Cheap Shots #13.

After doing another double shift from 2:30 yesterday afternoon to 8 this morning, I'm kind of tapped out right now. I can't watch any more wall to wall VA Tech coverage for a while without getting cynical, and I need to preserve some empathy for an awful event.

So, we're going to hit the links.

1) David Stern owns his league, and lets Jerry Joey Crawford know he does not approve of his little tiff with Tim Duncan. [Awful Announcing]
2) Steve Phillips: shitty Mets GM, even shittier ESPN analyst. [One More Dying Quail]
3) Keith Olbermann gets added to NBC's Football Night In America lineup. [Sports Media Watch]
4) Obviously, some people were never taught the definition of satire. [With Leather]
5) Alyssa Milano is blogging about baseball, albeit with a bit of fashion line promotion. [Touch 'Em All]
6) Said Milano fashion line gets reviewed. [Ladies...]
7) Gentlemen, if you'd like to ensure involuntary celibacy, please see these NFL bedroom sets. [Shot to Nothing]
8) Please remove Vince Young from your fantasy draft list this year. [Foul Balls]
9) Counting down the NBA MVP candidates. [Complete Sports]
10) The list of top sports tax cheats. [The Wade Blogs]
11) Gene Upshaw continues to screw over the NFL old-timers. [The Feed]
12) Finally, forget going after rappers. Let's focus that Imus attention on another person who really, really deserves it. [Why Don't We Get Drunk And Blog?]

(I gotta say, I admire the way Lozo tackles his posts.)

We Play GM, Day 2.

AA's still posting the rest of the first round picks in the Sports Bloggers Mock Draft, so go have a look. New picks every 15.

I took Texas safety Michael Griffin for the Broncos, as both desired Gator players (Reggie Nelson and Jarvis Moss) were off the board by the time I picked, and none of the D-linemen in the draft at that point were first-round pick worthy. Many mock drafts have Griffin as an early second-rounder, but I took him over Miami's Brandon Meriweather because he's less likely to get in off-the-field trouble (Meriweather, you'll recall, is one of the instigators in that Miami-FIU brawl from last year.)

I'm drafting for the Saints in the second round.

Where We Play General Manager.

Day One of Awful Announcing's Sports Bloggers Mock Draft is up, and the last few of the first 15 picks will be up soon (AA's updating them every 15 minutes). I think we cracked enough Brady Quinn jokes to last a lifetime.

Day Two will be up tomorrow.

Also worth noting on the Interblog scale: Marco has a nice feature called "The Terrible Jersey Hall of Fame", and I suggested my Mike Hampton Rockies jersey. I still think we broke him. Sorry, Atlanta.

Cheap Shots #12.

Because I'm too busy laughing at the massive Mock Draft threads to produce any copy of value right now (read: also lazy.)

1) ESPN's ombudswoman continues to layeth the smacketh down. [ESPN, hat tip Awful Announcing]
2) Whitlock on TV? Good Lord, he fits right in with every other blowhard in the cable news rolodex. [The Big Lead]
3) SA is crushing on Jeff Francoeur and evaluates the Braves. [Ladies...]
4) The "Would You Do..." is back for another round. [The Big Picture]
5) Paul Pierce is on the shelf, and the young Celts are being given a trial by fire (just don't call it tanking.) [One More Dying Quail]
6) The Don Imus kerfuffle represents another missed opportunity to discuss race, sexism, and other problems honestly. [Pacifist Viking]
7) Another week, another bit of Houston Nutt nuttiness. [Journo Rock, EDSBS]
8) Speaking of college football, some videos on the lengths some will go to root for their school. [The Hater Nation]
9) A retirement card for Drew Bledsoe from some notable co-workers. [WBRS Sports Blog]
10) Mandy's tribute to The Alien That Is Sam Cassell. [Girls Gone Sports]

New blogroll additions: Orange Bucksnorts and Piles of What.

Got a wedding to attend this weekend, with all the friends coming back to town to chug beer and whiskey shots. Hopefully my mock draft pick comes before I'm totally sloshed and able to pick coherently.

The Phoenix That Is The Big Lead.

The Big Lead is up again, and at least has a sense of humor about the whole mess with Schrutebag (for now; that's a great kitten picture). Sadly, comments do not work to issue solidarity through that forum, so if you haven't, drop TBL an e-mail.

As for Schrutebag, I just hope that term keeps being used, because that asshole and I share a first name, and it hurts to see the good name of Colin being dragged through the mud like that.

Cheap Shots #10.

