Pedro Martinez Loves Him Some Jamie Moyer

On his Gillette Pro Glide media tour and in between AJ's Espanol Deadspin interview, Pedro wouldn't take the bait and talk ill of his former mates...but couldn't say enough good things about Jamie Moyer.

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Buzz Bissinger Irresponsibly Speculates While Denouncing Irresponsibility in Spreading Speculation

On today's Deadcast, It’s Family Hour With A Kinder, Gentler Buzz Bissinger, Buzz addressed the Ibanez blowup, which was obviously reminicent of his Leitch showdown.

However, as Dan Levy points out to Drew, his message might be somewhat lost as it appears Buzz hasn't brushed up on his homework on the situation, and inexplicitly calls out MLB Network's All-Star personality (and this site's namesake), Harold Reynolds.

Buzz: "Harold Reynolds picks it up, and puts it up on his website. And then before you know it its all over the place. I think Reynolds was really wrong. I think it was, um you know, really sloppy on his part."

Clip via Awful Announcing:



From John Gonzalez's column in question:

There was a time when a small, regional site like MSF could write something like that and no one would notice. Not anymore. Not long after the Ibanez post went up, Hugging Harold Reynolds - a popular national blog - linked to it on its Twitter feed. And just like that, we were off. Less than an hour later, I had several e-mails in my inbox asking if I read the MSF story and whether I believe Ibanez is chemically enhanced.

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Wait Until Dreamboat Baby Gets Wind of This

Several months ago we pointed out the fact that Tom Brady's baby had a blog, dreamboatbaby.blogspot.com. Matter of fact, he's had one since before he was even born, and we've notified our HHR readers on here several times when he's updated.

If you've seen the blog at all, you'd know he has a little pet name for Gisele..."Umlaut."

Someone better warn Daulerio over at Deadspin that DBB isn't one to take lightly.

See my hand? That's called 'the bird.'

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Q-Tip to Leitch: Yo, What the Scenario

In a pop music review published last month by New York Magazine, Blog Crusader Will Leitch profiled Midnight Marauder Q-Tip in a piece The Ballad of Q-Tip "In which an iconic, pioneering rapper attempts a return to glory, in the shadow of his offspring."

Of the former Tribe Called Quest Frontman's new release The Renaissance, the former Deadspin editor writes:

Q-Tip’s flow on his new disc remains mellow, freewheeling, and vaguely inspirational. But it doesn’t feel relevant (e.g., the perfectly serviceable but random duet with Norah Jones). He talks about playing parties with fellow old-timer D.J. Scratch and being taken aback by how “the kids” sing along with Ice Cube and the Pharcyde. “There’s a thirst for information,” he says. But mostly, they want Kanye West.

Still, it’s West who’s winning Grammys and endorsing soft drinks, while Q-Tip is trying to warm up a hostile Knicks crowd. And now Kanye has his own album coming out, 808s & Heartbreak, that’s sure to dwarf The Renaissance.

Well, Q-Tip didn't take to kindly to Will's words and let him know so in the comments section...

"damn mr. leitch!! why are u shitting on me and dick riding kanye. seems like its an assignment you didnt want to do so why do it? you should have done a DL4 assignment or better yet a 'whatever happened to fallout shelters in a Mc Carthy era new york?' piece!!! i'm good... you??? JADED!! yes this is qtip."

Later: "oh i forgot... ASSHOLE."

Iron Ref: Semi Finals

The end of this year's Iron Ref is in sight. There are only three more battles left in HHR's Kitsch-en Stadium for 2008, and we think they are going to be the best ones yet. For the Semi-finals and the finals, we will have head to head competition, and we are happy to announce that we've even procured a few celebrity judges to take part.

Our judges for the Semi Finals are

• AJ Daulerio - Editor of that Deadspin thing we've heard so much about and are meaning to check out at some point.
  
• Dan Steinberg - He of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog
• Jeff Pearlman - Author of Boys will be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty. He is also a previous HHR interviewee.

