Bill Clinton is a huge NCAA basketball fan, as well as a fan of his own words of wisdom. So it comes as no surprise that after Chris Webber’s huge gaffe in the 1993 NCAA Championship Finals (of which you can revisit below), Clinton penned a heartfelt letter to the dejected Webber a couple days after the game.
Haven’t seen The Fab Five yet, but hearing a lot of good things and some great things.
Happy Birthday, Bob Ryan. The long-time Boston Globe penman turned 65 today. He’s had a fairly illustrious sportswriting career – Bill Simmons once called him the best basketball writer ever. Another fun factoid I just learned from his Wikipedia page is that he once directed fans to his Wikipedia page instead of admitting to a mistake that he made in an article when he was questioned about it on Around the Horn. Also it says on there that him and Peter Gammons started as interns at the Globe on the same day back in the 70s.
Happy Birthday from me, Bob. I’ve decided it would be weird to post a birthday message on your Facebook wall so I’m not going to do it – it’s weird enough that you accepted my Facebook friend request in the first place.
I know exactly one person from Alabama, and he happens to be a fellow sports blogger. So hopefully he’ll comment on this post an let me know interchangeable the term Roll Tide truly is.
Today, ESPN rolled out yet another hilarious commercial and the Worldwide Leader was gracious enough to put it on YouTube and Facebook before it premieres on the network tonight.
According to ESPN’s YouTube description, “Roll Tide” is a universal expression among ‘Bama Nation, versatile and applicable in nearly every situation as a greeting, farewell or standard cheer or praise.”
After seeing this, I think it clearly works best in drunken best man speeches
Props to the ad firm that cooked this up for ESPN. And check out this ESPN Facebook thread of college rally cries.
Last night, I watched ESPN’s 30 for 30 doc “One Night in Vegas”, it’s really, really good. The documentary by Reggie Rock Bythewood, director of Notorious, chronicles the oddly similar trajectory of the careers of Tupac Shakur and Mike Tyson, who were close friends going back to the late 80′s, early 90′s. Fittingly, ESPN premiered it on the anniversary of Tupac’s fatal shooting in Las Vegas following Iron Mike’s first round knockout of Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand on Sep. 7, 1996.
The documentary features a couple of unreleased Tupac tracks. One I’m still looking for; the song he recorded a few days before the Seldon fight. In what was the most interesting part of the documentary, a Death Row Records engineer talks about the smash and dash production of that song (according to him, all Tupac needed was 20 minutes, a blunt and some Hennessey). This dude definitely told this story before – probably to every rapper, mixer, keyboard player and production intern he’s encountered in the industry since 1996.
The other unreleased song in “One Night in Vegas” is “Road 2 Glory,” another track that Tupac did for his friend Iron Mike before his WBC Heavyweight title fight against Frank Bruno – his first title fight after being released from prison in 1996. Check it out below – audio’s not great, overlay of boxing announcers doesn’t help much. Also included the video of Tyson walking out to it before the Bruno fight in March of ’96.
If anyone comes across the Seldon track, pass it my way.
I didn’t watch the ESPYs last night for fear that Brian Kownacki and Fordham baseball would lose out for Best Play – they did, to frickin’ Favre. However, I appreciate the effort put forth by the following players who (it seems like, at least) made the broadcast a success:
By gawd, the possibilities for capitalizing in wake of ‘The Decision’ seem endless today. That is, if you’re willing to simply castigate the man. Example: the Lebron TP.
Abruptly listed as: This is for all true Cleveland fans that believe in our city!! help us remind Lebron on how much hes worth after leaving us!
Start the bids at $25/ roll.
For fans everywhere of speaking loudly for the sake of trying to make a stale point sound important, I’m sure you’ll all be real fired up to hear that Jon Gruden inked a multiyear extension with Monday Night Football today. Plus, they’re gonna let him be a part of like five other projects.
Via the ESPN.com wire services…
ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst and former longtime NFL coach Jon Gruden has agreed to a multiyear extension with the network.
