Archive for June 7th, 2006
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
So we’ve been digging through this Jason Grimsley affidavit, and there’s some pretty fun stuff. We understand the mindset behind what one commenter called “the missing white girl story of the week” aspect of this, but we kind of have a feeling this might stick. Some highlights:
• Grimsley says he has used the various steroids “throughout his career,” which spans 15 years.
• Since drug testing began in baseball, Grimsley has only used HGH, which is not tested for by MLB.
• Grimsley was also an “habitual” amphetamine user and said, “they work.” Until last year, clubhouses had coffee pots labeled “leaded” for those that had greenies, and “unleaded” for those that don’t.
• He said he got his greenies from “Latin players.”
Then it starts getting fun, because, as noted by Double Play Depth, Grimsley starts going crazy and naming a TON of names. In the current affidavit, they’re blacked out … but it’s only a matter of time until they leak too. (We’re actually surprised they bothered blacking them out this time.) Grimsley has since said he will no longer cooperate, but we’ll see how long that lasts.
Whether you think this steroid business is overblown or if you a “what about the kids?” type of guy, this is certianly not going away. We imagine Barry Bonds being happy; he would never talk to someone like Jason Grimsley. Takes some heat off him.
By the way, big Deadspin prizes and man-hugs to anyone who can figure out how to read the names under the black marker there. Any forensic scientists out there?
Pitcher Spills Steroid, Speed Secrets [The Smoking Gun]
Grimsley Just First Of Several Dominoes [Double Play Depth]
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
Baseball Prospectus famously likes to proclaim that There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect; anything can happen to a young pitcher, from overuse to freak injury to lack of confidence to simple poor scouting. But it’s one thing to not know if something bad is going to happen to a young pithcer; it’s another all together to have this happen.
Picking up a phone to answer a call from the Seattle Mariners, highly regarded pitcher Brandon Morrow suffered an injury to his pitching elbow Tuesday that may have to be repaired by “Tommy John” ligament replacement surgery. … The call was to tell him that the Mariners selected him with their first-round pick, fifth overall, in the amateur baseball draft.
You hate to see that.
Alas, The Odds Are Against M’s Top Pick [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
(UPDATE: It turns out the Mariners are saying this story is not true, and that the whole matter was a “spoof.”)
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
With all the talk about Mavs owner Mark Cuban and his many publicities, we began to wonder about the other side of the Finals ownership contingent, Heat owner Micky Arison.
While he has a well-publicized status as Forbes-level rich guy (#91 in 2006) and is well-known as the owner of Carnival Cruiselines, not much else is out there to be had. He’s the chairman of the NBA Board of Governors, which is one of those things nobody really understands.
He’s not an outspoken man, nor is he one to incite harsh fines from David Stern. He doesn’t blog and he doesn’t cheer so hard his gut pops out. We were determined to find something, and decided to just go to the old standby of Google searches.
Micky Arison crime
Micky Arison gossip
Micky Arison gay
Micky Arison murderer
Micky Arison wearing bikini
Micky Arison bad things about
Micky Arison Charles Manson
Micky Arison in big trouble with the law
Micky Arison 1st degree felony stealing
Micky Arison sex with disreputable person or multiple disreputable people
Micky Arison hilarious things that can be made fun of about
Micky Arison swindling pirate scumbag dating starlets
None of those gave us anything, and while that disappointing, it’s also the way life is sometimes. We don’t feel bad.
Reporters across the nation are trying to find any sort of story thread in Cuban-Arison I, and the simple fact is, there are none, so we’re not alone.
Normally in a situation such as this, we’d make something up or fabricate qa Photoshopped film parody, but we’re content to just let this one lie dormant.
UPDATE: Look, in the 5 seconds this has been up we’ve already gotten 436 emails from you people asking if we’re not saying anything because we have some secret dirt on Arison.
Of course we don’t - it’s not like we’re plugged into some secret pipeline where we get information about Micky’s love for small Asian boys in birthdays cakes, on days it’s not even his birthday, which is the really weird part.
We don’t know jack - but if we accidentally type Arinson one more time, we’re going to formally request he add an ‘n’ to his name.
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
On the most recent edition of Sports Bloggers Live we named the winners of our Don Mattingly autographed V-Grip bat and Spalding’s World Tour book giveaways, Susan Winderman and Jersey Joe Hadden, respectively, and also announced a new SBL book giveaway: Stepping Up: The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players’ Rights.
It’s a compelling read for anyone who enjoys sports bios or wants to know more about one of the most remarkable sports figures from the past 50 years, and the author is our man Alex Belth of
Bronx Banter and
SI.com fame (
hear him on SBL). To enter into the random drawing for the book, just email me at
dcsportsguy@aol.com with ‘Flood’ in the subject line. We’ll announce the winner next week.
On a sidenote, I just got this email from Belth that makes me think he may be the most likeable Yankee fan on the planet:
“Dude, you know I’m stoaked that the Bombers are finding ways to win. Some Yankee fans, as well as their owner et. al, only think about October. But if life is either a ring or bubkus, then your life is going to be pretty upsetting. The Yanks give their fans so much to root about. The fact that it’s been coming from the most unlikely places this year has been fun.”
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
This is months old but new to me: Carolina plays video of Ric Flair on the Jumbotron saying, “That’s a Carolina Hurricane goal! Woo! Woo! Woo!” after every score. The clip is so damn funny not just because of the overly tan, overly blond wrestling legend/Carolina native’s overexuberance, but because of all of Hurricane fans’ feckless imitations of the Nature Boy’s signature call. To that end, here’s what Flair has to say…
“[Canes fans need] years of practice [to perfect their ‘Woo’s!’]. They need to think about it all day long. I’ve seen a lot of pitiful ‘Woo!’s out there.”
I bet he has. The “Woo’s!” probably follow him everywhere. Now, for good measure, because I think it’s hilarious, here’s a pic of SBL producer Schrages and his collar-less denim shirt posing with Flair himself…
See Schrages and Chappelle!
Oh, and Game 2 is in Carolina tonight. I want my OLN! Woo!
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
If Dirk and the Mavs should pull through and win the Finals, it marks a fairly large turning point in NBA history. Namely, it’ll be the first time a completely foreign product has led his team to an NBA title.
As Pat Forde notes in his column tracking Dirk’s history, Hakeem was basketball-educated in Houston, so he only sorta counts. Dirk is the first of the new-wave Euro to have a real shot.
It’s not just his heritage that’s setting the trends, however. Even Shaq admits he’s now somewhat of a relic, and the big, versatile German super-freaks are the future.
“The NBA centers are going more toward the European player. I tell my kids you won’t be able to play the game your daddy played. It’s becoming a different game.
‘’He [Nowitzki] is where the big-man game will be in four or five years,'’ O’Neal added. “When you talk great big men, it’ll be based on whether guys can play like Dirk or not. Stepping out, shooting the three, midrange game and the low-post game. I’m going to actually let my children watch his game.'’
Nowitzki was overwhelmed by O’Neal’s comments. ‘’That’s pretty sweet,'’ Nowitzki said.
That doesn’t sound exactly overwhelmed, unless he said it while in the midst of fainting.
We’d rather rewind to Shaq’s statement anyway. He’s going to “actually let his children watch the game”? Does this mean Shaq’s kids only get to watch certain games? There’s nothing wrong with this kind of restriction, really - when we have kids, we’re only going to let them watch Who Shot Mamba? and anything else that will make them and the wife stop bothering us.
Like, anything. We’ll be the best dad ever. The kid can be like, “Hey daddy, I know I haven’t seen you in three days, but can I watch this movie about naked girls who do bad things?”
We’ll be all like “If it’ll get you the fuck out of my end of the house for another two hours, I don’t care what you do, Laser. Who told you you could cross the line, anyway? Where’s your mother? Out whoring it up again? God, I hate you. I hope you lose in t-ball tonight. I won’t be there.
“In fact, I’ll never be there. Never. That’s my one and only promise to you, so savor it, Laser.”
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
If it’s the NBA offseason — almost — so you know what time it is: It’s time for Another Shawn Kemp Comeback Attempt!
Yes, everyone’s favorite random procreator — seen here dealing with yet another on-court “surprise!” — went through a grueling three-day camp for potential Denver Nuggets free agents over the weekend, and, on the whole, he wasn’t a disaster. He says his main goal for now is to make it into a summer league to “reacquaint” himself with the NBA. He no longer weighs 300-plus pounds.
By the way, if you’re bored today, we encourage you to check out Reignman, Kemp’s official Web site. Shawn and his handlers encourage you to send in all your Shawn Kemp-related artwork, which is a noble deed.
Kemp Tries Another Comeback With Nuggets [Denver Post]
Reignman [Official Site]
Continue Reading June 7th, 2006
Pounding the Rock knows a lot about soccer and the World Cup. How do people attain this knowledge? Why do people attain this knowledge? Seriously - how does one find out that Egypt is good or bad at soccer here in the States?
Here’s the thread wherein the author of the Kobe advice column thing realizes his joke just made ESPN as legit news.
Jamaal Mashburn is a Legend in Business, according to the NBA’s new partnership with careerbuilder.com.
The Rockets new GM is all miserable, all the time, just like Jeff Van Gundy.
Mighty MJD makes his Finals pick. We’re still undecided.
Mark Cuban says there was never really a deal discussed with the Lakers about getting Shaq.
More podcasts for both you podcasting nuts - The Association’s latest.
Jones on the NBA gets all analytical on the Finals. We used to say a lot of things about Jones, like “stop emailing us every time you post”, but the dude knows hoops.
Farlane makes his Finals pick by incorporating puppy magic and Isiah Thomas.
Adam Morrison impressed the Bobcats with his workout and diabetes knowledge.
Some German coach says the best of Dirk Nowitxki is two years away yet.
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