G.E., News Corp muzzle Olbermann and O'Reilly

So says the New York Times at least.

For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel and accused Fox of journalistic malpractice almost nightly. Mr. O’Reilly in turn criticized Mr. Olbermann’s bosses and led an exceptional campaign against General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC.

It was perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade and by this year, their bosses had had enough. But it took a fellow television personality with a neutral perspective to bring it to an end.

At an off-the-record summit meeting for chief executives sponsored by Microsoft in May, the PBS interviewer Charlie Rose asked Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of G.E., and his counterpart at the News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, about the feud.

Weird.

I can't even describe this story in a headline

Via @m_ruth, a story otu of a soap opera. If it was based in New Mexico:

A black bear in Espanola touches off an odd series of events leading to an animal control officer being arrested, accused of battering an underage girl.

There are four main characters in the story: A large black bear, an animal control officer, and his two unsuspecting girlfriends.

And, since it's from a TV network, here's the story in video form as well!

What the "beer summit" could have been...

From the always-great (even if I don't get it about 32 percent of the time) XKCD:



Click for full size.

Should WEC fold into UFC?

WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) isn't a pro wrestling organization like it sounds like. Instead, it is the little brother of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). They are both owned by Zuffa, and run by Dana White.

So Yahoo! Sports columnist Kevin Iole says it is time for the two to merge and let the names like Miguel Torres, Dan Brown and Urijah Faber be on par with the Georges St. Pierres and BJ Penns of the world.

It makes business sense to add two divisions to the UFC and create bigger stars. So will they do it? Or will someone beat UFC to the punch and offer a higher profile fight organization for the lower weights?

Boston police officer sends racist e-mail to Boston Globe

Holy crap. I know I usually take a beat or two before sending an e-mail just to make sure that I didn't mess anything up... but this guy should probably not be sending e-mails at all.

This came, obviously, after the arrest of Harry Louis Gates.

Here's an excerpt of the letter from the Boston Globe (the full letter is at the link, but below is just an excerpt):

Your defense [4th paragraph] of Gates while he is on the phone while being confronted [INDEED] with a police officer is assuming he has rights when considered a suspect. He is a suspect and will always be a suspect. His first priority of effort should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance.

Wow.

Huffington Post health coverage sucks

I'm not sure about the Huffington Post. The site is undeniably popular and many people reference it (I have done so a few times at my other blog). But sometimes it is just... wrong.

Especially on health coverage, and Salon Took them to task for their poor, misleading and occasionally outright wrong coverage.

As a physician, I am not necessarily opposed to alternative health treatments. But I do want to be responsible and certain that what I prescribe to patients is safe and effective and not a waste of their time and money. A recent Associated Press investigation stated the federal government has spent $2.5 billion of our tax dollars to determine whether alternative health remedies -- including ones promoted on the Huffington Post -- work. It found next to none of them do. The site also regularly grants space to proponents of the thoroughly disproven conspiracy that childhood vaccines have caused autism. In short, the Huffington Post is hardly a site that promotes "a reasoned discussion," in its founder's words, of health and medicine.

Pew: Men use YouTube more than Women

World says: Duh.

But, yeah, you can read all about it if you're into that sorta thing.

Stephon Marbury's bizarre behavior

Is Stephon Marbury self-destructing? And doing so in an incredibly public fashion which is exceptionally bizarre -- even for a celebrity?

I think the answer is yes.

Starbury TV is what happens when any sense of restraint has been removed, when a person decides he has nothing better to do with his life than rant into a webcam.

"I'm doing me!" Marbury keeps repeating, usually adding a melody and dance. "I'm doing meeeeeee!"

Apparently that now entails eating Vaseline and breaking down in tears in the middle of a prayer. He justified his behavior by saying it was more interesting to watch than someone who just sits around doing nothing. "I'm entertaining to people," Marbury said. "You watch entertaining things."

I caught a few minutes of Stephon Marbury's live UStream (Starbury TV) -- and he was flossing. No, not that kind of flossing -- he was brushing his teeth and flossing.

I, sadly, missed the Vaseline eating incident.

Sarah Palin's speech as interpreted by William Shatner

Shatner is a god. Yeah, I said it.

What it's like to be a Fenway Park stadium vendor

A very well-written story from ESPN's Page 2 about what it's like to be a stadium vendor at Fenway Park. You know, the hot dog guys, the beer guys who make it so you don't have to get out of your seat to still gorge yourself on ballpark hot dogs and beer.

Hot dogs are $4.75 apiece. That means for every hot dog a vendor sells, he (or she, since there are a handful of women selling stuff in the lyric little bandbox's cramped seats) collects roughly 60 cents. Bottom line: You gotta move some serious merchandise to make any serious scratch.

The night of Lester's no-no, I made a pretty penny. In the seven years I've been hawking at Fenway, I've made close to $40,000 in commissions -- which maybe sounds impressive, but since it's spread out over roughly 60 games a season it averages out to about $95 a night.

Read the whole thing. Well, I hope you read everything that I link to, but read this one especially.

Somewhat hilarious liveblog of the WWE Raw with Shaq

Shaquille O'Neal hosted an episode of WWE's Raw (that's pro wrestling) last night, and SLAM magazine liveblogged the whole thing.

Jericho climbs into the ring and stands toe-to-toe with Shaq, who glares way, way down at Jericho.

Jericho says, “When I heard the most dominant player in NBA history was guest-hosting RAW, I automatically assumed it was Kobe Bryant.” I laugh out loud.

I didn't watch it, but found the liveblog hilarious anyway.

Creating the Baseball Hall of Fame plaques

Every inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame has a bronze plaque with their likeness and a few words about them. One full size plaque is made for the Hall of Fame and one miniature plaque is given as a memento to the Hall of Famer (or their family).

Paul Lukas of ESPN's Page 2 took a look at the process of making the plaques.

With hundreds of thousands of fans visiting Cooperstown each year, Ellis is arguably the highest-profile sculptor in America -- and yet also, paradoxically, one of the most anonymous. I wanted to learn more about how the plaques are manufactured, so I recently visited Pittsburgh to see Ellis at work and watch the rest of Matthews' production process (you can see a video of my visit at the top of this page).

Congressional birthers admit Obama was born in the US

It's a small thing, but everyone present in the House today voted on a proclamation that, in part, said Obama was born in Hawaii. The non-binding resolution was ostensibly about the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood.

Among the Yes votes: Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), the lead sponsor of the infamous "Birther Bill" to require presidential candidates to present their birth certificates, and who had previously said he wouldn't "swear on a stack of Bibles" that Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Several other co-sponsors of the Birther Bill also voted yes: Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dan Burton (R-IN), John Culberson (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), and Ted Poe (R-TX).

The far-Right Wing of the Republican Party (some would argue that is the base) will be so disappointed.

