We hardly familiar with any sports radio hosts outside of the guys on the New York dial, Dan Patrick, and Dan LeBatard. Watching Costas show segment last week about former Hot Dog vendor Mike North in Chicago made us squeamish; but to read today about this blowhard named Mark Madden in Pittsburgh is perhaps even worse. Having never listened to him, and only reading negative comments about him … everywhere, we’re not in a position to critique his work. But is he worth listening to on the internet? We like to give everyone a chance, but our ears don’t like to bleed, so please try and be truthful.

Big night on the tube - Office, Lost and LeBron. We’re not counting the Spurs - no way they lose this game.

Smizik on TV: Radio host adds fuel to his own fire (Post-Gazette)

A little over three weeks ago, we came to the conclusion that the Charlotte Bobcats were going to be our NBA “team” next year. This is what we love best about not having an allegiance to any team - it’s liberating to find an upstart who didn’t make the playoffs, learn about them, and then root for them. (Our baseball pick, Gavin Floyd, is working out OK - actually, he’s been splendid.) However, because Larry “Next Town” Brown is such a difficult fellow to root for, and he was recently named coach of the Bobcats, we would like to toss the Bobcats back and re-open our search. We just can’t root for Larry. Sorry. Other possibilities: Portland’s the obvious one, but everyone will be on the Blazers; the Bulls, especially if they land D’Antoni; with the right draft pick, the Clips could be interesting, but doesn’t Simmons root for them?; if the T-Wolves can unload Telfair and McCants, we’d consider them; Memphis for Lowry and Gay might be fun, but it plays in the toughest division in basketball; how about this - wherever Baron Davis goes, that’s our team, otherwise, we stick with Seattle.

Saw this yesterday, and felt compelled to comment: Braylon Edwards, last seen taking about blogs on HBO, is somehow being considered a first-round fantasy football draft pick. Drafts don’t happen until August, but the hardest of the hardcore are preparing now. We love the Browns, and Edwards is an emerging stud … but to take him ahead of Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis and Marshawn Lynch? Absurd.

Mock Draft: Braylon Edwards goes in Round One (No Offseason)

Miranda Kerr appears to be the latest in a long line of tall and attractive Victoria Secret’s models. Orlando Bloom is a lucky lad.

The victory was had on a blistering uppercut. Eskin didn’t immediately go down, but then he swung wildly, missed, and fell down without being touched. (Pro Football Talk)

Matt Walsh and the Patriots and tapes and Goodell? Do. Not. Care. (NY Times)

Is Tyson Chandler’s wife really as tall as Jannero Pargo? (ESPN the Mag)

Hey, did you know ESPN talked about the Leinart photos a few weeks ago? (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

You are what you wear? (Apples & Moustaches)

White Sox and Cubs fan do battle in the streets. (Out of Left Field)

We were hyping Grand Theft Auto 4 with good reason. (Variety)

Charlie Weis speaks, we listen. (Journal-Gazette)

Guy creates a beer, feds shut him down. (JS Online)

Temporarily lifting our Mariotti ban because this is funny. (Sports Hernia)

Blogger’s dad is notorious golfer! (Mondesi’s House)

Shock of the day! Baseball players aren’t dolls! (Tribune)

Your random stuff from Florida recap: fake leg ripped off, fired for a magic trick, and a special crazy one from Massachusetts!

Looks like a fun time. The Chicago Tribune secured the first photo of the Benson bash that ended up with the Bears’ running back getting pepper sprayed and cuffed by the boys in blue. (Scoreboard: Trib 2, S-T 0). Benson’s fighting the charges. Now, back to his party … very nice work, Ced.

The scene at Cedric Benson’s arrest (Chicago Tribune via PFT)

Lee Diekemper, our resident hockey expert, previews the NHL conference finals. He wanted the headline “Power of Prayer,” which is wittier than our bland one. This is really sad, but people keep emailing us links to this Don Cherry guy, and we’re just playing along like we know who he is, but we have no clue. We should look him up. (Lengthy google pause.) Ok, got it. He’s a legendary hockey commentator and he used to coach. The more you know … Read the rest of this entry »

See that new tab up there? Yup, that one. Go ahead, take a look. We’ll wait.

That’s the brand new Commenters’ Bill of Rights. In-house political guru, Jon Schnaars ratified it late last night and we’re unveiling it to you today. Its pretty much the most important document created by man since the Mitchell Report. Read the rest of this entry »

In an otherwise solid interview with Fanhouse, Jason Whitlock - a man seemingly with no fear; he’s gone after Lupica, Scoop, Stephen A. Smith, Jay Mariotti, and Playboy - made the assertion that a sports blog will eventually fill the void of “holding [other spots] blogs accountable.” (This sort of already existed at some point, and we seem to recall others, but we can’t find them.) Apparently, this is necessary because sports blogs are chummy with one another - perhaps to a fault. Read the rest of this entry »

Absolutely awesome. We saw this at Game On, and we can’t wait to see the video. They have video in Iowa, right? The guy averages 180. And to all you bowling haters - the coolest class (well, second after a film class) we took during our final year in college was bowling. There’s nothing like breakfast followed by an hour of bowling to start your Thursday morning weekend.

Game On (USA Today)

… they enter bikini contests. Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the greatest soccer player on the planet at this moment (he’s only 23), is two weeks away from leading Manchester United into its first Champions League Final since 1999. And now, a distraction! This morning, the always-reputable Sun has uncovered shocking (!) video of Ronald’s girlfriend in a … BIKINI PAGEANT IN SPAIN! The video is undated, but it’s also safe for work, although if she wore that bikini to the office, she’d be sent home to change. Inevitably, this will lead to all sorts of questions about whether or not Ronaldo can stay focused on the game, and whether or not Liverpool (duh, Chelsea) will channel Zidane and make comments about his girlfriend being a … aw, hell, who are we kidding. They’ll pat him on the back and ask him how the heck he pulled Gemma.