It’s been a year since Conan O’Brien signed off his seven month stint as the host of the Tonight Show with a rousing performance of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s glorious “Free Bird.”. But how much has realy changed in the 12 months since he left the Peacock, joined Twitter, started a nationwide comedy tour and finally landing at TBS?

I’m taking a quick sojourn away from my normal home over at Sports Grid, because an announcement of the World Cup’s future host nations is kind of important. As you may have heard, the United States bid to host the 2022 games fell short, and the Middle East’s Qatar will bring that corner of the world it’s first truly major sporting spotlight in just twelve years time.

On the occasion of Mediaite’s year anniversary earlier this week, some of our staff members and contributors look back on what kind of crazy, weirdo year it was. There are two versions of the story about the last months of the life and times of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods. There’s the sports story, of course, but [...]

While World Cup fever grips everyone, Think Progress grows a little suspicious of backlash from conservatives in America. The argument goes that, since we aren’t the best, liberals are upholding soccer as a way to subdue the ideal of American pride and patriotism that only can exist in places where the U.S. is the greatest country in all the world.

Early on Saturday morning, ESPN2 was broadcasting the live feed of the final tune up for the Yanks as they took on the Socceroos of Australia. The US men would ultimately come out the winners, 3-1, on the back of two goals from Edson Buddle; a positive result for sure, but there’s not much that can gauge from a game that’s played at well less than full speed. By way of that, it’s the type of warm-up that’s markedly forgettable.

…if it wasn’t for that damn buzzing sound.

World Cup supporters see your silly mayoral bets, NBA Finals fans, and we will now raise the stakes by bringing in a diplomat or two. If the e-mail exchange uncovered by The Times between the American Ambassador to London and the U.K. Ambassador in Washington, D.C. is true, the trash talk surrounding the Group C opening match between England and the U.S. is currently on a transatlantic flight to Awesometown.

He may not be ranked in the Power Grid, but that doesn’t mean Brad Pitt doesn’t have some influence in the world of athletics. After all, you have to give something to the megastar that goes beyond his upcoming role as Billy Beane in the 2011 movie version of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball. In fact, it appears that Mr. Pitt is a bit of a soccer fan, and he’s now signed up to help bring the World Cup back to America.

In 1993, Tom Weir penned a column for USA Today stating his thoughts on this country and fútbol: “Hating soccer is more American than apple pie, driving a pickup, or spending Saturday afternoons channel surfing with the remote control.”

The sports story here is that the Cleveland Cavaliers, the regular season Eastern Conference champions, are out of the NBA playoffs, falling 94-85 to the Boston Celtics on the road in game six. The still-sports-related subtext is that LeBron James, the #1 draft pick of the 2003 draft, reigning, two-time MVP, and the supposed savior of basketball in Ohio, will be eligible for free agency come the season’s conclusion.

In less than a year, Bill Simmons quickly – and not surprisingly – amassed a fantastic amount of Twitter followers as a sports writer. However, his next step isn’t in quantity; it’s in innovation and devotion to his Boston Celtics. Buried in his NBA Round 2 wrap-up, he unveiled his newest idea: a Twitter account dedicated to starting chants during home games for his team

Arizona’s sports franchises have surprisingly been dragged into the debate around the controversial new immigration law, showing that when political issues so pervade a community, a sports franchise — from the owner to the players — can’t pretend they are somehow above or below the fray.

There’s plenty of room in Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s family for more than one public figure. After graduating this month from Boston College, the Associated Press reports that the junior Senator’s oldest daughter, Ayla, will be continuing on her career in the spotlight by joining CBS’s Early Show.

Something strange is happening in the wild west these days. Out in Arizona, the negative reaction from the recently signed immigration act has led to demonstrations against even those partially affiliated, and and it seems that everyone from local sports teams to not really local Iced Tea companies have been put into odd positions of politics.

On Time 100 day, we get to do quite a bit of navel gazing in the media world. While the gem of the columns may be the revelation that Ted Nugent wants Sarah Palin for his band, there is plenty of other great stuff through the biographies. Still, the best part of the spreads could very well be the other voices recruited to discuss leaders in media and the world, not just normal columnists and editors at Time.

Here in Washington, we don’t get the daily glory of the New York Post to keep us on our hyperbolic, pun-driven toes when it comes to headlines. However, we do have one source of joy, and it comes courtesy of one of the free dailies that you’ll see commuters reading on weekday mornings: The Washington Examiner.

Writing yesterday morning at Huffington Post (before Ben Roehtlisberger’s six-game suspension was announced), Dexter Rogers shared a lengthy collection of his thoughts about the way the media covered the sexual assault accusations against to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback. He looked at the scenario from the lens of recent situations across both the NFL and sports world. He’s justified in his attempt: it’s safe to say, for some time to come, that many writers will look at the transgressions of every athlete in comparison to Tiger Woods

Things you will still be able to count on, for at least a few more years anyway: death, taxes, and The Daily Show covering a presidential election. Comedy Central’s parent MTV Networks made a move to secure its highest profile talent for another few years. Both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will continue hosting their current shows through 2012.

As reported in USA Today this morning, ESPN is expected to announce later today that Chris Berman, longtime anchor at the Worldwide Leader, will be signing a multi-year deal to stay with the network. Berman acts as one of the regular contributors to Sunday editions of Sportscenter, serves as the host for NFL Sunday Countdown and has contributed his unique flavor of play-by-play to the annual MLB Homerun Derby in July.

You mean you didn’t get enough Tiger Woods during the last two weeks leading up to Phil Mickelson’s winning Masters? Don’t worry – the circus will be back in just two short months for the next Golf major. This time? Destination: California. According to the Monterey Herald, Tiger has formally filed his application for this year’s 110th U.S. Open at the picturesque Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula.

Big news for fans of both funny things and television shows (and a HUGE win for fans of both!) It seems that not only will April 12 be the day that Conan kicks off his comedy tour, but also the day his future on television is know known. According to CNN, Conan O’Brien will host a one-hour show every weekday from 11 p.m. to Midnight on TBS. Like CNN, TBS is owned by Time Warner.

The Masters kicks off this morning in Augusta, Georgia, and many a camera and news junkie will be tracking Tiger Woods’s first swings back into golf after a four-month self-imposed hiatus. Tiger tees off at 1:42 p.m. local time, and ESPN will be carrying at least some of his round in its afternoon broadcast.

As reported by Robert Quigley over at Geekosystem, a pretty substantial change was reported as coming to a classic language-driven board game: the legalization of proper nouns in Scrabble. Robert was able to track down a Mattel rep to discuss the change (he’s a little shaken up about it), and he found some good news to assure purists that the traditional game is not being altered. The change seems only to apply to a more “family-oriented variant” of the game.

just got back from an excellent panel here in D.C. hosted by Slate and the New American Foundation on the state of the mobile technology industry in the U.S.. Trust me, it was geeky, and I won’t bore you. However, there happened to be some relevance to my favorite issue – traditional media producers trying to hold on to the send-receive transactional messages of old.

The reaction from Catholics to the newest scandal within its ranks has certainly covered many perspectives. This Good Friday morning, the conversation has moved to the Wall Street Journal where Peggy Noonan offered her opinion of the scandal that, “was dug up and made famous by the press” and the fallout of accusations by both sides of unfair treatment.

If you believe Howard Kurtz’s Media Notes column this morning, Sarah Palin has the media right where she wants it. Clamoring for her memoir, taking adventures with her to Alaska and watching every move during hour long sit downs with Glenn Beck overlooking Battery Park. Kurtz takes it a step further though: could having the media shadowing every Facebook note and press appearance be more important to her than a challenge for the Republican nomincation in 2012? As he wrote: