Okay. An obligatory LeBron James take.

I know, another LeBron take on the internet is something you don't want to read. But if I'm not going to sleep before I get this posted? I may as well put it out there.

Did I watch the special? No. I did not watch the special. Like most of us on the internet, the mere idea that LeBron James was going to get an hour to massage his ego made me sick. I would rather replay the frustrating sequence of Mr. Zero in GTA San Andreas and watch the delightful paintball episode of Community than attempt to stomach this.

Any problem with him signing with Miami? I believe that they're going to implode at some point. Strange things happen. Wade's injury prone. Bosh is mercurial. See the above paragraph. for my opinion on LeBron. That being said, he seems to be playing with his friends. And on that instance alone? I have no problem with LeBron.

But the biggest and my potential most hypocritical problem? His ego trip is a win. Seriously. Remember the premise of the special was to get people talking about him.

What's this post about?

Kevin Durant could be considered as much of a transcendent talent as Mr. James. And you could ask your average casual NBA fan about him and they may not know that he signed an extension with the Thunder. A classy, quiet move. And he should be rightfully regarded highly for it.

But he lost the news cycle. And I helped.

Yay, huh?

Mike Leach got swiftboated.

You know me. I'm a kid who loves to rock the conspiracy theory. If something smells fishy, I'm willing to state it. After all, these are fun right?

Well, if you're Mike Leach? Not so much.

I'm sure you've heard by now that Craig James is planning to make a run for the Senate. And if not? Craig James is planning on running for the Senate. But that's not the interesting part.

The interesting part is Spaeth communications. That is the Dallas based PR firm who is famous for running those ads that called war hero John Kerry a monster who shoots unarmed kids in the back. It introduced the term swiftboating into the vernacular. So, yeah. They're not above playing dirty.

And as for Papa James run for Senate? Spaeth Communications helped launch it. I pay that no mind. Craig James is a rich white man, by extension, he's supposed to be a Republican. But, how it gets interesting is there was a video circulating where Adam James was trapped in a closet. And there was no way out of there. Adam James was trapped in a closet. And his teammates didn't care.

Anyway...who circulated that video to places that would obviously play it? If you guessed Spaeth Communications, give yourself a dollar. So the obvious question? Did Mike Leach get swiftboated.

I know concussions are something that you don't want to futz around with. And I know that Mike Leach isn't the smoothest coach in the world. But the fact is? It looks a lot more like the Pirate coach got jobbed than he was being abusive.

But I want to know what you think.

In regards to Raul Ibanez...

He has an absolute right to be angry. PED is the scarlet acronym of baseball. And just because he went from a strong pitchers park on a crappy team to a bandbox on a great team doesn't mean he did anything untoward to get there.

But it doesn't mean it doesn't. Especially in this day and age. You cannot implicitly trust that a superstar is not or has not cheated to win. It seems silly, but even hot starts have been tied to a new steroid cycle. Remember, Brian Roberts was named in the Mitchell Report.

And it's not as if the Mainstream media hasn't participated in the idle speculation game either. The mere existence of Barry Bonds would touch off a 5 minute debate on steroids on the Worldwide Leader. Hell, Outside the Lines during 2006-2007 had 75% of its episodes be about steroids in Baseball.

But that's where our story really begins. For it seems, there are blogs that exist that I don't write for. And Jerod Morris, one of the folks behind Midwest Sports Fan decided he wanted to try and prove Raul Ibanez's innocence. And like me, and many people, he said that the speculation was premature. But there was a definite problem. And it was major league baseball's fault.

And Jerod Morris unfairly gets blamed for the culture that people like John Gonzalez and Ken Rosenthal helped to perpetuate.

Moving on...More later, or tomorrow.

ESPN is ridiculous.

Mark Sanchez the best pick in the draft? No. You don't package up and wound your defense to get a player who cannot provide an instant impact. Cripes. You stay at 17 and you would have had the explosive receiver you really needed in Jeremy Maclin.

I mean really. I know Day 2 is running long, but stop trying to be the USC Football Channel. You don't have the Pac-10 under contract.

Soooooooooooooooo lame.

ESPN has spoiled roughly 11 of the first 12 picks...

And it's ridiculous. We want to be shocked. Knowshon Moreno would have been shocking. Nobody would have seen that pick coming. The Broncos have signed 4 running backs to combine with the 7 running backs who had carries last year. Not to say Moreno can't do well, but yeah. He would have been shocking if ESPN didn't have its head up its ass.

I know it is kind of passe to bitch about ESPN.

But I have to. I feel as if my hand has been forced. If you don't want to read on? Okay. We'll agree to meet at my next blog post, yeah?

But I am a victim of ESPN's prohibitive costs changing the face of Madison-are sports radio. If you think victim is a word that's too strong? You clearly have not listened to the Mike Heller show. Un-listenable.

But that only became a problem in 2009. In 2008 I was happy. I had a the final hour of Zabe, in which previously unctuous Zabe went by the wayside. But that wasn't the highlight. The highlight from when I was done with work. My favorite radio program ever was "The World's Greatest Sports Talk Show" with Steve "the Homer" True.

It was energetic without being forced. It was consistently good even with the callers. There wasn't grown men yelling about sports. And you know what? For a gut with a nickname, the show wasn't really about him.

But ESPN raised their rates to 150k. And the #1 affiliate? Decided they weren't going to play ball. So the #2 affiliate. The affiliate I know and love? They decided to pay the cost.

But there's a problem. They can't afford to keep the tower in Columbus. So they go to Monona. Out of my range. So now, my favorite radio show ever? Dead and gone. Well, for those of us on the Columbia-Sauk county border anyway.

So the #1 affiliate decides to pick up Fox Sports Radio programming. Except for Zabe. Because Lucas and LePay are awesome. Well, not really. Lucas and LePay are a good broadcasting, but neither one of them hosted radio. And it shows.

So now? I've got nothing but shitty morning shows to the left of me and bad pop music to the right.

Darn it.

Dear ESPN,

In regards to the hiring of Steve Phillips? NBC's usage of Matt Millen does not provide you the requisite political cover for this move. Why?

Because even if you remember him for his core incompetencies, he was still talented once. Steve Phillips was an incompetent general manager as well. But that being said? He brings absolutely nothing to the table as an analyst.

Now, way back when we were young and this blog was more fun than real life, we didn't find Steve Phillips annoying. Why? He didn't register on our radar. He was just kind of there.

We knew he signed such players as Kevin Appier and Mike Bordick when they were toast based life-forms. We knew he (Edit: Sorry, his lackey) traded Scott Kazmir when he was a spectacular prospect for Victor Zambrano when the Mets were on the distant outskirts of the Wild Card. We missed his forced Soul-sucking of David Cross soundalike Buster Olney and Jeremy Schaap. So, we were just kind of nonplussed ny his presence.

However? Now I'm hearing that he's the third man in the booth with Jon Miller and to a lesser extent Joe Morgan. And this is crap. You have an ex-General Manager that Chuck Lamar looks at with disdain. You have a color commmentator that was so bad at analysis that Mose Schrute gained more fame by breaking him down point by point than by being the creepy quiet guy with the beard.

And this is your Flagship baseball game? God! I know more by just purchasing Baseball Prospectus and Ron Shandler. And with my manic bipolarity, I would bring more to the baseball table than any other announcer. Anywhere.

I know I'm not spoiled by having Bob Uecker broadcast the games. There are good baseball announcers out there. But yet for the flagship games? We get stuck with nothing.

Fuck that noise.

Love,

Andrew

So you know what?

There's a reason why I like to duck Favrespeak. Because the fact of the matter is that he's like a slippery politician. He is Sarah Palin. He is Bill Clinton.

But there are three things I know. One, Jay Glazer is a damn nigh unimpeachable source when it comes to football. Two, he sold secrets to Jon Gruden and it will end up costing Green Bay a lot. And three?

There's going to be a cover up to protect Brett Favre's legend, I mean look at how far ahead Jay Glazer was up in this piece. He broke a code. You do not sell out your team to multiple teams that are not yours.

Brett Favre is dead to me. He died as soon as he wanted to return.

Aaron Rodgers for life.

Hey ESPN?

You know what's a useless stat? Statistics by count. Really.

Who gives a fuck if Dioner Navarro is hitting .267 with 2 homers with a 2 and 2 count? Nobody. So suck it.

YEAH!

This is so fucked up...

The Bobcats just scored on a fumble. Against Ohio State. To extend their lead. To 14-6.

They have 24 minutes to survive. But let's be honest, if this the latest incarnation of the Sex Pistols? This game is their version of the American Tour.

And some D-Bag on ESPN2 is trying to call it bigger than Appy State versus Michigan.

Update: Mark Parson just fucked up royally. A muffed punt puts Ohio State in Field Goal range. Ohio 14, Ohio State 12.

Update II: Bah. A Brandon Saine touchdown run makes it 19-14 Ohio State. Mood: Morose.

Update III: Ray Small punt return equals 26-14. With Boo Jackson's less that 3 yards per pass attempt? That's game Hendrix!

Hey ESPN?

Seriously, could you slow down about the East Carolina as BCS Contender narrative? It was a good win. Holtz is a good coach. And they had a good game against a team that made a bad roster decision.

However? This game showed many problems. One, this team was turnover prone. A couple of turnovers and a blocked extra point show that this team has certain issues that it needs to work out. And with games against West Virginia, at a team that could turn turnovers into points like N.C. State, and even intra-divisional road games versus Central Florida and Southern Mississippi can take them out.

I know Hyperbole is the baliwick of the Worldwide Leader (remember when April was all about you screaming what's wrong with Sabathia?), but by your same crazy ESPN logic, Buffalo is a BCS contender.

After all? All they have to do is go to Pittsburgh and win and beat Missouri in Columbia. And Drew Willy just might have the horses to do that.

Right Mark May?

Hey Blogfrica?

I've got a question for you. Let's be honest. I know my part in the community has been lackluster as of late. But I'll have to ask.

Why are we listening to Chris Mortensen as a valid source of NFL Reporting? You know what he's reported correctly of any consequence in recent memory? Brett Favre has an itch to play football again. That's it.

You know how hard that is to parse? And that was even after he said that it was a lock that Favre was done for cripes sake. But you know what? You all are reporting on what he says like it's gospel. And guess what? If seemingly reputable sources on these here internets keep taking their cues from Chris Mortensen, he will keep making shit up.

Hell, I could make up a better rumor than he could. Watch.

Sources close to the Grand National Championships in the Oakland Bureau say that this year Zach Miller has a real chance to become Oakland's #1 receiving option with Drew Carter's injury and Javon Walker's general incompetence. The coaching staff is expecting Miller to be targeted around 150 times during the season.

Really. No idea if this is true. For all I know Ronald Curry is tearing his achilles for a third time at the anticipation of finally being the #1 receiver. But in those 30 seconds? I just outplayed Chris Mortensen.

This is why I am asking you, my Blogfrican brethren. Stop. Stop reporting on Chris Mortensen's fucking around. Stop treating him like he's the Mortensen of the early 90's where you learned more in the three minute segments of Inside the Huddle than you would in an entire hour of an NFL Studio Show.

His "breaking news" is nothing more than yellow journalism that you would find on page six of a dirt sheet like the New York Post. And we need to have a moratorium on reporting on him.

He's just awful.