Notes From The Underground

On Monday I was driving home from my decidedly un-Underground occupation listening to a local radio station. Lo and behold, the local afternoon drive guy was promoting his “interview” with “Will from Deadspin.com” on tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) show. I was stunned. Nay, shocked that the Leader of the Underground, Will Leitch, had risen from his spider-hole to see the light of day. I e-mailed the dear leader and he confirmed that he was, indeed, scheduled to make an appearance on “The Marconi Show” on KUFO 101.1. So, I decided to suffer through the banal dronings of said Marconi to hear the voice of Mr. Leitch. I just hoped he wasn’t as bad in stereo as Bill Simmons has proven to be.

After relentless promotion of the interview (truly, I couldn’t believe how much it was promoted), the station finally released the Underground’s message about sports. Here are the highlights (all times P.M. Pacific and brackets are my editorial asides):

4:47 – Intro…In response to a question about how he is, Will says he is magical. [I didn't know Will was the little Lucky Charms Leprachaun. Will sounds a bit distracted, maybe he's at a strip club.]
4:48 – Marconi asks Will what he thinks of the Kobe Bryant suspension. Will denies that he's a Kobe apologist and then a horn blares in the background. [WTF! Where is the leader? Obviously above ground. Maybe in a cab?]
4:49—At this point Will begins to lament the passing of the Deadspin SHOTY Barbaro and says the sportsworld is a bit depressed these days. First real joke of the day, "The horse is no better at reading letters today than he was yesterday."
4:50 – Continuing with the equine theme, Will wishes horses were roaming the streets and he could buy beer from horses.
4:52 – In response to a discussion about the prep wrestling team breaking out with herpes, the DJ asks “What is ‘prep’ wrestling?” [WTF…what a total moron.]
4:54—Deadspin correspondent AJ Daulerio is currently on assignment at the Super Bowl in Miami and has been updating loyal readers about his adventures. Will seems to think that AJ needs to step up his game and stop complaining about the hotel. In fact, AJ should be sleeping on the street and not in the hotel because he is, afterall, in Miami.
4:55 – End of interview. Marconi thanks Will for his 'magical' site.

What can we glean from the Underground Leader's message? I think he might have an unhealthy obsession with the equine family. Also, he expects more debauchery from AJ. I think we can all agree that would be a good thing. Finally, Will sounds much better than Bill Simmons' nasally whining.

Bloggie Jamboree

Just a few links to stories on other blogs that I found funny or interesting.

Tom Brady's Poodle Is A Rapist (The Mighty MJD)

Projectile Soccer (With Leather)

Who Knew Bengals Fans Were So "Cool" (Deadspin)

Marcus Vick-like Stomp (The Big Lead)

Michael Vick Pulls A Stoudamire (I Dislike Your Favorite Team)

Re-Evaluating the 2006 NFL Draft (Complete Sports)

Quasi-Sports Related Stuff On The Wide, Wide World of Web

Here's my cheap post of the week YouTube videos and some news stories.

Here in Oregon there was a snowstorm the state was totally unprepared for. The "blizzard" wreaked havoc on the little pissants in Oregon that can't handle three inches of snow. Some great video was born from "Winter Storm 2007" and some disturbing stories resulted as well.

The only way I can relate the video to sports is that it looks like a pinball game and some people (not-me) consider video-gaming a sport.



Then there was a couple of disturbing stories. First, a 36-year-old male stabbed a 17-year-old boy after the boy and some of his friends hit the older male's car with a snowball. Talk about your road-rage. (This is sports related because I can totally see being a great ESPN2 show to go with paintballing.) Second, a 9-year-old girl died of sledding related injuries. Her dad was pulling her on an inner-tube in the snow behind a truck and she went flying into a brick wall. Sad stuff. (Sports related because this is a sport you create as a kid--I know because I did it.)

Finally, skate-boarding dog!!!

A Soccer Fan's Perspective On The Beckham Deal

You probably already know, unless you have been living in a spider-hole waiting for the U.S. military to find you, that David Beckham will be joining the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer this summer. Gallons of ink and lots of bandwith have been used to analyze, pontificate, degrade and praise the signing. What I haven't seen is an American soccer fan's perspective on the transaction. Lucky for you I happen to be American and a soccer fan. So, you get to read my thoughts. Stop here if you don't want to read it.

The David Beckham to MLS rumor has been around for a year or two now and, to be honest, every time I heard it I just didn't care for one main reason--MLS is not world class soccer. It doesn't hold my attention due to the lesser quality play. I always figured that one big name signing, such as the Beckham deal, by the MLS wouldn't change my opinion. I worried that such actions would lead the league down the path of the NASL and Pele, yada, yada, yada. I still worry about that.

But, after the announcement last week, I found that my interest had been piqued contrary to my prior beliefs. I still have many of the same worries others have like Beckham's declining skill, the price tag, and general circus feel of the whole thing, but I am actually hopeful now. There is a world class player in the MLS fold now and he has the marketing power to attract new interest to the game in the U.S.

This is all positive for the MLS. It will put asses in the seats, sell jerseys and hopefully legitimize the league for future signings of bigger name players to increase the talent level and, ultimately, increase the popularity. The Beckham deal will definitely have me paying closer attention to MLS and hopefully many others will as well because I want soccer to succeed in the U.S. I know I'm not the only soccer fan in the U.S. who had this change of heart. I just hope it works.

Starting the 2012 Campaign Early

Barry Bonds was quoted as saying:

"I congratulate Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn for their induction to the Hall of Fame because they were great ballplayers," Bonds said Wednesday in the Dominican Republic. "But I also think McGwire and Pete Rose should be in Cooperstown."

And, the 2012 Barry Bonds HOF campaign begins in earnest. I, frankly, agree with Bonds and believe that Barry belongs in the hall as well. However, Barry will need to have some other people make this argument on his behalf because it is obvious his statement is made out of self-interest.

Probably An Eagles Fan

Some dude killed another dude at an NFL Playoff party.

Detective Jim Strovink said deputies found beer bottles on the lawn and a broken window when they arrived at the Canby home Saturday. Roughly 10 people were there to watch a game, and Strovink said Stutzman had been drinking: "He became very belligerent, very obnoxious and tried to entice people into fights."

Strovink said Stutzman focused on Lucas, who had a heart condition and tried to avoid fighting. Several other people, including the victim's brother, Troy Lucas, tried to intervene.

"Unfortunately, the victim did receive some significant blows," Strovink said.

That last statement might be the understatement of this young year.

And, yes, I do realize that this happened in Oregon and the odds would favor that he is a Seachickens fan. But, a Seattle fan would just whine until the other guy died, whereas an Eagles fan is more likely to bludgeon another human to death and try to entice others to fight.

Did Alando Tucker's Professor Break The Law?

I was just perusing last week's Sports Illustrated Issue and happened to read the article about University of Wisconsin basketball player Alando Tucker. It is a good story and I recommend it if you have the time. However, that is not why I am wasting your time. It was this revelation by one of Alando's professors regarding a paper Tucker wrote:

I was impressed with the amount of thought he had given to this for someone his age, and I don't mind telling you I gave him an A for the paper.

Most of you may not care but it immediately struck me that there are federal privacy laws regarding a person's academic records and this may have violated those laws. According to this site, schools generally cannot release any information from a student's record without written permission. I don't know if this applies to a professor or just the institution. I assume it is both. Any education lawyers out there care to enlighten us?

Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter because Alando probably doesn't care and getting an A isn't something to be ashamed of.

Wow! That Was a Ryan v. Ventura Beatdown

The BCS "National Championship" game is over and Florida delivered a 1st half TKO to the Ohio State University. After Ted Ginn, Jr. took the opening kickoff back for a TD it was all Florida. The Buckeye defense couldn't stop Urban Meyer's spread attack and the vaunted Buckeye offense led by Heisman-winning QB Troy Smith couldn't mount an attack whatsoever. Anyway, we have national champs from Florida in basketball and football now with a possible basketball repeat.

I haven't posted in a while because of work commitments/holiday schtuff but I plan on getting back on the horse soon. I had a good Christmas break and have some new ideas to put out there along with my same old crap. I hope all two of my readers had a happy holiday and I hope to see you around here more often.