YOUR IRON REF CONTESTANTS

Lady Andrea is a recent law school grad who has decided not to practice law so as to hold on to the remaining pieces of her soul. She can be found on Ladies..., Bugs & Cranks and Zap 2 It. She enjoys all things Iowa Hawkeyes and St. Louis Cardinals, her mom's cooking, bad reality TV and winning at Trivial Pursuit. She does not enjoy whiners, the Cubs, Those Guys, and people who start ignoring their fantasy teams thus allowing their opponents to walk all over them and snatch victory from Andrea's hands. See her previous two winning entries HERE and HERE.


Scott Sargent is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year, a Cleveland-centric abode furnished with plenty of non-championship colloquium. Born and raised just outside the mid-market metropolis, Scott spends the majority of his days plugging his ears (la la la..) during LeBron James 2010 talk and counting down the days until the Browns are mathematically eliminated from the postseason. Sure, other cities may have rings and banners, but Cleveland will always have Carl Monday. Scoreboard. See Scott's previous winning entries HERE and HERE.



The battle begins tomorrow.

Leitch makes huge career move, becomes a blogger?

I am not sure if this is a step down for former Deadspin editor Will Leitch or proof that the MSM has finally begun to embrace bloggers and hired the former king of the mountain.

BOSTON (August 18, 2008) – WEEI.com announced today the additions of six first-rate journalists joining its staff, along with the first upgrade to the website’s content and design. Joining WEEI.com editor Rob Bradford and columnist Mike Felger are a collection of top print and online journalists with excellent experience and reputations both in Boston and nationally.

Will Leitch, the founder of popular sports blog Deadspin.com, will be joining WEEI.com to provide an outsider’s look at Boston sports and its fans. Leitch has authored three books, including “God Save the Fan” and is currently a contributing editor to New York Magazine.

In fact, Leitch's first blog is up today. (EDITOR'S UPDATE- check out the sidebar in Leitch's column. He is a huge fan of this very blog's founders. We are humbled.)

It's an interesting concept for a running column on a Boston radio/website but it just seems like a desperate move to pull a big name blogger and hope his legions of fans translate to page views. Of course, they made sure to hire a fan of a team they've already beaten in a World Series just a few summers ago. They can only take so much.

Another interested tidbit in the announcement is the hiring of former Globe writer Ron Borges. I am not sure if he will be doing his own column or just plagerizing everything Leitch and the rest of the new crew write.

Related: Monday Morning Media Matters - Edes Debuts at The Y!; NBC Discloses What ESPN Won’t (Scott's Shots)

Who Won't Be Deadspin's New Editor

Buzz around the blogs this past week has focused on who will follow Will Leitch as Deadspin's new editor.

Fanhouse's Michael David Smith broke it down pretty well today, putting odds on some of the favored candidates.

Frankly, no one is more deserving of the post than HHR's the chief. Ignoring, of course, his lack of commitment and inconsistency.

Let's a take a look at some other folks around the Interwebs who, while deserving, will never get a look.

Doug Sheckler, Epic Carnival, on205th Magazine

Epic Carnival's ring leader and on205th's purveyor of porn, Sheckler's street cred among the sports blogosphere's lower tiers is second-to-none.

Jarrett Carter, Numerous Blogs

Carter's contributions to sports blogging is not solely limited to his own domains, as his ability and willingness to comment on others' allowed him to spread his seed across the webs.

Harvey Bars, Tirico Suave

Anyone of TS's boys could and should be on this list, but we will go with the Jersey native. Their photoshop ability rivals only mine, and video production is top notch - not to mention their writing ability.

Sean Leahy, Going Five Hole, Pop Jocks, Yahoo!

If only people cared about hockey.

Anon, The Sports Hernia

Hands down my favorite place on the 'Net. Very underrated. Comedic Genius.

Chris, Blog of Hilarity

Far too preoccupied on the comings and goings of his gay roommate.

Dave Mountain, Five Tool Tool

The world needs more top 12 lists.

The Postmen, WeAreThePostmen

Actually surprised Smith didn't give them any love.

Dewey, Yardbarker

The site itslef attracts all types of athletes, ranters and blindly loyal Eagles fans. The YBN has some of the best blogs out there.

Amir Blumenthal, TonyHomo, Dice Gay, Collegehumor.com Sports, and Jake and Amir

Creator of good solid original content. He's one of the bigger names you've never heard of. But with the rise of Jake and Amir, that will change. Check the March Madness video. The main thing going against him is that whole Lakers-fan problem he has, in that, he is one.

Is ESPN Coming Around to Embracing Impact of Blogs?

ESPN and its personalities have been widely criticized online by bloggers and commentators for their apparent inability or unwillingness to embrace blogs and online communities for their contributions to "journalism" and reporting.

In the wake of the Bissinger/Leitch slobberknocker and subsequent reactions, ESPN, while late to the game, may be slowly becoming the first major mainstream outlet to see the writing on the wall.

Note: This may only apply to sports journalism. For instance, Drudge has led the way for years now, yet sports commentators look at their field in a vacuum and fail to recognize the impact the 'Net has had in (say) politics. While The Sporting News, Yahoo and others embrace fan interaction and "blogs," neither have the mass impact of the WWL.

The piece below was run on Sports Center yesterday (I believe re-broadcast from OTL). ESPN not only centered the premise for the piece on TheDirty's photos in referencing Matt Leinart's perceived partying ways, but showed the very pictures that were published on the site - the very kind of low-brow "journalism" Bissinger and his colleagues decry. Yet, they have no qualms splashing the pictures on their worldwide flagship program.

Bissinger and his fact checking

We aren't going to get into the whole Bissinger rant because we are a day late. That's what we get for going to see the President. (FYI- you haven't lived until you've seen Jared Lorenzen up close).

Anyway, lost in the shuffle was this little piece done by a colleague of Illuminati's over at phillyburbs, Mike Sielski.

"For example, during an interview on WIP in 2005, Bissinger suggested Jim Thome was a steroid-user, because Thome was injured and his production was way down. The next day, I criticized Bissinger in a column for making the accusation without offering any evidence."

So, let's figure this out. Printing pictures of Matt Leinert doing a beer bong (even though the pictures are indeed real) is bad journalism. Accusing a potential HOFer of using steroids because he is a having a bad April is acceptable. You can accuse anyone of anything as long as you don't make jokes about their man breasts or say the F word. You must also stay out of the personal lives of athletes.

Let he who has not made himself famous with a book about the lives and family issues of 15-18 year old kids cast the first stone.

Tonight: Will Leich to Live Out Blogger's Wet Dream

From News Day's Neil Best:

Bob Costas owes Delgado the heartiest thanks of all, because the timing was exquisite for the "Costas Now" he will host on HBO at 10 tonight.

The topic is the "volatile" sports media landscape, and the live panelists are to include Michael Strahan, Chris Russo, Buzz Bissinger, Will Leitch, Joe Buck, Mike Tirico, Dan Patrick, Tiki Barber and John McEnroe.

DO YOU SEE THOSE NAMES?

My God! What a field day!

Only one fella missing...

Photo: Deadspin

Click here for HBO's episode guide. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear Mr Leitch will have the pleasure of going head on with the likes of the Doggy, Buck and Tiki.

Lucky Bastard: Leitch Hugged Harold Reynolds

Not knowing what to expect, Fat Willard and I made the short trip across the Delaware River to hit up the God Save the Fan book tour at UPenn last night. (If you clicked that link, know that I scored a 96% & 99% slapping the bass on Wonderwall & Wanted Dead or Alive, respectively as leader of the band "Savage Animal").

Our first foray offline, we had a fun time with the likes of Bugs & Cranks' Meech, The 700 Level's Matt P, Ladies...' Clare, Philebrity's Fitch and phillyBurb's Illuminati, not to mention Leitch and "The Balls." Surprisingly, decent people all around (not that we had any reason to think otherwise).

There were even two dudes we drank with who actually heard of our site. Shocked the hell out of us.

Tell him Steve-Dave.

An interview with Will Leitch

Our buddy Illuminati over at phillyBurbs.com got an interview with Will Leitch.

Check it out here.

Not sure how he swung that. He gets to talk to Leitch and I can't get the lady at Dunkin Donuts to talk to me long enough to explain that donuts help me think and I am sorry if she only made three dozen Boston Creme this morning. PUT THEM ALL IN A BAG! I am a god damn paying customer! You think this body just happens?



Don't let her fool you.