Nomar Garciaparra retires
Nomar Garciaparra, a one-time Hall of Fame lock, has called it a career after 14 seasons in Major League Baseball. He has officially retired and will now begin working as a baseball annalist for ESPN.
I wont miss him. I’ve never been a Nomar Garciaparra fan. To watch him at bat was a baseball at it’s worse. After every pitch, he would step out of the batter’s box and adjust his batting gloves. It was so, so annoying. If his gloves really needed to be adjusted after each and every pitch, maybe he was wearing the wrong gloves.
Goodbye Nomar Garciaparra. You will not be missed. At least not by me.
Tony Kornheiser suspended two weeks for making fun of Hannah Storm’s wardrobe
Tony Kornheiser, famed former Washington Post columnist and current co-host of of the wildly popular ESPN TV show PTI has been suspended for two weeks from PTI for something he said not on PTI, but for something he said on his daytime radio show. He was commenting on the wardrobe of ESPN anchor Hanna Storm that included bright red go-go boots and a plaid skirt.
From ESPN’s Executive Vice President of Content, John Skipper:
Tony Kornheiser’s comments about Hannah Storm were entirely inappropriate. Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences. Tony has been suspended from PTI for two weeks. Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter.”
If ESPN executives don’t want people making fun of the clothes some of their anchors wear, they should have their anchors stop dressing like clowns. Like Hannah Storm was dressed.
Seriously, she was wearing bright red go-go boots.
What’s really ridiculous about this whole thing is that Tony Kornheiser made the offending comment on his radio show, yet he’s not being suspended from his radio show. No, he’s being suspended from his TV show. Where’s the logic in that?
My guess is that it’s because it’s a lot easier to replace Tony Kornheiser on PTI for two weeks than it would be to replace him on his own radio show.
That doesn’t make it right.
Injured football players annoy Pam Ward
I guess ESPN college football play-by-play announcer Pam Ward didn’t know that the TV viewers were still watching when she started complaining about the injured Marshall football player on the field. That, or she didn’t know her mic was on.
Classy.
Chris Henry 1983 – 2009
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry is dead. At least that is what ESPN is saying. It’s been my experience when the four letter network says you’re dead, you’re dead. He was 26.
He was out for the season with a broken arm. Though you may not be able to catch a football with a broken arm, you can get into a domestic dispute with the mother of your three children.
Evidently the dispute began at the Charlotte area home Henry shares with his fiancee and the mother of his three children, Loleini Tonga. Police say Tongae was leaving in a pickup truck and Henry jumped into the bed of the truck and continued arguing with Tonga. About a half mile from the house, Henry somehow fell out of the truck. Tonga didn’t stop the truck, but continued driving.
Henry was found on the side of the road in life threatening condition. Henry was transported to Carolinas Medical Center, where he died early this morning.
Bill Simmons is a douche
As if there was any doubt that ESPN columnist Bill Simmons is a raging douche with an exaggerated idea of his own importance, he attempts to remove all doubt by writing about a recent speeding ticket he failed to get out. The blog Kissing Suzy Kolber posted a portion of the article.
From Kissing Suzy Kolber:
Seattle loves me for defending its Sonics after Clay Bennett hijacked them and moved them elsewhere. If there was ever a place I could get out of a speeding ticket, it’s Seattle. Or so I thought.
Anyway, I shot out of Seattle like a bat out of hell. We were weaving between lanes and going about 90. Twenty minutes into the drive, still in the outskirts of Seattle, we were arguing about why navigation systems don’t come with different voices — for example, we should be able to have Morgan Freeman be our nav narrator or, even better, Sam Jackson as Jules in “Pulp Fiction” (”I told you to take a motherf—ing right, you dumbass!) — and I stopped paying attention to things like “Is there a cop car behind me?” Which there was. He pulled us over, walked over to my driver’s side and somewhat angrily asked why I was going so fast. I explained that we were trying to get to Portland and apologized for my speed. He asked for my license and registration. Then we had this exchange:
Me (big smile): “Were you a big Sonics fan? Because-”
Him (frowns): “No.”
And he walked away with my license.
OK, first of all, “we” weren’t weaving between the lanes like a bat out of hell, he was the one driving like a dick. I have nothing against people driving fast. I’ve been know to drive fast on occasion. The problem I have with drivers like Simmons is the weaving in and out of lanes. Drivers like him make the road more dangerous than it needs to be. Though I may on occasion drive fast, I don’t weave in and out of lanes. I drive with traffic like a regular person.
