June 17, 2010
Link-O-Rama
• I defy anyone to find a better lead paragraph for a news story: "A German student created a major traffic jam in Bavaria when he mooned a group of Hell's Angels, hurled a puppy at them, and then escaped on a bulldozer."
• In one of the greatest "worlds colliding" moments in comedy history, Ricky Gervais will play himself in the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. He once interviewed Larry David for a show on the BBC and the result was predictably fantastic.
• Speaking of David, his ex-wife has what I'd call diverse taste.
• You know you've fallen off the dieting and exercise wagon again when a list like this starts to sound appealing. No. 9 is obviously right up my alley.
• I'd follow the Jason Phillips approach to dating, but I'm not sure I can afford to give out that many baseballs.
• This baby from Brazil is by far the best dancer I've seen since Elaine Benes:
I fully expect table-top diaper dancing to really take off now.
• Sometimes you must turn to Adam Carolla for helping analyzing bad relief pitching.
• I'm not a Celtics fan, but these pictures alone could be enough to make Maria Menounos an Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com candidate. This picture doesn't hurt her cause either.
• During my appearance on 1500-ESPN radio earlier this week Tom Pelissero and Phil Mackey hinted at the Twins being legitimately interested in Cliff Lee, and Pelissero put his inside info in writing yesterday. I'm still very skeptical about the Twins' actual chances of landing Lee, but that they're even kicking the tires on him is plenty interesting.
• Believe it or not, this man dated Alyssa Milano.
• I'm addicted to WhatIfSports.com's Hardball Dynasty game and my league has one franchise open with a new season set to begin next week. Hardball Dynasty is not fantasy baseball, but rather an incredibly detailed simulation of running a fictional MLB organization from rookie-ball to the majors, so due to the steep learning curve and time commitment required we're looking for an owner with previous Hardball Dynasty experience. If you're interested, let me know.
• Bert Blyleven would probably say that Kenshin Kawakami just doesn't know how to win.
• Tom Powers' column about the Ubaldo Jimenez-Francisco Liriano matchup would've been a lot shorter if he'd just said, "Get off my lawn!" Gotta sell those newspapers, I suppose.
• Pedro Cerrano thinks this minor leaguer went a little over the top with his home run trot:
My favorite part of the whole thing is the shoulder shrug at the end.
• One day Lou Piniella went crazy on Steve Stone for having the gall to criticize him and the next day the Cubs' manager followed Stone's advice.
• Two years after his initial arrest for drug possession, former KFAN radio host Jeff Dubay has violated his probation for a second time by using cocaine. Don't do (hard) drugs, kids.
• From the people who brought you Twinkie Town comes SB Nation Minnesota, about which my MinnPost colleague David Brauer wrote an interesting article earlier this week.
• Have love, Cameron Diaz will travel.
• I'm hoping that most of the people who read this blog also read my work on NBCSports.com, but for those of you who don't Hardball Talk underwent an extensive re-design this week. As with any kind of big change the re-design is getting mixed reviews, but if you like my writing or Craig Calcaterra's writing you should check out Hardball Talk because we essentially tag-team blog throughout the day, every day, pumping out dozens of entries.
• Speaking of which, here are some highlights from my NBCSports.com blogging this week:
- Alex Gordon is apparently too good for the Royals
- Before the injuries hit, Mark Mulder was having a great career
- Dustin Pedroia puts on a knee brace and his hitting shoes
- Diamondbacks trade Conor Jackson to A's
- Darin Erstad says "I'm done" after 14 seasons
- Ubaldo Jimenez beats Twins, improves to 13-1 with 1.15 ERA
- Dustin McGowan lasts just eight pitches before another setback
• Finally, in honor of the aforementioned Ms. Diaz, this week's AG.com-approved music video is The Black Keys doing a live cover version of "Have Love, Will Travel" by Richard Berry:
