Tag: ESPN

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That’s Not Cool, Brett Favre

If you didn’t see it for yourself on ESPN, take a look at this filthy little crackback block that Brett Favre threw at the knees of Texans safety Eugene Wilson in the third quarter of the Monday Night preseason game.

A great job by the ESPN guys on calling the play dirty right away and I probably wouldn’t expect anything more to happen since a penalty was called on the play. Just giving me more ammo to not like Brett Favre more than I already don’t.

Well Done #4.

Yahoo! Sports: Brett Favre throws a dirty block at Eugene Wilson’s knees

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Chad OchoCinco — The Kicker

I had read it in newspapers and blogs online… I had heard about it on ESPN SportsCenter but I finally the video just now.

Chad OchoCinco (@OGOchoCinco) is a pretty darn good kicker — both for PATs and a regular kickoff as well. What is it that this man can’t do? Maybe he and @The_Real_Shaq can compete sometime in a decathalon. Now that is quality television waiting to happen.

Enjoy the kicking video:

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NBC’s Soccer Debacle

If you’re interested in pretty good soccer recap of games as well as opinions regarding moves and upcoming matches, I highly recommend checking out Matchday LIVE! USA (link). Even though the updates at times are few and far between, the posts that are up there are nothing short of quality pieces. Take a look at the latest one from this morning titled “NBC’s “Business Decision” a National Embarrassment”

The post is regarding the upcoming USA vs. Mexico match that is slated for 4 PM EST later today. If you’re on a basic cable package or if you happen to be on campus anywhere in the country, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to see this match simply because it’s not being shown my any major network. ESPN can’t show it because NBC has the exclusive rights to that match since the Mexican Federation decides who gets the rights to matches being played at Azteca. NBC, on the other hand, decides to air this “Showdown at the Azteca” on an obscure channel called mun2 (moon-dos – pronunciation courtesy of Matchday LIVE!)

A quick Google search will tell you that the soccer-crazed masses are concerned. ESPN doesn’t show a match listing in their schedule for US-Mexico. Neither does Fox Soccer Channel. Fear not, says NBC, it’s on mun2. That’s “moon-dos.” I’m sure you’ve all heard of it. It’s that hip, trendy Latino network obscure bicultural channel no one has ever heard of that is so far up the digital cable dial your brain will be addled into confusing the two teams’ kits when you finally get to the match. What some are passing off as a business decision, however, is clearly nothing short of one of the biggest jokes in sports media coverage of the decade, right up there with the 8PM World Series start, Roger Goodell wanting to expand the NFL to 18 games, and NBC’s (do you sense a theme here) creating a new network for Olympic coverage just weeks before the event that no one received on time.

Please, NBC, I understand the business decision involved, but this time you’ve overstepped the line. I’m sure the millions of fans watching the match without HD having finally reached channel 8,794,316.2 will really be pleased to be transported back into the mid-90s. At least back then it clear what the networks thought about the game, and it continued to push on and thrive nonetheless. Here’s hoping that NBC’s stupidity only provides a renewed opportunity for football to do the same thing now in 2009.

That’s only an excerpt of the pretty good piece by my friend Mike and be sure to head over to Matchday LIVE! USA to read the rest of the article and his other updates as well.

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Ridiculous Holiday Mailbag

If you are a sports fan and you don’t read Bill Simmons by now, you should really get on that… or if you’re too lazy to listen, get his podcast. He recently put out his ridiculous holiday mailbag email because as he stated that someone could justify that “Maybe I needed something to distract me from the terrifying realization that the Patriots’ 2008 season rests in the hands of Brett Favre”. Well said.

I’ll quote a couple of the completely bizarre emails that were sent to him with his replies and you can read the rest of them here: Sublime meets ridiculous in holiday mailbag

 

Q: How ’bout this hypothetical? It’s 2012, Matt Cassel is the quarterback for the Vikings and standing with a Super Bowl MVP trophy in one hand and a Super Bowl trophy in another. It’s his third Super Bowl MVP in four years, two with the Vikings and one with the Patriots in 2009. He states in his opening remarks, “I would like to dedicate this Super Bowl to Tom Brady for getting injured and allowing me to finally get my shot.” Flash to Foxboro, where Tom Brady has never returned to his 2007 form and reinjured his knee three times since, and Bill Belichick has retired from coaching due to having a heart attack from seeing Cassel win his second Super Bowl without the Patriots. Jump to 2022, as the Patriots have become the ’90s Cincinnati Bengals and you are hysterically crying while writing a piece titled “The Curse of Matt Cassel: IT IS REAL.”
— Andrew, Boston

SG: Just real enough that I made the same face that babies make when you stick a lemon in their mouths.

