Link-O-Rama
You want links? Well, I've got links ...
In addition to be being an extremely rich man who is attempting to become the first minority owner in NFL history, Reggie Fowler also apparently does a great George O'Leary impression. I understand why "discrepancies" in a person's resume would matter to someone potentially hiring them, but do they really matter if the person in question is going to buy the company? Thankfully, my resume isn't nearly impressive enough to include any fake stuff.
Remember Joel Przybilla, the seven-footer who played for the Gophers, left school amid some controversy, and was drafted in the first round back in 2000? Contrary to popular belief, he is actually still alive. For the first time in his career, Przybilla has been getting significant playing time, starting games for the Trail Blazers. Check out the numbers he has put up in his last three games:
MIN FGM FGA PTS REB BLK
32 7 10 14 11 5
39 8 11 19 17 3
40 8 12 18 17 6
Wow. In 20 total starts for Portland, Przybilla is averaging 10.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 8.6 points on 64.4% shooting, while playing 30.3 minutes per game. I hate to say this, since Przybilla broke everyone in Minnesota's heart and all, but the Timberwolves sure could use a guy who rebounds and shot blocks like that.
Incidentally, I learned a lot about the fleeting nature of loyalty from Przybilla. Seriously. The 2000 NBA Draft was held at Target Center in Minneapolis and I was in attendance (for future reference, NBA drafts aren't particularly exciting live). Przybilla was expected to be a high first-round pick, and so footage of him was included in the various montages that were played on the scoreboard. Each time he was shown, he was booed.
Then, when he was taken with the ninth pick and stepped up on stage to shake hands with David Stern, he was booed to the point that Stern looked embarrassed for him. Later, when he was doing an interview on a side stage with Craig Sager from TNT, he was booed to the point that you'd have thought Adolph Hitler had just been taken with the 10th pick and then sent to Denver in a three-team trade. And all of this came just a couple months after 13,000 people in Williams Arena cheered like maniacs for Przybilla on a regular basis. I actually wrote about this situation in some depth a little while back.
Here's a story about someone losing their job at a newspaper because of things they wrote on their personal blog. Thankfully for me, I don't really have a job to get fired from, so the things I write on this blog only keep me from getting work. (It's funny because it's true.)
At the other end of the spectrum, here's a link to a new blog written by Marc Lancaster, the Cincinnati Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Post. There is nothing earth-shattering on the blog (he's not exactly in a position to crack jokes about Ken Griffey Jr.'s injury history, for example), but there is plenty of interesting stuff about the Reds at spring training.
I talked in the past about how people enjoy blogs because they can cover things that don't easily fit in the newspaper, so it's only natural to have the guy who actually writes the newspaper articles start up a blog with all that extra stuff. It was only a matter of time. If the Official Twins Beat Writer of AG.com, La Velle E. Neal, were to write a blog like this, I would read every Jacque Jones-loving word.
I'm not sure why, but I am always shocked beyond belief when a cast member of The Real World ends up doing some legitimate with their lives. You know, rather than cashing checks from Real World/Road Rules Challenge shows for the rest of their life. First the hot Australian girl from The Real World: London started showing up in big-budget movies, and now the hot virgin/tomboy from The Real World: Paris showed up in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. There's a joke to be made about Eric Nies here, but I'm too nice to make it.
The good news is that ESPN.com recently hired John Hollinger, one of the best and most stat-heavy basketball writers around. The bad news is that Hollinger's writing is going to join Rob Neyer's behind the for-pay "ESPN Insider" wall. The really bad news is that there was a semi-secret way to access the ESPN Insider content for free, but ESPN.com slammed that door shut this week.
Speaking of Neyer, here's a link to his review of Jose Canseco's new book in the New York Observer. Although I'm certain I will never read the book (willingly, at least), I have to say that observing the reaction to it in the media is rather amusing.
And finally, over at his new blog, John Sickels recently unveiled his rankings for the Twins' top 20 prospects. I am working on something similar for next month (along with my annual overall top 50), and I was surprised to see some of John's rankings. For instance, he's extremely high on Jesse Crain, and while Crain is an elite relief prospect if there ever was one, I'm not sure anyone besides a once-in-a-lifetime reliever can be among the best prospects in baseball. Go check out John's rankings and join in on the discussion that follows.
Today at The Hardball Times:
- Bridging The Gap To Greatness (by John Brattain)
