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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Hope?
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Could this guy be the next great hope for clean power hitters?
All signs point to Alex Rodriguez having taken performance-enhancers at point(s) in the past. With the surfacing of that information, the guy most likely to pass Barry Bonds on the all-time HR list just became implicated in the same junk that brought down Mr. HR King himself. We honestly don't think baseball is going to tremendously suffer because of this (if you do, e-mail us and tell us) but fo' serious: who's the next great power-hitting hope, as in a dude that comes along and clubs homers (chicks dig the long ball, after all) and you think to yourself, "This is cool, because he's clean!" Some thoughts: B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Ryan Howard, Hanley Ramirez. Yea, we know: all are pretty established guys already. Anyone else you think could be the model going forward for "The Clean Big Bopper?" Let us know.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: SEC Football Champion?
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"Let's go get this thing!"
We know: all the dudes LSU landed on Signing Day '09 won't necessarily see big minutes next year. We know: Florida has a boatload of people coming back, including a two-time national champion at QB. We know: this 2009 projection has four SEC teams in the Top 15. But will you look at LSU's 2009 schedule? UF at home = tough and Alabama on the road = very tough, but they could sneak out of the SEC, couldn't they? (Put $20 on 'em for 2010 if your people will let you.) We feel pretty sorry for Steve Sarkasian on that September 5 game, as a side note.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Celebrity Girlfriend
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Gilford and Lancaster.
Neither of the people we're about to reference are actually athletes, so the peanut gallery is gonna e-mail us and say: "This has no place on ESPN!" We're not naive; we realize people who read ESPN digital platforms also watch Friday Night Lights (Bill Simmons talks about it all the time) and might be interested to know that Zach Gilford (aka Matt Saracen) is dating Amber Lancaster, who apparently used to be a cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks. Here's her MySpace and here's a pic. Second peanut gallery comment: "No one cares! I want to read about where Manny is gonna end up!" So do we, but you know what? Amber Lancaster, on the afternoon of 2009 Signing Day, is the number two hot search on Google, ahead of any reference to ESPNU, Rivals, or even our very own Jelani Jenkins. So, uh, people do care.
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By Ted Bauer, via Maggie Rauch
The NEXT: Global Application of "Curse"
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He's now globally relevant.
You surely know of the SI Cover Jinx, right? Indeed. It apparently works at a global level, too. Read this. If you don't like reading, just click the link. The picture you'll find there is priceless enough.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Context of "Viral" Video
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"Let's just see what kind of money this David cat gets in 2010, shall we?"
In the past 24 hours, we've had "David After Dentist" e-mailed to us four times, by four wholly different individuals. The thing is classic, which explains why it has 1.2 million views despite being up for barely a triple-digit number of hours. Want to know how ridiculous those numbers are? Chris Bosh's All-Star commercial last year, one of the most viral sports clips of the past 24 months (it landed Bosh a gig on The Tonight Show), has been up since December 28, 2007 and has about 688,000 views. Little kids win every time. (If you're wondering, the main YouTube version of Shaq's Kobe diss rap only has 26,000 views, but we think people were getting that mostly from TMZ.Com.)
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Voice in the Manny Ramirez Situation
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Biggs may have outkicked his coverage.
Saw this on TMZ last night, although their website hasn't yet posted the video (that we can find): a photog gets Brad Penny, late of the Dodgers and currently a Red Sox, outside a LA restaurant and he says (paraphrasing): "If the Dodgers don't resign Manny, they have no chance." Then, out of absolutely nowhere, Jason Biggs jumps into the shot! They're friends?!?! The photog says: "Hey Biggs, get out of the shot!" to which he replies (at first), "Hey, I'm an A-Lister!" It's possibly the single-funniest thing uttered in the entire world thus far in 2009. We digress. Here's some pics of the situation. You think any of his new Sox teammates will give Penny heat for praising Manny's value? (Also funny: not the first time Penny has been on TMZ.)
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Michael Phelps Parody Videos
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Talk about the fishbowl, eh?
Saw this on TV at the gym last night and wanted to link it up: a report from CNN's The Situation Room (we're tight with Wolf) on the incredible amount of parody videos based on the Michael Phelps situation that have found their way to YouTube. Watch The Situation Room report here. Some are funny, some aren't. Broader point is: talk about a fishbowl, eh?
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By Kristian Dyer
The NEXT: Signing Day Sleepers
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Dude just added another weapon, it appears.
Seems evident: every college football fan comprehends that a program is built based on the under-the-radar guys who are lightly recruited or perhaps, not recruited at all. If your main YouTube clip isn't north of 40,000 views, that's fine. These five guys could still shake up fall Saturdays down the road.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Advice For Young Girls
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"I told Khloe to get herself one of the gridiron kind."
Khloe Kardashian has mathematically-sound advice for all the young ladies out there: if both options are presented to you, hook up with a football player as opposed to a basketball player. Her argument for this: the success of her sister's relationship with Reggie Bush as opposed to her recently-ended romance with Rashad McCants. Valid.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Michigan vs. OSU Anniversary To Consider
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Chris Perry was there the last time Michigan > Ohio State.
Important note: when we say what we're about to say, we are not hating. We're simply presenting a fact: apparently, it's been 1900 days (as of February 3, 2009) since the last Michigan win over Ohio State in football. That was November 22, 2003—Michigan 35, OSU 21. Here's video. Know how long ago that was? Three days later, we found out that the U.S. government grew at a 8.2% rate during the third quarter of '03. Ouch. Rooting for Rodriguez might be good for the nation!
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Interesting Read on Shaq vs. Duncan
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"Lock it up, brah."
Chances are you've seen this Shaquille O'Neal vs. Tim Duncan debate making the rounds online, but if ya haven't, we wanted to bring it to your attention. This could be the last season with both of 'em as All-Stars, so it seems an appropriate time to bring up the discussion—a dialogue that'll probably last well past the next few generations, honestly.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Application Of the Term 'The Day The Music Died'
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We didn't have rights to a photo of Tuba Man, so we went with a file image of a tuba player.
Today is the 50th anniversary of "The Day The Music Died," which is sad. While Wikipedia doesn't have a "disambiguation page" for that concept, we've heard it used countless times in reference to sports, i.e. "Jordan's shot over Russell was 'the day the music died' for the Jazz franchise." We decided to Google the term with "sports" and came up with some interesting stories about Seattle sports super fan "The Tuba Man," including this one, this one, and this one. If you don't know the story of Ed "The Tuba Man" McMichael, read and watch those links. It's awesome stuff, albeit with a sad ending.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Intersection Point of the Economy and the NFL
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As Jay Z says, "Hope there's champagne in your glasses and money in your wallets," right?
Read this article. If clicking on links makes you nervous, here are the highlights: "Holmes picked out Cadillac's most expensive model Monday as his reward for winning the MVP: the Escalade Hybrid Platinum with an $85,200 sticker price" and "Cadillac has a multiyear contract with the NFL to sponsor the award but knows how bad it would have looked to make a big deal of it this year." Economy and the NFL: always fun!
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Game of "Can You Top This?"
The amazing thing about Kobe Bryant's 61 points Monday night at MSG isn't that he did it; if you've had even a passing interest (ha!) in hoops since 1998, you know that KB24 can score 60 almost every time out. The cool thing is this: with LeBron James in the middle of his 2010 drama , he shows up at his potential future home on Wednesday night. If you've ever read even one piece on athletes of this caliber (like this), ya know that competition drives 'em. Kobe and LeBron both know that "Kobe or LeBron" is a discussion had across America and the world. So if you're in the Big Apple Wednesday night, grab tickets to this thing. It could be an unreal show. (For the heck of it, we embedded a Kobe Bryant playing soccer video here.)
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Head-to-Head Meltdown Argument
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"*@(*(*@!(@((@!"
Pop quiz, hot shot: what's a better use of the word "meltdown:" Christian Bale on the set of the new Terminator movie or Lee Elia back in '83? Or do you nominate something else? Let us know.
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By Ted Bauer
The NEXT: Elder Statesmen QB Discussion
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Who ya got?
You think that when you e-mail us, we just ignore it? Naw. A reader named James hollered at us with this hypothetical: if Kurt Warner and Brett Favre both walk this season, and you can only send ONE to Canton, who you got? Granted: both will probably make it, but we said "hypothetical" above, didn't we? Favre's got more MVPs and a more consistent career. Warner's got as many Super Bowl wins (1), one more SB loss (2 to 1) and gaudier numbers in some years. So…whatcha think?
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Ricky Rubio was playing and holding his own against the two best points guards in the world (Deron Williams, Chris Paul) and he is only 18!!
