Sports Fan Conundrum: Am I Really That Biased?

How can you hate when he loves the game so much?

A lot of controversy has surrounded a couple of my favorite athletes recently.  First, it was the Tiger Woods’ accident and, most recently, his “transgressions”.  Then it was the 2-game suspension handed to Alex Ovechkin for a knee-on-knee hit on Carolina’s Tim Gleason.  Many folks have had harsh words for both of these guys, but I’ve been trying to avoid the frenzy surrounding both incidents.

The whole thing has made me wonder whether I am blinded by sports-related bias.

Write your own caption, you want one so damn much.

We’re watching football, so this is what you get.

We Dey, so STAY DOWN.

Write your own caption, or we’re sending Troy Polamalu after you. And he’s cranky.

Hit and Run: With a Perfect Buehrle

So it was a busy week as baseball got back into the groove of things after the All Star break. There was a whole lot going on. Brand new division leaders, a naked Tony Bernazard, and to top it all off, a PERFECT GAME! More on all of this week’s happenings after the jump.

Bring ’em out, bring ’em out…

Rocking the Plate started out as a little lark of a post, just something we threw up for our own entertainment, and gave way to one of our most memorable comment threads. Summer being the time for reruns, we’ve posted the best of those propositions after the jump, along with responses we received from the blogosphere’s finest.

Cotto v. Judah: Scoping the Hotties

 

Tonight, boxing fans will be gathering in droves to watch Miguel Cotto take on Zab “Super” Judah.  Who’s going to win?  I don’t know, I can barely remember what time the match is.  For all the deets, go to East Side Boxing.

Howevah, if all you want is to see cute boys with nice bodies, follow me…

Hit and Run: Best of Times, Worst of Times

Let’s start with the bad. Get it out of the way.

* I take full responsibility. By openly laughing at the circus sideshow that is Alex Rodriguez, I basically guaranteed karma would come back at me- in the form of a recorded L for my #1 hottie Jonathan Papelbon (thanks to an A-Rod bomb). Outside fastball, Papyboo? Throw the splitter next time, baby. [And Boston begins a mini-freakout]

* Texan hottie Josh Beckett looked solid in yesterday’s start- and should have earned his 9th win. Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Beckett got nothing off of his efforts. [More fascinating: a visual analysis of how Josh’s delivery has changed in one year]

* The dugout brawl between hottie Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano has been overanalyzed already, so I will simply say: (a) both of them are hotheads (Mikey B: AJ punch, fight with Oswalt; Zammy: spiking Todd Walker’s hat, calling out Matt Murton from the mound), (b) of course I side with Michael. [Scoreboard always wins any argument.]

And for the good- leave things on a high note:

* David Wright is smart. Opting to take a 0.5% interest in Vitamin Water in exchange for his endorsement – rather than a flat fee- David’s interest is now estimated to be $20 million dollars after the company was sold for $4.1 billion. [It must be tough being a single, rich, smoking hot ballplayer in New York City.]

* Hawaiian cutie Shane Victorino gave all the Philly fans at CBP two gifts yesterday: the snazzy Shane-in-a-hula-skirt bobblehead, and a walk-off home run to beat the Giants. [He makana nâu, Phanatics.]

“I’m a reacher, not a teacher.”

So I broke my iTrip in the parking lot this morning as I was leaving for work. Turning to the radio, I started surfing my presets and stopped when I hard the word “goth” on the AM dial. It was a show I’d heard horror stories about but never experienced for myself.

As best as I can recall, Things That Happened On Ten Minutes Of Colin Cowherd’s Radio Show This Morning:

• Colin bragged about his “goth” t-shirt he was wearing, and talked about all the “rock and roll” shops he frequented when in Hollywood. The shirt came from a Lucky Brand store.
• Mel Kiper Jr. wandered in and Colin asked him to guess how much he weighed. This went on for several minutes.
• During which Colin uttered the phrase, “I will bet you a week’s supply of pumpkin, which you eat”, in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.
• Colin called Jamarcus Russell “Marcus” repeatedly, and mistook Gaines Adams for a Facts of Life character.
• And then, this. The usual suspects are up in arms, and rightly so.

Right before I dialed away in disgust, he graciously dispensed the following bon mot: “I’m an entertainer. I’m not a journalist. And I’m proud of that fact”. You’re half right, friend.

Hottie Vision – Michael Barrett

It might make me a bad person, but I loved it when Mikey B socked AJ Pierzynski in the face. Of course, I’m a Cubs fan, so that may have something to do with it. It was hot- as it usually is when good lookin’ boys tussle (well, good lookin’ boy, anyway- AJ is decidedly not cute). Bonus: hottie Scott Podsednik jumps in to tackle Michael- and I’d volunteer to be in the middle of a Mikey-Scotty PoPo sandwich anytime. So here’s a little bit of nostalgia to help bring you back to that magical day- when the Cubs finally got a good hit.

(And for the record, right before he lays one on him, Mike tells AJ, “I didn’t have the ball, bitch.” Awesome.)