Erin Andrews got caught in a tight situation at the Rose Bowl yesterday ... in the shape of her form-fitting mom slacks.

Andrews was patrolling the sidelines in Pasadena as the Oregon Ducks rolled over the Wisconsin Badgers in a 45 to 38 shootout.

In related news, it's been almost three years since Jessica Simpson unleashed a fashion firestorm by rocking mom jeans to a performance at a Florida concert.

Super hot sports reporter Rebecca Grant took a thinly veiled shot at equally hot sports reporter, Erin Andrews -- and there's only one way to settle the score. Well ... we're only thinking of one.

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Veteran spelling bee reporter Erin Andrews tells TMZ, stringing letters together is no easy business -- in fact, it's so nerve-wracking, some young contestants break a sweat ... and even lose consciousness.

But is it an actual sport?

Erin Andrews is back on the warpath over several images from her infamous (and illegally shot) nude peephole video -- after she discovered a website that refused to pull the pics down.



More than one year after the video first surfaced, Erin claims she can still find the images on TheDirty.com -- so she had her lawyer fire off a letter, demanding the site wipe them from cyberspace.

In the letter-- obtained by TMZ -- Erin's lawyer claims The Dirty is "unlawfully" posting the pics because "the copyright of these images belongs exclusively to Ms. Andrews" -- and posting them constitutes an invasion of her privacy.

Erin's lawyer wants The Dirty to erase any trace the stills may leave behind -- by 86'ing them "from all search engine databases, including, but not limited to, Google" ... or else face a serious lawsuit.

So far, the people at The Dirty don't seem to care -- in fact, after receiving the letter ... they reposted the pics at the top of their site.

Either Erin Andrews must have some CRAZY inside information ... or she's just frickin' crazy ... because the ESPN reporter just told us that the #1 fantasy football pick in 2010 should be ...

Erin Andrews just sued a string of hotels for allegedly giving her stalker easy access to secretly record the ESPN reporter.



In the civil lawsuit, filed in State Court in Chicago, Andrews claims the hotels -- which include Marriott and Radisson -- gave Michael David Barrett her room number and allowed him to check into adjacent rooms. Barrett recorded Andrews through modified peepholes in her hotel room doors.

Attorney Marshall Grossman -- who repped Erin during Barrett's stalking trial -- tells TMZ, "Erin filed the lawsuit to send a message to hotel chains that they need to exercise greater care in protecting their guests. She was seriously harmed by what happened there."

In the suit, Andrews claims negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.

Erin Andrews' stalker Michael David Barrett won't have to cough up over a quarter mil for the mess he caused ESPN -- this according to a new court order signed earlier this month.



TMZ broke the story back in May ... ESPN wanted the government to force King Creepster to cover all of the network's enormous expenses in the wake of the stalking scandal -- mostly for extra security.

Barrett fired back weeks later, claiming he's "virtually penniless" and shouldn't have to foot the $327,442.27 bill for a third party.

According to the new docs filed in California District Court, the judge agreed -- claiming "ESPN voluntarily paid all costs on behalf of direct victim Erin Andrews and restitution to ESPN is therefore not appropriate."

MDB -- who pled guilty to stalking Andrews last year -- began serving a 30-month sentence on May 3.

UPDATE: Erin Andrews tells TMZ, "I’m disappointed with the court’s decision.  In my mind Barrett should pay for all the trouble and expense he and he alone caused."

The U.S. Attorney is now deciding whether to charge the man who threatened Erin Andrews with violent emails with making criminal threats.

TMZ broke the story ... a man in Newport News, Virginia sent a series of threatening/violent emails last March to "The Dan Patrick Show," directed at the ESPN star.  Among them:

- "I hope she gets shot in the face.  I would love to see if she can dance away from a hail of gunfire.  That would really make my day."

- "I'm one in a million.  She'll never see me coming."

- "Somebody should shoot her in the face."

Sources tell us the FBI went to the suspect's house and spoke with his dad, who explained his son -- who is in his 30's -- had serious health and mental issues.  Sources tell us the suspect had a stroke earlier in his life.

We're told the FBI forwarded the case to the U.S. Attorney 2 weeks ago for review, but so far no decision has been made.

One source close to the investigation tells us ... given the man's mental status, it's "doubtful" criminal charges will be filed.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment.

Michael David Barrett, Erin Andrews' convicted stalker, claims he's penniless and it's totally unfair for him to reimburse ESPN for frivolous expenses related to his prosecution.



Barrett's lawyer filed legal papers today, challenging the U.S. government's motion to force Barrett to pay $327,442.27 to ESPN.  The sports network claims it's out that amount because of various expenses related to the investigation and prosecution of Barrett, who secretly spied on Andrews in various hotel rooms.

In the docs, Barrett's lawyer scoffs at some of the expenses, which he says include ESPN responding to press inquiries. 

Barrett's attorney claims his client is "virtually penniless" -- that he has cashed out of all his retirement accounts and lost his job.

Barrett's lawyer says ESPN is just a third party that has nothing to do with the prosecution and is just trying to cash in.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy admits he was driving like a speed demon when cops pulled him over in Hollywood last night -- but according to the "Dancing" star, that's not why he got in trouble. 


We just spotted Maksim out in L.A. -- just a few hours before the big "Dancing with the Stars" finale ... and dude told us the cop merely warned him about his lack of license plates on his brand new Mercedes.

Problem is -- the cop was driving in the other direction, and probably wouldn't have even noticed Maksim if he wouldn't have gunned it out of STK.

As for why the cop let Maksim off the hook, dude told us, "Apparently, he's a fan."

We took your questions on everything -- including Lindsay Lohan's BS movie excuse, Jesse James' Nazi explanation, and Erin Andrews' risqué costumes on "Dancing with the Stars."

Plus: Paula Abdul returning to "American Idol" tomorrow night ... and what's up with Harvey's new wristband?