He honestly thinks people know who he is?
I don’t know who the cop was that refused to allow Simmons to get out of his ticket, but he’s an American hero.
Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable tries to defend himself
Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable released a statement in an attempt to defend himself against the allegations presented by ESPN’s Outside the Lines that he physically abuses women.
Make no mistake, Cable is a piece of garbage. In his statement concerning the incident with his former wife Sandy Cable, he paints her as an adulterous whore.
From Tom Cable’s statement:
During my first marriage, I became aware that my wife, Sandy, had committed adultery. I became very angry and slapped her with an open hand. What I did was wrong and I have regretted and felt sorrow about that moment ever since.
Sandy Cable denies that she ever committed adultery. She responded to Tom Cable’s accusation with her own statement:
He constantly made accusations throughout the relationship. There was never any infidelity on my part. And he did not slap me, he punched me.
If what Cable is now saying is true, why in a hand written letter to his first wife Sandy Cable did he refer to the incident as “that day I hit you“? If he had slapped her with an open hand, why didn’t he refer it the incident as that in his letter? If he had slapped her with an open hand — and I’m in no way trying to defend that or trivialize even slapping a woman — I have to think he would have said that, not that he hit her. Describing a slap as a hit makes it sound more severe. I would think the only reason he would have described what happened as “that day I hit you” is if he had in fact actually punched her.
My guess is that if this letter from Cable had not been made public by ESPN, he wouldn’t even be admitting to slapping her with an open hand. Then again, as I pointed out in another post, I don’t know a lot about men that hit women.
I think the NFL has a huge problem on their hands. They can get behind Breast Cancer Awareness month by allowing their players to wear pink gloves and shoes, but if they have a head coach that not only abuses women with physical violence, but then tries to defend himself by calling into question his victim’s sexual fidelity, they have a huge problem on their hands. A huge, misogynistic problem that wont go away until Cable is out of the league.
Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable hits ladies, but at least he doesn’t kill dogs
As if fans of the Silver and Black didn’t already have enough to be ashamed of this year, it appears that the Oakland Raiders have a head coach who likes to hit the ladies. At least that is what ESPN’s Outside the Lines will have you believe.
This past August, Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable made news after an altercation with assistant coach Randy Hanson that left Hanson with a broken jaw. Normally when you have a disagreement with someone and their jaw happens to get broken in the process, you are going to see the inside of a jail cell. That didn’t happen to Cable. On October 23, the Napa County district attorney announced that Cable would not be charged.
Obviously it would seem Cable has a problem controlling his anger. When was the last time you heard of an NFL coach breaking someone’s jaw or any other body part? If a man has problems controlling his anger against one of his assistant coaches without resorting to violence, it stands to reason he probably has the same problem when it comes to dealing with the women in his life.
Not that I have a lot of knowledge or experience with men that beat women.
Tacos are from Mexico, not Colombia
From the AP (via the Huffington Post):
During ESPN’s broadcast of the Minnesota-Ohio State game Saturday, a graphic was shown listing the top five drivers in NASCAR’s points race. Fellow analyst Chris Spielman asked where was Montoya, who is Colombian.
Griese replied he was “out having a taco.”
Not only was the comment racist, worse, it was ignorant. A taco is a delicious dish from Mexico. NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya is from Colombia, not Mexico. Colombia and Mexico are different countries. Granted, Montoya has brown skin and Spanish is his first language, but that doesn’t mean he’s Mexican.
Not all brown skinned, Spanish speaking people are taco eating Mexicans.
Ignorant racism is the worst kind of racism. It’s bad enough to judge someone not because of the content of their character, but the color of their skin or their ethnic origins. What’s even worse is when you are too stupid to get the ethnicity right.
Is it too much to ask for a person who speaks on TV for a living to know the difference between a Mexican and a Colombian when they are going to insult them?
Bob Griese is an idiot. He’s not just some 64-year old ignoramus sitting at the bar at his local VFW cracking racial jokes. He’s a college football analyst. He’s supposed to be smarter than you. The networks think you are too stupid to watch a football game and understand what you are seeing without someone like him telling you what you are seeing. It’s bad enough that Griese and every other TV annalist have to run their mouths, talking incessantly during a football game. It’s even worse when they say stupid, idiotic things that have nothing to do with the football game they are being paid to analyze.
Things like saying someone from Colombia is “out having a taco.”
