Media Watch:Atlanta Magazine Revisits Glowing Profile of Michael Vick: In a rather extraordinary move -- something I've never seen any magazine do -- the magazine has re-printed the article, only this time with notes in the margins that acknowledge they were wrong on all counts the first time around. (You can see a PDF of the revised article here.) It's an interesting idea, but I'm not wild about the execution.
Why Are NASCAR Ratings Down? You Decide: ABC's broadcast of last Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway earned a final Nielsen Media Research rating of 4.0 ... 20 percent lower than the 4.8 NBC earned for the same race in 2006.
Steve Young Lies About Running Up the Score: I can think of a couple of players on the Patriots who would be surprised to know that Young is so opposed to fourth-quarter touchdown passes: Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison. Seau and Harrison played for the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX, and their recollection is probably a bit different than Young's, considering that Young, who was the MVP of that Super Bowl, threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Jerry Rice in that game.
Much of America Missed Colts-Patriots Kickoff: Overall, this wasn't a big deal because no one missed more than the first handful of plays. But fans would have been furious if their local affiliate had stuck with a game that went into overtime and they had missed the first quarter of the Game of the Century. I'm not quite sure what the league can do about this, but it's a shame that they can't find a way for more fans to see the games they want.
Sean Avery:Mary-Kate and Sean Avery? Yesterday we were treated to the disturbing "news" that Ashley and 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong were now an item after being spotted swapping spit at some Manhattan hot spot I'd never heard of. But now, just 24 hours later -- what an incredible coincidence!!! -- we're supposed to believe that the other available twin, Mary-Kate, is following in the footsteps of one of her former Full House co-stars by hooking up with New York Rangers bad boy Sean Avery.
Sean Avery Calls Out Devils' Brodeur, Parise: Avery challenged Devils leading scorer Zach Parise to a fight during the game; writer Tom Gulitti of The Record (NJ) reports that Parise, who has never had a fight in his three NHL seasons, quoted Avery thusly: "He told me to 'make a statement.' I just ignored him."
NFL Video:
Video: Patriots' Rosie Colvin Owns Peyton Manning, City of Indianapolis: Classy move by Colvin after the fumble recovery (the last few seconds of the YouTubage above). He was called for a delay-of-game penalty for spiking the ball. No biggie ... except he went out of his way to make sure he spiked the ball on Indy's helmet at midfield.
Video: Is NFL Treating Andy Reid Better Than Players? Two Eagles Think So: Those are some interesting words from players who clearly believe that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would have disciplined them if a judge had reason to call their home a "drug emporium." And I think they're right: Goodell would crack down on a player in these circumstances, but he's shown no inclination to get involved in the Reid case.
More NFL:
The Colts' Bill Polian Is a Very Angry Person: When the Colts finally defeated New England, 40-21, at Gillette Stadium in November of '05, Polian, according to nbcsports.com's Tom Curran, watched then-New England backup quarterback Doug Flutie scramble on the last play and blurted out, "Break his leg." As Silver notes, I'm pretty sure Polian wasn't wishing Flutie good luck. And then, last season, FOX's Jay Glazer reported that Polian jacked up a Jets team official and was later forced to write an apology.
Lions 44, Broncos 7: Umm ... Believe It: The Broncos aren't really the cream of the AFC, or even the AFC West, or even Colorado (I think citizens spend their Sunday afternoons watching Tivo'd replays of Rockies games), but they're a decent enough team in what is considered the better conference, and the Lions absolutely crushed them.
John Fox and Marty Hurney Should Be Fired for Subjecting Us to David Carr: Seriously, I haven't seen a sorrier excuse for an NFL quarterback since Aaron Brooks was throwing passes backwards in New Orleans. Mister Mittens has all the playmaking ability of ... well, me. And I couldn't throw a spiral until my junior year in college, when a lesbian friend of mine showed me how.
Holy Crap:Ten Months After Giving Birth, Paula Radcliffe Wins New York City Marathon: She was already 33 years old and struggling with foot and back injuries, and pregnancy and motherhood tend to make training difficult.
MLB:
Video: If Papelbon Had the Ball, He Wouldn't Tell You: I don't think you can ever take Jonathan Papelbon very seriously, but did he just admit to having the missing World Series ball? I think he may have, albeit in a round-about O.J. Simpson-esque "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened" kind of way.
NBA:
Pat Riley Has a Proposition for Shaq: "I'd make a pact with him right now that if he's healthy for 70 (games), I'd give him 12 off," Riley said. "Any 12 he wanted." What makes Riley's proposition so funny is because it's so true: few players have such disdain for the regular season as O'Neal does. I said "may or may not" because Riley was laughing when he said it and it's unclear if he was joking, but if he was serious, does Thursday's season opening loss to the Pistons count as one of the games off?
Matt Ryan Implosion:So Much for the Ryan Heisman: Joining Tim Tebow, Brian Brohm, Andre' Woodson and a host of other QBs this season. In Matt Ryan's case, this was coming for a while. His final minutes heroics last week salvaged what had been a less than impressive performance for the first 55 minutes. This time the knee jerk reaction almost seems justified as BC lost 27-17.
So Much for Boston College QB Matt Ryan as the No. 1 Overall NFL Draft Pick: Ryan is the favorite quarterback of most of the draft analysts out there (Mel Kiper ranks him as the top quarterback and the No. 3 senior prospect in college football), but he mixes in too many mistakes with his sometimes great throws. His decision-making just doesn't look like that of a top-flight prospect.
More NCAA Football:Mangino Was Right To Hang 76 On Nebraska: Mangino has had to completely change an ingrained culture of losing at Kansas, and part of that included a history of being a whipping boy for the other Big 8 / Big XII powers. Heck, Tom Osborne went for 2 at times in games against Kansas because he "needed to get practice for those plays" - relegating KU's squad to nothing more than a glorified scrimmage opponent.
