needed any help getting revved up for the NFL season, but damn, who’s ready for some football? 

(h/t Deadspin)

Update: The spot will make its TV debut, aptly enough, on Sept. 10 during ESPN’s Monday Night Football double-header.  Credits after the jump.

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It’s been a while since we’ve seen a great ESPN spot from W+K, hasn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I got a few good chuckles in while watching last year’s “Jumbotron Marriage Proposal.” But, I still yearn for the days when I would hear things like “Yeah, the game was boring, but did you see that new ESPN/SportsCenter spot they aired during the commercial break? It almost made watching that travesty worthwhile.”

“Shake On It” marks a subtle new take on W+K NY’s long-running “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” campaign. In the past, we’ve seen spots showcasing fanatics doing outrageously flamboyant things in the name of sports because they want to. In the above spot, we see these people doing similar stupid feats because they have to. After all, it’s written in the Man Handbook that “If you make a bet and lose, you have to accept the consequences.” If you bet that you’d dance around in a dangerous part of town while wearing a diaper and bonnet if you favorite team lost, then you have to do it. That’s what being a grownup is all about.

And, before you say that these kinds of extreme bets rarely happen, I give you this poor bastard’s thigh tattoo of centaur Tim Tebow as evidence otherwise. Credits after the jump.

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“The Handlebar Moustache” is Heineken’s and W+K NY’s sequel to “The Snakeskin Jacket,” and like its predecessor, it takes a look a when certain bold fashion statements are appropriate. Of course, the handlebar moustache has become a hipster facial-hair fixture over the past few years, and Heineken has definitely been appealing to young 20-something urbanites since W+K Amsterdam’s “The Entrance” was released at the beginning of the year. Hell, they were even the official beer sponsor of Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this past weekend, and plenty of Heineken Lite cups were devoured by indie rock snobs who indifferently listened to the offensive hate-rapping of OFWGKTA.

But, as has been the case with all of Heineken’s spots from 2011, we get memorable characters, a playful sense of humor and eye-popping cinematography. While “Snakeskin Jacket” was mostly about where not to wear your odd fashion of choice, “Handlebar Moustache” is about how awesome you could look entering into an early 1900s bare knuckle boxing match (and how a victory could snag you the dream girl). With Pabst Blue Ribbon on the brink of “selling out,” this brand has the foresight to target a market looking for an iconic beer of choice to rally behind, choosing to emphasize style over blue-collar credibility. Thus far, W+K is delivering in a big way. Credits after the jump.

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In just 13 days, Major League Baseball and the boys of summer will kick off their 2011 season. With the NFL heading for a lockout, it just might be baseball’s big year to reclaim the title as “America’s Game,” and really, when was the last time you saw this much patriotism crammed into a 30-second television spot? What about Obama and Bush throwing out pitches back-to-back? Everyone’s happy.

The guys at W+K got Mr. Field of Dreams himself, actor Kevin Costner, to give the ad a little celebrity push. Aside from making a movie about the sport every two years, Costner co-owns a northern Illinois independent league team and regularly visits University of Texas games and practices. Generic-sounding voice notwithstanding, he is the Hollywood personification of baseball, and the right man to give the league his endorsement.

Not into the MLB? Look at it this way: once March Madness subsides, the Bulls win the NBA championship and the NFL lockout is official, baseball is all we have. And, until we fix the BCS and take away Cam Newton‘s Heisman Trophy, NCAA football will always disappoint. If you’re looking for a bandwagon to jump on this year, word has it that the Milwaukee Brewers finally got themselves some pitching. Credits after the jump.

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These days, appearing in a “This is SportsCenter” spot is an essential part of a bona fide U.S. sports star’s budding career. At only 25 years old, Moscow-born Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin already has two league MVP titles as well as five NHL All-Star Team appearances in five years with the league. To say that Alex Ovechkin is the single biggest player in professional hockey is an understatement, and though he may not yet have a Stanley Cup title to add to his career statistics, he can bet that this spot will be broadcast during nearly every commercial break whenever the NHL is so much as mentioned in passing on ESPN.

This spot is also ESPN’s way of saying, “Though it seems that we know nothing outside of the realm of sports, we do actually pay attention to the news and know something about sexy Russian spies being a ‘thing’ this past year. This is our tribute to current events.” Add to that a suited SC anchor, and you have the formula for every “This is SportsCenter” spot that W+K has been producing for years. We’ll ask them to stop making these once they stop being funny, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Credits after the jump.

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Though last year’s BCS champs, the Alabama Crimson Tide, are out of contention this year, that hasn’t stopped the passion of its hometown fans, who show their team pride by constantly uttering “Roll Tide.” Apparently this two-word phrase, which we’ve been told is equivalent to “Aloha” in Alabama, can apply in virtually any situation and supplant actual conversation down south according to this ESPN spot from W+K New York. Guess it’s right on par with “Go Blue” and “J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets” up here in NYC.

Anyhow, this latest spot is part of the agency’s “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” brand campaign for the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” Credits after the jump.

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