You Been Blinded - Now in Dazzling HD

ESPN Slaps Bill Simmons’ Wrists for Tweets

HG — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:32:17 +0000

ESPN has suspended Bill Simmons‘ use of Twitter after the Sports Guy used the social networking site to blast ESPN partner radio station WEEI in Boston. The Huffington Post has screencaps of the tweets where Simmons refers to WEEI hosts as washed up athletes, fat, and deceitful scumbags.

ESPN.com editor-in-chief Rob King had this to say about the suspension:

We have internal guidelines designed to inform how we discuss the topic of sports media. These guidelines are important us, because they help maintain the credibility with which ESPN operates.

No one knows the guidelines better than Bill Simmons, and he customarily works within these standards. He also understands, as does everyone else at ESPN, that we regard these guidelines as being equally important when participating in social media.

While it’s unfortunate — and sometimes painful — that not everyone outside of ESPN chooses to play by such rules, we choose to hold ourselves to higher standards. Regardless of the provocation, Bill’s communication regarding WEEI fell short of those standards. So we’ve taken appropriate measures.

OMG. No tweeting for two weeks for calling out some fat scumbags in Boston.. Is Simmons still allowed to use Facebook and text message? I hope he at least gets to keep his Xbox and go to the big dance this weekend.

Dennis Rodman Fighting for Relevance

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:54:59 +0000

When you think of Dennis Rodman you probably picture the tattooed rebounding machine that loved to party and self promote. He’s still pretty much the same. I don’t know how many boards he could grab at 48 but Dennis is still partying like he’s 28. You know he’s serious because he hooked up with A List Entertainment to video his hipness.

I feel bad for Dennis in a way. He should’ve been born 20 years later because he’s tailor made for the social networking era. There’s no way The Worm wouldn’t have used Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and any other outlet to promote himself. Look at him in this video. He still wants to be somebody. If he was playing now he’d be Artest times Ochocinco.

50 Cent Entourage vs. Marv Albert at Jimmy Kimmel Live

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:14:21 +0000

If you’re a guest on a television program like “The Jerry Springer Show” there’s a good chance you’re gonna be involved in a fight. When you’re visiting “Jimmy Kimmel Live” the only punches are of the verbal variety and they’re thrown by the host. Unless Marv Albert crosses paths with 50 Cent and his entourage. Then you get a cross cultural incident of epic proportions.

The L.A. Times has the details:

As Albert arrived, with an entourage of one, TNT public relations specialist Jeff Pomeroy, there was a sudden scuffle when a multitude of 50 Cent protectors seemed unfamiliar with Albert. There was shouting (”It’s Marv Albert,” yelled a Kimmel show guard, a pronouncement that seemed to have no effect on the 50 Cent phalanx.) There were obscenities. A fist or two flying. A “Don’t you put your hands on me” pronouncement.

And finally Albert made it to his waiting room, relatively unruffled but slightly puzzled. “Did you see that?” Albert said. “I thought they were kidding, but then I realized they weren’t.”

Thank the lawd 50 had his protectors there to keep him safe from Marv F’n Albert. Even if they didn’t recognize Albert as a broadcasting icon the man is 68 years old. What the hell was he gonna do to a ‘roided out Fiddy? Recant old NBA stories until 50 killed himself like the passengers listening to Ted Striker stories in Airplane!? Nag him death about putting on a jacket? Bite him? Oh..

Marv Albert gets recognition from Jimmy Kimmel, but not everyone at show [Los Angeles Times]

Starbuy- Point Guard in Disguise

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:21:02 +0000

Stephon Marbury seems to be doing all the things necessary to land back in the NBA next season. He’s showing up at a Knicks game and sitting in the wrong seats, and making more shirtless videos. This time around there’s no crying or singing.. Just Starbury chillin’ in an Optimus Prime mask.

So now Marbury is copying Matt Forte?.. He’s running out of ideas. He’s already eaten vaseline, and tried to draw attention to himself at Madison Square Garden. Steph is keeping himself in the headlines but it never has to do with basketball and it’s usually embarrassing for him.

Stephon Marbury! Transform and Roll Out! Video [NESW Sports]

Holy $hit They’re Gonna Make it Happen

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:04:59 +0000

As soon as referee Kenny Bayless stopped Manny Pacquiao from beating Miguel Cotto senseless boxing fans started calling for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take on the current pound-for-pound champion. A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will reportedly bring in $40-$50 million for each fighter at the same time giving fight fans the classic match-up they’ve wanted. A potential sticking point in all Mayweather-Pacquiao talk is Floyd’s relationship with Top Rank top man Bob Arum. Mayweather previously said he’d never fight Pacquiao if Arum was involved but that changed late Thursday when Floyd’s team approached Top Rank about the super fight.

