Actor Quinton Aaron, Star of “The Blind Side” was a guest on First Take this morning with Dana Jacobson.

In more ways than one, “The Book of Basketball,” the new book by ESPN’s Bill Simmons, proved fatter than a speeding bullet during Wednesday’s edition of SportsNation (weekdays, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Because of the book’s girth — 700 pages — the SportsNation gang wondered if Simmons’ wordsmithing could stop a bullet. While Simmons was a guest on the show, the curiosity was satisfied when Kevin Wildes, SportsNation co-creator, took the book to the local firing range.

With the book 25 feet away and Simmons watching by remote from the studio with hosts Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle, Ray, owner of the indoor firing range, fired one shot from a Smith & Wesson 9mm at the target.

Simmons said he was tense while watching, but that it was one of the most exciting moments of his life. “The Book of Basketball” stopped the progress of the 9-mm bullet on Page 642, and the bullet was found on Page 568.

Later, it was found that the book is not entirely bulletproof, as Ray shredded it with a .44 Magnum.

It’s on. Or, as Ashton Kutcher says, “It has been broughten.”

The “drama drama” continued Tuesday. But first, a little background:

On Monday’s SportsNation (4-5 p.m. ET, ESPNEWS for next two weeks; midnight, weekdays, ESPN2), Colin Cowherd called out Kutcher for being an actor who’s trying to be a fantasy football authority. Kutcher hosts a live, 30-minute fantasy football show on Ustream.

Kutcher was watching SportsNation when Colin called him out, and immediately repsonded via @aplusk, his Twitter account that boasts more than 3 million followers. Kutcher and @SportsNation went back and forth for a bit, and each challenged the other to come on (See Monday’s Water Cooler post for the transcript of Monday’s Twitter exchange.)

Tuesday, SportsNation showed the clip from Kutcher’s Ustream show in which Kutcher reacts to Colin calling him a “Drama Dweeb.” Kutcher then challenged Colin to “bring it.” The two could be heading for a Fantasy Football Frackas, as both shows want the respective interloper to come on and keep talking smack — and maybe a little bit of football.

All of them!

Starting today, the new live studio show SportsNation (today, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN; midnight, ESPN2), with co-hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd, will roll out a roster of Twitter followers at show’s end each Friday with the purpose of thanking Twitter Nation for participating in SportsNation.

The TV show, created by ESPN producers Jamie Horowitz, Kevin Wildes and Dave Jacoby, was developed with the idea that SportsNation would rely on fan input in a way no ESPN show has before. Producers expected content to be influenced by conversations on ESPN.com’s SportsNation Web page. What they didn’t expect was the immediate response from fans via Twitter.

Fans can contact the show and participate via Twitter, Facebook, phone calls and e-mails.In five weeks’ time, @SportsNation on Twitter went from 100 followers to more than 100,000.

Impressed by the fan response, the SportsNation team has decided to say “Thank You” to its Twitter legion. Taking a cue from Twitter’s “Follow Friday,” SportsNation will thank fans each Friday by displaying a roster of Twitter followers at the end of the live show.

(Note: SportsNation airs on ESPNEWS for the next two weeks, Aug. 31-Sept. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET)

On Wednesday’s edition of SportsNation (weekdays, 4-5 p.m. ET, ESPN2), co-host Colin Cowherd was surprisingly passionate in his argument that newly annointed Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre has lost the luster that formerly made him synonymous with Wrangler Jeans.

SportsNation debated who is the better pitchman for Wrangler: Favre or NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.

So passionate was Cowherd’s case (and impersonation of a whining celebrity), he went so far as to say that Favre is a former everyman and now more like Lindsay Lohan, unable to pick a side.

“Dale’s tough. Dale’s a guy’s guy,” he said. “Dale’s not a flippy, floppy guy. Brett Favre used to be everyman — he has literally turned off football fans.”

To Colin’s dismay, sports fans do not agree. SportsNation (and co-host Michelle Beadle) voted for Favre as the better Wrangler pitchman, 64% to Dale Jr.’s 36%. In the end, Colin attempted to show off his own appeal as a Wrangler man. View the segment of the show here.

Coming off a successful X Games 15 – with more than 111,000 spectators gathering in Los Angeles over four days and nearly 44 million people tuning in across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 – the momentum for X Games fans continues as X Games 3D: The Movie opens nationwide Friday, Aug. 21. Directed by ESPN’s own award-winning filmmaker Steve Lawrence (Down the Barrel) and produced by Phil Orlins (X Games coordinating producer), it is the first full-length, sports-themed 3D film.  X Games 3D: The Movie will tell the stories of iconic action sports personalities Shaun White, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way, Ricky Carmichael, Bob Burnquist and Kyle Loza.

While part of the film captures what took place last year at X Games 14 with footage from the event, the film also offers a behind-the-scene look at these six individuals and what happens the other 361 days of the year. Their dedication to training, as well as their passion for their sports, is commendable and captured in the film along with a glimpse inside the heads of these athletes that explains why they do what they do and why they are so good at it.

Check out the trailer

and log on to www.xgames3dmovie.com for more information on the film.

As if the fan-favorite live studio show SportsNation weren’t chuckle-worthy enough already, along comes a new segment (4 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

For every percentage hosts Colin Cowherd or Michelle Beadle are away from the correct SN poll result, that’s how many steps they’ll have to take down the plank in this time-sensitive segment.  More than 40 steps, and they’re swimming with the sharks.

For example, Michelle will have to guess the % of SN that thinks the Bills will win more games than the Cowboys. One step too far in her guess and she’ll be little more than tartar in a toothy, deep sea grin. While Michelle has professed her love for Shark Week, we’re not sure she loves the fishies that much.

Champing at the bit, ESPN2’s new studio show SportsNation (4 p.m. ET weekdays) issued a challenge to none other than Chad Ocho Cinco on the day of its debut.

SportsNation co-host Michelle Beadle on Monday challenged Chad OchoCinco to come host the live show with Colin Cowherd.

Co-host Michelle Beadle said on Monday’s inaugural show that SportsNation producers caught wind of an @OGOchoCinco tweet a la Twitter last week, in which Chad said he could easily host an ESPN show; no teleprompter, no sweat.

And with that, Michelle, who contributes to SportsNation’s daily production, unabashedly encouraged Ocho to follow through regarding his assertion.

“Chad has 30 days to respond,” Michelle told co-host Colin Cowherd during the show. “He’s going to host the show, and you’re going to have to deal with him.”

Stay tuned to find out whether Ocho Cinco steps up to the mike.