1. Phony Gwynn pens a love letter to the WNBA's Becky Hammon. [And Here Come The Pretzels!]
2. More WNBA love; TJ at GTB looks at that league's draft. [Gheorghe: The Blog]
3. D-Wil finds some rarely heard knowledge on troubled athletes and applies it to Pac-Man Jones at his new home, which you ought to bookmark. [The Starting Five]
4. Math models predict the Yanks will win over 100 games. Something tells me those models are wrong. [Seal Clubbers]
5. Boy, this Giants fan is really pissed about Jason Schmidt leaving. [Larry Brown Sports]
6. God, please don't let Florida get hot and dominate another college sport. [Shot to Nothing]
7. So tell us what you really think about Rick Barnes, Ted. [A Price Above Bip Roberts]
8. The class that Huggy Bear recruited for K-State is stuck in Manhattan, whether they like it or not. [Rumors and Rants]
9. Putting an innocuous Jim Lampley interview in context. [The Feed]
10. On a non-sports note, Ex is looking for good lies for his high school reunion. [Extrapolater]

(I'm dying to go to my 10th in a few years, just to see the rich kids still living off Daddy's money.)

These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Players.

The guys over at Rumors and Rants asked a bunch of bloggers, yours truly included, to name our favorite baseball players -- no matter whether they were superstars or journeymen, and the result does not disappoint. Go read it.

Liveblogapocalypse, Day 2.

I got UNLV-GA Tech and Long Beach State vs. Tenn in a double-donger, double-duty special over at Awful Announcing today. First game starts at 9:20 Pacific. Join me and my compatriots, won't you?

Picks for those games: UNLV, LBSU (GO BIG WEST!)

making that eventual case of carpal tunnel come that much sooner.

I'm guest-running things over at Our Book of Scrap today while Scrap is on work-related travel, and probably will join the LiveBlogging News Team at Awful Announcing for March Madness awesomeness later, after a few hours of sleep.

So, check 'em out, and I might drop one more note or two here.

milk was a bad choice.

A better one is to keep tuning in to Awful Announcing, as yours truly has been teamed up with JCMJ, RUTS, Extrapolater, One More Dying Quail, and Sam T for this week's utter first and second round craziness. Marco has previewed the East, I've hit up the South, and two more are coming tomorrow.

All of our previews and live-blogs come with bits of real panther.

stretching out.

After winning the Aggro-Crag with Sports Shows on Mute, Marco at JCMJ offered me a guest post, and I have delivered, posting on the Big West tourney that gets cranking tonight, with the background being various telecasts on Fox (with the mute on, the announcers are awful), two Cal Poly home games, the Big West stats pages, and a sports guy who was willing to let me ask his ear off about the teams.

Go Mustangs!

cheap shots #6.

First, some new adds to the blogroll this week: say hi to Shot to Nothing, The Sports Dad, Money Players, and the Feed. Second, I'm honored that some of you actually e-mail me items, and I want it known that they are actually read. Third, Blogger is bugging the fuck out of me; I'm considering a switch -- is WordPress worth it?

Now, can we hit it and quit it? Yeah!

1) The Feed unleashes their inner Tufnel and takes their baseball previews to 11. Start with the latest on the Marlins and work your way back.

2) Money Players takes a look at pensions across the major sports.

3) Extrapolater runs down another team (Marist) you probably know nothing about. I know they're Bill O'Reilly's alma mater, and for that reason, I'll be rooting against them (sorry, boys.)

4) D-Wil takes another hack at the Barry Bonds growth bit. You may agree, you may not, but it's worth reading.

5) One More Dying Quail wrote about the rich dentist suing Cory Lidle's estate, so now I really don't have to (he did a hundred times better anyway.)

6) In his tireless quest, Scrap comes across this plan for NBC's ratings to drop even further -- that's right, a reality show about the Beckhams moving to the U.S.

7) Business or Leisure at And Here Come the Pretzels is really looking forward to baseball.

8) Sooze tells us of the story of one pitcher who'll have mad bank without even throwing a fastball.

9) RUTS informs us of a middle school principal in Pennsylvania with some interesting extracurricular activities. (I so wanted to use the phrase "extracurricular activities" for a tease tonight, but I got outvoted.)

10) Twins gets you ready for your fantasy baseball draft -- the latest edition is all about the guys up the middle.

11) The Hack thinks Ted Leo's bass player is a fugly bastard. He is, but so is the drummer with that Grizzly Adams look. Plus, ugliness means more rock power -- just ask Lemmy! -- and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists rule.

12) If there's a championship out there to be contested this year, Sanchez is all over it.

13) Deadspin gives us a story sure to rob you of your appetite (it involves infection, rupture, and gonads) while you grimace in pain.

14) With Leather exposes us to a disturbing reality: people are actually writing to Ron Artest for advice.

15) And despite the name of her blog, the Head Chick just won't leave Jason Whitlock alone (and we're all better off for it.)

cheap shots #5.

Site note: somehow I've cracked the top 100,000 on the Technorati links. I'm golf clapping for myself.

Now, let's hit the links.

1) Pacifist Viking's series on the Next Ten best in the NBA has been nothing short of great, especially with the comparisons to great poets -- do you have suggestions for the last member of the group?

