Roughly a year ago, I wrote this hatchet job on Kobe Bryant and his demand to be traded. Well, looks like things have turned out pretty well for him. I still think his actions were tactless and I don’t exactly believe his conversion to unselfishness, but to a certain degree he proved me wrong. No matter his “true” intentions, he’s doing the right things and for that, even a Kobe Hater such as myself can give him some credit. Congrats 2008 MVP! Now, I have a side order of crow to finish off.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Kobe Bryant’s ultimatum by now. If you want the whole story from ESPN Basketball Writer and Kobe BFF Ric Bucher, click here. Essentially, he demanded that the Lakers bring back Jerry West with full GM power or he wants to be traded.

This was the highlight of my sports day yesterday. No person on this planet derives more joy from watching Kobe Bryant and the Lakers struggle than me. Combine that with the fact that watching the phrase “you’ve made your own bed, now lie in it” acted out so perfectly with a spoiled professional athlete is such a rare thing and you’ve got a great story. (more…)

Hola amigos. Let me check…yep, it’s 3:30pm out here in California and I just woke up. I think that’s a record for me; “Earliest Waking Time In Seis De Mayo History”.

Last night was cuh-raaaaaazy! Me and some of the boys from the drywalling crew went over to Acapulco for “Margarita Mondays” and painted the town red, white, and green. Those are the Mexican flag colors, right? Well, even if it’s not, that’s the color of the dried vomit I’m trying to clean out of my carpet this morning. Definitely shouldn’t have gone with the shag…

So yesterday at the job site, I kept saying ‘Drink-o de Mayo’ cuz it’s a hilarious pun that I thought up. But then Ricky says that everyone says that and I should stop acting cool and shut my mouth. Stupid Ricky. Oh yeah, well does everyone piss on your car door while you’re chatting up that porker at Acapulco? Oh, right, baseball… (more…)

Welcome to Week 2 of Blogfrica’s #1 reality series. Not only do we have some interesting character pieces from our contestants, we have a guest judge! We’re joined by Rob Iracane, Deadspin Commenting Guru and co-editor of Walk-off Walk. He serves as the gatekeeper for commenting privileges on the most famous sports blog on Earth, so if anyone knows about judging up and coming talent in Blogfrica, it’s him. And unlike most guest judges on reality shows, he’s not pussy-footing around.

This week, the challenge was to write a character piece (ala Sex Cannon) for anyone in the world of sports. This is what they came up with:

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I’ll make this short and sweet. I’m at a conference in Chicago until Wednesday night for my “real job” and wanted to see if any Chi-town bloggers wanted to get together and mingle after the proverbial whistle blows. Drop me a line if you’re interested.

And I don’t mean any of this sexually.

The circumstances aren’t exactly the same, but no NBA Playoff series has reminded me this much of a Rocky movie since Spurs-Knicks Final in the strike-shortened season of 1999 (Rocky V-let’s just pretend the whole thing never happened). The Spurs-Hornets series covers all the major angles you remember from the third Rocky: Long reigning champion vs. young, hungry upstarts, the motivation to stay on top, and men sharing their strength (compare the following videos):

I know I’m not the only one that sees the Apollo-Rocky beach hug potential between Popvich and Duncan.

Since Rocky III has the best dialogue of the series, I’ll use some quotes from the movie to break it down. (more…)

As a friend of YouTube sensation, Batting Stance Guy, I’ll be hosting a poll for him on my site. We want your help in determining the next teams he imitates (the Dodgers are coming soon). Cast your vote below and tell your friends. Please also add specific players you’d like to see in the comments.

In the wake of Lietch’s appearance on HBO’s town hall meeting, a lot of bloggers and media pundits are sharing their opinion on the matter of blogs and the mainstream. But everyone is missing an incredibly important angle of the blogging v. mainstream media debate: economics.

If “mainstream” companies and corporations didn’t advertise on blogs, essentially paying them for their personal commentary, then blogs would quickly fade away (as most already do) and rarely leave a lasting impression. Our small sports blog that’s not even in Deadspin’s ballpark has made some money in 2008, which is more than we could’ve expected. The big boys even make a living doing it. The only other way to make money in sports “journalism” is to pursue a full-time position at paper or magazine, of which there are precious few. Not to mention the market is dominated by 40+ year old white men and reeks of old boys club.

So we, 3 average guys, get paid for sharing the silly and occasionally humorous opinions about sports usually reserved for tailgates and happy hours. We’re not trying to usurp the mainstream sports media or pursue a revolutionary agenda, but because of the homogenous nature and commercialization of ESPN and SI, many people want to go beyond “normal” sports coverage and head to our site. That is why people turn to blogs and why blogs are growing exponentially faster than mainstream outlets.

Click the link below to join in!

http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php?option=com_altcaster&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=4ac41ee7c9

I had a doctor’s appointment this week. He said the ‘ol ticker ain’t doing so great, and that a glass of wine will do me a whole lot of good. So I stopped by the CVS on my way home and picked me up a box for watching the games tonight. Let’s hope it doesn’t ruin this wonderful night of baseball for me… (more…)

Here we are for Round 1. Now that you know who they are, get ready to judge them. Voting is open at the bottom of the post. This week, we asked our contestants to create a 5 item list based on a relevant topic in sports. This is what they came up with:

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Probably.

Good God, man! When I read this, I practically lost my breakfast. Are you kidding me?! Listen, I know the Heat have had a pretty sorry season, and that championship from two years ago looks further and further away these days, but there is no need to do this. I understand that when a team tries to rebuild, they us the term “blow up” the roster. But you don’t need to “blow up” your life, Dwayne. And that’s what Star Jones is; an atomic bomb of shit. The ghosts of the victims at Hiroshima feel bad for Dwayne Wade right now. Too far? Hardly!

Did you lose a bet or something? Did Charles put you up to this? Or is this just another facet of your G2 marketing campaign? Whatever sinister parties go to you and told you that dating a 46 year old when you are a 26 year old superstar athlete should be shot.

Listen Dwayne, I’m sorry for being so harsh on you. Maybe you’re in love. Maybe this is the real deal that so many people strive after. Maybe YOU’RE A GODDAMN RETARD!

Cheese and rice, Wade. Cheese and freaking rice.

PS - Now we have to change this list and make room for a new #1.

“Oooh, look at me, I’m some NFL know-it-all who thinks he knows exactly how the draft is going to go down. But in three weeks I’ll do this again and totally change my mind. But trust me on this one!”

Ugh, I’m so tired of reading mock drafts. I even heard one on the radio the other morning. I think we all pretty much get it at this point. And what’s more, no one is going to be 100% right. Look at last year: who had the Dolphins taking Ted Ginn Jr. at ninth overall. Anybody? That’s right, no one did. And who’s to say that crazy ‘ol Herm Edwards isn’t going to take a punter with the 5th overall he’s sitting on (”With our offense, we need to make sure that we got a guy that can really boom the ball. I mean, we’re going to be punting A LOT!”). So with all that being said, here’s my mocking mock draft, which is just as likely to happen, and probably more fun to read. Oh, and I’m only doing the top 10 picks, because who cares what the hell the Panthers are going to do! (more…)