REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-OSPHERE

October Gonzo: Post-Season Countdown

Actor Rick Gonzalez is blogging for MLBlogs. You may remember him as 'Spanish' from Old School. Have a read:

"September is upon us," he writes. "It's show-up or go-home time for the teams in the pennant races all over the Major Leagues, and it's countdown time until the first pitch of October. I've got to say that you all must be feeling the drama the way I am, because you've been voting like mad in the October Gonzo polls every week.

"The last one, which asked you to name the team that has most surprised you this year, wasn't exactly a surprise in the end. Of course it was the Tampa Bay Rays, who continue to shock the baseball world by controlling the American League East."

The Tampa Bay Rays will never be as shocking as this scene from Old School, however. Check out MLBlog's October Gonzo at 1:11.

Marcellus Wiley: Shooting in J-Ville

Marcellus goes behind the scenes of the Collier/Pettway shooting:

"Let me start with the cliché' disclaimer, 'You can't make sense out of nonsense,'" he writes. "With that said, I'm writing this blog, torn between the transition of being a member of the media and a former player, a teammate of Richard Collier who was critically shot early Tuesday morning.

"Upon hearing the news, I immediately reached out to the passenger in the car, Kenny Pettway (KP). Both were my teammates in Jacksonville, and I was checking on Richard's status, beyond the media reports, and checking on KP's mental state.

"Unfortunately, over my 33 years I have made, or fielded, many of these tragic calls, either knowing the victim or the suspect. After talking to KP, who in his own words said, 'We didn't do anything, weren't trying to do anything, just sitting in the car&they ran up on us and just start shooting…they didn't try to rob us or anything.'"

Sheryl Swoopes: Long Time Baller, First Time Blogger

Sheryl blogs it like it's hot the first time out of the gates:

"My WNBA season, my first with the Seattle Storm, has been great so far and we're looking to do big things in the playoffs," she writes. "I'm just getting started and figuring this all out (actually pretty easy - already posted a few pics I had with me), but will be back on once we get home from this road trip (hello, Chicago!)."

Welcome to the jock-osphere, Sheryl. I'm sure we'll be fast friends.

Thomas Williams: Gregg Williams Man-Crush

Thomas Williams is hyped for hitting, and so is his defensive coordinator, and Thomas straight loves it:

"Jaguars defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is exactly the kind of coach I want to play for," he writes. "He loves physical football and that's the style I'm used to playing. His mindset is to be physical and to be tough. We want to be more physical than our opponent and I love that about him and our team. It's how we played at USC.

"No one on this defense is soft, everyone can hit. The 180 pound safeties hit like 250 pound linebackers. I mean it, everyone on our defense can bring it and they love doing it. I had a chance to wear the headset during the last preseason game against Washington and I was amazed at the stuff Coach Williams was saying. Everything he was calling was right. He knows all of their moves, like a chess game he knows where the pawns are, the knights are the kings. It was an amazing experience."

Jeff Porter: Nightmare Ant Lives!

What happens when everyone's favorite Internet meme Nightmare Ant misses the Deadspin Hall of Fame? Fort Wayne Mad Ant's president Jeff Porter blogs about it.

"Nightmare Ant seemed to go viral and became so popular that Deadspin nominated it to its hall of fame," he writes. "For the Mad Ant to have made it, he would have had to have 75% of the vote. Sadly, like other great and worthy hall of famers (Art Monk, Andre Dawson, Hideki Irabu), he did not make it. An intense debate raged, as evidenced by the hilarious (and possibly offensive—depends on the reader) comments which followed, but Nightmare Ant could only gain 56% of the vote. Somewhere, Nightmare Ant weeps."

As J.E. Skeet points out in the comments: "Nightmare Ant doesn't weep, he simply releases poison out of his eyes." Indeed, J.E., indeed.

Darren McFadden: Monday Night Football

"To have my first game on Monday Night is really exciting. I actually grew up a Broncos fan watching Terrell Davis and John Elway and Ed McCaffery," he writes. "That was my team, but that's all changed now. It's strictly Raiders and Razorbacks for me. I've never been a part of this before, but I can imagine the stadium's going to be crazy Monday night. It's a rivalry game and it's Monday Night the atmosphere is going to be special. The Black Hole reminds me of the Arkansas student section only 10 times crazier. I know the Black Hole will be ready and so will I, ready to make some big plays."

Yes, big play: helping fantasy owners far and wide who are expecting you to have an Adrian Peterson-like rookie year to rejoice.

Tony Parker: Spurs Rule

"So yes it has been more than three months since the Spurs lost in the NBA Playoffs, which still stings," he writes.
"I think for many of our fans, it's gotten to the point where it's more of a surprise if the Spurs do NOT win it all. In San Antonio the goal is always to win a championship so we always have high expectations and last year we came close so it gives us even more motivation to try to do it again this year."

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