Media Watch:Plain Dealer Twists Knife Deeper for Cleveland Indians Fans: John Horton of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer wrote two stories about the Indians for Game 7 of the ALCS, a game we all know Cleveland lost. Well, the paper decided to run the winning story on its sports blog yesterday. But talk about kicking a collective fanbase while it's down. I think I just heard the whole city of Cleveland detach and float away into Lake Erie.
Chelios, Media Hit with Libel Notices by Agent: The libel claim stems from statements Chelios made this month accusing Meehan of undermining the NHLPA by supporting former Association boss Ted Saskin, as e-mails revealed by the Toronto Star showed a rather cozy relationship between Saskin and the NHL.
The Announcing Apocalypse Is Upon Us: Quick, NBA fans, who are the three most reprehensible broadcasters in the sport? In no particular order, this list would have to include Bill Walton, the self-styled oracle of senile wisdom; Stephen A. Smith, whose volume and nervous energy overshadow any actual content; and Stuart Scott, known primarily for saying "boo-ya!" What if I told you that all three of these men would be together as a team, and that this would ESPN's way of kicking off the season?
MLB:
Rockies Sell Out World Series Tickets (And Maybe Their Fans, Too): A lot of fans aren't satisfied that the sale was exclusively online, including Josh Bentley, who decided to hang around the team's stadium box office just in case the team decided to sell a few tickets. Sadly, they did not, and Bentley isn't happy that those who did get tickets will be able to turn around and immediately scalp tickets purchased online.
Enjoy Your Luck, Rockies Fans: It's OK to admit you're a lucky team. Every team needs a little luck here and there, especially in baseball. If luck, in tandem with skill and consistency and talent, has taken your team to the precipice of a championship, don't get angry about it. Don't act like a goofball pickup basketball player who just hit a lucky three-pointer, the guy who wants to act like he was just that good all along.
The Dugout: Things To Do In Denver When You're Manny Ramirez: We spend countless hours every day scouring the official chat room of Major League Baseball so we can bring you the highlights. Most of the time it's stupid, sometimes it's funny, and every once in a while it's serious or sad.
College Football:The Debriefing: A Playoff System Would Not Devalue Your Precious Regular Season: Maybe you like the pageantry of the bowl system. Maybe the season doesn't feel complete to you if there isn't a Rose Bowl Parade with Al Roker as the Grand Marshall. Maybe that's important to you. But if you're for keeping the BCS alive because you believe that without it, the regular season would lose its importance, then I think you should re-evaluate.
This Week In Schadenfreude: Fear the Blue Devil, Seminoles: The shooting gallery that is the top five this year claimed another victim, but it's really hard to get mad when you're USF and find yourself being upset in dramatic fashion. Also, there aren't really any USF blogs out there. So they are not our Tears of Unfathomable Sadness victor.
The Ray Rice Death March: With a huge Big East match up coming up this weekend and a couple of injured quarterbacks for West Virginia and Rutgers, the focus will most likely fall on the running games of the two respective schools. And that means more of the same for Rutger's Ray Rice. So far, Rice has carried the ball 204 times.
NBA:
LeBron: Cavs Are Worse Than Last Year':
I'll paraphrase: "that's not my job to worry about it ... but then I look around at other teams and start to worry." This is the second summer in a row that the Cavs have essentially decided to stand pat. It worked for them last year -- they won two more playoff series than the year before -- but it completely backfired this summer.
Rebound Margin' Means Nothing: If a team shoots like crap, you'd expect the opponent to have a bunch of rebounds (regardless if they rebounded well or not). If a team shoots well, there aren't very many opportunities for rebounds and the opponent's totals may look low no matter how efficient the rebounding. Why do I bring this up? I'm sick of hearing about 'rebound margin.'
VOTML: We Will Forget About Donaghy: We will care when, say, a referee makes a blatantly mistaken call near the end of a tight game. Or when your team 'commits' an insane number of fouls while you get 10 free throws total. Or when some squad is beating the spread in a game you bet on and there's a no-call at the end. It's just like every other crisis in sport.
NFL:Tony Romo and Sophia Bush? We, of course, take all these rumors with a grain of salt, but one thing must be said: Romo is really lucky Bill Parcells isn't around anymore. Parcells was ruthless about the personal lives of his players; Wade Phillips wouldn't dream of telling his players what to do during their time off.
What's Harder to Pull Off: 16-0 or 0-16? Going winless is a tougher historical feat. The 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs, the only team to do it, had all the benefits of being an expansion team. They didn't have years of drafting, stabs at free agency, a salary cap or a parity-laden schedule to help in the way these Dolphins do.
Random YouTube Magic: William 'The Refrigerator' Perry G.I. Joe Commercial: According to the G.I. Joe storyline, the Fridge's primary military specialty was Physical Training Instructor. Good one.
