Hugging Harold Reynolds: Illuminati

Showing posts with label Illuminati. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Blogs With Balls Radio, Episode 22

This week’s Blogs With Balls Show on the JoeSportsFan Radio Network is now available.

Download Episode 22 here, or subscribe via iTunes.

Welcome to the "man" episode. We focus on "things guys like" with Guyism.com and chat with the incomparable Sarah Spain.

Lucas is away this week in sunny Hawaii, so filling in once again is Chris Illuminati. Combining Illuminati's new segment at HHR with Lucas' Ballsy Blog of the Week, we bring on Guyism.com's Isaac to answer 8 Softball Questions.

What happened to the World of Isaac?
Why do women read men's sites?
Why do people get so worked up over internet articles?
What Internet trend will he never understand?
Who epitomizes Guyism.com?
What's more unmanly than creating Internet viruses?
How unmanly are staged wedding party pictures?
What is something every man needs?

Keeping with our theme, Chicago's own Sarah Spain joins us. Four years removed from auctioning herself off on eBay to get to the Super Bowl, Sarah is now rubbing elbows on the red carpet at the big game with NFL legends in a journalistic capacity.

Sarah has been our eyes and ears on the ground in the planning process of BwB3, and really epitomizes a lot of things we intend to focus on in June.

One thing we've worked hard on incorporating is a more diverse perspective at the shows. Among them is having more women participate. Like previous guest Jemele Hill, Sarah talks about the role her gender plays as a sports blogger and journalist. Ivy league educated, she talks about how she balances being a woman in a male-dominated genre with her talent, background and work product. She offers her advice to female bloggers and talks about what they can expect along their respective paths, which could include a couple of creeps and stunts like this:

Sarah also has worked in various platforms including web, radio and now television - both locally and for national companies. She also talks about the professional advantages of online accessibility and social media.

In lieu of Skyped Up, as the queen of Chicago sports, we put her on the spot and ask us to talk about some of her favorite Windy City team-specific blogs and bloggers.

This week's links of interest:

Sarah's favorites:

Blackhawks

Second City Hockey

Bulls

Bears

Cubs

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Friday, January 8, 2010

A**holeology Contest Winner

Congratulations to Bob Jakub on being chosen winner of the A**holeology photoshop contest. Bob will receive a personalized, autographed copy of HHR co-founder @chrisilluminati's new book A**holeology: The Science Behind Getting Your Way - and Getting Away with it.

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Blogs With Balls Radio, Episode 13

This week’s Blogs With Balls Show on the JoeSportsFan Radio Network is now available.

Download Episode 13 Here.

Lucas is South of the border this week, so we get a pinch hit from HHR co-founder @ChrisIlluminati.

Chris has a harem of sites that we talk about, but also will soon be a published author with his NSFW-titled A**holeology that's due out in January.

Our guest is MetsBlog.com's Matthew Cerrone. Matthew is a full-time blogger who, despite an advertising agreement between the site and the New York sports cable station SNY, fully owns his product with complete editorial control over content.

Cerrone talks about how he was able to turn what started as a hobby and a way to follow his team when living out of market into his full-time job. We also talk about the Mets' prospects for this coming season and their focus during the current Winter Meetings.

This week’s links of interest:

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A Giant Investment: The Complete Illustrated History of the New York Giants

I don't know this man but he is wearing my father's sweater.

This is all I remember about the Super Bowl victories of the New York Giants; two years ago the Pats were undefeated, Tom Petty played halftime, the Tyree catch and the Burress touchdown. Also, brother-in-law made this outstanding taco dip that I can still taste today but only because I haven't brushed my teeth since January 2008. In 1991 Whitney Houston sang something, there was a war going on, Norwood missed wide right and my father and I ran around the house screaming and crying. The Super Bowl in 1987 is really hazy but I was nine-years-old. Umm...Jim Burt. Elway. Gatorade. My new Giants jacket. Ran around screaming and crying for a different reason. Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe got stepped on in the celebration.

I've got a horrific sports memory. Games, plays, and players stay in my head for about two year and leak out of my skull to make room for useless information about horrendous movies and the door code to my office building. Ironically both are 1408. My father calls me up twenty times every Sunday with sports questions like "who was that guy that played for the Giants that ran really fast?" He thinks I'm some type of idiot savant with sports knowledge and the less information I have to work with the better.

It's for people like my father and me that books like New York Giants: The Complete Illustrated History are created. Also, for the true hardcore fan but I don't care about you people at this moment. Selfish.

A thorough and entertaining book, it covers the history Giants from its origins in 1925 (Purchased in 1925 for $500) through the 2008 season. It's broken down by decade, highlighting the three memorable Super Bowl seasons and even covered the cringe-worthy moments in the team's history like the near death of Frank Gifford after the Chuck Bednarick hit, the Miracle in the Meadowlands, the booing of Phil Simms on draft day and the time they stopped serving my friend beer because he lost his pants. My favorite part is the foreword by Pat Summerall because I like when I can hear a writer's voice in my head. Summerall also sometimes narrates my sex dreams.

I was sent a copy to review for this website and I can't recommend it enough to Giants fans. There are editions available for other franchises like the Steelers, Bears and Packers. I recommend it for hardcore and casual fans. The book is worth it for the pictures alone.

So who was the "really fast" Giants player my dad was thinking of? Joe Morrison. I gave my father the copy of the book. He hasn't called in weeks. Now to find a book to keep my mom from calling.

Chris Illuminati is Giants fan and an asshole. Funny how that works. He is the author of Assholeology: The Science Behind Getting Your Way - and Getting Away with it

Follow us on Twitter@HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox.