Manny goes hitless in first game in #ABQ

Manny Ramirez was in Albuquerque for his first game with the Albuquerque Isotopes. The dreadlocked, suspended hitter struck out and grounded out in four innings of work.

However, he was a hit in another way (pun all-encompassingly intended) -- A record 15,321 people showed up to see one of the all-time greats in his Triple-A stint. That's a record for baseball in the city all time, not just with the Isotopes.

Oh, and he flew on a Southwest flight to Albuquerque. Cool.

Here's the highlights from ESPN:

Video remix of best sports press conference highlights

Not quite as good as autotune the news, but pretty damned close.

I think all sports fans will recognize these infamous press conference rants.

The Big Picture back in Iran

The Big Picture had yet another excellent post, this time about "A troubled week in Iran."

As always, amazing pictures. Go check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Transformers breaks Guinness World Record in NM

Via @aaronjhoward on Twitter.

The second Transformers movie (which, to put it lightly, Roger Ebert didn't like) broke a Guinness World record here in New Mexico.

The N.M. scene now officially holds the Guinness Book World Record for the biggest explosion on film with actors present.

Where did Sanford go? Sighted in Atlanta.

The question of where South Carolina governor Mark Sanford disappeared to has been the big political question (outside of healthcare) for the past day or so.

First, his wife said he left on Thursday to write. Eventually, his office said that he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Which led people to find out that Sunday was Naked Hiking Day on the Appalachian Trail.

Now, we find out that he had been sighted in Atlanta (where his cell phone was tracked to), according to WYFF news.

On Tuesday, sources told News 4's Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.

Sources told Robertson that a federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane. Robertson was told that the governor was not accompanied by security detail.

Sanford has been out of reach for more than four days, including Father's Day.

He has four kids.

Also of note, his Lt. Gov. went on TV and blasted him. From Daily Kos TV:



Curiouser and curiouser.

Dallas Cowboys linemen sign record deal for heavy metal band

Offensive linemen are generally over 300 pounds. And so, it's only fitting that three Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen who are in a band play in a heavy metal band.

Make that "heavier than metal."

From the Associated Press:

Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Procter have signed a recording contract as part of a heavy metal band called Free Reign. Their debut album for Australia's Riot Entertainment will be released this fall.

Considering all three players weigh over 300 pounds, it only makes sense they are being referred to as "heavier than metal."

And video from ESPN's First Take:

@TheOnion: "Workplaces," "Paychecks," And "Jobs," A Nostalgic Look Back At A Vanishing Part Of The American Landscape

This weekend's The Onion Sunday Magazine.

German hockey player banned after skipping drug test for "a private moment" with his girlfriend

I think the headline just about says it all, but here is an Associated Press story on the incident anyway:

Germany coach Uwe Krupp said Busch was sharing "a private moment" with his girlfriend when the testing team arrived.

The 24-year-old Busch was originally fined $7,000 and ordered to do 56 hours of community work. The decision was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, whose rules equate refusing a test to flunking one.

He has been banned for two years from the German hockey league.

@Wootoff is going down

There is a wootoff going on over at Woot.

What is a Wootoff? From that bastion of never-wrong knowledge, Wikipedia:

The site occasionally deviates from the one-product-per-day model for a "Woot-Off", where a succession of products are available for a period of unannounced length, usually 24–72 hours. This mode is indicated by rotating lights and a bar displaying the percentage of product's stock remaining. When one product sells out, it is replaced within a minute or two by a new product. The percentage bar is the only indication of how much stock remains; Woot never gives the exact quantity available until after the item has sold out.