2) The Head Chick explains what really happened when Pacman brought that $81K in ones to a strip club.

3) Eric at Seal Clubbers writes off JaMarcus Russell's career before it even began due to who will draft him.

4) When your attempt at a Great Moment in Hook-Up History fails, you gotta have a backup, and Scrap has found a Booty Call Contract.

5) Speaking of booty calls, the Newspaper Hack takes a hack at the maudlin hang-wringing over women and the college hook-up culture.

6) Lozo at Why Don't We Get Drunk and Blog has had trouble with the A-Rod/Jeter sleepover comments, so much so he's started another blog.

7) The Big Picture has prepared a "Would you do..." tourney so you can get your picking skills sharp for March Madness. My first round upset pick: Sam Ryan over Rachel Nichols.

8) Mr. Irrelevant gives us some serious nightmare fuel with old school Charlie Hustle ads.

9) Awful Officiating looks at the NBA's given that long-time players will get foul calls to go their way and wonders why it's accepted.

10) And finally, With Leather has enlisted Sarah Spain as the underground's Jenn Sterger, and got her visit to Vegas for All-Star weekend.

the concept.

Sam T. has come up with a smart concept for a blog: ask bloggers to contribute and have them write what they would do if they were in charge. The result is If I Ran..., and folks like Awful Announcing, Monday Morning Punter, Extrapolater, and Sooze have already contributed posts.

I threw my hat in the ring today with what I would do if I ran the NHL.

(Also, the site goes with Awful Officiating and Babes Love Baseball to the blogroll.)

oh, right; they're playing a game this weekend.

Bears over Colts, 24-20, mostly because I think defense and special teams wins these games, and the Bears are better on both. Peyton will have a good game -- but the Bears will run well, Rex will make the downfield throw when he needs to, and Robbie Gould, while not playoff clutch like Vinatieri, has been damn close to automatic.

Now that I've written this, given my record on this year's playoffs, Indy fans should be happy. Whatever. Let's get to the link fest:

1) Leave the Man Alone looks at the "black coach" factor.
2) Pacifist Viking tries to determine what's in a name, specifically Troy Polamalu's.
3) Just because I've not written about Barbaro doesn't mean others haven't -- the Mighty MJD has the funniest take.
4) One More Dying Quail digs into the details of hitting .400.
5) True Hoop predicts coach Eric Musselman getting busted for DUI signals some serious problems for the Sacramento Kings.
6) Rich Kotite Banged Your Mom happened to get ahold of a letter from Tom Brady to Rex Grossman, and let's just say Dreamboat disapproves of Rextasy's other nickname of "Sex Cannon."
7) The Big Picture is hitting its two best features lately, interviewing Deadspin's Will Leitch and posing whether its readers find CBS' Sam Ryan attractive.

I'll make this meta #2 as well -- anything you few readers out there would like to see more of from me? Say so. The posting might be better and more frequent -- I'm officially now off the graveyard shift at work. I'll also thank you for reading, and thank the big grown-ups at Deadspin, the Big Lead, and Mr. Irrelevant for linking and/or accepting my blogwhoring lately.

cheap shots #1.

Because I had to stay late at work this morning and am tapped out ideawise, here's some linkage to good stuff:

1) Off Wing Opinion defends the NHL's expansion.
2) WBRS looks at the cost of a public university (in this case, Rutgers) being a D-1A football team on the rise.
3) AA has no clue why Frank Robinson is only going to be on the ESPN payroll for a short time.
4) If Mann Coulter were as funny as the guys at KSK write her, maybe I'd consider laughing instead of contemplating throwing stuff at my TV when she's on it.
5) James Wolcott nails why Little Miss Sunshine shouldn't be winning come Oscar time.
6) When does Jon Stewart and Co. not hit their target? Certainly not when it comes to State of the Union coverage.
7) The Big Picture has two of my favorite blog serials. One of them continues with another Blogger Interview.
8) What does a Republican senator look like when he goes upside verbally upon his party's head? The News Blog has the video.
9) With Leather confirms that you can get people to pay for you to accompany them to Super Bowl XLI if you happen to be a cute Bears fan.
10) Everyone's talking about Reggie Bush and some shady dealings on tape. My only take is that, if true, he's one of the few dumb enough to get caught.

programming note.

I'll be over at AwfulAnnouncing this Sunday afternoon, live-blogging the Pats and the Chargers as part of a weekend-long NFL live-blog playoff line-up that includes One More Dying Quail pulling a double shift on Saturday and AA commenter Sam T handling Seahawks-Bears.

last-minute programming reminder!

Again, yours truly will be live-blogging this afternoon's Chiefs-Colts game over at AwfulAnnouncing starting at 1:30 PST.

The pre-game thread is already up, so swing on by and join me while I root for a missile to come down and annihilate the RCA Dome sometime during a crucial point in the third or fourth quarter.