ESPN reminds you, black and white people hate each other

When I get home from “real” work, I like to catch the 6 p.m. SportsCenter.

It allows me to skip Jim Rome’s Ree-dick-u-lus show, stupid PTI, all that nonsense.

But tonight, a special program (hosted by Bob Ley of course) took the place of SC…“The Vick Divide.”

People disagree on Mike Vick? I wasn’t aware.

Well, if you didn’t see it, imagine the most ridiculous town hall possible, then multiply it by the number of white ESPN anchors. (Side note: Is “The Vick Divide” some witty pun I’m not getting?)

For most of the program, Bob Ley was telling the crowd to settle down and “be civil.”

Former Falcon Terance Mathis got a lot of applause for saying “Jesus” and “God” frequently.

Terrence Moore, got booed a lot by “his city.” And the director of the Humane Society got hissed at (imagine that).

The best part was probably when Bob Ley interrupted the proceedings to cut to an ESPN breaking news update!!!! Brian Griese is getting the start for the Bears next week. Oh. Never saw that coming.

Frankly, I think ESPN knew that black Atlanta fans in the crowd (supporters of Vick) would look raucous and loud. There was basically just a lot of yelling, and one crowd member even tried to compare the punishments of Belichick and Vick (seriously). Despite how you feel, I hope it’s safe to say that people see dogfighting in different lights.

Yes, it’s illegal. But obviously, it doesn’t mean the same to you as it does to the next person.

Some people who decry dogfighting are the same people who say hunting is fine because “the animal dies quickly.” Others say it’s just part of the culture.

The bottom line is that ESPN isn’t going to solve cultural differences by having a crowd hiss and yell at media members. They know that. They want loud, in your face shows (Rome, are you still reading), which is why they showed minutes of footage of dogs fighting. Can we please move past this? Talk about the Packers. Talk about the Chargers. Hell, talk about Rex Grossman. Anything but this.

Milton Bradley will not be bullied by your umpires

So, this really needs to be discussed, even though it’s not that fresh.

Milton Bradley tore his ACL while being restrained during an argument with a umpire in Sunday night’s game against the Rockies.

Typical Milton, you say?

Not so fast. If you watch the video, which I’m assuming you already have, Milton doesn’t appear to say much after reaching first base. Then, jawing with the ump starts. And soon, Milton goes after him.

Milton’s side of the story goes like this: Home plate ump asks Milton if he threw his bat at him. Milton says you must be trippin’, who told you that? Home plate ump says first base ump. Milton confronts first base ump about untrue accusation, first base ump confirms it then calls Milton a piece of something. Hilarity ensues.

If you watch Milton’s explanation though, it’s not really that funny. It does seem like the umpire was targeting him because he is, well, Milton Bradley. And, as crazy as he has been, Bradley’s analogy to the Tim Duncan situation is rather spot-on.

If Joey Crawford can be suspended for picking on Duncan, this ump should most certainly be suspended for singling out Bradley.

Don’t get me wrong, Bradley’s injury was half a result of him going bat-shit crazy on the ump, and half a result of the egging on of the ump (who shall remain nameless). But, how can this ump walk away with no punishment? Bradley’s season is definitely over, and with it may go the Padres playoff chances.

Wow, a two-video post.

KC Wolf will protect his house

I’ve had some technical difficulties the last few days with the ‘ol blog, but hopefully we’re back up and running now.

From the sub-par NFL weekend (Packers!!), comes this video of Kansas City Chiefs mascot KC Wolf doing his part to protect his house.

Yea, so it’s not very timely. Enjoy it anyway.

Keep an eye on…

This weekend, Brett Favre will be holding a press conference…kidding, kidding.

But the Pack do play in one of the more intriguing matchups Sunday, facing off against the Chargers on the frozen tundra (1:00 ET, Sunday, CBS).

Other good one will be the Bears-Cowboys (8:15 ET, Sunday, NBC), which I’ll be live-blogging over at si.com. Check it out.

And in case you hadn’t heard, there’s a somewhat race for the A.L. East as of late. As I type this, the Yankees are just 1.5 games back (yes, you read that correctly), and by Monday, will be in first — fulfilling my early prediction.

Big weekend in college football as well. No. 2 LSU will take on the ‘Ol Ballcoach and No. 12 (that happened fast) South Carolina (3:30 ET, Saturday, CBS). You’ll also want to check out No. 22 Georgia take on No. 16 Alabama at 7:45 Eastern Saturday on Espn. We’ll see whether Georgia has another upset in ‘em.

That’s all loyal readers. Enjoy the two free days . . . See you Monday.

Hoosier team?

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. With a new job that pays money, I’m trying to figure out that delicate work/life/blog balance.

Next week will be much improved.

Meanwhile, as a Hoosier football fan (3-0!!), I was paging through Stewart Mandell’s si.com college football rankings to see where IU fell.

#53. Not too bad, up 8 spots from last week.

So I kept scrolling.

Oh man. Pure joy filled my heart.

#75 Notre Dame.

That’s right, 22 spots below the Hoosiers lie the Fighting (not so much) Irish.

There are few better days in the Crossroads of America (state motto, fool).

Whose fantasy?

Not sure how many of you have heard of this “fantasy football,” but so far this season, it’s been a little screwy.

Nearly all sports publications advised their readers to take LT or Larry Johnson if the first overall pick fell in their laps.

But so far this season, either one of those guys would have been a wasted pick.

(Using one of my leagues as an example)

Tomlinson is currently the 45th leading scorer, and Mr. Larry Johnson was 76th.

Granted it’s only been two weeks, but both backs have looked stumped by opposing defenses, not really inspiring those who risked almost everything on them.

Of the current top-10 scorers, 6 are quarterbacks, a complete no-no according to all draft predictors. One of them is a Manning not named Peyton.

So were we all betrayed? Are these so-called fantasy experts going to screw us out of our Multi-dollar pots? Your current top-10 scorers:

1. Carson Palmer, QB, Bengals, 73.80

2. Tony Romo, QB, Cowboys, 70.94

3. Jake Delhomme, QB, Panthers, 61.82

4. Steve Smith, WR, Panthers, 61.05

5. Tom Brady, QB, Patriots, 57.64

6. Randy Moss, WR, Patriots, 57.05

7. Chad Johnson, WR, Bengals, 55.60

8. Derek Anderson, QB, Browns, 55.38

9. Eli Manning, QB, Giants, 52.12

10. Andre Johnson, WR, Texans, 51.70

Charlie Weis not only incompetent, but also a dickhead

I was actually in South Bend when I saw on the NCAAF ticker that former Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones was transferring to Northern Illinois.

Immediately, I thought Charlie Weis (and his genius, of course) had probably told Jones he wasn’t going to get much playing time no more.

Not with J-Claw in the lineup.

Nice, Weis. String the guy along for 3 years, then make him transfer for his senior season. That’s the Catholic thing to do.

Turns out, my presumption wasn’t too far off the mark, as Jones revealed to the Associated Press this weekend it in fact was Charlie that ultimately led to his decision to leave for Northern Illinois.

When I heard Jimmy was the No. 1 all the way through spring and that the only thing that was keeping him out of the lineup was his surgery, well that’s not what I was led to believe going into the summer,” Jones said. “I thought I was getting a chance because coach Weis believed in me. Then I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

In Charlie’s defense, he clearly got to see what Jones was capable of during his 3 pass attempts this season.

And there’s that powerful ND offense. Clausen and Co. are currently 116 out of a possible 119 teams in passing yards per game.

When does the free ride end?

UPDATE: Sunday Morning Quarterback has Taco Bell’s response to these allegations. Trust me, you want to read them.

Keep an eye on…

Every set of eyes will probably be glued to the NFL this weekend, and for good reason. There are some fairly intriguing matchups, including the following:

>>Green Bay at New York (Giants), 1:00 EST: After their huge win over Philly, we’ll see how the Packers fare against Eli Manning…or one-armed Eli Manning… or Jared Lorenzen.

