The quote above is arguably New York Yankee great Yogi Berra‘s most famous quip. He was referring to the 1973 National League pennant race, but it could apply to so many situations in our personal and professional lives.

And so it applies to SportsNewser now. SportsNewser will no longer exist as a standalone website starting tomorrow, September 1st. Our coverage of sports media will continue–primarily on TVNewser–and also on some of our other blogs, like FishbowlNY and FishbowlLA. All of our content will be archived on TVNewser, so it will still be accessible for any curious readers.

It has been a fantastic year, and we have some great highlights and interviews (See Dan Marino, Ian Eagle, Gus Johnson, James Brown and Harold Reynolds). There will also be plenty more sports media coverage yet to be broken and analyzed on our other sites.

Many thanks to SportsNewser’s founding editors Marcus Vanderberg and Noah Davis, as well as Cam Martin, who joined us in April.

-Alex Weprin
senior editor, mediabistro.com

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 291 | MSNBC: 104 | CNN: 167 | HLN: 113

• Primetime: FNC: 470 | MSNBC: 178 | CNN: 214 | HLN: 138

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:	12a:
FNC	Five:	Baier:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:
	330	349	426	574	496	330	355	303
MSNBC	Matthews:	Sharpton:	Matthews:	O’Donnell:	Maddow:	EdShow:	O’Donnell:	Maddow:
	124	124	145	151	188	195	145	126
CNN	Blitzer:	Blitzer:	KingUSA:	Cooper:	Morgan:	Cooper:	KingUSA:	Morgan:
	168	194	123	230	161	253	219	160
HLN	Special:	Prime:	Issues:	Grace:	DrDrew:	Behar:	Showbiz:	DrDrew:
	59	87	108	170	129	122	179	150

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House Speaker John Boehner declined President Obama’s request to address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. Boehner told Obama that Thursday would be a better day:

“It is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks.”

No mention was made of the previously scheduled GOP Presidential primary debate to be held Wednesday on MSNBC. Obama was accused of playing politics by scheduling his remarks the same night and time as the debate. Boehner could be accused of doing as as well, as Thursday evening is the first NFL game of the 2011-2012 season, which is slated to begin at 8:30 on NBC. Suffice it to say, one of the biggest sporting events of the year is not likely to be preempted for a political address.

Update: The White House announced that the speech will be held September 8, likely at 7 or 7:30 PM so as not to conflict with the NFL game.

After a six year break, Maria Antonieta Collins is returning to Univision as a senior special corespondent. Collins left Univision in 2005 after an 18-year career that saw her serve as a correspondent and anchor across the U.S. and Latin America. She will be based in Miami.

That’s bad ass singer Marc Anthony talking with bad ass ABC News correspondent John Quinones. In his first interview since his split with Jennifer Lopez earlier this summer, Anthony talked with Quinones at his New York City home last Friday. “I’ll always love Jennifer,” is all we hear him say in a promo. The interview airs tomorrow night on “Nightline” with clips on “GMA.”

(Photo: ABC/Lou Rocco)

Yahoo! Sports sports reporter Charles Robinson has been widely lauded for his 11-month investigation of former booster Nevin Shapiro and the illegal benefits he allegedly bestowed on legions of University of Miami football players. Brooks Melchior of Sports by Brooks and Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports were among the many who read Robinson’s captivating tale about the purported gifts of money, jewelry, prostitutes and alcohol and suggested he was worthy of winning the Pulitzer Prize. Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports wasn’t of the same opinion, questioning Robinson’s journalistic ethics, saying he relied too much on the words of a convicted felon, Shapiro, who is spending 20 years in jail for running a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

Perhaps the oddest assertion in Whitlock’s attempted takedown of Robinson’s piece is that the story didn’t include any tales of cocaine-fueled debauchery, which makes no sense (at least to Whitlock) when the story is set in “America’s Cocaine Capital” and features a bevy of prostitutes. (“Peanut butter and jelly have nothing on hookers, partying, cash and drugs. They’re birds of a feather,” Whitlock wrote.)

Robinson, for his part, said in an interview on Nick Wright‘s 610Sports radio show in Kansas City that speculating about drug use was something he wasn’t prepared to do. Unlike Whitlock, Robinson said he actually investigates stories, rather than sitting on his couch tossing around ignorant speculation about the work of dedicated journalists. To top it off, Robinson called Whitlock a coward.

Here’s the clip, via Sportsgrid.

Whitlock, in turn, offered today to have Robinson on his podcast to discuss the issue.

President Obama has requested that he make an address to Congress focusing on jobs and the economy on Wednesday, September 7 at 8 PM.

While it is still too soon to tell whether Speaker Boehner will approve of the date–and which networks will be carrying it–one news outlet can’t be too happy about the decision: NBC News.

NBC is slated to host a Republican Presidential primary debate at 8 PM that evening. The debate is slated to air live on MSNBC, and would be co-moderated by Brian Williams.

Update: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney defended the timing of the address, saying “There’s one president, there’s 20-some-odd debates.”

Update 2: NBC says that the debate will still be held September 7, though it has not yet said at what time.

Update 3: Speaker Boehner has rejected the President’s request. He has suggested it be held Thursday, where it would be up against NFL football instead of the GOP debate.

Video after the jump.

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Fox News DC correspondent Molly Henneberg announced her pregnancy this morning on “Fox & Friends.”

“Did I tell you all that my husband and I are expecting a new Redskins fan later this year?” said Henneberg at end of her report from the White House. After applause from the anchors, Brian Kilmeade jumped in, “Now, will your kid play with Beyonce’s kid?” “B give me a call, Jay-z. We can set a play date,” said Henneberg, who is due Christmas Day.

In March of 2008, Henneberg also announced on Fox News that she was engaged to Marine Capt. Chris Nagel.

Once again Fox news was the top cable news channel for the month, and with Libya, Hurricane Irene and the first real political debates of the 2012 campaign season, the network benefited in the ratings.

The ratings for August, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 1.995M Total Viewers / 484K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 1.157M Total Viewers / 311K A25-54

FNC was up +10% in total viewers in primetime, and up +11% in total day compared to August of 2010, in the demo, FNC was up +10% in prime and +8% in total day.

FNC was the #3 channel in all of cable for the month, and had the top 10 cable news programs in the demo.

It isn’t all rosy, however. The 5 PM Summer replacement show “The Five” is down -29% in A25-54 and down -28% in total viewers compared to last year, when Glenn Beck held court.

It was the opposite of a slow August for CNN. This month’s big stories — the fall of Tripoli, the Virginia earthquake and Hurricane Irene — were big ratings draws for the network, propelling CNN to significant year-over-year growth and a second-place finish among the cable news networks, behind only Fox News Channel.

The ratings for August, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 723K Total Viewers / 242K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 539K Total Viewers / 189K A25-54

Compared to last year, CNN is up+42% in total viewers and +63% in the A25-54 demographic. In primetime, the network posted gains of +49% in total viewers and +68% in A25-54 viewers.

CNN shuffled the primetime lineup this month, moving the live broadcast of “Anderson Cooper 360″ from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m.ET. Since August 8 — Cooper’s first night in the earlier timeslot — the broadcast has posted a +44% gain in the A25-54 demographic. (It should be noted that Cooper’s closest competition at 8 p.m., MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, has been out for a good portion of August.) The 10 p.m. rebroadcast of “AC360″ posted the highest gains in its timeslot year-over-year, growing +34% in total viewers and +55% in A25-54 viewers. Read more