 

Q: If you’re sitting on 24 wins in “Streak for the Cash,” shouldn’t you hop on a flight to Vegas and bet about $250,000 on the opposite of whatever you pick for your 25th selection? All the games ESPN.com puts up as straight win/loss picks are close in point spreads, so I am sure you could get a money line in Vegas that would pay out straight up. That way, you ensure yourself of a minimum victory of $250,000, and can win a maximum of $750,000. I mean, you gotta protect yourself at this point right? I’m sitting in class at law school going insane thinking about this guy NOT doing this.
— Bryan, New York

SG: One catch: Where do you get the $250,000 to slap down at a sports book? This plan only works if you’re a multimillionaire or you’re running a Ponzi scheme. By the way, you’re not gonna believe this, but Bill Simmons is a huge “Streak For the Cash” fan. Every time I get to three in a row, I start dreaming about ESPN.com’s worst-case scenario of one of its employees (in this case, me) beating the game, followed by a mammoth Bob Ley investigation and 27 caustic Phil Mushnick columns.

 

Q: When I found out Al Davis’ mother lived until she was 103, I thought about impaling myself with a dull garden tool about 103 times. I’ll be 67 by the time the Raiders are respectable again. Can you please offer me some hope?
— Scott, Holiday, Fla. 

SG: (Shaking my head sadly.)

 

 

Q: I don’t care what the SEC says: The J-Kidd transaction was Cuban’s greatest trading transgression of 2008.
— Marchy, Malibu, Calif.

SG: (Applauding.)

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Re: Mike And The Mad Dog

I still can’t believe their show is over… anyways, this is a great piece that describe the sentiments of probably a majority of their listeners right now.

Sadly on Thursday August 14th, 2008 my childhood came to an end. A part of me has died. My life will never, ever be the same.

Mike and the Mad Dog, the long time afternoon drive show on WFAN in New York came to an end as Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo decided to leave the station for good.

Ever since 1989 my life has been based around that show. I didn’t exaggerate that statement. My schedule on a day to day basis was based on the fact that I had to be near a radio at 1pm in order to hear the “Aaaaaaaaaannnnndddd good afternoon everybody how are you today”. They were it for me, what they said was absolute gospel. When I say my life has been based around the show, I mean my life has been based around the show:

– I had / have friendships that are purely based on the mutual affection of Mike and the Mad Dog.
– My sister can recite the entire open to their show and she couldn’t even name five players in the NFL
– I have Tivo’d there show on YES every single day since 2002..-I bought my house based on the idea that I could get Direct TV so I can watch Mike and the Mad Dog on YES every single day

– I could tell you each of their kid’s name and I know that Dog’s dog is named Jordan

– I have read both of Mad Dog’s books and have had people mail me video tapes of “Mike’D Up”, Francessa’s Sunday night TV show on NBC in NY.
– I have been imitating them for the majority of my life both on air and off air…”Say something funny”… “I knew you would say something funny, Bill told me.”
– I have a picture in my room in NY of Dog and I from his old SportsChannel TV show when I was 8 years old.
– I force the Mike and the Mad Dog language “Oh is that all?” upon almost everyone at the station.
– I am so obsessed with them that my mom said to me tonight that its like my version of the Beatles breaking up.

They just did it better than everyone else. They would say things that others wouldn’t.

– Asking former Islanders GM Mike Milbury “How do you have a job”
– Telling Roger Gooddell to “show some guts” and “kick him out of the league” referring to Pac Man Jones
– Screaming and yelling at Joe Torre for taking too many Yankees to the All-Star Game a few years back
– Dog willing to give up kids to get a SF Giants post season series win.

They were absolutely fearless. There is nothing they wouldn’t ask a guest. They have been instrumental in major moves in NY Sports.
?
– Got Jeff Torborg fired from the Mets
– Got Mike Piazza traded to the Mets

Most kids grow up with athletes as their sports idols. My dad grew up as a Yankee fan loving Mickey Mantle and he like most kids in NY had their favorite players, I had Mike and the Mad Dog. There was no player on any team that even held a candle to those two. If there was a such thing as a Mike and the Mad Dog jersey I would have been wearing it, I would have been trading their “baseball cards” if they existed.

In conclusion, I do what I do because of them. They were the pioneers of sports talk radio and I only wish that one day I can affect someone the way they have affected me. I will miss them more than anyone could possibly imagine. They are everything to me, they are my vice. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I use them and listening to them as my fallback to everything in life. There has been truly no moment over their almost 19 years on the air that listening to them has not made me happier than I was prior to tuning in. I am going to miss them and I thank them for being there for me for almost 19 years and giving me a direction in my professional life. Thank you both for everything.

[Source: ESPN 760 – Have You Seen My Childhood?]