April 18, 2008

Link-O-Rama

  • Not only did the Dodgers hold a "Bloggers Night" last week, they set the bloggers up in a suite and owner Frank McCourt, general manager Ned Colletti, former manager Tommy Lasorda, and Alyssa Milano appeared as special guests. For a good laugh, imagine the Twins putting a bunch of bloggers up in a suite, with Carl Pohlad, Bill Smith, Tom Kelly, and whoever the Minnesota equivalent of Milano is coming in throughout the evening to chat. We might even leave our parents' basements for that.
  • On the other hand, sometimes access isn't everything.
  • He just finished the season as a backup guard on a dreadful 22-60 team that hurt its own chances for long-term success by winning a meaningless game, but Marko Jaric may soon be rising to the top of these rankings.
  • Speaking of the Timberwolves, Minneapolis Star Tribune beat writer Jerry Zgoda recently penned an article about my mom traveling to Milwaukee so that she could go with my aunt to watch Kevin Garnett play the Bucks. Seriously. Sunday's newspaper contained a five-paragraph story devoted entirely to two of my relatives going to a basketball game together, complete with a picture of my mom. My favorite part was the headline: "A couple of 'crazy old ladies' who just love NBA basketball."

    Her younger sister cashed in some frequent-flyer miles, so Judi Gleeman boarded a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday afternoon, arrived in Milwaukee a few hours before the opening tap and prayed Kevin Garnett would play for Boston in an otherwise meaningless, late-season game. He scored 21 points in 20 minutes before sitting down in the third quarter of an overtime victory over the Bucks.

    She's 58 and a controller for a mortgage company. Her sister, Jane Gallop, is 55 and lives in Milwaukee.

    "Somebody should know there's these crazy old ladies who love NBA basketball," said Gleeman, who describes herself as a "Jewish broad living in Minnetonka."

    She has been a Garnett fan "since the beginning" and remembers taking her son, Aaron, now 25, to Wolves games when he just a boy.

    Her sister bought $121 tickets for Tuesday's game. "You've got to be able to hear the squeak of their shoes," she said. "I don't take a vacation very often. I wore my Timberwolves [Kevin Garnett] MVP shirt with my green Celtics beads. It was great."

    I'm not sure whether to be amused or disturbed by that, but it's definitely one or the other. At this point, it's probably safe to say that we can all look forward to the Star Tribune's upcoming coverage of my dad walking his dog and my cousin going to the grocery store.

  • This week's NBCSports.com "Fantasy Fix" show has Samantha Hilbert subbing for Tiffany Simons and features me discussing a whole bunch of young pitchers, including Francisco Liriano:


    For anyone who missed my column earlier this week about Liriano's first post-surgery start, you can check it out over at MinnPost.
  • Elisha Cuthbert's comeback is going swimmingly, as she finally appears motivated after losing the Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com crown nearly two years ago.
  • About 48 hours after Kissing Suzy Kolber blogger Michael Tunison decided to shed his anonymity by revealing himself as a Washington Post reporter, the newspaper fired him and had him escorted out of the building by security. Seriously. Thankfully for me, if you plaster your name all over your blog and use it to actually get jobs, the odds of you being fired for blogging decrease significantly (hopefully).
  • Cut loose by the A's this spring, Matthew LeCroy has latched on with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League, where he'll be managed by former All-Star Von Hayes.
  • After years of impressing while flying under the radar--much like Brian Giles back when he was with the Pirates--it's now time to definitively declare Mila Kunis an Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com candidate. Expect a press conference next week. For those of you who're anxiously chronicling the OFGoAG.com race, Kunis joins Cuthbert, Keeley Hazell, Marisa Miller, and Jenna Fischer as candidates. Former title-holders Jessica Alba and Heidi Klum now resemble the Padres version of Giles, missing the cut.
  • Than Tibbetts, who proved himself to be a nice guy and a good writer while we were together in the University of Minnesota's school of journalism, has joined The Bleacher Bums blogging team over at Minnesota Public Radio.
  • One of my childhood favorites, Lori Loughlin, is still getting the job done on the wrong side of 40.
  • Dan Fox has been hired as the Pirates' new Director of Baseball Systems, which Dave Studeman notes makes five The Hardball Times writers who've worked for MLB teams. Maybe some day one of them will throw a bone to the doofus who created the site. Or at least the guy who now runs it.
  • A new Twins blog to check out: The Aquarium.
  • Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Regina Spektor doing a live version of "Fidelty":


    • Once you're done here, check out my latest "Daily Dose" column over at Rotoworld.

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