Having kids compete on live national TV is child abuse
ESPN is televising the Little League World Series and if televising underage children as they compete in athletic competition isn’t bad enough, they are evidently putting microphones on the coaches so that we, the viewers, can listen in as they talk to their kids. It’s because of this fact that we get to see and hear the following conversation:
COACH: “Hey, we’re going to come up again.”
PITCHER: “Is it okay if I just hit this batter?”
COACH: “What? No. No. Are you kidding me? … Let’s get this guy. Come on. We’re still in this game. One-run game. You wanna stay in?”
PITCHER: “No.”
COACH: “You wanna come out right now?”
PITCHER: “Yes, I do. Can I sit out?”
COACH: “No, you’re going to first base.”
I guess you could say that this kid is showing really bad sportsmanship, but he’s just a kid. He’s not done yet. He should be allowed to grow up first before subjected to the national spotlight.
It’s pretty obviously to see that this kid is having a bad day. Though having a bad day is part of life, having a bad day on national TV is not. That’s why people should think long and hard before agreeing to appear on live TV in either a so-called reality TV show or the ultimate type of reality TV, a sporting event.
It should be obvious to see that 12-year old kids are far too young to be making these decisions. I think it creates too much pressure for the kids involved. ESPN shouldn’t be showing these games and you shouldn’t be watching them.
Erin Andrews calls 911 because the paparazzi are treating her like Britney Spears
ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews noticed a vehicle with two men inside parked outside her Georgia home last week and placed a call to 911. Evidently her local police department told her to call 911 if and when she noticed paparazzi lurking outside her home. She has been in the news lately because of a video tape floating around online showing her in a hotel room not wearing her clothes. Reportedly, the video was shot through the peephole and without her knowledge.
I haven’t seen the video and I have absolutely no desire to do so. The only thing creepier than filming a woman without her consent through a hotel room peephole is wanting to watch the resulting video.
Last I heard, there are more than enough women on the Internet who actually want people to see them naked. Why stoop to filming a woman without her knowledge or consent?
Anyway, TMZ has the actual audio of the 911 call and Deadspin published the transcript:
Dispatcher: DeKalb 911. What’s the address of your emergency?
Andrews: Um, I was in the news recently about being in a hotel naked, and I have paparazzi outside my window, and I was told by law enforcement that if I did to call 911.
Dispatcher: Do you want to meet with an officer?
Dispatcher: Do you want to meet with an officer, ma’am, when they come out?
Andrews: Yeah, these guys are sitting in a car outside my house right now. I would like to tell the officer to have them leave because the cops have told me to call 911 if they’re outside my house.
Dispatcher: And what’s your name?
Andrews: My name is Erin. My last name is Andrews. I’m all over the news right now.
Dispatcher: I’m not familiar.
Andrews: I’m the girl that was videotaped without her knowing, without her clothes on in the hotel.
Dispatcher: Really?
Andrews: And I’ve got two assholes sitting outside my house.
Dispatcher: I’m so sorry.
Andrews: I am, too. Thank you.
Dispatcher: We’ll send someone out. What kind of vehicle are they in?
Andrews: They’re in a RAV, a white RAV4. I’m in a gated community, and I don’t know how they got in. Mom, can you see their license plates? It’s a handicap license plate they have. What’s the license plate number?
Dispatcher: What’s the tag number?
Andrews: We’re trying to see. Do you see it, Mom? OK, I’m gonna try and go to another room and see if I can read it. I can’t believe these jerks are knocking on my door. Fucking assholes. Mom, you’re totally being obvious.
Dispatcher: Are they black, white or Hispanic?
Andrews: What?
Dispatcher: Are they black, white or Hispanic?
Andrews: They’re both white males. I think it’s — they know I’m here, ’cause I have a car out front. So they know I’m inside. I have private security that I’m working with, but they’re not with me currently, and they said call 911. OK, here’s the license plate. It’s a handicap license plate for Georgia.
Andrews: They’re looking at me through my window.
Dispatcher: Are you OK?
Andrews: Yeah, I’m just — I did nothing wrong, and I’m being treated like fucking Britney Spears, and it sucks. I’m sorry.
Dispatcher: OK, the first available unit will see you as soon as possible.
Andrews: Thanks. Do you know how far they’re out?
Dispatcher: No. They should be in — they’ll be here as soon as possible.
Andrews: OK.
Dispatcher: OK, thank you.
Andrews: Thanks.
Next time she calls 911 and wants to the police to come in a hurry, she needs to tell the operator that the two guys sitting in the car out in front of her house are having the gay sex and are selling crack cocaine to special needs children.
She needs to jazz up the story a bit.
Who’s to say that they weren’t having the gay sex? They are the paparazzi.
David Beckham gets the reception he deserves
Part-time Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham didn’t get much love from Galaxy fans in his first home game back with the team. Not that he deserved any.
From ESPN:
The 34-year-old tried to hurdle a barrier to get to a group of fans who had been jeering him throughout the match and appeared to make a “come on” gesture. Security had to hold the star back as he tried to get across to the supporters, while one fan had to be stopped from getting out of the stand to confront the star.
A hardcore section of the crowd booed Beckham every time he touched the ball and held aloft signs reading “Go Home Fraud” and “23: Repent” in reference to his shirt number.
Another read: “Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here after You, Here Despite You” while one stated: “Is evil something u are…or something u do?”
Galaxy fans refuse to forgive Beckham first for opting to return to Europe to play for AC Milan and then for making no secret of his desire to stay at the San Siro.
The apparent snub has angered some Galaxy fans, notably a hardcore that sit in the so-called LA Riot Squad section.
Beckham explained afterwards in comments broadcast on Sky Sports News: “I tried to shake one of the guy’s hands but he didn’t want any of it. That’s the way it is.”
Beckham is an idiot. The worst thing he could have done was to let the fans know that their jeering gets under his skin. He now can look forward to it only getting worse.
Jon Miller takes on that wacky thing called the World Wide Internet Web
Dan Steinberg, blogger for the Washington Post and now also of the The Sporting Blog, talked with Giants and ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller about all sorts of stuff, including the Internet. Steinberg asked Miller what he thought of the Internet and if he read blogs. Personally, this is always my favorite old guy question. Miller concerning the Internet:
But if somebody just says, this guy sucks, or he stinks? Well, that’s not interesting to me. You know, there’s nothing I can do with it. With Joe, you know, Joe knows a LOT about the game. Whether occasionally he mangles the language or says something that maybe comes out different from what he meant to say, like a million other ballplayers, that all could be. But they told me that there’s a Web site called FireJoeMorgan.com or something. Well, what’s the point of that? That’s just mean, mean-spirited. I mean, what is the actual point?
What’s the point of Fire Joe Morgan? It’s purpose couldn’t be more clear. It’s to get ESPN to fire Joe Morgan.
Joe Morgan is the worst baseball broadcaster currently working behind a mike. The fact that he broadcasts to a national audience is ridiculous. When he’s not butchering the English language, he is getting a facts or statistics wrong. When he’s not doing that, he’s just making stuff up.
The only reason he has a job with ESPN is because he used to play baseball a long time ago. He’s in the Hall of Fame so he must have been pretty good. He hasn’t played in over 25 years, so it’s hard to remember. The fact of the matter is that a good many of today’s baseball players weren’t even born yet when he played baseball.
Why would anyone assume that Morgan possess some kind of special knowledge that makes him uniquely qualified to broadcast a baseball game? Because he used to play baseball? I don’t get that. He’s no more qualified to call a baseball game then a guy with a good radio voice is qualified to turn a double play.
Unfortunate ad placement on ESPN soccer page
ESPN Soccer ran a sad story yesterday about Suleiman Alphonso Omondi, a 29-year-old Kenyan who committed suicide by hanging himself with his Arsenal soccer jersey. He had just got done watching Arsenal lose to Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final with some friends at a pub. After the match, he left the pub crying.
It’s the last time he was seen alive.
The next day, he was found dead, hanging from a noose fashioned from the Arsenal jersey he had been wearing the night before. If this wasn’t sad enough, directly under the story was a Google ad for an Arsenal jersey. An Arsenal jersey just like the one Suleiman Alphonso Omondi used to kill himself with.
Click the image to see a much larger version.
One might think the self proclaimed world-wide leader in sports would not make a gaff like this. I guess not.
No baseball for Sirius satellite radio subscribers
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season starts tomorrow and it looks like Sirius XM subscribers who subscribe to the satellite radio service with a Sirius radio will not be able to listen to games like their XM counterparts, even if they are paying extra for the “Best of XM” package.
The reason for this is that even though the two satellite radio providers were finally allowed by the Federal government to merge into one company, Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin insists on running the merged satellite radio company as though it is really two separate companies. Though he was able to quickly strike a deal with the NFL, the NHL, NASCAR, and the NBA to allow both XM and Sirius to broadcast live games and/or events, he was not able to work something out with MLB.
MLB wanted more money to allow games to be broadcast on Sirius. XM Radio had already pre-paid MLB for the rights to broadcast every game up to March of 2011.
