December 30, 2011

Link-O-Rama

Boof Bonser is back with San Francisco on a minor-league contract, so Giants fans are surely just fine with that trade now.

• As always, corrections are a very important part of journalism.

John Biggs of the New York Times did an interesting article about who owns Twitter accounts and their followers, which is something Judd Zulgad had to deal with locally when he switched from the Minneapolis Star Tribune to 1500-ESPN.

Glen Perkins is one of the few professional athletes worth following on Twitter, and not just because he shares my desire for Ricky Rubio to make neck beards acceptable in Minnesota.

• On a related note Britt Robson has a nice article at SI.com analyzing Rubio's first two games.

• As part of an ongoing series of posts about transitioning from lawyer to baseball writer Craig Calcaterra explained how I ruined his life.

Scott Raab of Esquire has a pretty accurate take on why writers write.

• Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com candidate Kelly Brook's annual calendar is out.

• If you stick around until (or fast forward to) the end of this week's "Gleeman and The Geek" episode you can hear my dieting advice, which is a lot like Drew Butera sharing his hitting tips.

• Even if the lockout soured you on the NBA this welcome back video from TNT was amazing:

Kevin Love makes an appearance fighting for a rebound with Jerry Lucas.

April Ludgate highlights are the best highlights.

Keith Law, who left Baseball Prospectus to take a job in the Blue Jays' front office a decade ago, may soon be leaving ESPN.com to take a job in the Astros' front office. That could put an end to his Twitter account, but hopefully they'd at least let him keep reviewing Top Chef.

• My favorite football announcer, Mike Mayock, got some much-deserved national praise from Sports Illustrated media critic Richard Deitsch.

• Maria Menounos' football career continues.

• Sadly, this is a fitting end to a spectacularly awful year in Minnesota sports.

• Earlier this week I fell asleep with my laptop on and woke up to find this page on the screen, which is extra weird/nerdy when you consider I haven't played the game in at least 10 years.

• I'll still be working from bed in Minnesota, but Elizabeth Kim of the Stamford Advocate penned a lengthy article about the new 300,000-square foot NBC Sports offices in Connecticut.

• It's painful for me to see Michael Jordan with his new wife after eating "Juanita's macaroni and cheese" at his restaurant in Chicago about 20 years ago. It was good, too.

John Legend's taste is apparently even better than his voice.

Don Cherry's hockey analysis and flamboyant suits are well known, but he has another skill:

Imagine how much more work would get done around the world if everyone had a piano desk.

Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post wrote an intriguing column examining the prominent role marijuana plays in professional sports.

• Congrats to one of my favorite baseball writers, Matthew Leach, for his MLB.com promotion from Cardinals beat reporter to national columnist.

• Podcast recommendation: "Your Mom's House" with Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitsky.

• I didn't know Greg Spira well, but got a chance to see him each year at the SABR convention and he was a great guy despite getting a raw deal health-wise. He'll definitely be missed.

• For anyone curious about what Hanukkah cookie-making looks like, here's a blurry picture.

• My beloved Hardball Dynasty league on WhatIfSports.com starts a new season next week. If you're interested in joining, click here for more details.

• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Billy Bragg singing a live, solo version of "A New England" from 1985:

September 16, 2011

Link-O-Rama

This week's Link-O-Rama is sponsored by the Minnesota law firm Snyder Gislason Frasier LLC, so please help support AG.com by considering them for your legal needs ...

• I'd like to have seen the FBI agent's face when this case landed on his desk.

• Three words: Amish beard mugshots. And the reason for their arrests is funny too.

• It looks like Pablo Sandoval found all the weight I lost. And last night he hit for the cycle.

• Congrats to Tina Fey and Sarah Silverman for being exactly as cool as my mother.

• More importantly: How does Rob Pelinka fit into all of this?

• Hardball Talk "fan fiction" is kind of freaking me out, although at least Craig Calcaterra and Tiffany Simons appear to be the focus.

