REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-OSPHERE:
THE BLOG AS A RED FLAG?

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"Tying literacy programs to NBA charities sure backfired. Now they blog!"

Earlier this week, Rod Benson wondered whether his candid blog posts were detrimental to his hopes of making the NBA. He referenced a recent Sport Illustrated article that quoted his agent saying a few NBA GMs see the blog as a "red flag."

'Tis a pity.

Let's face it: most athlete blogs are boring and milquetoast and without spark. Benson's stands out. He's a great writer, a personality, and better yet, a real person. It's a shame such forthrightness—and it's mostly innocent, fun stuff, he's not blogging about drug use or sexual romps, and his language is clean—is discouraged in the circles where opinions matter most to his career. By the same token, Benson knows how to sovle his own problem:

"I mean if you really think about it, many guys have been signed to teams with much higher red-flags on their social resume than a blog," he writes. "I even know of a former D-League player who is banned from the D-League for life who is signed to an NBA team right now.

"So I take that to mean that talent can overcome a checkered past. Plus anyone can change. A blog is the easiest thing in the world to change. Just delete a few words and boom."

At the end of the day, a player can always tone down his blog or shut it down for good. His game is the thing that's not so easily changed. Although, it might not even matter. Rumor has it he's headed to France to ball.

Mike Ditka: Out on the Course

Da Coach coming live and direct from the Lost Dune Golf Course for the Gridiron Greats:

"Well here we are at Lost Dunes Golf Course folks," he writes.
"It is BEAUTIFUL weather. It is a great day.
"I gave my speech, we took a picture. But my game is not on top of the world.
"Inches away from the hole, and I three putted. F*** this game!!!!
"I just can't wait to hit the clubhouse after my round!!! UGH"

Incredible. This is exactly how we always pictured Ditka would blog.

Rafael Nadal: Struggling To Find A Voice

"Initially I didn't feel like writing another blog since I really don't know if it's liked or not and I don't really know what to write about," he writes. "I hope that I am not too boring because I would hate that. It takes some time and I am happy to do it, but it is not easy for me to just sit here, answer to all your questions (that's the easy part) and then try to come up with a great, deep, writer's blog."

Somewhere, Buzz Bissinger wipes his brow and thanks his lucky stars.

Peyton Manning: Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Peyton gets reflective on us as he is finally able to rejoin the Colts for the first time all pre-season:

"It's pretty crazy that this is going to be my 11th season," he writes. "You know sometimes it feels like it has been that long, sometimes it doesn't. It is hard to believe that it has been ten years already, but then the next day it could feel like 1998 was not that long ago. I just know that I can't wait to get back to work.

"My goal is to be as productive in my 11th year as I was in my third or fourth year.

"Offseason training has helped keep me healthy and there is a great deal of accountability knowing your teammates need you on that field and are depending on you. That's why you work hard to get back from injuries and fight through aches and pains.

"Off to practice now. Man, that feels good to say."

Ryan Howard: Playoff Mode

Ryan is ready to wear the manager's hat after laying down this insight:

We're coming up on a month go in the season with two more road trips and two more home stands after this week," he writes. "Just like last year, it's going to be a tight race down the stretch.

"I'd say the keys are definitely going to be the normal, everyday things: getting good, quality starts from our pitchers, trying to have them go deep into games, have the bullpen come in and take over when need be, play good defense, offensively we have to go out there and get runs and try to put up as many as possible to make it easier on our pitchers."

Byron Friedman: Summer Powder Day

US Ski member Byron Friedman shares his powder day vibe to help enrich the souls of others:

"Although 3 feet of fresh Chilean Powder isn't ideal for training, it's ideal to appease the mind and soul, he writes.
"The video is of our hike that took us above 10,000 feet and into some chutes and bowls you dream about on a powder day. The view was incredible and we could still see Santiago, Chile's capital, below. After a few runs we decided to stick around and do one more sunset run before dark."

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