February 27, 2009

Link-O-Rama

  • Based on this photo of CC Sabathia at his first spring training with the Yankees it may not be too late to begin my pitching career.
  • Normally when a fat guy takes off his belt it just means he's preparing for a second trip to the buffet, but in LenDale White's case it means you should probably duck.
  • Remind me not to have Jerry Zgoda write my obituary:

    Dying to be loved. Born to be hated. And now Rashad McCants has been traded. ... McCants overcame microfracture knee surgery his rookie year to become the Wolves' second-leading scorer last season, but his streaky and unabashed shooting, his reluctance to pass the ball, his propensity to commit turnovers and maybe his moodiness left him on the team's bench since early January.

    Sure, but other than that.

  • John Mayer wrote a touching song to celebrate Conan O'Brien's move to The Tonight Show.
  • In case going from stridently anti-blogger newspaper columnist to radio show host with a blog of his own wasn't enough of a switch for Patrick Reusse, he's also now on Twitter. I'm not even on Twitter.
  • When he's not dancing with the JabbaWockeeZ at All-Star games, Shaquille O'Neal is using Twitter to give away tickets at malls and meet fans at restaurants. Let's see Reusse do that.
  • Here's the uncut video of LeBron James scoring 16 points in two minutes against the Bucks:


    Gatorade had a commercial a couple years ago that utilized special effects to show James effortlessly sinking full-court shots, but the above footage of him repeatedly sprinting to a spot on the floor in order to launch off-balance 25-foot jumpers over out-stretched defenders would be infinitely less plausible if it didn't actually happen earlier this week in Milwaukee. I'd call it the heat check to end all heat checks, but it's more like compelling evidence of alien life form on earth. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.
  • I've criticized Ron Gardenhire plenty, but I'll never question his taste in music or hit-and-run targets.
  • When the supermodel you're dating vows to remain a virgin until marriage ... well, no wonder Marko Jaric wanted to get married before the actual wedding.
  • According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Telly Hughes is leaving his job as sideline reporter for Twins games on FSN to take the same gig covering the Brewers. My television was probably on mute for about 90 percent of Hughes' reports, but he almost always looked sharp while seemingly passing along misinformation about injuries whenever the volume was up. Unfortunately for Hughes, there's no amount of dressing well that can make him easier on the eyes than predecessor Trenni Kusnierek.
  • I'm sad to report that one of my all-time favorite movie characters, Lawrence Cohen of The Goonies, no longer looks like a "Chunk."
  • I'm among the world's biggest Adam Carolla fans, but his morning radio show ending because the Los Angeles station switched formats last week actually qualifies as great news. In three years hosting the morning show Carolla unfortunately shifted further and further away from the rants and personal stories that made his time on Loveline so great, but he's gone back to basics with a daily bare bones podcast free of program directors, commercial breaks, traffic-and-weather updates, and co-hosts.

    He launched the podcast Monday and so far it's just Carolla sitting in his living room with a microphone and a guest, yet there are already hundreds of thousands of subscribers and I'm already back to being giddy about listening to him each day instead of relying upon decade-old Loveline recordings. His first week had Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Simmons, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and Dave Dameshek as guests and other "dear, dear friends" like David Alan Grier, Norm MacDonald, and Dana Gould are on tap. Good times!

    Oh, and Carolla also has a new sitcom in the works for CBS.

  • Speaking of Carolla, Simmons, and podcasts, they teamed up on ESPN.com earlier this week for 90 minutes of non-stop chatter that was so good it may qualify as the highlight of my month. Seriously.
  • When he wasn't podcasting with Carolla, Simmons was in Baron Davis' kitchen hanging out with the Clippers' point guard and Jessica Alba's husband.
  • Friend of AG.com Sean Forman is now a millionaire, which is beyond well deserved for the creator of Baseball-Reference.com and one hell of a nice guy.
  • In one of his spring training updates on the Minneapolis Star Tribune's website last week LaVelle E. Neal III checked in from Florida to note: "Jim Souhan has arrived to take our coverage to the next level." Saddest statement yet about the newspaper industry's decline or strongest case ever made for HTML needing a "sarcasm" tag? You decide!
  • His timing is off by a decade or so, but Larry Johnson has good taste in mid-90s pop stars.
  • Luckily for them no one buys fast food because of how it looks.
  • With the newspaper world falling apart, ESPN has smartly begun preparing to fill the inevitable gaps in local sports coverage.
  • David Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner wrote a great piece analyzing the impact and importance of outfield defense. While his analysis focuses on who the Mariners should play in left field, substituting "Denard Span" for "Endy Chavez" and "Delmon Young" for "Ken Griffey Jr." basically turns it into a Twins article.
  • My efforts to promote Rotoworld's online Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide now include an interview with Steve Marantz over at Sports Media Guide and a weekly Saturday afternoon appearance on Pittsburgh radio with Pirates postgame show host Rocco DeMaro. I'm still not a big fan of calling into radio shows because not being able to see the other person bothers me for some odd reason, but if anyone else is interested in doing a written Q&A while helping me pimp the Draft Guide just let me know.
  • Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Van Morrison's live version of "Sweet Thing":


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