February 1, 2008

Link-O-Rama

  • If you missed my lengthy breakdown of the Johan Santana trade in this space Wednesday or feel like reading a slightly altered version in a much different format, the entry was reprinted as a column on Sports Illustrated's website. I'd never written anything for Sports Illustrated before--although I've been featured in the actual magazine--so seeing my byline on SI.com was pretty gratifying despite the article being about the Twins losing my favorite player. They even left in the AC/DC lyrics as the intro.
  • Along with SI.com reprinting my blog entry about the Santana deal, I also wrote a more mainstream column about the trade for MSNBC.com. The MSNBC.com piece doesn't analyze the actual trade as much as it discusses Santana's unique history and examines what losing a superstar player over money is like for the Twins and their fans. While there's no mention of Kevin Garnett, David Ortiz, or Randy Moss, the article perhaps does get a bit melodramatic:

    He toyed with hitters, setting them up with his fastball and then making them look silly once the count got to two strikes, as his changeup left even the league's best bats helpless when the bottom dropped out. He was an artist on the mound, painting corners and pulling strings, but as has long been the case for the small-payroll Twins the clock was ticking the entire time.

    If you read the rest of the article, keep in mind that it wasn't written for hardcore Twins fans.

  • Along with those two articles on the Santana trade, I also talked about the deal on KFAN radio for two hours Tuesday night with Doogie Wolfson and Phil Mackey. You can listen to a clip of the show on KFAN's website, although for some reason only the first hour or so is available at the moment. We basically did a 120-minute round-table discussion of the trade and also took a bunch of calls from the audience, so it's worth checking out.
  • My friend and Rotoworld colleague Gregg Rosenthal has been in Arizona all week blogging from the Super Bowl and passed along an amusing "with leather" moment from media day. Gregg witnessing Chris Berman work his magic in person is the perfect lead-in for this spectacularly fantastic video:


    "I actually can't believe what I just saw."
  • Unfortunately video cameras don't follow every out of control ESPN personality everywhere they go, but thankfully in some cases pictures will suffice.
  • AskMen.com recently came out with their list of this year's "99 Most Desirable Women" and I'm proud to say that all three former Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com title-holders made the cut. Heidi Klum, who was the original OFGoAG.com way back in 2002, ranks No. 25. Jessica Alba, who replaced Klum and had the position's longest reign, ranks No. 5. Elisha Cuthbert, who took over for Alba and was the most recent OFGoAG.com, ranks No. 24.

    The throne has been vacant since Cuthbert had her title stripped over a year ago, but amazingly each of the three leading candidates for the post who've emerged since then also made the list. Marisa Miller ranks No. 9, Keeley Hazell ranks No. 13, and Jenna Fischer ranks No. 98. Incidentally, my decision to strip Cuthbert's title was questioned by many and remains controversial given the lack of a successor, but some recent revelations (and a bad haircut) suggest that is was ultimately the right call.

  • Part of why Hazell hasn't moved past "leading candidate" is that she's rarely seen clothed. Generally speaking that's not a bad thing, but the "not safe for work" nature of nearly every photo shoot that she does hurts her linkability and that's a big part of being the OFGoAG.com. For instance, this week was "Keeley Week" at FHM.com, but around 0.001 percent of the videos and photos that were posted each day to honor her involved clothing. If only this blog's readership consisted solely of the unemployed.
  • I Am Legend was a bit of a letdown because it couldn't compare to the book, but I'm confident that Big Ern vs. The Jesus is a film that can live up to the hype:


    Seriously, who wouldn't pay $8.50 to see a 90-minute version of that?
  • As one of my former journalism-school classmates shows, apparently even nepotism has a limit.
  • I'm a fan of Alyssa Milano's apparent decision to jump from sport to sport until she's conquering all of professional athletics, but I'm worried that the curling world may not be ready for her.
  • This isn't actually a link, but humor me: NBC was kind enough to put me in first class for my flight back from Dallas last week, which had me very excited after 25 years of flying strictly coach. However, as far as I could tell the only real perks were a little added leg room and free booze. Don't get me wrong, stretching out and drinking are two of my favorite things, but is that really what all the fuss is about? People pay five times as much just to sip some wine in a few extra inches of space?
  • Speaking of my business trip to Dallas, the online version of the Rotoworld Baseball Draft Guide is now available for purchase. Unlike the Beckett Media-published print version of the magazine it doesn't feature a hastily-taken head shot of me on the "editor's note" page, but the online version of the draft guide does offer additional articles and customizable rankings that won't be available on newsstands. Plus, it has a good-looking logo:

    After working many long, non-stop hours writing for, editing, and organizing the magazine, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd consider buying a copy of the online version.

  • Derrick Eckardt at RotoNation attempts to answer the question that no fewer than five people ask me every week.
  • Example No. 8,589,005 of why the FCC is a huge joke.
  • Has "Gleeman-length" been replaced by "Clemens-length"?
  • If you're like me and have been waiting years for Adam Carolla and Oswaldo Castillo to team up on the big screen together, you're in luck:



    Not since Al Pacino and Robert De Niro shared the diner scene in Heat has an on-screen duo been as powerful as Ace Man and Ozzie.
  • One of my ninth-grade classmates at Highland Park Senior High used to regularly drink vodka out of a Sprite bottle during history class, which is why it wasn't difficult for me to believe the Minneapolis Star Tribune story about seventh graders drinking before school.
  • In case anyone cares, here's my Super Bowl pick: Patriots 35, Giants 20.
  • After waiting a month longer than usual to begin my annual Top 40 Twins Prospects series in the hopes of avoiding a mid-series Santana trade that would force me to recalibrate the entire list, I finally decided that it couldn't be delayed any further. Prospects 36-40 were profiled last week, followed by prospects 31-35 this week, but if the Santana trade becomes official today I'll have to add the four Mets' prospects to the rankings and start the whole series over. If it wasn't for bad timing, I'd have no timing.
  • In honor of quoting the lyrics in my Santana article, this week's AG.com-approved music video is AC/DC doing a live version of "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution":


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