>>San Diego at New England, 8:15 EST, NBC: LT is going to be more “Nike commercial” than “actual Bears game” if the Chargers have any hope against the cheaters.

>>Indianapolis at Tennessee, 1:00 EST: This game might not be that exciting, but I’m live-blogging it over at si.com, so check it out. Perhaps Vince Young will give us another Heisman pose if the Titans win (or lose).

>>There’s also some good baseball this weekend. The Yankees and Red Sox (OMG!) start up a series (Friday ESPN, Sat FOX, Sun ESPN) in the Fenway Park(never heard of it), while the Cubs try not to be worthless against the hated (not so much this year) St. Louis Cardinals (WGN, CSN).

>>Are you as excited for the conclusion of the FedEx Cup as I am? Yea, I’m mildly turned on by the Tour Championship (Thurs/Fri GOLF, Sat/Sun NBC). I had high hopes for the golf playoffs, really, I did. But, Tiger’s going to win. No doubt about it. And you know what that means, $10 million extra for Tiger. Whoo. Hoo.

ESPN, batting .000 on factual reporting this week

Not sure if you’ve been following this week, but ESPN has basically gotten it’s ass kicked on reports it released.

First was the news that Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett would never walk again.

Now, this would seem like something one might want to research before reporting, after all, it is an individual’s life.

Also, personally, I find it hard to believe that a doctor would say that Everett was never going to walk again before his sedation was even lifted.

But I won’t lump all that on ESPN, because it seemed most media outlets were assuming the worst. It was a rush to declare the worst possible news on Everett, which is really sad when you think about it. The guy is still in surgery, most definitely with a long road to recovery ahead of him, but the Leader has already decided his fate.

Then came EliGate.

Mortensen reported that Eli Manning had separated his shoulder in Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys, something the team, nor its doctors, ever reported. Mort said Eli would be out a month — something that was then quoted in other espn.com pieces.

Today’s story? He could be starting Sunday.

The real problem with Mortensen’s story is that it sites numerous anonymous sources. Memo to Mort: This isn’t Watergate. This is Eli Manning’s potentially injured shoulder.

The only instance in which sources should not be named is if their lives or jobs are in danger. I’m guessing Mort’s sources didn’t have to worry about losing their lives. Or their jobs.

The best part of the Mort report is the end:

Manning himself has said that he was not in a great deal of pain and believed he has a chance of playing Sunday against the Green Bay Packers in a home opener.

Manning? What does he know?! Mortensen has sources! He just can’t tell you who they are.

The Fynal Out: Put some clothes on!

No more streaking.

It was bound to end sometime, but Frank Thomas and his walk-off single ensured the Yankees wouldn’t leave Toronto with a win-streak intact.

And just like that, the Wild Card lead is down to 3.5 games.

Not that there’s any reason to believe the Yankees will now drop 9 of 10, but the Tigers (despite all their broken pieces) still have a chance.

Yankees 1, Blue Jays 2: Toronto ruined Ian Kennedy’s breakthrough third start. After giving up an RBI single in the first, Kennedy held the Jays hitless for the rest of 7+ innings. Despite holding the Yanks to one run in 8 innings, A.J. Burnett took the no decision for Toronto.

Cardinals 4, Reds 5: Showing how much steroid allegations can affect teams, St. Louis finished its worst road trip in 35 years. Kip Wells lost his 17th game of the season, the Cardinals stink streak moved to 7 games and they’re now 4.5 back in the N.L. Central.

Rockies 4, Phillies 12: J.D. Durbin gave up 3 runs in the top of the first, but then the Phillies countered with 4 of their own in the bottom of the frame. Colorado starter Jeff Francis gave up 8 earned runs on 8 hits in 3.1 innings. The Rockies dropped to 2.5 back in the Wild Card, while the Phillies are just 1.5 games behind San Diego.

More scores…