• I attended an advance screening of Moneyball and wrote a review of the movie, which comes out on September 23 and stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane. We also spent the first 20 minutes of this week's "Gleeman and The Geek" podcast discussing the film immediately after seeing it.

• On a related note: It seems like there's a pretty decent chance Pitt and Angelina Jolie have had a conversation about Wins Above Replacement. Talk about fan fiction.

• Breaking news: Male sex symbol from 2010s sort of resembles male sex symbol from 1990s.

• What does a 19-year-old guy ask for from Make-A-Wish? Christina Hendricks, of course.

• Former big leaguer Curtis Leskanic got really, really, really drunk and drove around with his 5-year-old daughter before passing out at the wheel.

• Sadly, this weird story didn't get the "woman dies of hot beef injection" headline it deserved.

• I think we should all pool our money together and buy Ted Williams' MVP award.

• This cinematic history of "shut up" is pretty great:

In the interest of accuracy, many of them have two other words between the "shut" and "up."

Jimmy McNulty and Lester Freamon, together again.

• It turns out Mariano Rivera doesn't even like Metallica or "Enter Sandman" and the Yankees only picked it for him because they wanted to copy Trevor Hoffman's entrance in San Diego.

Robb Quinlan's eight-year career in the big leagues ended last season, so he's headed back to the University of Minnesota as a volunteer hitting instructor for the Gophers. If nothing else, Quinlan should be able to teach the hitters how to mash lefties.

• It sounds as though Rick Adelman thinks about as much of general manager David Kahn as Timberwolves fans do. My prediction: Adelman outlasts Kahn in Minnesota.

• It wasn't the most uplifting movie, but I recommend Down to the Bone on Netflix instant. Vera Farmiga plays an excellent drug addict and is still less depressing than the Twins' season.

• Congrats to Tom Pelissero for taking over the 6-8 pm show on 1500-ESPN. Competition has turned this into a great era for local sports radio.

• Next year's Society for American Baseball Research convention is in Minnesota and yesterday SABR announced the dates: June 27 to July 1. I'll definitely be there, because I haven't missed a convention since going to my first one way back in 2004, and I'm hoping a bunch of AG.com readers and my fellow Twins bloggers will check it out. If you like baseball, drinking, poker, and shooting the shit it isn't to be missed. More later, obviously, but for now save the date.

• Speaking of which: "He was one of the most laid back characters I've ever met" is maybe the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me. And the part about beer is right too.

Anthony Bourdain was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast earlier this week and was every bit as great as expected, talking food and fame and drugs and tons of other interesting stuff.

• Marlins prospect Matt Dominguez's father is a Los Angeles Times copy editor and wrote a fun article about attending his son's big-league debut last week.

John Bonnes, Seth Stohs, Nick Nelson, and Parker Hageman have planned a TwinsCentric get-together for September 24 (which is next Saturday) at Manitou Station in White Bear Lake. Not the most convenient location, but there's a Twins-Indians doubleheader that day and their meetups are always a good time, so I'll be making the trek and we'll likely record an episode of "Gleeman and The Geek" there while everyone hangs out. For more details, click here.

• Finally, in honor of the 15th anniversary of his death in 1996 this week's AG.com-approved music video is "Changes" by Tupac Shakur:

March 4, 2011

Link-O-Rama

• Next time someone complains that professional athletes are overpaid, show them this.

• I'm convinced this will happen to me some day, except with Pizza Hut and chicken wings.

Rest in peace, Uncle Leo. And my condolences to Cousin Jeffrey at the parks department.

Mila Kunis wasn't actually nominated for anything, but the Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com still managed to win the Academy Awards. Hopefully she will always remember who blogged about her obsessively before it was cool.

Ozzie Guillen basically told Bobby Jenks to check himself before he wrecks himself.

Dr. Dre, Sedale Threatt's ex-wife, Burning Man, and the greatest sign-off to a hand-written love letter of all time: "I'm bout to pass out girl, wish I was up in that ass."

• It never occurred to me that "eating full boxes of Cap'n Crunch" was odd until a big deal was made of CC Sabathia stopping that practice, which is one of many reasons why we're around the same weight and he's 6-foot-7.

• On a related note, I'm not much for feet but there's no doubt Rex Ryan and I could hang.

• Phew. Glad that's settled, finally.

David Brauer of MinnPost writes that things are looking up for the Minneapolis Star Tribune's website, which is a good sign as mainstream outlets figure out how to make money online.

• Not sure if "Where's Waldo?" is even still around, but this needs to replace it immediately.

• Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke dances to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. Sort of:

He seems very undecided about the hat's value.

Doc Gooden and Doc Drew is a sad combination.

• Oregon State defensive lineman Stephen Paea bench-pressed 225 pounds 49 times at the NFL scouting combine, which set the record and earned him the right to be called "hoss" by the always awesome John Lott.

• Such a simple concept and such an amazing site.

• In retrospect, I'm amazed that no one thought of this life-changing invention before now.

• I went into a Borders recently to use a gift certificate before they close up shop and just kept thinking "I can get this cheaper online." Big bookstores like Borders put a ton of mom-and-pop shops out of business because they could sell at a discount thanks to buying in such massive bulk and now Amazon.com is essentially doing the same thing to the big boys. The whole thing is kind of sad, but then again books are cheaper and more readily available now than ever.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote a very good profile of Bill James.

• Baseball-Reference.com mastermind Sean Forman is among the recipients of the Society for American Baseball Research's annual Henry Chadwick award. Well-deserved and then some.

• I'll remember these rules if I ever make it back into another pressbox.

Alyssa Milano is having her first kid and Jessica Alba is having her second kid. Oh well.

Bill Simmons is launching a new, ESPN-funded website and some of the details have leaked out, including his hiring of personal favorites Chuck Klosterman and Katie Baker.

• Meanwhile one of my favorite sports sites, AOL Fanhouse, is no more, as Sporting News sadly bought the name and let go of the many excellent writers who deserved a much better fate.

• Fanhouse is gone, but at least this epic e-mail chain lives on. Craig Calcaterra is everywhere.

• Speaking of Craig, he fell in love at first sight with Jeff Francoeur.

• Way before Rob McElhenney was on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ... well, just watch this:

My favorite part is the attempt to keep things casual with the ultra-scripted "hold up."

Funny podcast of the week: Zach Galifianakis on "Who Charted?" with Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack.

Bryant McKinnie is doing his best to prepare for the potential NFL lockout.

Dennis Green's son and former ESPN.com writer Jeremy Green is expected to serve at least five years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in Connecticut.

• When great beards meet, everyone wins (except Baron Davis, who was traded to Cleveland a couple days later).

• ESPN just got a whole lot more stat-heady.

• Here's a unique look at how Kevin Love fills a statsheet by Matt Scribbins of HoopData.com, who actually e-mailed me saying I should give the article to my NBA-loving mom. I did and the last part made her sad.

• This is definitely one of the better bobblehead giveaways I've seen. Design and function!

• Here's the best argument yet for buying an iPad, although I wouldn't know where to begin.

• A pair of new blogs to check out: Twins Territory Talk and Off The Bench.

• Here are some highlights from my NBCSports.com blogging this week:

- Carlos Ruiz's wife gave birth exactly nine months after Roy Halladay's perfect game
- Elijah Dukes arrested, accused of hitting pregnant ex-girlfriend
- Brandon Phillips wants a long-term contract extension, but do the Reds?
- Ron Gardenhire says Brian Duensing will "absolutely" be in Twins' rotation
- Garret Anderson retires after 17 seasons and 2,529 hits
- White Sox giving Dayan Viciedo a look in the outfield
- Austin Kearns was arrested for a DUI in Kentucky last month
- Jeremy Bonderman is "likely going to sit this year out"
- Carl Pavano seriously considered one-year offer from Yankees

• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is "He Won't Go" by Adele:

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