Archive for the ‘poll’ Category

Power Rank’em: The Grammy Hip-Hop Summit

Monday, February 9th, 2009

There were a lot of unfortunate moments during the Grammys last night (like the Jonas brother barking orders at Stevie Wonder on stage, where does that boy get off?!). Thankfully, the Hip-Hop Summit was not one of them.




Boss. Here’s my power rankings:

  1. Jay-Z

  2. M.I.A. (aka Pregosaurus)

  3. Lil’ Wayne

  4. Kanye

  5. T.I.

To be fair to T.I., Dead and Gone was the first song I listened to when I got up this morning. Anyway, throw your power rankings for this in the comments. If this performance didn’t do it for you, feel free to leave your Grammy babe power rankings as well (#1 Carrie Underwood, #2 Gywneth Paltrow, #3 Katy Perry, #399 Adele).


Wa Wa Wee Wa…

H.S. Girls BBall Team Wins 100-0…Wants to Forfeit Victory!

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

So apparently an episode of One Tree Hill is threatening to come to life, and the girls’ basketball team from Texas high school The Covenant School is suffering crippling remorse after trouncing an unworthy adversary Dallas Academy 100-0 and wants to forfeit the game because they feel bad.

A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse.

Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

“It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened,” Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because “a victory without honor is a great loss.”

The private Christian school defeated Dallas Academy last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

Awarding the demoralized team a pity win, would you say this is fanning the fire, fueling the fire, or is this jet-fueling the fire? You want to get these kids back a little self respect, where was the coach’s order to have one of the irrational teens take out some kid who went 10-15 from behind the arc with a cold-cock out of frustration. (If everyone directly involved is hell bent on making a teeny bopper drama out of this, I’m not going to be the one who reverts. No way.)

Rivals.com – School seeks to forfeit 100-0 win

Make an ULTRA-lazy New Year’s Resolution

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Closing out the year with a little reader survey here. I’d like to hear some of your ideas for an…

ULTRA-LAZY 2009 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION.

As with most things slothful, I have a personal success story I can provide as an example. This past year, I made the resolution to get exactly zero haircuts in ’08. Photo evidence after the jump…

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What is the Worst Sports Memorabilia You Own?

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

As you might have seen on here last week, my inspiration for this blogger poll came from a signed b&w 8×10 of Mo Vaughn.

I’d now like to publicly and humbly apologize to Mo. Not only did he win a MVP way back in ’95, but a autographed photo of his is not even in the same stratosphere as what some members of the sports blog intelligentsia were willing to claim ownership of.

Check out some of the best, and help select the piece de resistance by voting in the comments.

Alana G (AlanaG.com)

I jokingly bid on this [1992 Dream Team Raft] from ebay after I saw a blog post about it during the Olympics on Fourth Place Medal. As it turned out I was the only bidder, so now I own it. As advertised, it has a slow leak, so is not usable as a float. I thought about making my living room a little Nacho Cheesier by hanging it on my wall, but I simply can’t decide which side to display: Scottie Pippin’s head or David Robinson’s armpits…

Michael Rand (Randball)

That’s an easy one: this summer, I went with some friends on our annual baseball road trip. This year included a stop in Kansas City, where we were the “lucky” recipients of Larry Gura bobbleheads on his special night. Career record of 126-97, mostly for the late 70s-early 80s Royals. But hey, it was a bobblehead. So I kept it.

Matty I (Phinsider)

About 13 years ago, there was a Sports Authority opening in my town. They advertised that a “Nets player” would be at the opening. It turned out to be Armen Gilliam. So I got his autograph on a basketball…which is now stuck in my garage somewhere.

Isaac (World of Isaac)

I’m just gonna go ahead and post our gchat conversation for this one…

Isaac: I own a Fennis Dembo autograph
he was one of the most useless NBA players of all-time
but he won a championship with the Pistons

me: who in god’s name is Fennis Dumbo?

Isaac: star college player out of wyoming
played on the bad boys
he’s a janitor now

me: that’s pretty sweet

Isaac: its easily the most useless thing I own

Chris Illuminati (Nine to Fried, Hugging Harold Reynolds)

About ten years ago, my uncle went to a celebrity golf event and John Elway was one of the participants. My uncle ran into him on the course and got him to sign a hat. He gave it to me along with the guest pass that allowed my uncle all-access to the celebs. My uncle gave me the pass as proof he was there and it’s really John Elway’s signature. First off, I’m not an Elway fan. I mean it would have been cool if I met Elway but someone else meeting him does NOTHING for my life story. Second, I can’t prove Elway signed. My uncle’s word of honor does nothing for me in the world of eBay and memorabilia selling. I can’t send it away to get authenticated because it’s not on a ball or jersey or something recognized as an object that sports stars would autograph. It’s a freaking hat. So it sits in my closet next to a small framed picture/sports card of Elway that my mom bought me to go along with the hat. All of these mementos for probably my 143 favorite player of all time. I guess it’s payback for the Super Bowl against the Giants when as a 9-year-old child I kept screaming on every Giants’ defensive stand to ‘break Elway’s legs!’

Steve Melfi (NY Hoosier)

You’re going to be flabbergasted when you find out what this is. That is a signed Nordstrom’s bag with the Hancock of a one Khalid El-Amin, former UCONN point guard. He totally wrote 99 Champs! on it too.

Blogger Poll: What is the Worst Sports Memorabilia You Own?

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

So I was sitting around watching Norbit (for the second time) on HBO Comedy this weekend. When the plot intricacies became too much to bear, my mind wandered and I started to think (appropriately) about other things that suck. Specifically, things that I own.

Pretty high up there on this list of contraband is a signed black and white 8×10 of Mo Vaughn from his days on the Red Sox.

The Hit Dog was pretty beloved in Boston before his unceremonious departure. He left in 1998, signing the richest contract in the league at the time to go to the Angels, where he was plagued by injury. After that, he went to the Mets – where baseball players go to die – and was never seen or heard from again.

Regardless, I prominently display this autograph atop a stereo cabinet that has three of four – minus the woofer – speakers blown out. Mo has taken a few tumbles during Number the Beast (I keep dryer sheets in a more sturdy, in tact location).

Which leads us nicely to this week’s sports blogger poll…

What is the worst piece of sports memorabilia that you own?

Send your submissions to me here. The best (crappiest) of the best (rubbish) will be posted Friday in A.M.

Remembering Starter Jackets

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Let’s cut to the chase, nobody thinks these jackets are cool anymore. These days, you might find a vintage 49ers pullover in a TJ Maxx. But I don’t think you could convince Steve Young’s 11-year nephew to wear it. If you attempt to check out the merchandise on Starter’s website, you get punted over to Walmart.com! (Man, that’s not a good sign).

Alas, not every fashion statement gets to be transcendent. Which leads us to today’s blogger poll…

A bunch of sports bloggers – who probably still have these things hanging in their closets (no matter what the wife might say, right Adam Tracey?) – remember the hey-day of the Starter pullover.

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Blogger Poll: Remembering Starter Jackets

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Remember the 90′s? Remember laughter? I was 11 years old in 1995, with less than none of the world sense and street smartz I possess today. I was preadolescent drunk (translation: pretending to be buzzed after a single Mike’s Hard Lemonade) on the notions of blatant carelessness, blatant recklessness, and blatant disregard. In short, I had no clue, which is no excuse for, but probably part of the reason why, I asked for a Carolina Panthers Starter jacket for Christmas that year. To give you idea of what this puffy monstrosity looked like, the answer is none more blue.

’95 was of course Carolina’s expansion year. Good ole’ Dom Capers was the skipper. They had just drafted a promising rookie/ stud drunk QB Kerry Collins to command the helm, and the future never looked so bright.

As we all know, the team has floundered – not unlike the Starter jacket fad, which gave way (at least in the Northeast) to the psuedo-hipppie Northface yupper fleece. Fun fact: Jake Delhomme wears these, always has. Collins exclusively wears lined flannel, and beat up 11-year old kids in the 90′s who had the Chicago Bulls Starter pullover. Trendy little twerps got what was coming to them (He was like 23 at the time too).

But I digress. This week, we’re polling the sports blog intelligentsia to share their own engaging anecdotes about Starter jackets. I’m sure there’s at least one good tale of a kid getting faced that’s tied to the outerwear that defined an era of sport.

Email me your submissions here. And if you need to bone up on your history, check out this post on Barstool Sports, where they break down the three types of Starter jacket wearers (I guess this makes me a Color-Me Bad Trend Starter? – goddamit)

As per usual, will post the best of the best Friday in the A.M.

Your ‘Best Name in Roller Derby’ Winner: Shenita Stretcher!

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Last week’s contest poll for The Best Name in Roller Derby attracted voting like I’ve never seen on Steady Burn before, with over 800 votes being cast over the weekend!

It was Shenita Stretcher of the Philly Roller Girls emerging to earn the honor, garnering 25% of the vote (219) and just narrowly edging Gotham City’s Beyonslay (203 votes). The Carolina Roller Girls’ Trudy Struction took third.

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Which Sports Figure Should Johnny Depp Play?

Friday, November 14th, 2008

I’d put Johnny Depp in the top-10 actors of his generation. The guy has come a long way from playing Officer Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street (that dangling earring. regrettable for Depp, I’m sure), and has shown versatility and longevity on the silver screen. However, when it comes to playing crazy people, Depp is in a class unto himself. Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka, Ichabod Crane, Ed Wood, Ed Scissorhands – all certifiable. You give him a character with any sort of twitch, and Depp will give a smashing performance. Looking back, he’s been a rum swigging swashbuckler, a opium induced inspector (don’t see From Hell if you can help it), a slasher barber – it makes me wonder, why should sports star be the exception?

Hence, that is why I posed the question to sports blog intelligentsia: Which Athlete Should Johnny Depp Play in a Movie?

The creme appears below, with a poll daddy guy at the bottom for you to cast a vote. Anyone interested in participating in one of my weekly polling exercise, email me here.

My personal submission for this: McEnroe. The film will span Johnny Mac’s entire career, and then some – ending with that awkward hug he gave Federer after he lost Wimbledon last year. Federer will be played by the kid from that Twilight thing or somebody, BUT, more importantly Rafa will be played by Benicio, and the deleted scenes will include Depp and him driving through the desert in a ballbuster on the way to Vegas, hyped on mescaline.

…And just because they already made that movie, doesn’t mean we can’t do it again, because McEnroe actually did stuff like this. Now he just makes totally ridiculous commercials…

Here’s the best of the rest…

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If Johnny Depp Played a Professional Athlete…?

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Johnny Depp has made a decent living (a killing, in fact) playing crazy folk. From Edward Scissorhands to Ichabod Crane. Hunter S. Thompson to Jack Sparrow . Willy Wonka, Sweeney Todd, Ed Wood. He’s even currently shooting to be The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. You reveal the slightest inkling of idiosyncracy, and Depp hits it out of the park.

When we’re talking about nutty characters, sports personalities are far from the exemption. With that said,

WHICH ATHLETE’S BIOPIC WOULD YOU LIKE JOHNNY DEPP TO STAR IN?

Email me your suggestions, and feel free to elaborate in length. All content will be posted with links on Friday morning.