Gruden, who joined ESPN in September to replace Tony Kornheiser in the MNF booth, will also appear on ESPN’s Super Bowl week and NFL Draft coverage, will call the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl and will serve as an analyst for ESPN Radio’s 2010 Rose Bowl and BCS title game broadcasts, where he will again team with MNF play-by-play caller Mike Tirico.
That means multiple more years of Gruden insight (“this guy’s a football player”) and in depth analysis (“this guy’s a running back”) on MNF. Personally, I can’t get enough of his inability to keep a straight face during those rare moments where the camera focuses in on the booth. Unprofessional, yes. A clear-cut indication that he’s just tuned Jaw’s out, why hell yes.
On September 14, 2009, the great Patrick Swayze lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and passed away too young at the age of 57. Swayze had a prolific acting career, one that inspired his devoted fan base to believe that if anyone could beat this disease it was him (Swayze played a bank robbing surf ninja and villainous sky diving enthusiast in Point Break. Cancer? No problem, compadre). He was diagnosed in January of 2008 with a sickness that most people will succumb to in under a year – he held on for 20+ months. During that time period, his 1989 film Road House was the most broadcast movie on American television in the past year according to Rolling Stone – airing 45 times on AMC, A&E and CMT. Maybe you were lucky enough to flip it on and catch a riveting scene like this…
In lieu of burying Swayze with Dalton’s medical dossier, each Tuesday during football season I’ll be awarding one player the “Pain Don’t Hurt” Award to honor Swayze’s memory. This week’s recipient: Brandon Meriweather of the New England Patriots.
Last week, the retired Rodney Harrison said of his strong safety protege, “Brandon Meriweather will be putting his helmet down [Terrell Owens'] throat.”
Though Owens was held to just 2 catches for 46 yards, and no TDs by the Patriots secondary, the brand of raw aggression that Harrison, who’s apparently maintained his maniacal nature, is referring to here was best on display during that stack-up hit by Meriweather on Bills’ Leodis McKelvin during that kick-off return late in the 4th. ESPN failed to mention Swayze’s passing during the entire broadcast of the game, but they did show about 15 angles of Meriweather holding up McKelvin while his teammates ransacked him. The Pierre Woods forced fumble – recovered by New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski – and impending TD drive sealed the victory for the Pats and ripped the proverbial neck out of the Bills’ upset hopes.
(photo via NFL.com)
Shaq’s MMA trainer went on First Take to discuss the rumors that The Big Cactus (I honestly never heard this nickname before, anyone else?) wants to fight Chuck Liddell…
Wait, how many levels is your academy?
If this guy didn’t pump the six levels six bazillion times, and Shaq-fu wasn’t such a class clown, maybe I’d buy Diesel vs. Liddell. However, is this the dude that tracked down Shaq on twitter and took him on in the octagon?
In other @The_Real_Shaq news, this tweet is hilarious…
H/T to FastActionNews.com for the video posting.
Jacoby “The Jet” Ellsbury steals home, the Sox close out the sweep of the Yankees at home, and my roommate and I had the first simultaneous “Holy S#@t” yell of the young 2009 MLB season (in the friendly confines of our home).
It was Ellsbury’s first steal of home plate since College, and the first one for the Red Sox since Jose Offerman did so in August 1999. Still, that one was part of a double steal; the last straight steal of home (love that expression) for the Sox dates back to 1994 (Billy Hatcher)
In honor of Ellsbury and all you grifters out there, I give you 10 videos featuring Great Moments in Stealing Home. We’ve got another Pettitte failing, some video game footage, Jenny Finch as a teen, and of course the classic 1955 steal by Jackie Robinson. (Also, something that doesn’t technically qualify as stealing home. I’m a sucker for a well-executed clothesline, what can I say.) Enjoy!
Jennie Finch (age 16) steals home
Backyard Wrestling “Don’t Steal Home”
Tsuyoshi Shinjo stealing home plate
Delayed Steal to Home Plate (2007 Little League World Series Japan vs. Curacao)
Johnny C steals home as batter swings (Here I F@#%ing COME!)
Jackie Robinson Steals Home (Game One, 1955 World Series, Dodgers vs. Yankees)
Aaron Hill Stole Home!
And last, but not least…
…OK, they wouldn’t let me embed this one. Please, go watch it. Just read the description:
