On the previous 'Survivor: Nicaragua,' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS), the Espada tribe voted off their supposed "leader" -- former pro football coach Jimmy Johnson. The coach was eliminated after fighting with the always grouchy Jimmy Tarantino. "Jimmy T." couldn't stand the fact that Johnson got to call all the shots -- and his constant moaning led to the coach's departure.

But with Johnson gone, team Espada had no clear leader. The question on tonight's show was this: Who would fill the leadership void?

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Last time on 'Survivor: Nicaragua' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS), Shannon made the highly questionable decision of launching into a homophobic rant during the Tribal Council. This shocked the other players, and considerably simplified the decision of who to kick off. And so, Shannon swiftly got the boot. But now, it's Week Three, and the elimination this time around was a bit more ... unexpected.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

The challenge on tonight's show involved barrels and beanbags. Our teams of young people and older people had to collect 10 barrels, arrange them in a pattern, then toss beanbags on top of them. For Team Espada (i.e., "Team Old People"), this seemed like a good time for coach Jimmy Johnson to show off his frequently praised "leadership skills." Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well.

If we've learned anything in this life, it's that "telling it like it is" is almost always a bad idea. Especially on a competitive reality TV show, where your essential goal is to not offend everyone around you. But a couple of contestants on 'Survivor: Nicaragua' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS) haven't managed to learn this lesson yet.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

On this season's first episode, Wendy was the first player booted off the show, after she committed the cardinal sin of talking way too much. And go figure -- the same thing happened again tonight. Right before the Tribal Council held their vote, team La Flor member Shannon decided to start yapping about his personal thoughts. This might have worked out okay ... if it wasn't for the fact that Shannon is a horrible bigot.

And we're back for the one hundred and forty-seventh season of 'Survivor'! (Okay, it's actually only the 21st season of the show. Still, it seems like it's been a long time since Richard Hatch first schemed his way to victory.) 'Survivor: Nicaragua' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS) features a couple of new twists -- and one of them really throws the contestants for a loop.

The first new twist: the introduction of "the Medallion of Power." This is indeed a super-cool name for a medallion, but all it does is provide an slight advantage for a tribe when starting an immunity challenge. Once the medallion is used, ownership of it then passes over to the other tribe. Former NFL cheerleader Brenda Lowe finds the medallion, and the members of her "team" are pretty pleased. ... Until some of them learn that they're not actually on her team at all.

When 'Survivor' comes back for its 21st season on Wednesday, September 15 at 8PM ET on CBS, the audience will notice two distinguishing factors right away: 1) the teams will be split by age, with a team of contestants who are 40 and over going against a team of under-40 contestants, and 2) one of the contestants will be a familiar face, at least to sports fans.

Jimmy Johnson, current FOX football analyst and former coach of the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, is among the 20 contestants who will be dropped onto a Nicaraguan beach and told to fend for themselves. Of course, 'Survivor' being 'Survivor,' the teams will be given immunity challenges, alliances will form, and people will be voted off the island. But the big issue for football fans is: what's going to happen with Johnson's famously lacquered hairdo?

When the first seasons of 'Big Brother' and 'Survivor' premiered, critics hypothesized how long the reality show fad would run. It's unlikely any of them guessed that the two shows would still be successful today.

'Big Brother' is enjoying its strongest ratings ever with season 12. Now, CBS is banking on their summer hit to help usher in their fall lineup. The season will conclude on Sept. 15 with a two-hour finale immediately following the debut of 'Survivor: Nicaragua.' This is the first time since 'Survivor: Borneo' in 2000 that the series will air in the 8PM Wednesday slot.

How about that Jimmy Johnson? A former Super Bowl winning head coach and current Fox NFL analyst, Jimmy Johnson is going to appear as a contestant on 'Survivor: Nicaragua.'

What's so amazing about this news is that Johnson is hardly an unknown player. He's quite famous and very well-known to anyone who watches Sunday football in the fall. If the other castaways on 'Survivor' don't figure him out in the first week -- and get rid of him -- it'll be a shocker.

Jimmy Johnson has wanted to be on 'Survivor' for years, apparently. He tried to get on 'Survivor: Gabon,' but failed the physical because he was overweight. He has since lost weight in order to compete.

Chevy must have focus groups and research that tells them that Howie Long is a good spokesperson for their products. As a Fox NFL anaylst, he's fine alongside the likes of Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw. That said, I can't stand Howie Long in his commercials.

Long is smug and arrogant in all of 60 seconds. He's supposed to be selling the advantages of Chevy products -- while dissing those of Honda in direct jabs at the Japanese company -- but he rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps it's his smile. He just acts like he has no humility. He's all confidence and self-assuredness. Those two qualities should make him an excellent pitchman. That's what Chevy is trying to project.

Ryan Seacrest + Super Bowl = Is Nothing Sacred?

When you think about the Super Bowl, does the name "Ryan Seacrest" come to mind? Probably not. I'm pretty sure I know more about football than Ryan Seacrest (which isn't saying a heck of a lot). Yet somehow, Fox has awarded Super Bowl hosting duties to their American Idol golden boy.

As master of ceremonies for football's biggest game, Ryan will host pregame red-carpet events, as well as the halftime show. Super Bowl XLII is set to take place in February at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. And while halftime entertainment has not yet been announced, I'm starting to suspect that we might see a couple of American Idols perform.

Have you been sitting there on your couch thinking, "Good grief, it's January 7th already, when is NASCAR going to start?" Well, if you have, you need to find a couple more hobbies, but the good news is that the Speed channel is kicking off its NASCAR season this week with NASCAR Preseason Thunder. The season just gets longer and longer.

They will be covering Nextel Cup testing at Daytona. You can get a schedule of the shows on the Speed website. The actual race isn't until February 18th, but Speed knows where their bread is buttered. NASCAR is to them like the football team is to Notre Dame. It pays for everything else.

My early season predictions are for Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart to come out strong. Denny Hamlin will prove that last season wasn't a fluke. Kurt Busch will be back in the hunt now that the #2 team has had a season to gel. The #24 team will remain inconsistent, possibly leading Jeff Gordon to fire his crew chief. Robbie Gordon will crash some people, but it won't be his fault. And Michael Waltrip will continue to get all kinds of camera time despite never even getting a whiff of being competitive.

When I reported on the announcement that Joe Buck was to become the host to Fox NFL Sunday yesterday, I had an entire paragraph devoted to how it'll be a shame that the show's "meteorologist", Jillian Barberie, would have to bundle up if the show pulled into Green Bay in November. But I cut the whole thing when I realized her name was not on story about the change on FoxSports.com. I guessed that Barberie was no longer going to be with the show, but I wasn't quite sure.

Tom of the LA Daily News blog "Farther Off the Wall" was wondering, too, so he contacted Fox. A producer told him that Barberie's work on Good Day L.A. was going to make it hard for her to stick to the pre-game show's traveling schedule, and they didn't want her to work remotely because they'd lose the interaction she had with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. So Jillian's out. Too bad; she was annoying as hell, but so much nicer to look at than Johnson's toupee. But, good news everyone: we'll still get plenty of Frank Caliendo.

[via Deadspin]

When James Brown (no, not the "Sex Machine" James Brown... the other one) left Fox to become the new host of The NFL Today at CBS, Fox kept everyone in the dark about who was going to take his place as host of Fox NFL Sunday. They even made the mystery into an ad campaign. But the mystery is over: the network has named lead play-by-play man Joe Buck as the host of the pre-game show. Because Buck is still going to broadcast the games, though, the show will be on the road the entire year, originating from the stadium where Buck is supposed to be working that week. Curt Menefee will host the halftime and post-game shows.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, who reported on the unconfirmed rumors yesterday, felt that Fox was making too safe of a move with Buck. According to Raissman, it was a perfect opportunity for Fox to develop someone new in the host role, someone who can evolve as he tries to corral Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. I'm not quite sure about that argument; after all, for every Bob Costas that gets a chance to shine in the studio, there's two Brent Musburgers that make us want to throw things at the screen. Those aren't good odds, as far as I'm concerned.