Blogs With Balls 3, the giant sports blogger nerd convention, was in Chicago this weekend.  It was a great experience for all involved.  The panels were excellent for the most part.  Meeting all the other people whose sites I read out in cyberspace was definitely fun too.  The best part, though?  Cynical bloggers giving each other shit of course.  The ethics panel raised some excellent issues, so here is the transcript of the conversation thanks to MGoBlog:

JASON MCINTYRE (The Big Lead): Let’s start with everyone’s favorite blog… let’s go with Spencer Hall first.

SPENCER HALL (Every Day Should Be Saturday): I just want to be clear—I’m taking notes for future reference—it’s okay to use whatever you want as long as you get pageviews, right, regardless of ethics? [Aside: this sounds like a ridiculous strawman, but it was essentially what Josh Zerkle, Alana G, and McIntyre had argued throughout the panel, with the academic from Minnesota mostly concerned with how funny rape was or was not (her vote: not) and Jonah Keri being way too nice.] We’re all clear on that? Right, okay. Anyone horrified?

The other thing I wanted to do is I wanted to ask about sourcing. That wasn’t really a question, that was just a statement. I just wanted to have it and I have the microphone.

What do you do to source a rumor? What is a source for you? Do you advance faster than the standard three source or trusted source [garbled] in the media. What do you do, and what have you done in the past? This is two part question so you have to come back to me, and then I’ll give the mic to someone else.

JOSH ZERKLE (With Leather): I personally don’t like breaking stories. It’s not something that’s part of our format; it’s not something I’m really interested in doing. It sounds like work. I’m not big on doing the research and following up and calling people on the phone… I’m not a phone guy.

To answer your question, it’s something I try to stay away from. It’s not really my bag; so many people do it better than me that I just try to stay away from it.

MCINTYRE: Alana?

ALANA G (Yardbarker): Yardbarker really isn’t in the business of making much original content except sponsored  blog content and our athlete blogs. On behalf of bloggers in general, I think the three sources thing was a rule that came out of old journalism—they probably teach it in journalism school right?

JONAH KERI (Bloomberg, WSJ, many things): …And it might not be wrong.

ALANA: It’s an arbitrary rule for what it is and if you want to have the kind of blog that just runs off one rumor that your cousin’s person who works at the Q told you about Delonte [bangin' Lebron's mom] and you want to print that and you continually do stuff like that and you’re able to make a successful blog out of that, then hey that works for you. And half your rumors are going to end up being false because you only rely on one source and in that case your credibility will be duly affected. Maybe if you’re only half-credible you’ll still get a lot of traffic because it’s an interesting site. So I think it depends on… I think it will bear out in your credibility at the end of the day from your readers.

ZERKLE: Spencer, let me give you an example. This is something I found out about but never ran; I guess I can share it with everybody. [Laughter.] Not exactly breaking news here, but I was at a wedding in Cincinnati a couple years ago and I ran into a woman who had dated Shayne Graham, and she told me that every time Shayne Graham meets a woman he asks her if she’s willing to sign a prenup.

KERI: The vast fortune of Shayne Graham! [Laughter]

ZERKLE: 970,000 dollars a year really goes quick. That by itself is really thin for a story, and I’m not going to be on the phone asking “did Shayne Graham ask you to sign a prenup?” It’s more legwork and it’s tough to put together a body of work, and then if you don’t have enough to get a story… it’s not a great use of my time, especially when I’m trying to do nine, ten posts a day.

ALANA: That would have been a funny nugget though, if you had just posted “hey, I have no idea if this is true, but my friend told me this story… could be totally false but I thought it was pretty funny, they might have made it up, but I thought it was funny.” And then people have the comments, the jokes… that might not be your bag but…

ZERKLE: Yeah, but as I said I couldn’t confirm it so I try to shy away from that stuff.

HALL: Yeah, but what would you [McIntyre] do? I mean, you break stuff. How do you verify a source?

MCINTYRE: Uh… it depends on the story.

HALL: Take the Mark Sanchez model story. [Laughter, including from McIntyre. Note: at this point Hall and McIntyre start talking over each other, so it gets a little confusing.] What did you do—

MCINTYRE: I did absolutely nothing. There are plenty of cases where I will do nothing and run with something and I’m wrong.

HALL: So you did nothing because…

MCINTYRE: I have made plenty of mistakes.

HALL: …I planted that rumor…

MCINTYRE: I wouldn’t be shocked. I wouldn’t be shocked.

HALL: …and you just ran it…

MCINTYRE: That’s not… a few weeks earlier Deadspin had a story where—

HALL: That’s true. On April First. On April Fool’s Day. We just slipped that by the gate! We were like “maybe we can do this”!

MCINTYRE: Right. A few weeks earlier Deadspin ran a story about the Arizona State coach getting in a fight with Mohammed Ali and they basically got—

HALL: Right right right, but this is what you did. We’re not talking about what Deadspin did.

MCINTYRE: But everybody makes mistakes on their blogs. Yes, that was a bad mistake. That’s not even—

HALL: But it got you pageviews, right?

MCINTYRE: No it didn’t. It didn’t generate any pageviews.

HALL: It didn’t? Then why did you post it?

MCINTYRE: It was the middle of a Tuesday. That’s why I ran it.

HALL: That’s why you ran it? Okay.

ALANA: But Spencer, people are still reading The Big Lead because they like the site and they think that it’s worthwhile, and they know that Jason makes mistakes every once in a while.

BRIAN COOK (MGoBlog): I think the thing that Spencer seems irritated about and I’m honestly irritated about is that the ethics that are being presented by this panel are like “just do it.” And that sucks for somebody like me who does break real news about Michigan sports and I have to contend with the idea that I’m a blog. And that’s because of you. [McIntyre]

ADAM JACOBI (Black Heart Gold Pants): [claps feverishly]

EVERYONE ELSE: [crickets]

ALANA: Why do you have to be lumping yourself in with everybody else when you are doing stuff that’s of a different quality or of a different…

HALL: [paraphrase, I was there but this is too quiet to make out.] But we’re talking about advertisers here [referring to earlier panel] who don’t see individual blogs.

ALANA: Right, but if you guys don’t like what’s happening with other blogs there’s not much you can do to stop what I’m going to do on my blog. But you can promote what you’re doing on your blog and better market to people what you’re doing.

HALL: [inaudible, but given the response to this probably about the Sanchez thing again.]

ZERKLE: Was there any kind of follow-up to that? I mean, you’re calling him out now but did you personally write anything after the fact saying “yeah I totally fooled the shit out of McIntyre.” I mean, did you call that at all.

HALL: No.

ZERKLE: Well, that might have been something to do, if you were concerned about the credibility.

NICOLE LAVOI (U of Minnesota): That’s not ethical either.

HALL: What do you think I’m doing now?

ZERKLE: Well, it’s two and a half months after the fact. So… good job, I guess.

HALL: This is in front of an audience.

SARAH SPAIN (ESPN 1000 Chicago, WGN, various other things): So is the answer basically that if your decision is to be a blog that isn’t as ethical and does the funny stuff and that misses every once in a while, that’s you’re decision? That if your decision is to be a reputable blog that stands behind its sources and writes from a perspective that is all fact, then that is your decision? And the better man wins?

ALANA: Well, yeah. There’s newspapers like the New York Times that are very reputable and very rarely make mistakes, and there are newspapers like the National Enquirer that tell you people are getting abducted by UFOs. And so those are two different markets I think by now, and the market has borne out that these have different levels of reputation, of credibility, and readers and advertisers know that.

KERI: I’m going to disagree with you on that. The New York Times is notorious for running stories with anonymous sources. And they’re interviewing “high level government operatives” about whatever, the War In Iraq and they’re saying “oh yeah, well, you know, there are Al Qaeda and so we’re going to go to war and blah blah blah.” We were basically led into something that was not justified because of anonymous sources. There are all kinds of mainstream media outlets—the biggest of the big, Washington Post, New York Times—I mean, I’ve written for a bunch of them and they make the same mistakes that bloggers do. Everybody lacks credibility.

ALANA: What I’m saying is that with blogs—I understand you guys’ [Spencer/yrs truly] frustration because right now we are all blocked in together and people at Proctor and Gamble don’t necessarily know who Deadspin is versus the Big Lead versus whatever, MGoBlog, so you know right now it seems like we’re all being lumped together and you guys are feeling hurt by things that other blogs are doing. But if we do our jobs right it will all eventually bear out so that everyone has their own reputation, just like the National Enquirer has a different reputation from the Washington Post.

Now wasn’t that fun?

When the Bulls hired Vinny, the first thing I said was “that guy looks like John Cusack and Luke Wilson.”  Well, the first thing I said was “Are you kidding me?” But the second thing I said was definitely that crap about Cusack and Wilson.  In fact, I even wrote a post about it.  Two years later, the realization that he looks like those actors is as true as ever, as is my statement “Are you kidding me?”  Enjoy this picture from Ball Don’t Lie:

Jon Scheyer seems like a nice enough guy, my issues with Duke notwithstanding, but he never seemed like the sharpest knife in the drawer.  He grew up in Northbrook, a northern suburb of our fair city for those of you who don’t know.  I had a number of friends who had younger siblings that went to school with him and the consensus seemed to be” he can shoot the lights out, but boy is that guy an idiot”.  Hence my surprised reaction to his rather clever prank on an old high school buddy of his. although it did backfire a bit:

After Duke edged Butler for the NCAA basketball title Monday, Jon Scheyer celebrated with friends and family from Northbrook.

Scheyer played a prank on high school teammate Zach Kelly by tweeting Kelly’s cell phone number to his more than 6,700 followers, who assumed it was Scheyer’s number.

As of Wednesday, Kelly had received more than 2,000 text messages and several hundred calls. Scheyer’s latest tweet begs his fans to stop texting and calling his friend.

On second thought, it sounds like he didn’t exactly think this one through.  It would be a good prank to have a friend be inundated with thousands of texts like that, if you were expecting it.  I’m not sure what he thought would happen, but if anything my next tweet would have been begging people to keep it up, as opposed to stopping.

Craig Sager has been reporting from the sidelines of NBA games in odd yet flashy suits for decades.  He finally met his match in this one, though, as Benny the Bull not only mocks Sager’s fashion sense, but even hilariously shoves  a microphone right back in his face.  If you don’t love Benny, you don’t love life.  Lord knows I love both.

h/t: BDL

I’m not sure what made me search “Benny the Bull” on youtube this morning, but I’m glad I did.  This goofy video is a keeper.  Benny and Lil Benny try throwing random things off the roof of the United Center to see if they will bounce.  As usual, Benny’s corny antics somehow come off in a funny way.  Must be something about that goofy-looking costume.  Enjoy!

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if Vinny Del Negro would bounce off of there?  Seriously, not because I have anything against him, just out of curiosity for a scientific experiment.

Thanks to the Chicago Tribune photographers for snapping this classic photo.  According to my brother who was at the game, this photo followed a romantic kneeling proposal from Benny.  I wonder what their kids will look like…

As a member of Generation “I Don’t Have Time to Follow Real News”, its hard to find time in my day between work, following sports, and doing nothing to actually figure out what’s really going on in the world. That’s where Comedy Central’s Daily Show and Colbert Report come in. I love Colbert’s schtick, and fortunately for us his ongoing segment “Better Know a District” came to Chicago’s 5th this week. Here’s his summary of the 5th, better known as the North Side.  Of course it includes getting sworn at ordering hot dogs at Wiener’s Circle and some nice Wrigleyville/Boystown gay jokes.  Enjoy:

If you want to watch the actual interview with Quigley, you can go here.  It’s hilarious as well.

Elephants playing basketball?  Yeah its real.  And it’s hilarious.  Apparently Thai zoos are training its elephants to play basketball “for their health“.  Seems more likely it is to sell tickets to their zoos, but either way this is hilarious.  If its not good enough for you, feel free to search for “elephants playing basketball” on youtube and find a ton of other videos of this.

The Bulls actually pulled off two wins last week against good teams, but the fact of the matter is that this team cannot seem shoot.  These elephants could help out with post scoring and definitely have better jumpers than Tyrus Thomas.  Just saying.

My brother, after a long and difficult journey, got into dental school last night.  As a celebration of this momentous event, I have found the 10 best teeth in sports.  My brother, the future dentist, was of course consulted in the selection.  Enjoy!

Jack Lambert

The famous linebacker who anchored the Pittsburgh Steelers “Steel Curtain” in the 1970s wore a partial denture in public for his 4 missing front teeth.  Thankfully for us, he didn’t wear the dentures during games.

Marshawn Lynch

I’m pretty sure his teeth say “Beast Mode”.  That’s all you need to know.

Mike Tyson

Oh, the gold teeth weren’t enough for you?  Well then here’s a giant gap for your satisfaction.

Chad Ochocinco

There can’t be a list about teeth without talking about the King of the Grill.

Ronaldinho

His ridiculous-looking face notwithstanding, his teeth are different sizes.  I’m pretty sure that’s not right.

Alexander Ovechkin

Something about Ovechkin’s gap-toothed grin is so charming.

Michael Strahan

We can all rest assured that the most famous gap in all of football will still fill our living rooms.  Strahan has returned to the broadcast booth.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

I guess a messed up mouth comes with the territory in the UFC, so might as well front the issue with a crazy grill.

Jerome “Junkyard Dog” Williams

This former NBA garbage man looks like he might have been chewing metal down at the old junkyard.

William “The Refridgerator” Perry

With a nickname like the Fridge, you’ve got bigger problems than your teeth.  But his lovable gap-toothed smile is one of the lasting images of the greatest team in NFL history, the 1985-1986 Chicago Bears.

This video is hypnotizing.  What’s crazy about it is the bears seem to actually grasp the rules of hockey.  I’m sure PETA would not be thrilled with this, but I love it.  Enjoy!

Well here’s something you don’t see everyday.  Back in 1926, after a no-show by the “Rialtos”, a local Jewish team filled in against a team fielded by the Ku Klux Klan.  According to the September 1, 1926 edition of the Washington Post:

Although reports of the outcome from that game are sketchy at best, it appears the Hebrews won and were chased off the field by Klansmen with baseball bats.  Who would have thought they would be such sore losers?  Oh and that “Povich” guy?  He was the brother of famous sportswriter Shirley Povich and uncle of everyone’s favorite Maury Povich.

This got me to thinking, wouldn’t it be great to see other historical rivals battle it out on the playing field?  Here are some other dream match-ups I would like to see:

• France vs. Germany in a football game.  I’m guessing France would forfeit though.
• Leno vs. Letterman one-on-one in basketball.
• Seinfeld vs. Newman in a tennis match.  How awkward would this one look?
• Pompey vs. Caesar in a boxing match.  This is possibly the greatest rivalry of all time.

That’s all I can think of for now, but feel free to add any in the comments.

The acid this guy was on must have been pretty strong. Apparently he was tripping on some LSD when he was locked in a closet with a recorder. This video is the nonsensical crap that came out of his mouth (and for some reason an animated lizard acting it out). Enjoy.

My favorite is probably Mr. Balloon Hands. Yeah right. Get real. Here is the most important little nugget of wisdom to take away from the video: “It’s like I always say, not my chair, not my problem.” So true.

Oh and while we are on the topic of acid and heavy drug use, did you know the story of Dock Ellis throwing a no-hitter while tripping? I mean you have probably heard that it happened, but have you ever heard Ellis’s side of the story? It’s a doozy, and once again put to a weird animated video.

Good stuff.

h/t: Mikey

Dennis Rodman is up to his old tricks, although this time it probably wasn’t completely his fault.  Rodman was in the German town of Trier for a “USA Legends of Basketball” exhibition game this weekend.  After the game, he threw a huge party in his hotel room.  While the organizers of the game agreed to pay the hotel bill, apparently that didn’t include the 3,400 Euro liquor bill that Rodman ran up.  When he tried to leave the hotel on Monday morning, that’s when the fun really began:

When Rodman left the hotel Monday morning without paying the tab, the hotel director contacted the police, Bauer said. Police found Rodman’s stretch limo on the highway and detained the star.

Rodman then paid the outstanding bill along with an additional euro1,700 to dismiss possible legal proceedings, the prosecutor said.

So 3,400 Euro is the equivalent of $5,100 American dollars.  That seems a little low for the known party animal that is Rodman.  Apparently it was pretty low for him, since he immediately paid it and was presumably released.  Coming from the guy who is still grabbing women’s crotches, it’s not all that surprising.

Does anyone really doubt that Rodman will eventually be one of those “made millions during his professional sports career but is now completely bankrupt” guys?  I’m not betting against it.

I’m not saying the Cavs should hit the panic button, but after the 0-2 start, it might be time to give Shaq a new nickname.  What do you think of  “The Big Shaqckle”?

Are you sick of this Hitler thing being reused for everything?  I’m not.  This one about Daley and the 2016 Olympics may be the funniest one yet.  Unlike the other ones, this remake actually casts Daley as Hitler. No comment on that one. Enjoy! NSFW by the way.