Fried Snail, Bitchy The Hawk And A Minor League Brouhaha [Your Morning Video Wake Up Call]
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Each weekday morning Awful Announcing, video slash and grab extraordinaire of the sports blogosphere, gives us a visual rundown of everything you missed from the night before. If there's something sports-related you'd like to see with your coffee, shoot him an e-mail and let him know.
Just Because Justin Gimelstob Doesn’t Like Her, It Doesn’t Mean He Can’t Stare Intently [Duan!]
Here's a photo from Down The Line that shows Washington Kastles hard-on Justin Gimbelstob admiring Anna Kournikova's newly-inflated kaploogas at a recent World Team Tennis match in Washington D.C. Gimbelstob, as you may remember, not-so-famously said that Kournikova was a "bitch" and that he "despised her." Now, he's apologized for those comments, but Kournikova still thinks he's a (paraphrasing) classless cock-faced demon.
Anyway, that's all for today. Be well tonight, please come back tomorrow for more sportsy-oriented web stuffing.
Thank you for continuing to eyeball Deadspin.
Gimelstob apologizes, Anna mutters, Saga over [DC Sports Bog]
Fine. The fucking Mets are in first place …
Fine. The fucking Mets are in first place in the National League East. [SI]
Rick Mahorn Gets Suspended For “Peacemaking” [Wnba]
The fallout from the most exciting thing to happen in the WNBA's longer-than-expected history is complete. Players suspended for one game included Detroit's Kara Braxton, Tasha Humphrey, Elaine Powell and Sheri Samalong with Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones. Two game suspensions were handed down to Shannon Bobbitt and Murriel Page of the Sparks. Detroit Shock forward, Plenette Pierson, considered the instigator of the whole kitten scrum, was given four games.
And then there's Shock assistant coach Rick Mahorn, who for his part in the royal bra-snapping rumble was also handed a two-game suspension. Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer is furious over the ruling.
As a team, we're incensed that Rick Mahorn was suspended. He was trying to be a peacemaker and now he's being thrown under the bus.
No, he's being pushed under the bus.
NBA hands down suspensions for Shock-Sparks skirmish [ESPN]
F1 Chief Max Mosley Doesn’t Like Nazi-Themed Sex Parties After All [Stupid Car Stuff]
At least according to the British courts. Thanks to stricter privacy laws in the UK, Mosley sued and has been awarded 60,000 pounds for having his reputation "ruined." Which, to me, seems like an amazingly small amount of money for a reputation. But what do I know?
Said Justice Eady per the Guardian:
I found that there was no evidence that the gathering on March 28 2008 was intended to be an enactment of Nazi behaviour or adoption of any of its attitudes. Nor was it in fact. I see no genuine basis at all for the suggestion that the participants mocked the victims of the Holocaust," Eady said.
"There was bondage, beating and domination which seem to be typical of S&M behaviour.
Whew. That was a close one. For a minute there I thought five hour sex romps with prostitutes while wearing costumes was weird.
Max Mosley wins £60,000 in News of the World privacy case [Guardian]
F1 Chief Wins Damages Over Orgy Photos [SportsbyBrooks]
The NCAA is considering “sand” volleyball …
The NCAA is considering "sand" volleyball for women to be a sanctioned intercollegiate event. Sports bloggers all over the world are now at half-mast. [USA Today]
Sklar Bros. Give Deadspin Exclusive Look At New Topps Web Series [Back On Topps]
Leif and Leyland Topps are just twin brothers trying to get ahead in the rickety, unpredictable world of the sports card business, with a boss who doesn't like them, a Steinbrenneresque CEO and enough half-baked ideas to get them into consistent trouble. Sound familiar? Anyway, it's the basis for the new Web-only series Back on Topps, created and performed by twin brothers Randy and Jason Sklar (Cheap Seats, The Bracket, Layers).
The series of 25, five-minute web-isodes for the Topps company debuts next month, and the Sklars agreed to give us a peak at one of the first ones (shown following the jump). Randy Sklar talked with me by phone about the project, a portion of that interview also below. But about the video: You should know that the term "Sweet Mullet of Gaetti" will be invoked, and there will also be hairdressing tips. Come join me; I've got the beer.
Here ya go. This is an excerpt — about half of a full episode — and the picture quality will be better over at the Topps site. But Randy Johnson's facial features come through nice and clearly.
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It may have seemed an odd move when former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and his Tornate Co. bought out Topps last year. Much like the comic book industry, baseball cards hit a peak in popularity in the mid 1990s, before the bubble burst in 2000 or so; companies such as Fleer and SkyBox closing shop for good. But Eisner, as one might expect, has a strategy.
Enter the Sklars, whose Back on Topps follows the fictional Topps brothers, heirs to the Topps card fortune who are muscled to the sidelines at the last minute and are struggling to, well, get back on top. It's one of several web series that Eisner has in production, this particular one an attempt to revitalize the card industry by reaching beyond sports.
"This is meant to be something much more than simply a commercial for Topps, and hopefully we've accomplished that," said Randy Sklar, a St. Louis native and University of Michigan graduate, as is his brother. "When we pitched it, we said that we wanted to do a Web series that took shows like Cheap Seats and The Brackets and encompassed all of that.
"The Topps brothers are just basically fuckups who love cards, love sports and are passionate about it," he said. "They love the little things in sports, and are scrambling to get back on top."
A big component of the show will be athlete cameos; with appearances by everyone from Kevin Love, Russell Martin, Matt Holliday and Baron Davis to Dennis Rodman.
"The Topps guys are just amazing," Randy said. "We're supposed to have Greg Oden tomorrow. Agents are really aware of us now and really want to get their clients on. Topps has so many people under contract, that they just call us and ask 'Who do you need?' Everyone's been great."
It's one thing to get athletes to show up, but it's quite another to know what to do with them. As always, the Sklars seem to have a handle on it.
"One seven-episode arc in the middle of the series involves our quest to get Julio Franco back in the game," Randy said. "Franco invented this energy drink, and he drank half of it and grouted his bathroom tiles with the other half."
Eisner is in the series as himself — although played by an actor — and there will be guest appearances by Ed Helms and Phil Morris (Jackie Childs from Seinfeld), among others.
"We wanted to create a pure comedy, something that starts with a web site and could eventually go to television," he said. "But the immediate goal is to introduce cards to a new generation. That's Michael's vision."
Oh, Sklars [Deadspin]
To Watch Tonight [Tv, You Complete Me]
What to watch instead of going to Disney World ...
• Cycling: Tour de France, stage 18,Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne, France (8 p.m., ET). There's a surrender joke here somewhere. [Versus]
• Soccer: MLS, All-Star Game, MLS All-Stars vs. West Ham United, at Toronto (7 p.m., ET). Hooligans, assemble! [ESPN]
• WNBA: Detroit at Houston (9:30 p.m., ET). I only go to these games for the fights. [ESPN2]
Redskins QBs Prepare for Rugged NFC East With Dodgeball [NFL]
Yeah, dodgeball it's awesome. Let me just say it now, when one of the Redskins quarterbacks inevitably tears his rotator cuff trying to spike another quarterback this will be the dumbest idea in the history of football. Which is really saying something. So enjoy the honeymoon if it exists, Jim Zorn.
In other news, as you can clearly see from the picture, Colt Brennan has much bigger balls than Jason Campbell.
Zorn breaks out his bag of toys [Mister Irrelevant]
Afternoon Blogdome: His Parents Named Him That Because They Hoped He’d Be Tall [Afternoon Blogdome]
• It helps him get leverage when he wrestles: How many times do you think UNC wrestler Long Wang has had to explain himself at parties? 40? 50 times? Was his name the reason he got into wrestling in the first place? So many questions. [Chicago Bull]
• Devin Hester does his best Latrell Sprewell impersonation: “I can’t go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man.” But what about next year? [The Big Lead]
• Hollywood is so edgy: That West Ham rumble at a soccer match might be totally fake: "I am currently working on the cinema release of Cass, which is based on the life of Cass Pennant member of West Ham’s ICF. The film is due for released on 1st August and I was hoping you might be interested in feature the trailer and information about the film on your blog. Please let me know if this is possible, I have placed the synopsis and trailer links for you below and here is a ...I hope to hear from you soon." [Dave's Football Blog]
• And now your Moment Of Zorn: There is something completely mesmerizing about the new Redskins head coach conducting an interview while seated on a mountain bike. [Stet Sports Blogh]