You don't want to become a secret service agent

Well, maybe you do, but this article from the Washington Post on their training techniques may dissuade you:

Within seconds of entering the mat-room bar, Krista's partner, an Army National Guardsman who earned a Bronze Star, is knocked to the ground. A role-player drags Krista across the floor by the cuff of her pants. He straddles Krista and punches her.

"Get off me!" Krista screams.

"Get ready to die!" the music screams.

"Keep fighting!" Mixon screams.

The role-player twists Krista's arms around her neck and pulls, choking her with her own hands. She gags. Her nose is bleeding. Her cheek is bleeding. Blood blisters on her legs, bruised by training bullets while chasing assassins through the woods, trickle and ooze.

On her back, in the dark, Krista watches the role-player's face swirl into darker shades of gray. She is losing consciousness. Mixon yells, "Do something!"

It's long, but it's an excellent read.

Mike Vick "conditionally" reinstated to the NFL

The rumors were that Michael Vick would be suspended for four games to start this year's NFL season. He was recently released from prison after pleading guilty to dog-fighting charges.

From the NFL Twitter account:

Commissioner ROGER GOODELL notified MICHAEL VICK today that he has been reinstated to the NFL on a conditional basis.

No word on if any team actually wants him to play with them, though.

Bernazard fired?

I'm kind of sad to see Tony Bernazard go, reportedly fired from the New York Mets organization. Wait, you don't know who Bernazard is?

Well, he's the Mets' vice president for player development, but that's not why he has been a topic of sports talk radio fodder for the past few weeks.

Bernazard reportedly pulled off his shirt and challenged the Double-A Binghamton Mets in the tirade, about 10 days before the All-Star break. He in particular targeted middle infield prospect Jose Coronado, according to the report.

Some guy named Bernazard tore off his shirt and challenged Double-A players to fight.

How can you not like the guy?

Is this an insult or a compliment to Obama?

FIFA (the world governing body of soccer) President Sepp Blatter stopped by the White House to see new President Barack Obama.

The Blatter-led FIFA delegation to the White House also included FIFA Vice-President and CONCACAF president Jack Warner, FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke, and U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati.

CBS News White House reporter Mark Knoller wrote on his Twitter account following the meeting, most likely from the pool report:

Blatter says Obama is not good enough with a soccer ball to play on a winning team - but is good enough for a losing team.

Blatter also invited Obama to South Africa in 2010 for the World Cup; Obama is attempting to bring the World Cup to the United States in either 2018 or 2022. The 32-team tournament is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world.

So Obama might just make an appearance to help out on that front.

Obama's daughters play the game and in a letter to Blatter about getting the World Cup in the United States, Obama cited playing in his youth in Indonesia.

So how much skill does Obama have? Well, at least a little bit accordign to, again, Knoller's Twitter:

Soccer in the Oval Office: Soccer federation chief gives Obama a soccer ball and says he kicked it around and even headed it.

Don't quit your day job, Coach K

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (I had to Google that name to find out how to spell it) think she's funny, but he really isn't. At least if this anecdote is indicative.

Dime: LeBron has a reputation as a bit of a goof, always joking around and trying to keep things light. In what ways did he do that with you?
Coach K: LeBron is really funny—whenever there was a dull moment he would make light of something, maybe start singing or performing. So we always goofed around. I decided to play a joke on him. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “LeBron, I think I’m going to get a tattoo.” He looked back at me confused and asked, “What are you thinking about?” I told him that I’m going to get “Chosen 1” tattooed across my back. He laughed, and then bent over and said, “Coach, there’s only one Chosen 1.”

Dilbert cartoonist's speech problems

This is an incredible story about Scott Adams (the cartoonist behind the Dilbert phenomenon) and his speech problems -- problems that led him to be selectively mute.

I can't find a great paragraph to excerpt, so you have to just read the whole thing.

It's worth it.

Sarah Palin is a hypocrite

At least, I think so, based on these two paragraphs from the Washington Post:

ANCHORAGE -- Sarah Palin, who rose from obscurity to become Alaska's governor three years ago, began her career as a combative whistleblower crusading against state political corruption. She accused GOP leaders of violating ethics laws, then publicized details of the confidential investigations.
[...]
Yet as she steps down, she and her attorney are demanding that whistleblowers be sanctioned for sharing details of pending investigations of her conduct. This week, her attorney threatened to sue whistleblowers for violating secrecy laws, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (R), who will replace her, asked the state's attorney general to take steps to "prevent leaks" in ethics probes.

Imagine what Palin the whistleblower would have said about Palin the ethics investigation denialist.

The Dude abides

Jim Caple, writing about Lebowski Fest taught us that real "The Dude" didn't bowl, only drank White Russians for too long and never met up with nihilists.

"They called me up and said they were doing this movie and had cast it with Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. And I'm like 'Uh oh,' worried because I'm on the cusp, and it could go either way, with Jeff Bridges or Goodman [playing me]," Jeff (The Dude) Dowd told Caple.

If you like the movie, it's worth reading.

MLB player tests positive for swine flu

Yeah, swine flu is still around.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher (or "staring pitcher" as the typo in the caption to his photograph says) Vicente Padilla has contracted the H1N1 flu, though his symptoms are subsiding.

Several Rangers players have been hit with the flu this week, including Eddie Guardado, Omar Vizquel and David Murphy. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was scratched from Friday night's game against Kansas City due to the flu.
[...]
"Without speculating, I think it is reasonable to expect that we may find some of our other guys have it," Levine said. "We've been medicating our players. We would use the same medication and the same kind program to rehabilitate them and they've all shown improvement. Those are the positive signs."

The Rangers played the Kansas City Royals... let's see if any Royals come down with the swine flu.

Worker at plant that builds iPhones commits suicide after losing iPhone prototype

From The New Yorker:

Interesting details are emerging in the Chinese press about the case of Sun Danyong, the twenty-five-year-old employee of Foxconn who committed suicide in Shenzhen last week after being interrogated about a missing prototype for a new iPhone.

The second part is here.

A sickening story.

How great was that Dwayne Wise catch?

From Baseball Prospectus (Subscription required):

Had Nyjer Morgan made the catch in the eighth inning of a dreary Nationals blowout loss, it would have been the play of the day. Wise made it to convert the 25th out of a perfect game for a team in contention. We hype things to the moon these days, and we become jaded because of it, but this catch is worth every bit of hype you can crank up. It was sublime.

If you didn't see it, you can see watch it (and some other great clutch catches) below, courtesy of ESPN.

What happened to the perfect game ball?

So what happened to the last game ball of Mark Buehrle's perfect game after first baseman Josh Fields made the final out? ESPN is on the case:

"I found out later I screwed up," Fields said Friday morning on the "Waddle and Silvy" show on ESPN 1000. "I held on to it as long as I possibly could during the celebration after the game, and I think one of the MLB authenticity guys came out and was mugging me down pretty hard and saying 'give me the ball.' And I didn't know that I could say 'no don't take it.'

"So I ended up giving it to him, thinking he was going to put his little authenticity sticker on it and give it back to Buehrle. So as of right now, I guess the MLB has it."

They should give it to Buehrle?

Best correction ever

I don't think this was a very well-reported article, based on the correction that was necessary:

Correction: July 22, 2009
An appraisal on Saturday about Walter Cronkite’s career included a number of errors. In some copies, it misstated the date that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and referred incorrectly to Mr. Cronkite’s coverage of D-Day. Dr. King was killed on April 4, 1968, not April 30. Mr. Cronkite covered the D-Day landing from a warplane; he did not storm the beaches. In addition, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, not July 26. “The CBS Evening News” overtook “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” on NBC in the ratings during the 1967-68 television season, not after Chet Huntley retired in 1970. A communications satellite used to relay correspondents’ reports from around the world was Telstar, not Telestar. Howard K. Smith was not one of the CBS correspondents Mr. Cronkite would turn to for reports from the field after he became anchor of “The CBS Evening News” in 1962; he left CBS before Mr. Cronkite was the anchor. Because of an editing error, the appraisal also misstated the name of the news agency for which Mr. Cronkite was Moscow bureau chief after World War II. At that time it was United Press, not United Press International.

That's from the New York Times. Allessandra Stanley should be ashamed.

Mark Cuban doesn't like the AP

I think that Mark Cuban has a beef with the Associated Press, judging by what he said on Twitter moments ago.

Why do people believe that AP stories are factual ? Their fact checking is horrid, their balance non existent. They are worthless IMHO

@TheOnion bought by the Chinese

This week, The Onion has been sold to the Chinese. Or so goes the joke.

I'm not sure if it's funny yet, though I did get a chuckle from today's front page story, Yao Ming!:

EARTH--The entire world population confirmed Friday that Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is the greatest athlete in the history of sports and a glowing symbol of what hardworking citizens may become if they remain loyal to their government.

Yao Ming officially averages 84 points per basketball game and has a shooting percentage of .9999998, Chinese basketball officials said. Furthermore, Yao Ming is perfectly healthy and, in fact, cannot be injured. Yao Ming is also a universally acknowledged beacon of humility and respect, and on the exceedingly rare occasion when he does miss a shot, he no doubt does so on purpose, selflessly ensuring that his lesser American teammates feel better about their own lackluster shooting percentages.

I'm still talking about the perfect game...

An ESPN story about the scout who discovered Buehrle (and also scouted a guy by the name of Albert Pujols) had this nugget:

Kazanas passed along a recommendation to scouting supervisor Nathan Durst and scouting director Duane Shaffer. Doug Laumann and Kenny Stauffer of the White Sox's staff also took a look, and they all agreed that the kid was worth a shot. Chicago selected Buehrle in the 38th round as a "draft and follow,'' and signed him for a $150,000 bonus the following May.

Buehrle made it to the majors by age 21, posted a 19-12 record at age 23 and pitched a no-hitter at age 28. Buehrle is extremely durable, relies on guile and control rather than velocity and has 133 career victories at age 30, so he might be as legitimate a candidate to win 300 games as any pitcher out there.

Buehrle is good. Maybe not as good as Halladay, CC Sabathia or Zach Greinke, but he's up there.

Will he get to 300 wins? Maybe -- but he's never had a 20 win season. Then again, he has never made less than 30 starts in a full season as a starter.

At his rate of wins from 2001 to 2008 (14.75 wins per season, and he will be a little higher than that this year), he would need to play about 20 seasons to reach 300. It's conceivable.

More perfect game facts

From Ken, this time via Twitter:

Only 5 beside Buehrle have thrown perfect game and other no-hitter. Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson.

That's some pretty good company.

And yes, Jim Bunning is the U.S. Senator from Kentucky, in case you were wondering.

From before Buehrle's perfect game, but still true:

9. Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland A's had the most productive offensive game of any perfect game pitcher. He had three hits and three RBI.

Ten facts that prove the moon landings were a hoax

Funny stuff from John Moltz:

4. This so-called “moon” that supposedly orbits our planet cannot be real because the teachings of Septon the Inquisitor tell us that life is an illusion and the real waking state does not come until we die and arrive, ironically, on the moon which is where people go when they die. I know it sounds confusing, but it makes a lot more sense after you watch the informational video and relinquish all your wordly possessions.

Tip of the had to Bad Astronomy.

My previous perfect game

I remember randomly tuning into a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast of the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Atlanta Braves on May 18, 2004 with Randy Johnson pitching (actually I don't remember the team they were playing or the date at all, I just remember that Randy Johnson was pitching for the Diamondbacks).

On that day, Randy Johnson threw a perfect game, the 17th in Major League history. He faced twenty-seven batters and they all got out, not a single person reaching first base.

That was the last perfect game in the Major Leagues before Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw his perfect game this afternoon in Chicago.

Still one of the coolest MLB achievements that I've seen on TV, up there when I saw McGwire hit his 62nd home run.

The previous White Sox perfect game

From Baseball Prospectus' Unfiltered Blog:

Prior to Mark Buehrle this afternoon, the only White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game was rookie Charlie Robertson, who did the deed against the Tigers on April 30, 1922.

A good short read.

Buehrle pitches perfect game; gets congratulatory call from Obama

Pretty cool that our president is so open about his sports fanship; a lot of politicians try to play to the center and assuage both sides (Richardson famously said that he was both Red Sox and Yankees fan while on the campaign trail).

But Obama is a partisan White Sox fan; the's not a Cubs fan even though he's from Chicago -- he'a a Southsider.

And today White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game. Naturally, Obama called him up from his motorcade to congratulate him.

After the game he was treated to congratulation from one of the team's biggest fans, President Obama. Obama called Buehrle from his motorcade this afternoon and congratulated him on the "extraordinary achievement." He joked with Buehrle that perhaps the pitcher had gotten gained some luck from the fact that Obama wore a White Sox team jacket when he threw out the first pitch at last week's Major League Baseball All Star Game.

"As a fan it's extraordinary. When you're a White Sox fan and you know the guy who did it, it makes it that much better," Obama said in a conversation with White house Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

I think they are missing some commas or something

From ESPN:

Ramirez was supposed to sit out the sold-out game when the Dodgers gave away his bobblehead doll for precautionary reasons after being hit with a pitch on the side of his left hand in a game the night before.

Mormon communities in Mexico at war with drug cartels

Now that's a headline you don't see every day.

From the Washington Post:

In the past three months, American Mormon communities in Mexico have been sucked into a dust devil of violence sweeping the borderlands. Their relative wealth has made them targets: Their telephones ring with threats of extortion. Their children and elders are taken by kidnappers. They have been drawn into the government's war with the drug cartels.

So why are there Mormons (some who swear and drink beer, the Washington Post reports) in Mexico?

Their ancestors first settled in Mexico in the 1880s, during the reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz, who offered the religious outcasts refuge from the harassment and prosecution they faced in the United States for their polygamist lifestyles. Some men in Colonia LeBaron and surrounding towns continue to follow what early Mormon prophets called "the Principle," marrying multiple wives and having dozens of children, though the custom here is fading. Polygamy was banned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the official Mormon Church, in 1890.

I lost a little respect for Bill Simmons

*sigh*

Simmons talking to Mediaite:

1. How do you get your first news of the day?

ESPN.com, RealClearSports, hoopshype, Buster Olney’s baseball blog, Mike Lombardi’s football blog, Deadline Hollywood Daily, Drudge Report, TV Tattle, Google Trends, my Twitter page.

Drudge Report? Really?

Though I do like his take on Twitter:

Facebook is a social network; Twitter is a media/marketing vehicle disguised as a social network.

Ex-MMA fighter to media: Um, I'm not dead

As Mark Twain once said, "The report of my death is an exaggeration." (Depending on who you believe as to what Twain actually said.)

Former MMA fighter Kim "Kimo" Leopoldo now has something in common with the great American author, though:

"When I saw the sites, it scared me," Leopoldo said, according to the Times. "I wondered, are they predicting the future or am I cursed?"

Leopoldo did have something significant happen Monday, but it wasn't a heart attack. According to the report, he was sentenced to 10 days of community service and referred to a drug diversion program in connection with a February arrest, in which he was found in possession of marijuana and wearing a Long Beach police officer jumpsuit.

Former college athlete sues NCAA over licensing

I have to say, I agree with this suit.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Ed O'Bannon says the NCAA illegally has athletes sign away their rights to the commercial use of their images and does not share any of the proceeds from their use with former athletes.

It's always a bone of contention with NCAA athletes and the NCAA about how the NCAA makes hundreds of millions (or is it billions?) of dollars from their work.

But the athletes themselves? No money at all.

Odd.

Elaborate hoax tricks reporter into writing a story about "young chef"

This is an incredibly interesting story:

may be a young and relatively inexperienced reporter, but the other reporters in my office have never come across a scenario quite like this one. Not one reporter in my office could think of a time in their careers when a source had made up such an elaborate hoax and then conned a reporter.

Read it. He even tricked his mom. His mom!

Craig Ferguson's tribute to Apollo 11

A promo for tonight's Craig Ferguson shows Ferguson saying that his show is closer to PeeWee's Playhouse than a late night TV show. I'm not sure what Ferguson's show is close to -- especially the first half -- but it is undeniably funny. And he proved it again with this musical segment from last night.

Ignore the Paris Hilton thing, but this is great.

Why you shouldn't hate on soccer

From ESPN's Kenny Mayne. I really like Kenny Mayne if you haven't noticed

Nicklaus and Watson

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were great rivals back in the day.

Now?

Good friends.

Nicklaus, 69, the "Golden Bear" who won a record 18 major titles between 1962 and 1986, was so intrigued by the action that he watched the entire last round from his Florida home.

"Jack told me: 'Watson, that's the first time I ever sat down and watched all 18 holes of any golf tournament, ANY golf tournament,' " a smiling Watson said.

Watson lost in a playoff at the British Open -- despite being 59 years old. If he had made a par on the 18th hole, he would have won, but he bogeyed the hole after missing an eight foot putt for par.

World's longest golf course to open next month

As with all great things, it was conceived over beer.

From the Associated Press:

The world's longest golf course, stretching along 1,365 kilometres (848 miles) of desert highway with holes at 18 towns and service stations, is to open in Australia this year, organisers said Tuesday.

The Nullarbor Links, which will span two time zones and measure more than the entire length of Britain, is expected to be completed next month and will host its inaugural tournament on October 22.

Increased black voters in '08 nearly erased racial gap

From the New York Times:

In last year’s presidential election, younger blacks voted in greater proportions than whites for the first time and black women turned out at a higher rate than any other racial, ethnic and gender group, a census analysis released Monday confirmed.

As a result, in the election that produced the nation’s first black president, the historic gap between black and white voter participation rates over all virtually evaporated.
[...]
Compared with 2004, the voting rate for black, Asian and Hispanic voters increased by about four percentage points. The rate for whites declined by one percentage point.

If this keeps up, the Republican Party should be scared -- minorities tend to overwhelmingly vote Democratic.

And with minorities growing in percentage (especially Hispanics), the Republicans will need to change their politics or be left behind. If it's not too late.

ESPN taking over local big city sports one city at a time

I don't think that we'll be seeing ESPN: Albuquerque any time soon so Rick Wright and the rest of the folks at the Albuquerque Journal dont' have to worry. But those in bigger cities?

Be afraid, be very afraid.

ESPN launched ESPN Chicago in April. ESPN announced today that they will be launching ESPN Dallas, ESPN New York and ESPN Los Angeles -- all markets where there are not only multiple sports teams (Dallas has the Cowboys, the Mavericks, the Stars and the Texas Rangers) but also ESPN-owned radio stations.

So why should the local sports press be afraid?

Since its launch three months ago, ESPNChicago.com, which recently signed an exclusive content syndication deal with The Huffington Post Chicago, has emerged as the top sports site in Chicago. In June, the site had 600,000 unique visitors which logged 1.4 million total minutes of time, an increase of 57 percent and 112 percent since May, per comScore.

Not to mention the fact that ESPN has been hiring the best people to cover every sport, has consistently good opinion pieces, has the most content and the ability to report on each and every sport out there

Dan Shulman, a former writer for ESPN's Page 2, took a look at the trouble the LA Times sports section will be in:

Here's a basic case study: Does the Times think it has a lock on the Lakers? ESPNLA.com has (a) full-time TV reporters based in LA, (b) JA Adande, (c) a top Lakers blog (Forum Blue and Gold) as part of ESPN.com's TrueHoop Network, (d) a local radio affiliate and (e) the power of ESPN. Oh, and Bill Simmons is based in LA. Good night, game over.

As quickly as a good nugget can be reported by someone like the Times, a quick-acting (and inexpensive) ESPNLA intern (or low-paid editor) can have it on the ESPNLA site. It's called aggregation, and you can already find it daily on ESPN.com's Rumor Central pages. That's the craziest part: The economics of ESPN's local strategy are jaw-droppingly cheap, especially relative to local newspapers' costs.

ESPN has quickly become the go-to place for all things sports in the United States. And by branding themselves locally in these big cities, they are directly competing with the newspapers that have never had to deal this sort of competition before -- and they can do it cheaper.

The question is that if newspaper sports departments get winnowed down, who will be the beat reporters for each sport? Will ESPN Chicago, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles all eventually be forced to hire beat reporters?

But it seems clear that ESPN (and to a smaller degree, AOL's Fanhouse) will soon be in all the major cities with major sports teams. I'd bet on an ESPN Boston coming within the next year.

Pink Floyd and the Moon Landing

Pretty damned cool. Via @barbwire55.

So what was David Gilmour doing during the moon landing, 40 years ago today? He was jamming out on the BBC. From The Guardian:

We were in a BBC TV studio jamming to the landing. It was a live broadcast, and there was a panel of scientists on one side of the studio, with us on the other. I was 23.

The programming was a little looser in those days, and if a producer of a late-night programme felt like it, they would do something a bit off the wall. Funnily enough I’ve never really heard it since, but it is on YouTube. They were broadcasting the moon landing and they thought that to provide a bit of a break they would show us jamming. It was only about five minutes long. The song was called Moonhead — it’s a nice, atmospheric, spacey 12-bar blues.

I'll watch this show

Shaquille O'Neal is way past his prime when it comes to basketball, but when it comes to being the center of attention, he's still among the best there is.

And Shaq's new TV show shows just that:

"Shaq Vs.", which is set to premiere Aug. 18 at 9 p.m. ET, begins filming Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where Shaq will take on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football.

Future episodes of the hour-long show will feature Shaq against Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, tennis star Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

What, no Chuck Liddell?

What do you do when you mix Nirvana with Rick Astley?

A grunge Rick Roll! OK, it's not the best of mashups, but it is still good. And I still think that Kurt Cobain is the most overrated musical figure of the past twenty years.

Via Mashable.

Best Line of the Day

All apologies to Ken...

It’s hard to believe some of these rock formations are almost 6000 years old!

Bad Astronmer Phill Plait making fun of those who believe the earth is only 6,000 years old.

Supreme Court to hear what could be "the most significant sports law decision ever."

A court case between the NFL and a American Needle, Inc. could reshape the sports landscape in America forever, according to ESPN.

What is the case?

The legal doctrine at the center of the case is known as "single entity." If the NFL manages to persuade the Supreme Court that the league is a single entity competing with other providers of entertainment rather than a group of 32 separate businesses competing with each other, the landscape of the sports industry will be transformed, according to law professors and experts contacted by ESPN.com.

If it is a single unit and not 32 separate, competing teams, any violation of American antitrust law would be impossible to establish. A violation of the Sherman Act begins with a "combination, contract or conspiracy" that restrains competition and hurts consumers. If the NFL is a single unit, it cannot be in combination, contract or conspiracy. It would be immune to the antitrust cases that have allowed player unions to establish and to protect free agency and other benefits.

In other words, teams agreeing to sign players or coaches only at a certain salary wouldn't be considered collusion -- because it would be within a single company, the NFL.

There wouldn't be 32 teams competing with eachother, but rather one entertainment company competing with... well, no one.

And what makes this particularly significant is that if the NFL gets its way, the ruling would also apply to the other major sports leagues in the United States as well. Roger Goodell would suddenly be the man atop one of the biggest business empires in all of the world.

Or, as the ESPN column calls it, "one of the most powerful cartels ever."

There would be no recourse in antitrust cases, as the NFL players union successfully used to create free agency in the 80s and 90s.

So what will the effect be for the fans?

Leagues will enjoy unfettered monopoly powers.

Salaries for players and coaches will drop.

Free agency will wither away.

Sponsors will pay more.

Fans will pay more for tickets, television and Internet broadcasts and for paraphernalia.

And owners' profits will soar.

Pictures of the moon landing site

NASA has released their first pictures of the Apollo Landing Sites from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.



That's the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, left behind when the first people to land on the moon came back to Earth.

Can't see much? Don't worry, NASA announced, "Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution."

Also more images at that last link from NASA.

This is 40 years and a day after man first set foot on the moon.

Guy still proud of beating up first base coach with his dad

From Deadspin:

Few moments in sports history were as truly stunning as the sight fans saw on September 19, 2002, when two shirtless buffoons charged onto the field during a Chicago-Kansas City game and began pummeling the Royals' 54-year-old first base coach Tom Gamboa. It turned out to be a father and son team—William Ligue Jr. and his loyal 15-year-old boy—who were hauled off, surly and unrepentant, into baseball history. And also jail.

The younger Ligue apparently brags about beating up the unsuspecting first base coach whose only crime was to be a first-base coach for the Kansas City Royals and in the path of a drunk dad and his "loyal" son.

Phelps shows Rick Reilly what it takes to be an Olympic swimmer

Well, at least putting the swimsuit on in front of a group of people.



Reilly is still one of my least favorite writers out there, for the record.

The Big Picture: Apollo 11

The first manned moon exploration, in pictures. Wow.

Forty years ago.

Time lapse of airplane flights around the world...

World Air Traffic Over 24 Hours - More amazing video clips are a click away

Worst person ever..

A heartless kitty killer hissed angrily at animal rights activists Wednesday, grinning widely as she took credit for stuffing the helpless pet into a 500-degree oven.

"It's dead, bitch!" snapped an unrepentant Cheyenne Cherry, sticking her tongue out after a plea bargain that will put her behind bars for a year in the May 6 killing of tiny Tiger Lily.

New York Daily News

Cyclist accused of being racist: I'm just an asshole!

At least this professional cyclist acknowledges that he is an asshole unlike so many of his kind:

"I love to come here (France) and I love to come here and race. For sure I'm going to get arsey at some lad - because I'm an asshole," said Cavendish.

"But their nationality, and what they look like or where they come from is irrelevant."

He was responding to charges that he was racist against French people. I may be wrong, but I think that's just being xenophobic not racist.

Barack Obama and Willie Mays

Cool T Shirt

A cool Resident Evil T-shirt from Comic-Con.

Fixing Obama's throwing motion

Though conservatives are all abuzz with the news that Obama's first pitch at the All Star Game last night wasn't very good ("Bush may have ruined the economy but at least he could throw a baseball!"), Deadspin found links to three experts who analyzed Obama's throw.

What did they say? Well, his technique wasn't all that good, but it wasn't that surprising since he never played baseball even as a kid.

As Dr. Mike Marshall, a former MLB reliever, said:

I've seen him shoot jump shots. He has an excellent shooting stroke. It's not all that much different throwing a baseball. It takes training, though, and I'd like him to spend as much time as he can on fixing the economy.

At least he's better at baseball than bowling, though.

Ichiro wants to wear jeans

A cool little story from the All Star game about Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki, his link to hall of fame player George Sisler and, yes, meeting Barack Obama (Obama threw out the first pitch of the All Star game).

Obama, visiting the clubhouses, stopped and signed a ball for Ichiro, who gave a slight bow upon meeting the President and appeared as giddy and excited as a kid.

"My idea, when I saw him, was to say, 'What's up?' to him," Ichiro said. "But I got nervous. You know, he has that kind of aura about him. So I got nervous and I didn't say that to him. I was a little disappointed about that.

"But I realized after seeing him today that presidents wear jeans, too. So my hope is that our skipper, [Don] Wakamatsu, was watching that and we can wear jeans on our flights, as well."

Batting Stance Guy

Still cool.

An amazing story

From ESPN The Magazine:

[Eric Frimpong] left his native Ghana in 2005 to play soccer for UC Santa Barbara; a year later he became a campus hero while leading the Gauchos to their first-ever national championship. If the immigrant experience can have a sound, Frimpong's sound was a raucous stadium. But in 2007, just weeks after being selected by the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS draft, he was accused of raping another student on the beach near his house. Now he's a convicted felon.

Read the story.

Deep thought

Journalists have been trained for many years to take their own voice out of their stories. But in blogging, it is a definite advantage to keep your voice in your posts, as it helps create a connection (when there were just newspapers, there was no need for a connection -- their authority as being Journalists in a newspaper).

This could be one reason why there are still some journalists who moan about 'those damned bloggers.'

Many popular web stories start with traditional media, move to blogs

From the New York Times:

For the most part, the traditional news outlets lead and the blogs follow, typically by 2.5 hours, according to a new computer analysis of news articles and commentary on the Web during the last three months of the 2008 presidential campaign.

I wouldn't be surprised if that time between the traditional media reporting on the story and the time it appears on blogs has gone down since Twitter made such huge gains in popularity; nearly every successful blogger and many journalists that I can think of use Twitter to learn about new stories and promote their own stories.

UFC's Fedor problem

Tonight's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pay-per-view event (UFC 100) is already being called the biggest mixed martial arts event in history so far. Former pro wrestler Brock Lesnar is taking on Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist and MMA veteran Frank Mir for the heavyweight title.

The co-main event is a welterweight battle between Georges St. Pierre (who is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world) and Thiago Alves. The middleweight bout between Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping could have possibly been a headliner or a co-main event on a different card.

But there is one glaring omission -- not only from tonight's card, but from the UFC as a hwole. And to MMA fans that omission goes by just one name -- Fedor. Fedor Emelianenko is probably the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world. He's 30-1 and a lot of people will argue that the one loss was a mistake, a poor judges decision during a fight in Japan.

Time magazine took a look at UFC's Fedor problem:

He has won 30 fights in his career and lost just one, a controversial referee's decision in Japan nine years ago. Fedor has already beaten five former UFC champions, two of them twice. He has finished four of them off in the first round.

"He's the best," says Freddie Roach, a famed fight trainer who has worked with boxing greats Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Fedor's last opponent, Andrei Arlovski, whom Fedor knocked out in three minutes in January. "He's so calm. He sees things happening. If you make a mistake, he'll knock you out. That's the mark of a great fighter."

So why does this great fighter, who is fighting against a bunch of heavyweights who no longer fight for the UFC, still fight for second-rate MMA promoters?

Because UFC wants exclusive rights to Fedor:

Fedor says White demanded that he fight exclusively with the UFC. Given his stake in his own promotion company, M-1 Global, that would have been a significant sacrifice. Fedor also insists the UFC would have virtually owned him if he won and would have been able to dump him if he lost. "If I was the UFC champion, I would never be able to leave the UFC," Fedor says. "The contract would just keep extending and extending. But if I lost, they could just kick me out of the UFC."

Further complicating matters, Fedor also specializes in another form of martial arts called sambo. This judo-like sport was developed for the Red Army after World War I and is now a Russian pastime. Under White's dictates, says Fedor, he'd have to stay away from sambo. "That's something I do for the pride of my country and is very important to me," says Fedor.

Still, no one should be crying for the UFC. Tonight's pay-per-view event could possibly be the biggest non-boxing pay-per-view ever, with some analysts saying it will reach 1.3 million buys.

Of course, Dana White, the head of the UFC, said the same thing about UFC 94. But that was headlined by St. Pierre against B.J. Penn -- this time St. Pierre is relegated to a co-main event instead of headlining the card.

"On the last night of the best fishing trip of our lives, Brownie juggled fire"

I'm not much of a fishing fan, but stories like this makes me wish that my friends and I would go on trips like this.

Boxer Arturo Gatti reportedly found dead in Brazilian hotel room

Arturo Gatti will never be considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. Gatti was just 49-9, but he will be remembered for being a warrior.

He was found dead in a Brazilian hotel room. He was with his wife and son, and there were no bullet or knife wounds.

Gatti fought in an epic trilogy against Mickey Ward, two of the fights which were named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. He had multiple other fights that were Fight of the Year nominees -- usually because the final rounds of a Gatti fight resembled a fight from a Rocky movie.

Blood always seemed to be flowing down Gatti's face in the 12th round, but Gatti continued to stand toe to toe with his opponent, giving as good as he got.

As I said before, he will never be in the same league as the Oscar de la Hoyas for Floyd Mayweathers of the world (two boxers who he lost to), but he was always one of my favorite boxers to watch.

Dead Like Me on Hulu!

I hadn't noticed this before, but the complete series (so far) of Dead Like Me is now on Hulu. I never watched the show when it was on Showtime (we had HBO so we could watch The Wire instead of Showtime) but started watching the show's reruns on SciFi and HD Net.

But if you haven't seen this show, then you need to -- now.

The show follows around George Lass, a dead woman. She died and became a grim reaper. It's more complicated than that, but that's the basic idea -- watch the first couple of episodes and you'll be hooked.

Here's the pilot:

Drudge still rules their world

Who would have thought to actually look at the video?

More people believe in global warming than in evolution

From the Associated Press, via @ShaunMcKinnon:

_ The public and scientists did not always see eye-to-eye. For example 87 percent of scientists believed that humans and other living things evolved naturally, compared with 32 percent of the general public. And while 84 percent of scientists say the Earth is getting warmer because of human activities, just 49 percent of the public agreed.

Scientists who study this sort of thing for a living and have expertise in the field believe in evolution and global warming by huge margins. But it is the people who are listening to the anti-science propaganda that had the loudest voice in the last eight years under the George W. Bush administration.

Wouldn't it be better policy to listen to people who are experts on that issue?

BCS official: Everything's fine with the system!

Harvey Perlman, chairman of the BCS oversight committee went onto Mike and Mike in the morning today to say that everything is fine with the BCS, no one should complain, especially not the Utahs and Boise States of the world (teams who went undefeated but never came close to the national championship).

His argument was that the schools from the smaller conferences "have more access" to the big bowls than they ever did before. He is correct, but this doesn't address the criticism.

Utah went undefeated last year, including beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Yet they didn't get to play in the national championship. There is nothing more that Utah could have possibly done, yet they didn't win the national championship.

Perlman said that it is better than it was in the past, but that is, again, missing the point. It shouldn't be said that the current system is better, but rather that the system in the past was even more flawed.

He even criticized college basketball, saying, "even when you're picking 64 teams, you have major controversies about who's numbers 65 through 68." This is different -- getting the NCAAs is the goal for the teams on the bubble. They don't expect to win the national championship.

When the problem is with the number three team, that's a different story.

South African World Cup stadium strike gets violent

Workers who are building the stadiums for the World Cup in South Africa next year have gone on strike. And now some of those on strike are "stoning cars and passers-by" as they ask for more money, the Associated Press reports:

There are fears that a prolonged strike could derail already tight schedules for construction projects supposed to be complete by mid-December. The monthlong 2010 World Cup, beginning in June, is the first on the continent. It is expected to attract up to half a million people and be seen by hundreds of millions worldwide.

South Africa's minimum wage is about $200 a month but the unions complain that some workers earn only about $1.50 an hour and others $5 a week.

If South Africa doesn't get the job done, the U.S. may step in and host -- the U.S. already has dozens of stadiums that can house the World Cup, even on short notice.

Tapes of LeBron James being dunked on confiscated

LeBron James was dunked on by a top high school basketball player at a camp run by Nike. Video of the dunk was confiscated by Nike.

Nike responded to the confiscation:

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our no videotaping policy at an after-hours pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent on Wednesday.

Tarnishing the image (even a little bit) of their top star (though Tiger Woods would give hima run for his money on that count) probably isn't what Nike envisioned when they held the camp.

Tour de France stage winner: "I dedicate this victory to myself..."

Via @drywall.

Thomas Voeckler of France won the fifth stage in the Tour de France and said:

"I dedicate this victory to myself, my son and my wife, who actually didn't see me win as she was returning home in a plane," the 30-year-old Voeckler said.

"Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row"

From the Los Angeles Times:

Andy Roddick's career-long frustration against Roger Federer reminded New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica of the time Vitas Gerulaitis ended a 16-match losing streak against Jimmy Connors and opened a postmatch news conference by announcing, "Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." . . .

Andy Roddick has won just 2 of the 21 matches against Federer, and none of the eight matches at Grand Slam events.

Roddick lost a remarkable match against Roger Federer, arguably the best tennis player of all time, in the Wimbledon final. The match went five sets and the fifth set ended up 16-14, the longest Grand Slam final in history.

Google may be developing an operating system (updated)

Oh, it's apparently already announced. Carry on...

---

Internet giant Google may be developing an operating system, according to the New York Times. The Times says that Google is expected to announce it tomorrow.

So what will it look like?

In a direct challenge to Microsoft, Google is expected to announce on Wednesday that it is developing an operating system for a personal computer based on its Chrome browser, according to two people briefed on Google’s plans.

The details of the technology could not be learned, but Google plans to make the announcement on a company blog on Wednesday afternoon, this person said.

Solution to California's problem of minors buying alcohol in self-serve lanes

There's a pretty easy solution to minors buying alcohol in California, as the Los Angeles Times reported is a big problem. There is an easy solution to it.

Here in New Mexico, if you buy alcohol in a self-serve lane at the grocery store, the register beeps and you need a cashier's approval to purchase the alcohol (there is one cashier at the front of every four self-serve lanes).

So what is California's solution?

California already forbids cigarettes, spray paint and some over-the-counter medications to be sold in self-service checkouts to make it tougher for minors to obtain them. The bill, AB 1060, would add beer, wine and spirits to that list, according to its author, Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate).

Doesn't seem as smart.

Lance Armstrong: I thought it would be easier

From VeloNews, a more humble and contrite Lance Armstrong. He currently is in second place in the Tour de France by thousandths of a second (seriously).

“Here’s a confession: I expected it to be easier,” he said. “I expected it (12 months ago). Six months ago, I did not expect it. I realized – oh shit – this is harder than I thought. That’s the truth.”

A humbled Armstrong also took the opportunity to publicly apologize to riders he slighted in an interview published in John Wilcockson’s new Armstrong biography, calling last year’s Tour “a joke.”

“The Tour was a bit of a joke this year,” Armstrong told Wilcockson. “I’ve got nothing against Sastre or Christian Vande Velde. Christian’s a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on.”

On Tuesday, Armstrong said he regretted those comments.

Tony LaRussa drops lawsuit against Twitter

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has dropped his lawsuit against Twitter.

But they reportedly settled a month ago.

A month ago, LaRussa said:

“The biggest misconception … was that it was about somebody using Twitter to be critical of me,” La Russa told the Post Dispatch. “I have plenty of critics. You can’t sue everybody who is criticizing you. That seemed like the perception that I or we were upset with the criticism. No, it was the improper use of the name.”

The fake Twitter account made fun of his DWI and the DWIs of some of his players.

Alanis Morisette covering "My Humps"

I'm not sure if there is any introduction needed....

90,000 cubs to be clubbed

Wow. This stuff still goes on...

Hunters are expected to club over 90,000 seals, including 85,000 pups.

The hunt was expected to begin last week, but there was confusion over whether the killings had begun after numerous media reports that a South African-based animal rights activist was in negotiations to halt them.

How is clubbing still a way that people kill seals? Seriously...

Important notice to all politicians (re: Michael Jackson funeral)

Hilarious from musings:

In anticipation of the 'round the clock coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral tomorrow and the toxicology report due to be released on Thursday, if you have (1) an affair you'd like to admit to, (2) an addiction you feel should be revealed, (3) federal or state taxes you have not paid...

Go there to see 4, 5, 6, 7.

And is it kind of sad that in eight years people might be asking, "Do you remember where you were when you heard Michael Jackson died?" just like people now ask "Where were you when you heard about 9/11?"

And some of these people will completely mean it. As for me, I'm having a hard time remembering where I was and it wasn't even a month ago. It only feels like a year since he passed away.

Casey Kasem's last show

Yeah, yeah, I didn't even know that Casey Kasem was still on the air. But apparently the radio veteran is doing his last show.

Mr. Kasem’s weekly playlists of the country’s most popular songs started in 1970 with “American Top 40,” and have been a radio staple since. While he passed the “Top 40” mic to Ryan Seacrest in 2004, he continued to host two abridged versions of the show. Mr. Kasem said in a statement that he “loved every minute” of the countdowns but that the final countdown would “free up time I need to focus on myriad other projects.”

Is F1 boss digging himself deeper after "Hitler" comment?

I don't think that Bernie Ecclestone is a PR expert. At least not judging by his recent comments saying that Hitler "got things done."

Today, Ecclestone comes back with an apology:

"I did not put Hitler forward as a positive example, but simply noted that, before his appalling crimes, he acted successfully against unemployment and the economic crisis," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in the Bild article, which noted that Hitler created jobs through rearmament.

Stop. Talking. Now.

Heads they win, tails you lose

That's how the French cycling community thinks about American cycling legend Lance Armstrong. Need evidence? Check out this from the Associated Press in a story about Armstrong being fined $92 for missing a sign-in before stage 3 of the Tour de France:

Pescheux also criticized Armstrong for not making himself more available to fans.
[...]
Team spokesman Philippe Maertens says that before the stage Armstrong was held up by signing autographs and doing interviews.

Pescheux is the Tour de France competition director Jean-Francois Pescheux.

Stephen Colbert is more patriotic than you

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Exclusive - A Megamerican Tribute to America
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

Another deep thought

When someone does something nonsensical and most of the world agrees that what that person did was nonsensical, but that person decides to blame everyone else for not understanding, is that acting like a five year old or pulling a Palin?

Two reasons to love Vin Scully

One, from his Wikipedia entry:

On Saturday, June 3, 1989, Scully was doing the play-by-play for the NBC Game of the Week in St. Louis, where the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings. Meanwhile, Dodgers were playing a series in Houston and Scully flew to Houston to be on hand to call the Sunday game of the series. However, the Saturday night game between the teams was going into extra innings when Scully arrived at Houston, so he went to the Astrodome instead of his hotel. He picked up the play-by-play, helping to relieve the other Dodger announcers, who were doing both television and radio, and broadcast the final 13 innings (after already calling 10 innings in St. Louis), as the game went 22 innings. He broadcast 23 innings in one day in two different cities.

And secondly, for an example of his work doing play-by-play, the final inning of Sandy Koufax's September 9, 1965 perfect game is available here (mp3).

Deep thought

Quitting your job is apparently the first step in getting a promotion -- at least to the Right.

F1 Chief: Hitler "got things done"

Oh dear. From the Associated Press, talking about Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone:

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

"In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done," Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

"In the end he got lost, so he wasn't a very good dictator."

Ecclestone also said the West had been wrong to depose Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying: "He was the only one who could control that country."

I'm gonna go ahead and say it wasn't smart to say that. Any of that.

Jesse James sets new hydrogen land speed record

Motorcycle builder and TV daredevil Jesse James is now a world record holder after having driving the fastest speed ever done in a hydrogen powered car.

He went 199 MPH, breaking the previous record of 185 MPH set by BMW in Germany.

Jesse went to El Mirage Dry Lake Bed with an extreme purpose: to break the land speed record of 185 MPH for a hydrogen-fueled vehicle. It's a record that has long been on his mind and it has not been an easy road getting here. Jesse has consulted the help of legendary land speed racer Mike Cook. Mike gave Jesse invaluable advice on the design of the car. He also helped Jesse pick up the nuance of driving the car and was with him in the testing phase. Engine wizard Kurt Urban came from Detroit and auto row to help him develop a superior hydrogen engine: an internal combustion throwback to the days of overpowering American steel. Together they created an emission free vehicle that will dispel any notions of the power of alternative fuels. Jesse prepared for a worst case scenario situation by escaping from a burning fuselage, narrowly avoiding injury and testing his mettle to the limit.

Beer better than water for your post-workout drink

A study by a Spanish university found that drinking beer after a workout is better at rehydrating than drinking water.

Garzon said that the rehydration effection in those who were given beer was "slightly better" than those who were given only water. He also believes that the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench thirst more quickly, and that beer's carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion.

No word on Gatorade or Vitamin Water, though.

Disney animatronic Obama doesn't look much like Obama

In fact, it's kinda scary looking.

New iPhone doubles as a handwarmer

At least that's the spin that I think we might be hearing from Apple Fanboys after this story comes out:

Technology sites and Apple forums have been indundated with comments about the new model overheating and becoming discoloured since it was launched on June 19. Some iPhone users have complained that the device has become too hot to hold to the ear during long calls while others have noticed that the white 32GB model has turned pink after overheating.

Imagine how much it will help in the winter, fanboys will say. And it is just the color-changing model!

Which baseball team uses their money the best

Hint: It isn't the Yankees. Or the Nationals.

But you can check it out here. The L.A. Dodgers have the best record, but the team with the steepest line looks to be either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Florida Marlins.

The steepest red (bad) line? Either the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs or Cleveland Indians.

Record bass reportedly caught in Japan

Via ESPN:

The bass reportedly weighs 10.12 kilograms or a little less than 22 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 73.5 centimeters (nearly 29 inches). No girth measurements are available at this time.

That's a big fish.

Jon Stewart to Mark Sanford: "God killed Michael Jackson to save your ass!"

Will the Mark Sanford thing ever go away?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Shut Up, Mark Sanford
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Terrell Owens apologizes

Awesome. From Tosh.0.

Tosh.0	Thurs, 10pm / 9c
Terrell Owens Apologizes
www.comedycentral.com
Daniel Tosh Miss Teen South Carolina Demi Moore Picture

Why is there no video of this on YouTube yet?

Via the Associated Press:

Following a TD pass from Kerry Joseph that put Toronto ahead 6-0, [Arland] Bruce removed his helmet, shoulder pads and uniform top and laid down in the end zone. Bruce said he was honoring the memory of Michael Jackson by pretending to be buried.

His coach said he made the mistake of telling Bruce that he could do whatever he wanted once he got into the end zone.

"I think next time around he will celebrate in an appropriate manner," coach Bart Andrus told the AP.

Murdoch: Facebook is just a directory

I'm not completely convinced that Rupert Murdoch completely gets these whole "internet" and "social networking" things. Murdoch, of course, owns MySpace through his company News Corp.

And even as MySpace loses market share to Facebook, Murdoch doesn't quite get it, calling Facebook just a directory.

Speaking about the recent shakeups at MySpace:

I mean, it will be a very different social site to, say, Facebook.

Facebook is more of a directory. People go looking for their relatives or their friends, who they are going to meet. With MySpace, people go there to find common interests, share music, that sort of thing.

I disagree -- both sites are places where people go to connect with people they already know, and Facebook's design and lack of annoying flashing ads has made it much more popular over recent months.

Close up pictures of the moon

Via Bad Astronomy -- close up photos of the moon from the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter.



Wow.

Never do a bomb threat this way

From the Albuquerque Journal:

She was allegedly calling in the bomb threats because her boyfriend Joseph Quintana had a court appearance scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday. Quintana, 29, had failed to appear in court on a traffic violation and feared he would be sentenced to jail if he went to court, according to the complaint. So he asked her to call in a bomb threat at Metropolitan Court so he wouldn't have to go.

According to the complaint, Romero initially was concerned that dispatchers would trace her number, but Quintana told her to dial star-67. That usually hides a person's phone number on caller ID - unless you're calling 911.

Ouch.

Is the Vatican investigating nuns?

An interesting story from the New York Times about some questions from the Vatican on nuns in America.

Time lapse video of volcanic explosion from space

No introduction necessary.

Was Osama bin Laden ever in America?

According to the New Yorker, yes.

Osama was here for two weeks in 1979, it seems, and he visited Indiana and Los Angeles, among other places. He had a favorable encounter with an American medical doctor; he also reportedly met in Los Angeles with his spiritual mentor of the time, the Palestinian radical Abdullah Azzam.

Another super interesting article from the New Yorker.

Obamtourage

From Landline.TV:

Gwyneth Paltrow "Disses" NYC and the USA?

The New York Daily News ran a story with the headline "Gwyneth Paltrow disses New York, U.S., people who 'always have BlackBerries on'." But it seems to be a bit of hyperbolic Drudge-bait (and it did get posted on Drudge) after reading the article.

She seems to be "dissing" a certain part of New York and American coverage. While talking about Spain, Paltrow said:

"Also, the way people live over there. They seem to enjoy life a little bit more. They aren't running around as much as in New York."

Umm... yeah.

Stupid headline for the story.

The Big Picture: Glastonbury 2009

Wow. More great pictures, this time from the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, Europe's largest open-air music festival.

Go check it out.