November 12th, 2005
I love this passage from Matt Welch in his critique of the LA sports media and the way they treated ex-Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta:
Reading Plaschke, you'd be convinced that DePodesta's only baseball knowledge came from playing computer games in his underwear. "[J.D. Drew] was the double sixes in Paul DePodesta's giant game of Strat-O-Matic, the scroll wheel on his baseball iPod," [Bill} Plaschke mused on June 24 (yes, he actually writes like this). "He was the ideal player for those who study the sport at a keyboard and play it in a basement."
Actually, DePodesta played baseball in college. Plaschke? He wrote for his campus newspaper.
The worst part isn't that the columnists' complaints about DePodesta are wrong, it's that they're often right. (Or at least, that I agree with them.) The young GM was painfully lacking in people-management skills and made a bunch of questionable moves. But if Southern Californians want an intelligent discussion of these issues, one where the truth matters more than either clumsy insults about "spreadsheets" or smooching Tommy Lasorda's behind, they know where to go: the Web. Maybe that's why Plaschke hates the Internet so much: People there are doing his job, only better.
And you an bet that this critique extends far beyond baseball.
Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »
November 11th, 2005
And be thankful that we're lucky enough to have men and women in our midst who have stood guard.
Thank you to all the veterans in the U.S. and Canada.
Posted in Culture by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 10th, 2005
Courtesy of Jes Golbez.
Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2005
And the results, well, are a little uneven. For starters, the league is showing that they really don't understand what's going on here by not including permalinks and the ability to leave comments -- something that Reemer picked up on a few weeks ago.
They seem to at least have an inkling as to what to do next, as the blogs are listed under the "Community" section. Unfortunately, a blog won't be able to develop a community if you don't allow the audience to talk back -- even when it's something you don't want to hear.
The Commissioner might be able to threaten Pat Quinn with a fine, but he can't touch the rest of us.
But the oddest choice among the league's official bloggers is actress Elisha Cuthbert of 24 and The Girl Next Door. Ok, she's Canadian (has the NHL made it a mission to find every Canadian ex-pat living in Hollywood?) and she's easy on the eyes, but come on.
Then again if they gave her a video blog...
Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 10th, 2005
After some frustrating fits and starts, I finally got the debut episode of Off Wing Radio (click to download) uploaded to my server.
On our debut show we talk about the buding rivalry between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin; the induction of Cam Neely into the Hockey Hall of Fame; and the state of the game on the ice one month into the season. Today's show clocks in at 14:17.
Thanks to James Mirtle for pointing out that our original title, "That's Hockey," was already taken. And thanks to my new partner Joe Tasca for being such an absolute pro.
My Odeo Channel (odeo/059dde88b61e3dfc).
Posted in Podcasts by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »
November 9th, 2005
Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, will be instructing officials at the Turin Olympics to stick to the NHL's strict standard when it comes to obstruction-related penalties.
From the Canadian Press:
Fasel told all of them he's going to instruct his officials to enforce the same crackdown on obstruction, hooking and holding as has been prevalent in the NHL this season.
"We're going to have the same level at least
Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 4 Comments »
November 9th, 2005
At least that's the word out of LA:
A new breed of young, brainy number-crunchers has changed the image of baseball general managers, who for years were known for their cigar-chomping, hard-drinking ways.
If Kim Ng's latest job interview works out, an even bigger transformation will come any day now.
Ng interviewed last weekend to become general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and would become the first woman to fill the GM role on a major league team.
"I've been out in the field with her, scouted. I've been in the back rooms with her, around the table. She's as qualified as any guy sitting in there around the table," said Ken Williams, GM of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox.
Stay tuned.
Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 9th, 2005
A couple of heads up on the podcasting front, where there will be some big changes in the next couple of weeks.
First, there's a brand new edition of Bleacher Guy Radio available for download. Rob and I have been down for two weeks while he got the LCD on his Powerbook repaired, but now we're back. The latest episode clocks in at just under an hour, and we're pretty pleased with it.
Next, because one podcast isn't enough, my friend Joe Tasca and I have started to produce a weekly podcast for Off Wing called, "That's Hockey." Joe, who's an actual radio professional, has graciously offered to produce the show from Rhode Island.
If things work out correctly with the MT plug-in I've installed, you ought to be able to subscribe to "That's Hockey" by simply subscribing to my regular XML feed. I've already seen this work with the MP3s on Rob's server for Bleacherguy inside of iPodderX, but I don't know about iTunes as of yet. Be patient, and I should work everything out in a couple of weeks.
Finally, getting ready to podcast meant I had to clean out some files from my archives. Don't fret, as the text is all still there, it's just that I've deleted any audio and graphics files that were hosted locally.
Again, thanks for reading, and now, listenting, to Off Wing.
Posted in Podcasts by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »
November 9th, 2005
This week's show includes our thoughts on Terrell Owens' suspension and apology, the shifting of the balance of power between the Colts and the Patriots, Panthers cheerleaders gone wild, Cam Neely's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Jackass of the Week Award, and much, much more.
Get comfortable--the show clocks in at just under 57 minutes.
-Direct link to the show.
-Subscribe to Bleacher Guy Radio.
-Subscribe via the iTunes Music Store.
-Subscribe (and vote for us) via the Yahoo Podcast Directory.
-We love feedback. Praise us or haze us at: .
Posted in Podcasts by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 7th, 2005
In non-cheerleader-related news, ESPN and the NHL have announced an interesting deal:
ESPN will provide National Hockey League fans coverage of the league across a wide-range of its media assets as part of an agreement announced by ESPN and the NHL today. The agreement includes rights for new media platforms, including highlights for Mobile ESPN, data rights, the re-airing of recent and archival games on ESPN Classic and more.
Which would mean that ESPN has figured out a way to air NHL re-runs at a profit, but has given up trying to do that with the current product.
You figure it out.
Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 7th, 2005
Thanks to my pal in Finland, Samuli Laukka, for passing along the follwing story on how Dennis Rodman was paid 50,000 EUR for a one-game appearance in the Finnish basketball league.
Rodman's team lost, but he had an excuse:
Nobody will ever know whether the end result might have been different, had Rodman not partied until 5 a.m. in a Helsinki nightclub the night before.
The star even showed up at the Helsinki Ice Hall, the venue of the game, at the wrong time, three hours before the game was due to start.
"F*ck. Sh*t", was Rodman's comment, before he sat down in the Ice Hall caf
Posted in Basketball by Eric McErlain | No Comments »
November 7th, 2005
When a friend sent me the following a few minutes ago, I was convinced it was a fake:
H.R. 4210
Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4210
To provide for the expeditious disclosure of records relevant to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 2, 2005
But then, I did some searching in the Congressional database, and it's for real.
Unbelievable.
Posted in Politics by Eric McErlain | 4 Comments »
November 7th, 2005
A couple of weeks back, I said that the league ought to pay close attention to ESPN's John Buccigross, as his influence with fans may be more powerful than the league might want to admit. In a way, Buccigross is developing the sort of relationship with NHL fans that Bill Simmons seems to have with his fan base.
Well, it looks like he has some influence on the press too.
Here's Stepehn Harris from today's Boston Herald:
In creating its new on-ice product, the NHL rightly wanted to do a better job of showcasing the prodigious talents of its best players. At times, that certainly has happened. But too much of the time now, the talent showcase has almost the feel of an All-Star Game
Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »
