Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
The Globe & Mail’s Jeff Blair, who has determined “If anything stands in Robbie Alomar’s way of a first-ballot selection, it could be his unsavoury stint with the New York Mets in 2002 and part of 2003, more than the 1996 incident with the Baltimore Orioles in which he spit in umpire Jon Hirschbeck’s face.”
This […]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
One of the more interesting blog posts I’ve seen this week comes from Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics. He relates the recent news of Kidd vs. Kidd and Bart Starr’s alleged mistress to an NFL seminar the league runs for its rookies, warning them of the downside to fame and fortune, including scheming women.
I […]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
5 days sans pay for Minnesota’s Eddie Griffin. Who knew that Astroglide was on the Association’s banned substances list?
The Luol Deng-Highbury item was just one of the weird hoops/footy crossovers I’ve had to navigate through today. David Beckham was presented with a Kobe Bryant jersey on “Good Morning America” (the outdated no. 8, too), NBA […]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
The Concord Monitor’s Eric Moskowitz quizzed Bronson Arroyo about the Cincy starter’s case of Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Ed Veddder III Flu. A brutal assignment to be sure, but it could’ve been worse. Scott Spiezo might be making a new record. (link courtesy Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
Q: If you could pick five albums to […]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
Chicago’s Luol Deng — an Arsenal supporter since a young age, apparently, profiled by the Independent’s Brian Viner.
Deng sounds as American as Michael Jordan yet considers himself as British as Michael Atherton. The Bulls’ No 9 jersey is his, but an even more precious possession is his British passport.
“I just got it,” he tells me, […]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
Schottenheimer vs. Belichick. Jeez, people, what more could you possibly ask for?
There won’t be many Patriots fans there, apparently, but it will be sunny and not snowing in San Diego, in another great AFC game. This one also has the most wide-ranging array of picks, which is to say, no one seems to agree.
• Cool Standings: Patriots.
• Football Outsiders: Chargers.
• Harmon Forecast: Chargers.
• Paul Zimmerman: Chargers.
• Peter King: Patriots.
• Lil’ Sean: Patriots.
• Dan Shanoff: Patriots.
• Deadspin: Chargers. The Patriots looked better than they really are last week. Besides: San Diego has a roid monster on its side.
Thoughts? Last chance for picks, folks …
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
Now that Vince Young has proven quite clearly — once again — that Merrill Hoge is a damned fool, there’s only one place left to go: To the land of prepaid debit cards!
Yes, now you too can own the Vince Young credit card. Vince himself says, “A lot of people don’t have a traditional bank account or credit card, but with NetSpend’s prepaid cards, everyone can enjoy financial freedom.” Yes: We all remember Vince can sometimes have some trouble with math.
The Vince Young Card [Official Site]
Continue Reading January 12th, 2007
The L.A. Galaxy is paying David Beckham $1 million per week over the next five years. As a sports fan who has never truly cared about soccer (except when Brandi got half-naked and Zidane headbutted), this doesn’t mean a whole lot. But as someone who recognizes the star power of Becks and Posh, this is may be the most significant move made by a SoCal franchise since the Great One came from Canada.
Here to break it down, after the picture, is none other than my good friend and all-around hooligan, Brian “The Bull” MacCarthy. He’s the only guy I know who played soccer (and played it well) growing up and continues to follow “the beautiful game” closely into adulthood. I asked him for 500 words on the Beckham deal, and here they are, after the photo…
For the life of me I can’t figure out how the hell this is going to work. Here’s what we know about Beckham:
• He’s the most popular player in the world. Say what you want about Zidane, Henry or Ronaldhino, but there is no one footballer that has his mystique.
• He sells more jerseys/shoes worldwide than anyone, including Yao, Lebron, Manning, Jeter, Zidane, etc. When he joined REAL Madrid, they sold 200,000 jerseys in less than 24 hours.
• Lets face it, he’s a good lookin’ brit and his arm candy (Posh) is outta control. He will likely be a weekly shot on US Weekly, People, SI, etc. I’m sure Posh will be more than happy to do Maxim, FHM and, if we’re all lucky, Playboy.
• He is quite possibly one of the better passers in the world. He is also the best ‘free’ kicker in the world. Yet he is not a goal scorer, and isn’t that the biggest complaint of most Americans that don’t understand the game? They want more goals, more action, more speed. He doesn’t represent any of those qualities.
• He is 31 yrs old. Roughly five years past his prime and is the 5th best player on his own football team in Spain.
So what does that mean?He’ll be an A-lister immediately, but he’s also playing in a B sport. Yes, Beckham will sell a sh** load of jerseys, shoes and advertisements, but I can’t see how they possibly recoup $50 million a year. This may go down as the worst contract for an athlete in the history of sports.
Pele once came here and sparked the now defunct USSF for a few seasons. He too was past his prime and was overpaid. However, he repeatedly sold over 15,000 tickets to Giants Stadium. If Beckham can accomplish that not only in L.A., but at every stop he makes, I may stand corrected.
And at the very heart of the issue is one thing: Can Beckham’s arrival to the U.S. not only bring our own best players back but attract the likes of other top-ranked FIFA players from around the globe? Let’s be honest, the quality of life in America is far better than that of say … Germany, perhaps Brazil & Argentina, certainly Poland, North Africa, Czechoslovakia and maybe even the U.K. Let’s face it, there are more opportunities for these players to succeed outside of just football here than in other countries.
At the end of the day, as a soccer/football fan I’m excited for this signing. Does it make financial sense? Probably not. Will I watch more games because of Beckham? Hell yes … And for god sakes, the players that make up the MLS … here’s my plea to you, please, please don’t take after your World Cup counterparts and continue this ‘diving’ trend. Man up, take the hit and get the F back up on your feet! You make all us ex-soccer players look like pu**ies when you do that!
Bonus: Check out Becks and Posh with Ali G.
And You Thought MLB Contracts Were Insane [Saved by the Blog]
Beckham Makes Sexy Time With America [Worth Repeating]
Beckham to the States: Will He Be on USC Sidelines? [FanHouse]
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