In Fox's NFL studio show, comedian Frank Caliendo impersonated Bill Clinton, saying "Hillary thinks I'm at a global warming conference. And if that blonde waitress there would give me a hug, that would be so true." Then Caliendo, doing his George W. Bush, said Clinton had "dated some dogs" who "used to fight for Mike Vick."

A few years back in the foggy mists of time, such banter in TV sports would have drawn tut-tutting. How quaint.

But the Fox NFL show took a truly cutting-edge turn Sunday when it was briefly turned into drop-by at a new car lot. Analyst Michael Strahan seemed to be trying to sell a car, on-set, to a woman who'd already won it from one of the show's sponsors. The odd sales pitch — as Strahan detailed the car's "voice-activated" features and all but said he'd try to talk to his manager about throwing in a free sunroof — probably left anybody just tuning in wondering why football was preempted. Just a guess: This won't be the last time sports analysts drop what they're doing to sell products directly to viewers.

ESPN/ABC college football analyst Bob Griese, however, brought a reminder that one thing remains banned in mainstream TV sports — any refer to race or ethnicity.

During ABC's Ohio State-Minnesota football game Saturday, there was an on-air promotion for the network's NASCAR coverage Sunday that included a reference to Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya not being among the top five drivers in the NASCAR standings. Which led to Griese saying Montoya isn't in that top five because "he's out having a taco."

While race and ethnicity is openly referred to across TV — from news shows to sitcoms to TV channels targeted ethnic groups — there is a long list of sports announcers who temporarily forget that, by TV sports norms, using references to ethnic cultural stereotypes is seen as akin to using profanity on-air. Whether such comments are intended to be negative, positive or simply banal, everybody knows they're out of bounds.

Griese, during the broadcast, wisely apologized for his comment and called Montoya one of the "best drivers" in NASCAR and apologized again on ESPN primetime. ESPN, in a statement, called Griese's crack "inappropriate." But Montoya, after finishing third in Sunday's NASCAR race, had the perfect response: "I don't even know who he is. … And I don't really care."