On the even of the World Cup qualifying draw, British media approached Brazilian soccer federation president Ricardo Teixeira on Friday in Rio de Janiero, but were rebuffed by Teixeira, who said he would not talk to the “English press” because they are “corrupt.”

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is saying so long to CBS/Turner Sports and hello to ESPN.

After spending the week working alongside analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith along with hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson, Pitino will provide studio analysis for ESPN on Thursday and Friday.

He will be making the rounds on SportsCenter, ESPNNEWS and various college basketball specials.

I guess snowy Bristol in March beats staying at home in Louisville, eh?

Charts!

Joe Ward, Shan Carter, and Kevin Quealy do their graphic thing on NYTimes.com, showing Nick Folk‘s successes and struggles kicking field goals.

The Jets kicker started the seasons strong, but struggled as the year wore on, missing nearly half his field goals during a four-games stretch. He regained his form, making nine in a row, but as the chart demonstrates, he’s only been called upon to kick short ones. That’s the explanation for his recent success.

They give Brad Smith‘s kick returning and Steve Weatherford‘s punting the same treatment. Check it out; It’s better than Phil Mushnick ranting and raving.

The NFL playoffs started on a high note, at least ratings-wise. The Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers matchup drew the highest ratings for a Divisional playoff game in 17 years.

From a release:

“Yesterday’s 20.9/39 for the Ravens-Steelers game was the highest rating for the AFC Saturday Divisional game in the metered markets in 17 years (23.9/51; Los Angeles Raiders-Buffalo; NBC; 12:30-3:45 PM) on January 15, 1994.”

Hey Sports Media Watch. What can you tell us?

“Saturday’s Ravens/Steelers AFC Divisional Round game earned a 20.9 overnight rating on CBS, up 17 percent from last year (NO/ARI: 17.9, FOX), and up 23 percent from 2009 (BAL/TEN: 17.0, CBS).”

Perfect.

The Green Bay Packers-Atlanta Falcons game helped Fox win the primetime ratings war.

When Brian Phillips is not killing it for Slate, he’s working on The Run of Play. Simply put, it’s the best collection of soccer writing anywhere. Exquisitely penned prose from Phillips and friends.

The one about Ronaldo was brilliant, the story about Xavi even better. And those are just in the last week.

The best part? They call it soccer, not football.

ESPN’s College Gameday returns on Saturday with Tennessee’s women’s and men’s basketball teams taking on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. Here’s a question: Will anyone be watching, especially the men’s game?

The women’s game might draw okay ratings (for a women’s college bball game) because it has a couple things going for it. Tennessee is ranked No. 6. The game isn’t directly against the NFL playoffs. The women’s basketball audience is small, but presumably dedicated.

The men’s game, however, is another story completely. The Volunteers, who began the season ranked in the top 20, have struggled and aren’t very good. Their colorful coach, Bruce Pearl, will miss the game due to suspension. Vanderbilt is terrible.

But worst of all, the game will compete directly with the Green Bay Packers-Atlanta Falcons playoff game. If given the choice, any sports fan without an affiliation to Tennessee or Vanderbilt would watch that instead of a middling college basketball game.

Conclusion: Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis, Bob Knight, Dan Shulman, and Dick Vitale will be talking to very few viewers. Not that it will change anything, of course.

While most of the country is digging out of snow this afternoon, just know that Spring and baseball is right around the corner.

ESPN released their early season Sunday Night Baseball schedule and the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are featured a combined seven times in the 11 games that were announced. Read more

The good news: Women’s Professional Soccer isn’t dead. Yet.

The bad: They will scale back the season to 18 games, do away with the All-Star game, and take a two-week break during the World Cup. (And then there’s the whole player salary issue, but let’s not even go there right now.)

“Going into year three, we are refining and adjusting our schedule to put in place what works best for our teams, fans and national television,” WPS CEO Anne-Marie Eileraas said in a release. “We are returning to our timeline from the inaugural season, which will accommodate the World Cup and hopefully boost average team attendance.”

The league is on its last legs. Three teams folded in the past year and the Chicago Red Stars have until December 15 to secure additional funding.

Unfortunately this tweet from Washington Post Soccer Insider Steven Goff says it all: “Like its predecessor, #WPS becoming a cause instead of a business. Can’t sustain a pro sports league on good intentions.”

We don’t even speak Russian, but this is still awesome.

The Cincinnati Bengals streak of 57 straight sellouts will come to an end on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

The Bengals announced on Thursday that they would be blacked out in home markets (Cincinnati, Dayton, and Lexington, Ky.) for the first time since Nov. 9, 2003.

It also means no Gus Johnson in case the Bills-Bengals comes down to the wire.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were able to avoid a blackout after requesting an extension from the league.

By the way, did you notice that Johnson had one of his best calls ever after speaking to SportsNewser?

I’m just saying.

Below are the broadcast teams for Week 11 of, “Where in the World is Gus Johnson?” Read more