I think this is a problem in that out of all the major sports, baseball is the only one that is actually worth listening to on the radio. When I listen to a baseball game on the radio, I can easily see the game play out in my mind’s eye. I’ve listened to games on the radio and then later watched highlights of these same games on ESPN. The events transpired exactly like what I imagined.
I can’t say the same thing for any other sport.
A-Rod sits down with Peter Gammons and talks about the loosy goosy era of baseball
Alex Rodriguez tells ESPN’s Peter Gammons that he is sorry for what he did, but he fails to say exactly what it is he did. He refuses to state what exactly he took and he refuses to state where he got it. It almost sounded as though he was blaming everything on GNC. He mentions the vitamin retailer quite a bit.
A-Rod insists that since 2004, he has been completely clean of banned performance enhancing substances.
He also has quite a bit of anger for Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts. He said that she is a stalker that is making things up.
I’m not sure A-Rod is in any position to judge the truthfulness of anyone.
Jamal Anderson arrested on drug charges
Former Atlanta Falcons running back and current ESPN analyst Jamal Anderson was arrested early Sunday morning on drug possession charges. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the he was jailed in Atlanta early Sunday morning after being charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana.
Evidently Anderson and another man, 20-year old Mark Daniel Hudson, were snorting cocaine off the back of a toilet tank in the men’s room at the Peachtree Tavern at around 3 a.m.
Another man entered the restroom and heard a lot of snorting going on in the stall, as well as seeing two sets of feet in the same stall. This other man then left the restroom and alerted an off-duty Atlanta police officer that there was possible illegal drug use going on inside one of the stalls.
The rest is history.
I don’t know what’s creepier – a former NFL star running back snorting coke off a men’s room toilet or some guy walking into the public restroom and then tattling to an off-duty cop about the things he heard going on in a stall.
I try very hard not to listen to the sounds that can be heard in a public restroom.
Plaxico Burress shoots himself in the leg
New York football Giants Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday:
The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury.
He spent the night in the hospital and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The team is still trying to gather further information on the incident.
Once again Fox Sports breaks a story that ESPN only knows about if they are constantly patrolling the Fox Sports website. I realize that ESPN has crowned itself the worldwide leader in sports, but how many times do they need to get out scooped before the relinquish their crown to Fox Sports?
ESPN sucks.
The NFL has a steroid problem?
It looks like quite a few NFL players have tested positive for steroids. ESPN is reporting that the New Orleans Saints have three players, Deuce McAllister, Will Smith, and Charles Grant have tested positive under the NFL’s steroid policy.
NFL players are taking steroids? What’s next, an ESPN report that players on the road cheat on their wives?
Of course players in the NFL take steroids. Men don’t naturally put on as much muscle as the average NFL lineman or any of the other strength position players without taking extraordinary messages. That includes lifting lots of weights and taking lots of supplements, including steroids.
Steroids don’t make you stronger. They don’t give you more muscles. What they do is allow you to heal and recover quicker. That means you can lift a lot of weights and spend less time recovering in between workouts. Some people mistakenly think steroids allow you to work less, but the complete opposite is true. They allow you to work harder and more often. [ESPN]
Looking for a team to root against in the World Series?
This year’s World Series will be played between the Philadelphia Phillies and the former expansion team the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Unless you live in either city, you might not know who to root for. If that is where you find yourself, allow me to make a suggestion.
Root against the team Dick Vitale roots for.
When not running his mouth as a college basketball commentator (and cheerleader for Duke basketball) on ESPN, Dicky V lives in the Tampa area. Evidently he is a huge, ragging Rays fan.
I hate Dick Vitale. His ridiculous catch phrases and never ending blabber make watching college basketball games on ESPN almost unwatchable. It doesn’t matter what game he is calling. It doesn’t matter what teams are involved. On an excitement scale of 1 to 10, his level of enthusiasm is at constant eleven. It’s annoying. He acts like he has never watched a college basketball game before.
He refers to freshmen players he likes as “diaper dandies“. As if they are so young and inexperienced, they have not yet mastered the skill of not pooing or peeing in their basketball shorts. He likes to refer to players he likes as “PTPers“. I think it stands for “prime time performers”. The absurdity of that phrase is that many big college basketball games on the weekend are played in the early afternoon. The early afternoon is not prime time. Prime time is at night and usually at 8:00 p.m. Most college basketball games start at 7:00 p.m. which means that if someone plays in prime time, they must be coming off the bench long after the game started.
To call Dick Vitale a douche bag is an insult to other douche bags. Just look at this photo of Vitale wearing his Rays jersey. Who wears a collared golf shirt underneath a jersey? Enough said.
I always knew John Elway was kind of a dick
The four-letter sports network is reporting the Hall of Fame Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway is engaged to a 41-year year old former Raiders cheerleader. According to the The Denver Post, Elway met Paige Green three years ago at a Los Angeles celebrity golf tournament.
What’s a former Raiders cheerleader even doing at a “celebrity” golf tournament? That makes me wonder just how celebrity the tournament was.
I find this news somewhat shocking in that the last I heard, Elway was happily married to the mother of his four children. In fact, I remember something about his wife being a colon cancer survivor. For all I know, they divorced a long time ago and Raiderette Paige Green had nothing to do with the break up. I would go look it up on Wikipedia, but I would hate to find out that Elway didn’t dump his cancer surviving wife for this woman.
This is just wrong. Raiders, even former Raiders cheerleaders, don’t have sex with Broncos. It’s unnatural and perverted. It’s an abomination. If she is going to do John Elway, it makes we question just how committed to the Silver and Black she ever was. Paige Green is bringing great shame to the once proud football franchise.
I hate John Elway. [ESPN]
Erin Andrews is a girl
I didn’t know ESPN had it’s own unprofessionally dressed, flirty sports babe/sidelines reporter. I don’t think I’ve watched an ESPN Sunday Night baseball game all year and I think that’s her regular gig. Evidently, I’m one of the few people around that wasn’t aware of her.
One of the many people aware of who Erin Andrews is and what she does is columnist Mike Nadel. In a recent column he wrote:
Erin Andrews, the ESPN “it” babe who clearly isn’t afraid to flaunt it, sauntered around the visiting clubhouse, flitting from one Cubs player to another. Her skimpy outfit — designed to accentuate her, um, positives — had players leering at her. Some made lewd comments under their breath. Others giggled like 12-year-olds.
I imagine being a female reporter in a male dominated field is hard enough without having to guess if your skirt is short enough or if you have any unsightly panty lines.
It seems she’s dressing to attract male attention and that’s too bad. She might actually be good at what she does, but if she continues to dress in a certain way, that’s what she will be known for.
A very similar problem once plagued Chris Berman. Word has it early in his career he would often wear assless leather chaps and nipple clamps while walking the sidelines of sporting events. He quickly realized that if he continued flaunting his sex appeal for the sake of getting a story, people would only look at him as a boy-toy and not a respected sports journalist.
Mike Nadel: Blonde bombshell can’t distract red-hot Cubs [Norwich Bulletin]
Michael Wilbon is not a fan of big boy pants
Evidently Washington Post columnist and ESPN PTI co-host Michael Wilbon hates wearing long paints in the summer time. Knowing first hand just how hot it is right now in the Washington DC area, I really can’t blame him. In fact, I’m wearing shorts right now too.
This reminds me of when I had my high school senior portrait taken. I too was wearing a jacket and tie above the waist and OP corduroy shorts and Vans slip-on shoes below it. Good times!
The Only Thing Michael Wilbon Hates More Than Sports Bloggers Is Pants (Mister Irrelevant)
If only both teams could lose
The Yankees play Boston tonight on the ESPN. I can’t ever figure out which team I hate the most. The Yankees are the Yankees. The Red Sox are kind of like the Yankees version 2.0. Just like the Yankees, they rely on high priced free agents to win championships.
Boston fans are even more obnoxious then Yankees fans. That’s something I didn’t even know was possible.
The game tonight will be called by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. These two men are as complete polar opposites as two people can be. Miller is one of the best play by play men in baseball while Joe Morgan is semi-mentally retarded. You know that guy at work that is constantly saying things and telling stories that are just not true?
Joe Morgan is just like that guy.
(Photo: Deadspin)
Retired Brett Favre asks for unconditional contractual release from the Packers
It looks as though the all-time leader in interceptions thrown has second thoughts about being retired. Perhaps he found out that nowhere else other then in the training rooms of the NFL do they hand out Vicodin pills like Pez candy. The four letter network is reporting that Favre sent a letter via overnight mail to the Green Bay Packers asking for his unconditional contractual release.
The hilarity that will ensue as a result of this is mind boggling. If Favre were to sign with the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears, fat guys all across Wisconsin that wear a big chunk of foam rubber cheese on their head and name their first born son “Lombardi” will likely have strokes.
NBC hires Dan Patrick
Looks like Dan Patrick has got himself a new job. From the New York Times:
Dan Patrick, who left ESPN last year to create his own syndicated radio program and write a column for Sports Illustrated, will join NBC Sports where he will be reunited with Keith Olbermann to call the NFL highlights on “Football Night in America.” NBC is scheduled to make the announcement at 2 p.m. Eastern.
NBC is looking to recreate the chemistry and quirky humor that Patrick and Olbermann demonstrated when they were co-anchors on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” which they dubbed “The Big Show.” Olbermann joined “Football Night” last year, but is best known now as the host of MSNBC’s nightly “Countdown” program.
Recreate the chemistry? I’d argue that any chemistry the two co-hosts had was before people realized Olbermann could be such a narcissistic, misogynistic douche bag. He didn’t have any of his politically polarizing “Special Comments” back when he was on ESPN. I’m not sure adding Patrick to the mix is going to help. Olbermann is clearly not the same person he was in during this stint at ESPN.
Not that I really understand the attraction of NFL football on Sunday night. I don’t get to watch NFL football on Sunday night. I live on the east coast and I work for a living. I can’t stay up till midnight on a Sunday night to watch football.
Nazi war criminal spotted at the Euro 2008
It turns out I’m not the only one getting into the Euro 2008 football (soccer) championships. An internationally wanted Nazi war criminal has been spotted supporting his national team at the Euro 2008 football championships in Austria.
Milivoj Asner is wanted by Interpol for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during his service as a police chief in Croatia during the Second World War, when the country was ruled by a Nazi puppet regime.
But Mr Asner, 95, who now lives a quiet and undisturbed life in Klagenfurt, Austria, has been seen taking leisurely walks, sipping wine with his wife Edeltrat and mingling with Croatian football fans prior to the matches of his country’s national team.
He is the number four on the most wanted list of the Nazi-hunters and Croatia has demanded his extradition.
You’d think being #4 on the Nazi-hunter most wanted list would make a person stay at home and watch the games on ESPN. Do they have ESPN in Austria?
They are the worldwide leader in sports.
There is a reason they call soccer ‘The Beautiful Game’
Poland faces Germany in the first round action of the 2008 European Championship. This photo ran in a major Polish newspaper. It shows the Polish manager holding the severed heads of German footballers Michael Ballack and Joachim Loew.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say somebody in Poland has a score to settle with Germany.
The games will be shown live on ESPN. The schedule can be found here.
(Photo: The Spoiler)
Marvin Harrison shoots at a guy with a fancy Belgian handgun he keeps in a bucket at a car wash
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison is under investigation in his hometown of Philadelphia in a shooting that took place earlier this week. From ESPN:
The source said the alleged victim came into the bar, Playmakers, around 5 p.m. and engaged in an argument with Harrison, who was at the bar. The victim then left the bar, heading to his car, with Harrison following. Gunfire broke out, the victim was hit in the hand, and a young girl was slightly injured by flying glass from a car that apparently was hit by a bullet.
Police came to scene, but the victim did not identify a shooter. On Wednesday, according to the source, ballistic tests showed that the gun that had fired the shots was a custom-made Belgian weapon, and police determined that Harrison owned such a gun. A source told ESPN.com’s John Clayton that the gun is registered.
Police then went to a Philadelphia car wash owned by Harrison to question him about the gun. Harrison admitted owning such a weapon, but claimed it never left his suburban Philadelphia home.
However, the source said the gun was discovered in a bucket at the car wash, and tests showed that it had fired seven bullets that matched those found at the scene.
What an idiot. I don’t know what’s more dumb – shooting a guy with lots and lots of people around to witness the event or shooting a guy with an expensive and exotic handgun that almost nobody else other then a spoiled professional athlete could afford.
Why does he even feel the need to shoot somebody? Hasn’t he read coach Tony Dungy’s book, “Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life.” I haven’t gotten around to reading it myself, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t recommend shooting people with your custom-made Belgian handgun.
Then again, maybe it does.
Former Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada actually two years older then he claims
It turns out that when Miguel Tejada signed his first professional baseball contract in the Dominican Republic, he was 19 and not 17 as he claimed. He’s been lying about his age ever since.
At least to Major League Baseball. According to the Houston Astros — the team he plays for now — his green card, his driver’s license, and everything else that he uses in his personal life shows that he was born in 1974. Everything in baseball shows that he was born in 1976.
