Before I get to this week's linkfest, here's one last reminder about a little blog event. The boys from Nick & Nick's Twins Blog have planned a "get-together" to watch tomorrow afternoon's game against the Tigers. I'll be there, along with Howard Sinker, Nick Nelson, Nick Mosvick, Trevor Born, and what is likely to be several other Twins bloggers. The first blogger-sponsored get-together of the season was a lot of fun, so if you're interested in attending No. 2, here are the details:
Who: Gleeman, Sinker, Nelson, Mosvick, Born, and other bloggers, blog readers, and Twins fans.
It's not quite tonight's Johan Santana-Justin Verlander matchup, but watching rookies Kevin Slowey and Andrew Miller square off tomorrow should hold our attention.
When I led off an entry with the song's lyrics last week, I didn't realize there was going to be a run on "Hey There Delilah" parodies. This one is perhaps more clever, but this one features an absolute tour de force performance by a once-in-a-generation superstar named Josh Romea:
Bill Neff, the agent for Timberwolves guard Troy Hudson, has asked owner Glen Taylor to trade his client. ... Neff said Friday he has informed Taylor that Hudson would welcome any change of scenery and would like to be traded.
Hudson asking for a trade is akin to someone giving me permission to date Elisha Cuthbert. In both cases, the correct response is: "If I have the ability to do that, don't you think I would have done it a long time ago?" Of course, Hudson can't be blamed too much for not realizing his lack of value. After all, he's just a few years removed from convincing a team to hand him $37 million. Unfortunately for Hudson, there's only one Kevin McHale and he's not finished running the Wolves into the ground yet.
It doesn't get much better than the quintessential American sportswriter using his blog to pay tribute to my all-time favorite baseball announcer. Much like Bob Ryan, I tune into Dodgers games for the sole purpose of listening to Vin Scully. As Ron Gardenhirewould say, "Nice blog."
Back when I was at the University of Minnesota, I once had an incredibly brief "conversation" with Laurence Maroney while in the hallway of a friend's dorm around midnight. I'm sad to note that not only wasn't Maroney wearing this bad-ass Kool-Aid chain, he didn't even bother to lick my neck.
As someone who's obsessed with poker and loves good radio, I highly recommend Poker Wire Radio with Joe Sebok, Gavin Smith, and Joe Stapleton. Sebok, Smith, and Scott Huff used to host "The Circuit" on Card Player's site, but the show has moved to Poker Wire, with Stapleton stepping in for Huff, and it's better than ever. The trio of hosts are funny and interesting, and the show provides an intriguing behind-the-scenes glimpse into the poker world for those of us who wish we could be in it.
If that's not enough poker media for you, Card Player TV also has a bunch of worthwhile video content, with "The Scoop" hosted by Adam Schoenfeld and Diego Cordovez being my favorite show.
Schoenberg might get my vote for world's prettiest professional poker player, with some of the more compelling evidence qualifying as "not safe for work." There's a lesson to be learned from seeing her naked, which is that you probably shouldn't appear in a strip-poker DVD hosted by Carmen Electra if you plan on actually becoming a professional poker player some day. If I'm ever rich and famous, I can only hope that no one discovers that photo shoot I did for Playgirl back when I was young and naive.
Continuing a pattern that isn't going to slow down any time soon, another sportswriting heavyweight has left the print world for a new online gig. In addition to hiring columnist J.A. Adande after he left the Los Angeles Times, ESPN.com also added to their stable of professional bloggers by luring Mike Sando away from the Tacoma News Tribune, where he did an outstanding job covering the Seahawks.
On a related note, Rick Edmonds of respected journalism site Poynter Online offers a "not so good" review of the newspaper industry:
A candid report on the financial state of newspapers halfway through 2007 might go like this: "Business has been terrible for a year now, it's bad today and it will stay bad for quite a bit longer." ... [P]rint revenue losses, particularly in classifieds, just keep getting worse. For several years, the contributions from online at least kept overall revenue level or slightly positive. No more. If this is the path to a better future, it is a bumpy one.
It's often assumed that newspapers will be able to offset their declining print revenue and readership by simply transitioning their focus to online content, but there's a problem with that assumption. Once newspapers lose some of their print-generated luster and cease being viewed as something special that gets delivered to doorsteps each morning, they'll just be one of many online outlets competing for readership in a wide open playing field. The days of taking an audience for granted are nearing an end.
It adds absolutely nothing to the amusing MMA-versus-boxing debates, but street fighter and internet cult figureKimbo Slice had little trouble defeating former heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer in his first MMA-style bout. Of course, Mercer is 46 years old and appeared to be completely unfamiliar with the concept of mixed martial arts while Slice was choking him out:
Also not bad to look at? Jessica Biel's recent spread in GQ.
Schoenberg might get my vote for world's prettiest professional poker player, with some of the more compelling evidence qualifying as "not safe for work." There's a lesson to be learned from seeing her naked, which is that you probably shouldn't appear in a strip-poker DVD hosted by Carmen Electra if you plan on actually becoming a professional poker player some day. If I'm ever rich and famous, I can only hope that no one discovers that photo shoot I did for Playgirl back when I was young and naive.
