September 15, 2005

Link-O-Rama

  • The good people over at Dead Spin -- I never know who to credit something with on a blog that has multiple authors -- wrote up just about everything you'd ever want to know about Bill Simmons' new book without actually reading it. I'm not sure whether it's thriftiness, laziness or the fact that many book publishers now send me complimentary copies of new releases, but I have yet to buy Simmons' book.

    Judging from the fact that I am just now reading Alan Schwarz's The Numbers Game -- which, in addition to being written by one of my favorite writers, was universally praised as one of the best sports books of last year -- I'd say I will get to Simmons' book sometime around 2018. But hey, did I mention that The Hardball Times Baseball Annual: 2006 is available for pre-order?

  • I've been known to get worked up over the attention paid to Derek Jeter by the mainstream media and I also happen to think that Tom Brady is football's version of Jeter. You can take that for whatever it's worth, but in addition to the negative connotations implied you should know that I think Jeter will deservedly end up in the Hall of Fame someday. In other words, both Jeter and Brady are significantly overrated and fawned upon far too often, but they're also really, really good.

    Why do I bring this up? Because Jason Sehorn, who was significantly overrated, fawned upon far too often, and not very good at all, made headlines in Boston earlier this week for his comments about Brady on ESPN Radio. I didn't really think Sehorn's comments were that outrageous -- he basically said Peyton Manning is a lot better than Brady and he'd even take Marc Bulger over him -- but I did think it was funny that one of the most overrated athletes of all time would have the balls to say someone else is overrated.

    And, of course, Brady responded with a classy, subtle jab back at Sehorn:

    People can say what they want, and we'll just line up and play. Unfortunately, a lot of people who get attention in the league are the self promoters who talk about how good they are, how good their teams are -- and they don't seem to come through a whole lot.

    When you're a player whose claims to fame are being a rare white guy who played cornerback (badly), having ridiculously toned abs, and marrying an attractive actress, you should probably stay out of the player-evaluation game. Oh, and Angie Harmon is nearly as overrated as Sehorn (and probably about as good at covering wide receivers).

  • Speaking of toned abs, there is now a rule in Minnesota that bans high-school cheerleaders from exposing their "midriffs or torsos." I came to the sad realization a while back that at 22 years old I am probably a little too old to be ogling high-school girls, but the bill still makes me upset. It's not that I care what cheerleaders are wearing, but rather the idea that people pushed to have such a bill passed annoys me.

    There are so many people in this country trying to ban and censor so many different things that don't matter at all, from video games, radio shows, and television to drugs, cheerleading outfits, and sex. If we could collectively take 99% of the effort and attention given to issues like what cheerleaders are wearing and apply it to things that actually matter to the average person ... well, I'd have a lot less stuff to complain about here.

  • At the risk of receiving a whole lot of angry e-mails, I'd like to introduce a new feature that may just become a regular staple of this blog ...

    The Week in Waffle Crappers:

    * Jessica Alba looking as good as a human being can possibly look in a swimsuit.

    * Alba looking slightly less spectacular and a whole lot more clothed in Entertainment Weekly.

    * Christina Aguilera, whom I've never really been a huge fan of, looking ridiculously good while subtlely showing off some, um, body jewelry.

    (Don't worry, everything linked at this blog is "safe for work." Well, unless you work with the people who banned the torso-exposing cheerleading outfits, I guess.)

  • This picture is amusing on a number of levels. And it's Team Jolie in a blowout.
  • Here's a headline you probably won't see on ESPN.com anytime soon: "Stu Scott named most loathsome person at ESPN." Booyah!
  • One of the nice things about having a job that requires you to read dozens of newspapers from across the country every day is that you occasionally stumble across comedy gold like this story from the Boston Globe:

    For the second straight year, a sheep has been stolen from the Natural Resources Trust of Easton, abused, and left inside of a dormitory at Stonehill College.

    According to Robert Babineau, executive director of the trust, the sheep was taken Sept. 3, spray-painted in black, dressed in a bra, and placed inside a Stonehill dorm.

    [...]

    Officials believe that students at the college may be responsible for the theft because of a similar incident that occurred last year. A sheep was stolen from the trust, dressed in a bra, and put in a dormitory.

    No paint was involved in the earlier incident.

    Wait, it gets better:

    In the latest case, the sheep, as well as a chicken, were taken from an educational location of the trust's land on Main Street in Easton called the Sheep Pasture.

    [...]

    While the chicken is unharmed, Babineau said, the sheep seemed distraught from the experience.

    Perhaps he heard the sad news that the E! canceled Taradise.

  • Here's a quote from Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth about Steelers running back Willie Parker that could be really interesting if taken completely out of context:

    He's not more powerful, he's just faster and he's slick. I mean, it was like the guy had Vaseline on or something.

    I'll trust everyone to create their own punchline here.

    • Today at The Hardball Times:
    - The Truth Hurts (by John Brattain)
    - Rube Bressler Redux? (by Dan Fox)

    Today's Picks (100-90, +$845):
    Detroit (Johnson) +210 over Los Angeles (Lackey)

    Saturday's Picks:
    Oklahoma +7 (-110) over UCLA
    Michigan State +6 (-110) over Notre Dame
    Illinois +21.5 (-110) over California

    Sunday's Picks:
    Pittsburgh -6 (-110) over Houston
    St. Louis +1 (-110) over Arizona
    Kansas City -1 (-110) over Oakland


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