What's Irritating Me Today

I have finally set up the Yahoo Fantasy Football League and I wanted to give everyone the breakdown of the league real quick today. First, the information for the league is as follows:

ID: 316018
Password: eckstein

As I said yesterday I realize the stupidity of posting a password on the Internet but there is no other way I can think of to convey this information to those that need it. Again, anyone is free to join (we have five right now and have two more coming on, so we can definitely use a couple more to make the league a little deeper and more competitive) if they care to but if someone gets in the league just to be an asshole and pull some bullshit, I will politely (or unpolitely) remove their team from the league.

Here's the set up of the league and if someone doesn't like something about the league, just tell me, I am pretty adaptable. We can discuss concerns in the comments if you want. The set up is pretty standard for a Yahoo football league:

2 QBs
2 RB
2 WR
1 TE
1 W/T
2 W/R
1 K

The league also has individual players on defense, which I prefer over just choosing a team defense. I don't really like the team defense idea but I am in leagues that play it that way so it doesn't bother me if everyone wants to switch to that. I just find individual defensive players to be more fun to play with, so those in the league just tell me which way you prefer it. Anyway, if anyone else wants to join feel free to do so, fantasy football doesn't take a whole lot of time every week and it is my favorite sport to play fantasy. The winner gets a jumbo box of Goldfish crackers. That should be enough to entice everyone.

There are several articles on the Internet that have irritated me today and I feel the need to discuss them.

-I don't even want to bring this up but Jay Mariotti talked about it and irritated me. I am sure everyone has heard about the incident with a certain ESPN sideline reporter and a camera that taped her in a hotel room. I am going to call her EA because I am not in the mood to see if just mentioning her name does a traffic spike for sites or not. I have heard it definitely does and you end up with an obvious amount of increased traffic. That's not what I want. I want to disagree with Jay Mariotti. Mariotti chimes in on the issue and of course blames bloggers for the whole incident.

So shamefully, too much focus shifted toward an immature and sometimes creepy blogosphere obsession with, oh, I don't know, the women in Matt Leinart's hot tub, the woman on Scott Van Pelt's voice-mail machine, Hannah Storm's outfits, Chris Cooley's penis, an attractive female high-school pole vaulter and, of course, Erin Andrews.

Thankfully I only know what 3 of those references are referring to and have seen only two of those, and thankfully the one I heard the reference to and did not see was Chris Cooley's penis. I wasn't particularly paying attention to the girls in Matt Leinart's hot tub either, I was more paying attention to the fact he was with young girls when he should have been focusing on football and it was very obvious to me my thoughts about him before he was drafted are correct, that he was a party boy who did not have the focus for the NFL. Yes, I am one of those weird people who if given a picture of an NFL quarterback in a hot tub with a bunch of girls will wonder what this means for the QB's chances to have a good season. I am focused on sports in that way. I also have seen Hannah Storm's outfits and did not understand the big deal because she is on ESPN and is therefore of no interest to me. Plus she is old(er).

I have not seen the EA video and have no interest in seeing it. It is a clear invasion of privacy and I feel like even talking about it serves the means of the asshole who filmed it.

Occasionally glancing at such junk through the years, I was whisked into a cross between a frat boy's porn fantasies and a sports remake of Revenge of the Nerds.

So begins Jay's hypocrisy. He has seen these things as well but everyone else who has seen them, those people are all creeps...but not him. He was doing it for research and to stay with the times I bet.

And wasn't there bound to be a cyberspace version of a nuclear explosion, a boiling point where one of the frequent blog subjects became a victim of some sick act?

A second-guess, this is not. I've been saying it for years. And sadly enough, I've feared it would involve Andrews

Of course, Jay Mariotti predicted this exact event. Seeing as how this is not in print or in any form on the Internet, it's kind of hard to prove. Trust Jay though, he predicted this. Just like he predicted Sammy Sosa was on steroids. Yet somehow these Nostradamus predictions are always heard AFTER the fact.

But am I blaming bloggers for helping create the daily sex-and-objectification culture that turned Andrews into an ongoing peep show on their Web sites?

Damn right I am.

One of the most popular topics this week has been, "Who's fault is this?" and everyone outside of the Pope has taken some blame. It is the person who filmed this video's fault. I am sure there is a market for a video taken like this but that doesn't make it the fault of every blogger and person who has watched an ESPN sporting event or ever looked at a picture of EA. I see the difference and Mariotti does not. He lumps the EA weirdos in with everyone else.

Here's my blame chart:

60% Guy(s) who filmed the video
20% Sites that show ANY picture of EA and created a hysteria around her
20% Weirdo commenters who instinctively flocked to any mention of her like the salmon of Capistrano. Then wrote about her and created web sites dedicated to her.

Fortunately, I am not putting myself in any categories like these, not because I am above it, but because I am not among these groups, as I would imagine 95% of bloggers are not.

But by smiling everywhere and saying hi to everyone -- from the face-painted freshman at Michigan State to, yes, even the very bloggers who exploit her -- she only fed the monster and left the absurd impression that she actually might dig them.

No one is exploiting her...except the asshole who filmed this video and posted it. It actually really pisses me off to be sort of lumped into the category with these people because, and I am going to get killed for saying this maybe, I don't think she is that attractive. I have never understood the world's infatuation with her. I think she is a good sideline reporter and I have a soft spot for her because she used to do the Braves in-game reports and anything that is related to the Braves I like...I still wonder what happened to Marc Fein, the guy who succeeded EA as doing the in-game reports. Other than that though, she is a sideline reporter who actually does a good job getting access to players and she shows good rapport with the announcers for the game, which I always appreciate when watching a game.

I actually don't even want to talk about this on this site but I hate that Jay lumps everyone in together who has seen a picture of her as if we are all culpable for this crime that was commited against her.

Wrote Christine Brennan, the USA Today columnist: "I wish it didn't happen to Erin, but I also would suggest to her if she asked (and she hasn't) that she rely on her talent and brains and not succumb to the lowest common denominator in sports media by playing to the frat house.''

If a man had said this, then there would be an absolute outrage among the media for denegrating EA during this trying time for her. Because it is some dumbass woman columnist, it gets a pass. I think this is a completely indefensible comment.

Just a few months ago, USC linebacker Ray Maualuga approached her from behind on the sideline and did a grind dance, which invites other athletes to do the same.

Jay knows that is no way to pick up a woman. Here is his technique.

See, these dweebs can dish out the criticism but can't take it. Rather than take on an almighty sports executive -- the real test of a sportswriter in an age when leagues and media are frequent bedfellows -- they go after media people.

No one can take criticism as well as Jay Mariotti who usually writes a column the next day about someone who has taken a shot at him, throws in a few cheap shots, and then calls extra security to escort him around for a few weeks. Did I forget the part where Mariotti also throws cheap shots and then cowers in a corner and refuses to face those people who he has a problem with?

When a blog gets something right about me, for instance, I'll be the first to say so. To date, they're batting way under the Mendoza line, about .150.

Since you just accused the entire Internet and blogging community of being at fault for the EA incident you are batting 0.045 right now.

A blog said I brag endlessly about our TV show in bars; when people ask about Around The Horn, I'm friendly and answer all questions or else I'm called a jerk.

Notice he does not exactly deny the story I linked. Also, I would call him a jerk no matter what he did...because he IS a jerk or at least writes like one.

A few years ago, after the blogs had their way with me during another Ozzie Guillen meltdown, I had death threats in Chicago. The newspaper ordered me to have a driver take me to U.S. Cellular Field so I would avoid possible violence in the stadium parking lots.

Notice how he always gets a shot in at those he doesn't like. Jay Mariotti has no idea what "taking the high ground" means. Ozzie Guillen probably doesn't even remember Jay, but Jay is still talking about Ozzie's meltdowns.

While I'm more Jim Belushi than George Clooney, I think I'll take a good, long look at the peephole the next time I'm in a hotel room.

Seriously? There may be -100 people in the world who want to see you on any video with anything less than fully dressed.

I am not going to deny the massive amount of EA love on the Internet created a market for a video such as this but Jay just can't blanketly blame the entire blogging community who has seen a picture of her for this horrible incident. Blame the perpetrator(s) and blame sites who ran pictures of EA at every opportunity to boost traffic but don't just blanket blame us all. This has been irritating me all week, I have talked about it, and I am not going to mention it again.

-As for the controversy where Ben Roethlisberger was sued for sexual assault, he is lucky it came out the same week as the above topic did.

I am frequently on a SBN Carolina Panthers site and when this lawsuit was announced people started calling the accuser "a money grabber" and then began arguing with me when I said she had psychiatric problems from a previous relationship she had with a man who turned out to not exist. I said this showed something wasn't right with her but she had a pretty reputable lawyer who probably would not have taken the case for just publicity, so overall I was undecided on the accuracy of the accusations. This caused a minor furor. My point is these people had just assumed Roethlisberger was not guilty because there were no criminal charges filed. It certainly is suspicious but many times when a woman has been violated sexually she doesn't just bounce back up and start filing charges against that person.

Throw in the fact Roethlisberger has said they did consensually have relations and it is either a HUGE misunderstanding or someone is lying. I just don't think we should automatically assume it is the accuser.

-Rick Reilly has double irritated me over the past couple of weeks. First he wrote this column about the 10 best sporting events to see live.

Because everyone has enough time off work and money to just go traveling around and seeing sporting events.

10. Home Run Derby -- Better than the All-Star Game because it's never ended in a tie. Besides, it's everything real baseball is not. Guys swing at every pitch. Every third ball is a souvenir. And you don't have to wait 45 seconds while Nomar Garciaparra re-Velcros his entire uniform between pitches.

I think I have made my feelings on the HRD apparently previously but I would rather watch the ASG or any game than the HRD. Sure, it would be fun to catch a fly ball but if I wanted to do that I would show up for batting practice before a game.

Remember, Rick Reilly hates baseball. He pretty much said so in his article about what he would change if he were commissioner. I don't think Reilly has ever watched the HRD because GUYS DO NOT SWING AT EVERY PITCH! They swing at every third pitch and then take another break before finding a 60MPH to swing at. It is tedious, long and overhyped. At least attempt to get your facts straight when writing a column about something.

5. Tour de France --

Spend 23 days in France! It should be easy to get that much time off work.

3. Wimbledon
2. Kentucky Derby
1. Masters

His top 3 events are all known for being elitist mostly white people attending events. Good job racist! This list took what, 15 minutes to put together? It's good to know that Rick Reilly doesn't put a lot of thought into his columns. I wouldn't want him to hurt himself as he collects his millions.

Reilly has another column up where he takes shots at Tiger Woods for behaving like a child on the golf course.

When will he outgrow his temper?

The only reason Rick Reilly focuses on Tiger Woods' temper is because his Tiger Woods and we watch his every shot during a tournament. If Tiger was Bob Castillo then this would not even be an issue.

And yet he spent most of his two days at Turnberry last week doing the Turn and Bury. He'd hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums -- slamming his club, throwing his club and cursing his club. In front of a worldwide audience.

He had one of his worst outings as a PGA golfer at one of the 4 golf "major" events and he missed the cut. I would not advocate anyone slamming golf clubs but when you are Tiger Woods and used to being on the leaderboard for every tournament, the possibility of missing the cut in a major tournament is something that is unacceptable to you.

A whole lot of that worldwide audience is kids. They do what Tiger does. They swing like Tiger, read putts like Tiger and do the celebration biceps pump like Tiger. Do you think for two seconds they don't think it's cool to throw their clubs like Tiger, too?

He is also not the only player does that have meltdowns or temper tantrums. Here is a message board discussing Paula Creamer's tantrums on the golf course. John McEnroe has pretty much made a living out of his "Are you serious" temper tantrums he had on the tennis court and everyone seems to think it is funny. When a manager starts arguing an umpire's call the entire stadium will start to rise up and get excited. It happens in all sports. I am not saying it is right, I am saying Tiger Woods getting upset on the golf course is not going to lead to an increase in golf related accidents involving golf clubs being thrown or broken. I broken two golf clubs out of anger before I had even heard of Tiger Woods.

It's disrespectful to the game, disrespectful to those he plays with and disrespectful to the great players who built the game before him. Ever remember Jack Nicklaus doing it? Arnold Palmer? When Tom Watson was getting guillotined in that playoff to Stewart Cink, did you see him so much as spit? Only one great player ever threw clubs as a pro -- Bobby Jones -- and he stopped in his 20s when he realized how spoiled he looked.

This article from 2001 seems to list a few big golf names, including Woods, who threw temper tantrums on the golf course. Some of these guys could be considered good golfers who have a large following. I am not saying it is right, I am saying Rick Reilly is stupid if he thinks Tiger Woods is the only guy who does throw temper tantrums.

Woods has been this way for years: swearing like a Hooters' bouncer,

There are no bouncers at Hooters. At least I don't think so.

I can still remember the 1997 Masters -- arguably the most important golf tournament ever played. Woods, then 21, was playing the 15th hole on Sunday. He had just hit a fairway wood out of the rough and was watching it. A young boy came up from behind just to touch him -- just to pat the back of this amazing new superhero. That's when Tiger pulled the club way back over his head and slammed it down, nearly braining the kid he couldn't see behind him.

What? I can't believe Tiger Woods at the old age of 21 almost unknowingly hit a kid with a golf club when the kid tried to go onto the course and make physical contact with Tiger. The only way I can think to prevent this from happening again is to keep spectators the hell out of a golf course and try not to let them touch the golfers.

Look, in every other case, I think Tiger Woods has been an A-plus role model. Never shows up in the back of a squad car with a black eye. Never gets busted in a sleazy motel with three "freelance models." Never gets so much as a parking ticket.

Exactly. Lay off him if this is his one flaw. Golf is his job and he takes his job very seriously, so he gets angry when he plays poorly. If parents are really concerned their children will throw a tantrum and start breaking golf clubs because Tiger Woods does this then those parents probably also need to get their children some sort of anger management as well or maybe just do actual parenting and let their child know this behavior is not acceptable.

I know what you're saying. We see more Tiger tantrums because TV shows every single shot he hits. And I'm telling you: You're wrong. He is one of the few on Tour who do it.

I am telling you, Rick Reilly, that you are wrong. Probably every golfer has thrown a mini-tantrum or a tantrum on the golf course at some point. They all have not been caught on camera. Tiger's tantrums tend to be more focused upon because we see every shot he hits. I don't know how you can deny this is true. If you see more of Tiger Woods shots, you see him break down into a tantrum more, therefore the odds are that his tantrums will be in the spotlight and focused upon more.

One day, when Tiger was just a kid, he was throwing his clubs around in a fuming fit when his dad said something like "Tiger, golf is supposed to be fun." And Tiger said, "Daddy, I want to win. That's how I have fun."

Well, it's not fun to watch.

I have no problem with it. It shows Tiger intensity and passion for the sport he plays. Should he calm down? Probably, but I don't think it should be overblown like Reilly has done here.

-It irritates me that more sportswriters don't write what they think and in the process not give a shit how it affects their access to the team they cover. It may be career suicide but is fun to read.

Jennifer Engel doesn't look like your typical sportswriter but that doesn't matter, what does matter is that she doesn't buy the smoke the Mavericks are blowing up the public's ass about their off season moves and their positive effect on the team's chances next year in the playoffs.

So how has Gortat suddenly become why this Mavs off-season has been a big, fat fail? Like losing him is why this off-season is screwed up. He ranks a distant, distant No. 3 on screw-up factor behind re-signing J-Kidd and giving Shawn Marion a five-year deal.

It's never a good thing when a guy who has been a career backup and had one good game as a professional is your team's big loss in the off season. Ok, Gortat is young but he hasn't proven that much in his career yet. If it was 2003 Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd being signed to the same team would be exciting, unfortunately it is 2009.

She then goes into list form of what Dallas did wrong.

(1) Way overpay to re-sign our way-over-the-hill point guard out of sheer desperation because we have no alternatives.

Do not mention we have no alternatives because of the trade for J-Kidd.
In fact, do not mention Devin Harris at all, because who really wants to hear that we went for it and it blew up in our faces. No draft picks, no bona fide youth like Harris, no championship, not even close.

Instead sell "all good teams have age" to local media. Hope aforementioned media ignores fact that examples we use (Boston, LA Lakers and San Antonio) already have at least a championship to show for said age. Done.

I may be the only one enjoying this, but this is great. I wish more sportswriters would talk like this.

(III) Trade for and way overpay an aging, show-me-the-money, with a history of me-first malcontent-ism undersized power forward in Shawn Marion, hoping fans remember him from his Phoenix days when he had a younger and MVPier Steve Nash setting him up. Done.

(IIIa) Take away any likability of this deal (and some existed because Marion brings an added dimension to this team) by signing him to a five-year, $38.5 mil deal. Done.

I am not as down on this Shawn Marion contract right now but I also don't exactly know how well he fits in with the Mavericks and I think the Mavericks will regret this deal in two years.

(IIIb) Say still in a position to go big in summer of 2010 because big-name free agents will want to play with J-Kidd. Practice saying this with straight face at least 20 times a day. Done.

(Double-A) Lie to self about how close this Mavs team actually is to championship caliber. Also lie to The Big German, fans and anybody else buying that Marion + J-Kidd = Chance to Beat LA. Done.

I wish more sportswriters would have the guts to write things like this about the local team. We don't need anything like Mariotti writes, which is basically journalistic tabloid bullshit, but fact based criticism like this.

-From Bill Simmons twitter:

Q: Are Nippert & Mathis ... A) a 70's soul act, B) gay lion tamers, or C) 2 Texas P's who shut Boston down for a sweep? (Answer: C.)

There is no way these guys can be good pitchers because Bill Simmons has not heard of these guys. If ESPN doesn't talk about a team or pitchers they can't be good right? That must be Bill Simmons' point here. It is in no way possible the Rangers are a good team and the only reason we haven't heard more about their pitching staff is because the team is not located in the upper right hand quandrant of the United States. That would never happen.

-Peter King is back on Monday for his MMQB. I am excited more than I should be.

-I love the irony of Landon Donovan (rightly) accusing David Beckham of not focusing enough on his American team to go play overseas and now Donovan is reportedly going to go play in Italy.

Regardless of whether this is a short term thing for Donovan or not, to criticize a teammate for his lack of dedication to his American team and his focus being divided by playing overseas and then you yourself going to play overseas less than a month later is a bit hypocritical. His intentions may be good but I can't help but wonder if his Galaxy teammates think his attention will be divided as well.

-On a pop culture note, I have never hated a reality show contestant more than I hate Joseph on Hell's Kitchen. He has every stereotypical feature of a New England area young adult. He IS Tommy from Quinzee.