The thing I don’t understand is how his correct date of birth appears on his green card, yet none of the teams he has played for knew his correct age. Not only do they have to look at his green card, I believe they have to retain a copy of his green card.
Why didn’t anyone look at it?
If he has been lying about his age, what else could he be lying about? In 2005 Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for ten days after testing positive for steroids. Acording to ESPN, Palmeiro implicated Miguel Tejada to baseball’s arbitration panel saying that Tejada was responsible for his positive test. Palmeiro claimed the only thing he had ever injected himself with was vitamin B12 supplied by Tejada.
Could the B12 have really been the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol?
I’ll be totally honest and admit that I never liked Miguel Tejada. He always seemed too fat to be a shortstop. I thought he swung at the first pitch too much. He had decent numbers. I guess. I don’t think he was worth what the Orioles were paying him, but what else is new? I was glad when they traded him to the Astros.
More creepy Chris Berman videos
I normally try not to post too many YouTube videos, but that rule goes out the window if it’s something that makes ESPN’s resident blow hard Chris Berman look like the douche that I know he is.In this clip, we see Chris Berman get kind of creepy with a female named Rebeca on the set for Berman’s Monday Night Football half-time segment. He gave her a bottle of wine for Christmas and he is asking if she enjoyed it. “Did you think of me when you drank it? Did you squirm a little bit?” He asks while gyrating in his chair.
Squirm? I know I winced while watching this video.
I’m not sure, but I think Berman is trying to do an offensive Asian impersonation. Rebeca told Berman that she drank the bottle in a Japanese restaurant. Pay close attention to the video at the 35 second mark. I think that is Berman trying to do an offensive Asian impersonation.
It’s obvious Berman knows just a little too much about wine and it’s a miracle that he has never been the focus of a sexual harassment lawsuit. It’s also obvious with the way these videos are being leaked that someone over at ABC hates Berman more then I do.
I didn’t even know that was possible.
Deadspin: The Book
I woke up this morning at oh-dark-thirty to find a Borders Rewards 40% off coupon in my email. They routinely email coupons, none are higher then 40%. When I get one, I try to get over to Borders to use it.
I also learned today that Will Leitch, editor of the sports blog Deadspin wrote a book, God Save the Fan.
It came out last week, but I didn’t learn of it until today.
Deadspin is for people that enjoy sports, but despise the ESPNization of sports. People like me. I first learned of Deadspin from reading a blog post written by fellow Hagerstown blogger Jennifer Benningfield at Trapper Jenn DC.
The book retails for $25, but thanks to my coupon I got it for $15 and some change.
While standing in line at Borders, I flipped it open and on the the first page I went to had a photo of ESPN blow hard Chris Berman sitting on a sofa with a bunch of strippers.
I just know I’m going to love this book.
Sacred religious figures and college football do not mix
ESPN has suspended one of it’s anchors for saying something rude and crude at a roast. Dana Jacobson was at a roast for ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Why these two knuckle heads were getting a roast is beyond me. I like Mike Golic, but Mike Greenberg gets on my nerves and I wish he would just go away.
Jacobson was suspended for making fun of Notre Dame’s Touchdown Jesus. Mike Golic is a former Notre Dame football player. Jacobson went to Michigan where they have a heated rivalry with Notre Dame. She is also Jewish.
This caught the attention of the Catholic League. Overreacting to every little thing is what the Catholic League does best. Bill Donahue, the blow hard in charge of the Catholic League makes sport of getting people fired that say or do anything negative concerning the Catholic church. It’s what he does.
I’m not trying to defend Dana Jacobson. I think what she did was incredibly stupid. Saying You know what else I think is stupid? To allow a religious icon that is cherished by over a billion people to be associated with the word “touchdown”. It was only a matter of time before something stupid like this happened. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
I don’t think Bill Donahue would have had a problem if Dana Jacobson said something retarded or insulting about the Syracuse Orangeman mascot or the Maryland Turtle. That’s not to say that Jesus is the mascot for Notre Dame. I think they have a red headed boy dressed like a leprechaun. The thing is, they haven’t done anything to discourage people from referring to the mural as “Touchdown Jesus”.
Maybe they should.
The Notre Dame website even refers to the mural as Touchdown Jesus. It states that artist Millard Sheets was commissioned to create a work large enough to cover the southern face of the tower, visible from the football stadium. The artwork never made much sense to me. If Jesus isn’t signaling a touchdown, what is he doing?
I think it’s meant to look as though Jesus is signaling a touchdown, but it’s meant to be oh so subtle. Why else would they have required it to be seen from the stadium?
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