The rumored hang-up is Money May’s team wanting a 55-45 split while Pacquiao’s camp is looking for 50-50. The money needs to be divided evenly, if not in favor of Pacquiao, because at this point more people are making PPV buys for Manny than Mayweather. At least the two sides are talking and bringing this fight closer to reality.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will negotiate Manny Pacquiao fight with Top Rank [Los Angeles Times]

Ron Artest, Detroit, and the Brawl at the Palace

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:27:57 +0000

It’s been five years since The Malice at the Palace when Ron Artest charged the stands after having a beer thrown on him by Pistons fan John Green. The reaction cost Artest the remaining 73 regular season games, the playoffs, and nearly $7 million. On the flip-side he’s known for setting off the greatest/worst NBA brawl.

Ron has spoken about the brawl several times since it happened and seems sincere when he says he regrets going in the stands. A lot of the blame has to fall on Ben Wallace for overreacting to the foul and then trying to start an altercation, and the referees for not taking control of the situation. You can see them standing around at times during the turmoil. Five years later and Ron-Ron is friends with John Green and playing for the defending champs. Artest’s life has taken a crazy path. I wouldn’t be surprised five years from now if he was an astronaut or an afterthought.

College Football Picks With Tim Brown

HG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:35:21 +0000

We’ve only got a couple of weeks left in the college football regular season. This is week 12 for the collegians but only week two for my college football picks. I went 7-5 last week. Don’t expect the same this week.

Tim Brown joins us via BetUs to break down the Oregon-Arizona game. I’ll give my picks after the video.

My winners are in bold type.

Akron +10.5 at Bowling Green

Louisville +11.5 at South Florida

Iowa State +15 at Missouri

Kent +10.5 at Temple

TCU -31 at Wyoming

Penn State -3 at Michigan State

California +7.5 at Stanford

LSU +4.5 at Mississippi

Oregon State -31.5 at Washington State

Colorado State -4 at New Mexico

Kansas +28 at Texas

Hawaii -3 at San Jose State

If you’re looking for a little help with your NFL picks you can lean on The Shaw who’s been hot lately:

NFL Week Eleven Picks

HG — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:08:49 +0000

Don’t call it a comeback because my picks are pretty weak but I dropped two games overall after week nine and I got them back this past weekend with a 8-6 record. My season mark is now 70-62-1. This means I beat the spread 53 percent of the time making me better than flipping a coin but not quite as good as picking out of a hat.

The Thursday night games started last week with the Bears-Niners thriller. This week we get Dolphins-Panthers. The remaining Thursday night schedule looks like this:

Week 12
Packers-Lions
Raiders-Cowboys
Giants-Broncos

Week 13
Jets-Bills

Week 14
Steelers-Browns

Week 15
Colts-Jaguars
Cowboys-Saints (Saturday)

Week 16
Chargers-Titans (Christmas Friday)

The Giants-Broncos, Colts-Jaguars, and Cowboys-Saints games will definitely have playoff implications. The other games feature teams that need to win because of playoff positioning but the team they’re facing is crap like Steelers-Browns in week 14, or two crap teams like Jets-Bills in week 13. Not exactly the bargaining chip the NFL Network was hoping for in its battle with the cable providers.

The Falcons-Giants and Chargers-Broncos games are off the board right now. I’ll update their lines when they become available. As always, I don’t pick sides in games involving the Philadelphia Eagles. My winners are in bold type.

Miami Dolphins +3 at Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns +4 at Detroit Lions

Pittsburgh Steelers -10 at Kansas City Chiefs

Buffalo Bills +9 at Jacksonville Jaguars

Indianapolis Colts -1 at Baltimore Ravens

Atlanta Falcons +6.5 at New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers +7 at Green Bay Packers

Seattle Seahawks +11 at Minnesota Vikings

Washington Redskins +11 at Dallas Cowboys

New Orleans Saints -11 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals -9 at St. Louis Cardinals

New York Jets +11 at New England Patriots

Cincinnati Bengals -10 at Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos (OFF)

Tennessee Titans +5 at Houston Texans

Where Was This Barry Bonds When He Played?

HG — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:13:03 +0000

Barry Bonds was known as a surly bastard by the media when he played. Some of it was the media grinding an axe and some of it was Barry’s handling of the press. The combination usually made for BS answers from Bonds if he felt like talking at all. Now that he’s out of baseball and hanging out in Hollywood Barry’s a changed man. Look at him talking to the paparazzi about Dancing With the Stars, playing again, and dealing with the media as a former player.

Allen Iverson Done with the Memphis Grizzlies

HG — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:19:10 +0000

Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to give up on the A.I. coming off the bench experiment. The Grizzlies waived Iverson on Monday and he’ll be a free agent Wednesday if he clears waivers. Something tells me he will.

The Knicks are already being thrown around as Iverson’s next destination but unless he’s starting and getting meaningful minutes it’ll end the same as Memphis. I don’t wanna see Iverson go out like this especially since I believe he has some game left. The problem is AI doesn’t have the night in, night out carry a team ability anymore but you can’t tell him that. He could be a solid contributor coming off the bench on a contender. He’d obviously rather start for some scrubs.

Grizzlies waive Iverson; could Knicks be interested? [Newsday]

Here’s a look at some classic Allen Iverson: