On this date five years ago "The Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray off the coast of Australia. To this date this is one of my favorite commercials from ESPN's "This is Sportscenter" series.
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ESPN has produced some great commercials over the years as part of their "This is SportsCenter" series. The newest one starring US Womens National Team star Abby Wambach is no different.
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Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement this week marking the end of one of the greatest careers in NBA history.
There really hasn't been anyone as dominant as him in a long time. To me he really was the total package. He was great on the court (even with his troubles on the free throw line) and hilarious off of it. He always seemed have "it". He knew how a star like him should act and how he should market himself. I can't think of another athlete in recent memory who was as good as him on the field of play and handled him or herself in a great manner off of it the Shaq always did. He was never afraid to laugh at himself and that was part of his charm.
He invited the basketball media to his mansion in Orlando for his press conference because he said he wanted to thank each one of them personally. I'm sure part of it that he wants a future in the media and he didn't shy away from that letting ESPN,TNT and CNN among others know that he was looking for a job. TNT needs to hire him immediately. Put him as the fourth member of TNT's crew with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. It would be must watch TV each and every time. ESPN has apparently reached out to him already.
You can watch the press conference here.
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As the Jorge Posada drama continues to play out in the aftermath of last night there are a lot stories being written about the terrible contracts the Yankees have handed out the last few years and how this Posada situation is likely only the start of trouble. Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York wrote this great column last night about similar situations likely coming with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Speaking of Derek Jeter, ESPN New York asks where was the captain last night?
The drama last night was an example of the power struggle that has already begun between the Yankees management and their aging veterans. The absence of Derek Jeter from the locker room spoke volumes. Jeter who himself is coming off a surprisingly bitter contract negotiations with the Yankees will likely be in a similar situation very soon. Shouldn't Jeter as a friend (and more importantly as the captain) have talked Posada out of his stupid move? Shouldn't Jeter as the captain have called out Posada for pretty much quitting on the team last night? The battle lines were drawn last year when the Yankees weren't afraid to call out Derek Jeter in public and the divide is even more evident now. The public war of words between Posada and Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman hurt Posada a lot more then they hurt Cashman. Why was Posada expecting this to be kept quiet when it is common practice for organizations to address late scratches? Posada looks even worse since Cashman has stated publicly that Posada and his agent knew that he was going to address the media. Like I said lat night I don't think Cashman makes the comments publicly that he did last night if they weren't true.
When will Posada return to the lineup? As I mentioned last night he is hitless in 24 at bats versus left handed pitching this year and the Yankees face Jon Lester tonight and David Price tomorrow.
By the way, Posada's wife went back and deleted the tweets she made yesterday in defense of Jorge Posada.
This situation isn't going to get better anytime soon. Instead of apologizing and moving on Jorge Posada put forward a ridiculous display in front of the media. Did he really convince anyone with his story about the injured back? Of course he further boxed himself into a corner when during the same appearance in front of the media he talked about needing time to "clear his head." He should have apologized and moved on but instead he gave everyone a story. A story that will only get tougher on him as the day progresses since the Yankees and the Red Sox don't play until 8 PM.
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I had no idea that ESPN's Rece Davis is an alumni of the University of Alabama. He took a trip out to Tuscaloosa in the aftermath of the tornadoes. Just saw this report on Sportscenter earlier tonight. I highly recommend it.
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Kevin Na shot a 16 on the par 4 9th hole at the Valero Texas Open today. Yes, you read that part right, he shot a 16. I just saw this on Sportscenter and am trying to find the ESPN highlights online. If one of you finds it please send me the link. In the meantime watch the clip from the PGA Tour.
Tee shot right. Went down and found ball and declared an unplayable lie.
3
Went back to the tee box and hit another tee shot which went right in to the woods. Then hit a provisional left (Abandoned provisional). Found second tee shot on the right and played it.
4-5
Played ball in the woods and hit a tree and the ball hit himself and took a one shot penalty.
6
Took unplayable where ball came to rest.
7
Hit ball in woods.
8
Hit ball in woods (Left-handed and missed ball).
9
Hit ball in woods (Left-handed and advanced ball).
10
Hit ball in woods (barely moved the ball).
11
Hit ball in woods and did not get out of the trees.
12
Hit ball in woods and advanced to the rough.
13
Hit ball from woods in to rough.
14
Played from rough to the fringe.
15
Played from fringe on to green.
16
Made putt from 5 feet, 10 inches.
One of the craziest sights I have ever seen in pro sports. Na, finished 39th on the PGA Tour money list last year and 19th in 2009. Have to be impressed with him going out and having a pretty decent back 9. He gave an interview to PGATour.com after his round.
4/15/11 EDIT: I can't find the SportsCenter clip from last night with John Anderson and Scott Van Pelt anchoring but here is one with Stan Verrett and Neil Everett.
The craziest part of the story might be that there were three other golfers who shot worse than him for the round.
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Earlier this week ESPN unveiled President Obama's bracket for the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. Earlier today they officially did the same for his bracket for the Womens Tournament.
For the 3rd straight year President Obama has filled out NCAA Tournament brackets for ESPN.
ESPN College Basketball analyst Andy Katz (you can find his blog post here) was at the White House yesterday to host the segment for SportsCenter and the other ESPN platforms. The video is embedded below. Two years ago he correctly picked UNC to win the NCAA Tournament. Last year his pick of Kansas got knocked out in the second round.
You can find Obama's brackets for both the Mens and Womens tournaments on the White House website. He will appear on SportsCenter again tomorrow morning with Doris Burke to unveil his Womens Tournament bracket. Earlier today on Sportscenter John Buccigross and Doug Gottlieb said that Obama's signed bracket from two years ago is displayed in the ESPN cafeteria. I'll post my bracket at some point between now and tip off on Thursday. Really struggling with it this year and coming out with a lot of chalk results and that is why I am not really surprised that Obama is going with the four #1s
Obama's Mens Tournament Bracket for ESPN
Obama's Womens Tournament Bracket
From ESPN's SportsCenter earlier today.
ESPN has entered Obama's bracket as an entry into their Tournament Challenge. How well will he do? In a usual year I may have criticized Obama for going chalk with his bracket but in talking with other college basketball fans most of us are coming out with brackets very similar to his. Andy Katz has had some nice exclusives with Barack Obama over the past few years.
Neil Best of Newsday pointed out, it is worth noting that Obama picked Kansas to win it all again. They are the only one of his Final Four teams that doesn't play in a battleground state. Reid Wilson noted earlier today that one of Obama's first round upsets is Marquette over Xavier (the alma mater of Speak John Boehner). I am not a of over analyzing the bracket from a political angle but sometimes it just can't be helped.
What I absolutely have to laugh at is those who criticize Obama for filling out a NCAA bracket. A large chunk of the people criticizing him are probably in a office pool of their own. Just take a look at this clip from Fox "News".
Just because Obama spent a small part of his day with ESPN we are to believe he is not paying attention to what is going on in the world? That sentiment is even more ridiculous when Obama asks people to donate to help the victims in Japan as part of his segments on ESPN. How many people do you think Obama reached out with that message by going on ESPN? I just don't understand the people who act as though just because he is the President he shouldn't do anything "normal". I always point people out to this (and this).
One of the things I wanted to do on the show was, as people are filling out their brackets -- this is obviously a national pastime; we all have a great time, it’s a great diversion. But I know a lot of people are thinking how can they help the Japanese people during this time of need. If you go to usaid.gov -- usaid.gov -- that will list all the nonprofits, the charities that are helping out there. It would be wonderful for people to maybe offer a little help to the Japanese people at this time -- as they’re filling out their brackets. It’s not going to take a lot of time. That's usaid.gov. It could be really helpful.
That is what Obama told ESPN about the events that are unfolding in Japan. What more do people want him to do? Do you have a problem with Obama filling out a bracket? Let me know here.
Houston Chronicle takes a look at just how hard it is to predict the NCAA Tournament. ESPN also takes an interesting look at the NCAA Tournament. I honestly had forgotten that it has been nine years since a #15 beat a #2.
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This morning ESPN aired an interview that Tom Rinaldi conducted with Rutgers Defensive Tackle Eric LeGrand. Tom Rinaldi does a great job with pieces like this and the LeGrand interview is no different. I haven't seen the TV version yet so I don't know if this is the whole thing but here is a clip ESPN has posted online.
He injured his vertebrae earlier this season in a game against Army. Since then the Rutgers and sports communities have come together to help raise money for him and his money as they face years of medical bills.
On October 22nd Rutgers sent out a press release announcing the creation of the "Eric LeGrand Believe Fund."
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (October 22, 2010) – Rutgers Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tim Pernetti announced today the establishment of the “Eric LeGrand Believe Fund” to support Eric LeGrand (Avenel, N.J.) and his family. LeGrand, a junior defensive tackle for the Scarlet Knights, suffered a spinal cord injury Oct. 16 vs. Army.
Contributions to the fund are not tax deductible and can be made by sending a check payable to the“Eric LeGrand Believe Fund” to:
“Eric LeGrand Believe Fund”
PNC Wealth Management
Attn: Kimberly G. Kingsland, Senior Trust Advisor
One Palmer Square Suite 201
Princeton, NJ 08542
All proceeds of the fund will go directly to the LeGrand family. For more information, visit www.ScarletKnights.com/Believe.
The family has already received financial assistance from the $75,000 from Devin Harris and the New Jersey Nets, $20,000 from Tracy McGrady, T-shirt sales from Scarlet Fever, a store near campus, raised $90,000. Wristband sales on campus, a student-organized effort, raised another $65,000. Those figures are from a local newspaper article (the article also mentions smaller donations from schools in the area) that also quotes the owner of the store.
When the line formed on the sidewalk outside the store, when the internet orders alone topped 2,000, he knew he had to print more — and fast. Ostergren wrote a check to the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund for about $89,500 recently.
“We’re still selling shirts,” he said, “and we’ll keep selling shirts as long as people want them.”
Erica Bowden, a junior from South Plainfield, decided to sell wristbands with the message “Eric LeGrand #52 Believe.” She thought it was a risk to order 200. The current tally, her father, Bill, said, was close to 19,000.
I have seen a lot of people criticize the two of them in the past 24 hours. Some of it is fair but a lot of people are completely overreacting to this. I know jumping on ESPN is the "cool thing to do" for a lot of people but it is fairly obvious that they were not celebrating the firing of Eric Mangini. It is easy to put up one video out of context and twist it to serve whatever agenda your blog has. Attacking ESPN is a sure fire way to get hits.
Was their act unprofessional? Sure, but lets take things in some context here. It was "Black Monday", I'm sure they had a discussion earlier in the show about news breaking while they were on the air. For those you of who don't follow the NFL closely, "Black Monday" is the first Monday after the end of the regular season when most teams announce their decision to fire their coaches.
I am not going to shed a tear for Mangini. I actually like the guy but he's made over $10 Million as an NFL Head Coach and has a record of 33-47 (.413) to show for it. Yes, I do feel for his assistants who make significantly less but once again, ESPN was not celebrating their dismissal if they too get let go after their meeting with Mike Holmgren next week. There are already reports that Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan will get an interview for a Head Coach position.
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It was one of the best columns he wrote in his tenure with Sports Illustrated which lasted over 20 years. He himself acknowledged it as one of his most memorable columns. The story was about a 54 year old man named Butch Varno from Middlebury, Vermont. Butch Varno is bound to his wheelchair because of Cerebral Palsy but for over 50 years freshman from the small college have been literally picking him up to take him to football and basketball games.
Professional athlete misses a game because he is sick and his roster spot goes to a coach from a local college. No, that is not the premise for the next Disney movie. It happened last night.
The Phoenix Coyotes were at the Madison Square Garden in New York last night to play the Rangers. Earlier in the day they suffered a minor setback when starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov came down with the flu. He was replaced in the starting lineup by his backup Jason LaBarbera but the Coyotes had no one available to back him up. There wasn't enough time to fly someone in from their Minor League affiliate in San Antonio so they reached out to a college coach in New York instead.
Tom Fenton a 26 year old coach for Manhatanville College lived out a dream last night and spent the night on the bench, in uniform at a National Hockey League game. He's from Sarnia, Ontario so I'm pretty sure like most Canadian kids he had dreamed of this moment his entire childhood. No, he didn't actually get to play in the game but he still has one hell of a story to tell for the rest of his life.
"My phone rang, I didn't pick it up," said Fenton, who had less than three hours to get to MSG but arrived in time to back up Jason LaBarbera. "I eventually saw who it was so I picked it up after the haircut and called them right back.
"They basically said I have to get my butt down to MSG as soon as I can.
According to that same story he hasn't played an actual game since his senior year at American International College last year.
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