The Sports Blogosphere…As Muppets. A Farewell And Whole-Hearted Thank You.

I loved doing our show for the last 550 odd episodes. Not every episode was great, but we think most of them were pretty darn good, and hopefully a little show called On the DL left some mark on the sports blog world.

The coolest thing about doing this show has certainly been the number of people I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with, from the show regulars to the once-in-a-lifetime guests, all done by barking into a $20 microphone plugged into a USB jack in my computer and having the foresight to press record. It’s been amazing.

For those who never listened to the show, or just caught an episode here or there when we had a big-name guest, I’ll let a message I just got from Jack Kogod explain what the show was:

MY NAME IS DAN LEVY AND I HAVE OPINIONS ON OTHERS I’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU.

So, there you go. My name is Dan Levy. I have opinions on others I’d like to share with you. They’re mostly about Muppets.

THE MUPPETREAD MORE

DL555: This Is The Last Show

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Thanks to everyone who participated on this episode and every episode. This is the last show. There will be one more post coming in a few minutes that’s my official thank you to the sports blogosphere, so I just want to say a personal note of thanks to Nick, my wife and everyone who ever helped this little show turn into what it has.

Thanks for listening.

DL554: Josh Elliott On Leaving ESPN for GMA. Daulerio On Past, Present & Future of Deadspin, Blogs

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We’ve interviewed a ton of great guests during this run, but no show had as many downloads as our conversation with ESPN’s Josh Elliott. It wouldn’t be right to end the show without having him on again (in hopes that traffic magic returns with him, of course.)

Elliott is leaving his gig as the morning host of ESPN’s SportsCenter to take a job as the news reader (or news anchor depending on who he’s trying to impress) at Good Morning America.

The conversation is a lot about how a guy can go from Sports Illustrated to Good Morning America in two simple steps (step one, be handsome; step two, be really really good). We talk about how different the world of sports blogs has been in the last three years since live AM SportsCenter came into our lives and how Twitter has somehow made news break backwards. Trust me, the idea makes sense, even if the concept doesn’t.

Mostly we talk about Josh’s love for news and how he is, “equally interested inREAD MORE

DL553: Tackling Women In Locker Rooms (Not Literally). Plus: Manny and the HOF

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Nick and I do one last show before the two last shows, talking about Tara Sullivan’s treatment at the Masters, her subsequent tweet heard round the world and the fallout from what she said…and what a security guard did.

Here’s her blog post about it. Here’s another take we discuss.

Also, if Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens don’t get into the Hall of Fame, what exactly is the Hall of Fame?

Thanks for listening, as always.

DL552: Josh Zerkle & Bethlehem Shoals On Why We’re All Quitting This Week

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This show has always served as somewhat of a living, breathing therapy session for me. I honestly and truly believe that there’s a 50% chance I go insane on Friday. Until then, we have a few shows left and this one is one I hope you download and stick into some kind of time capsule to play in two years when the internet is, once again, completely different than it is right now.

Josh Zerkle of KSK and With Leather and Bethlehem Shoals of Free Darko are both on the show to talk about recent announcements that they, both, are transitioning to new things. Zerkle is stepping down from the helm of With Leather to focus on other, non-sports projects. He’ll still be around the site, writing a few times a month, and he’ll still be doing his podcast and contributing to KSK, but by the sound of it, it was time for him to do something new…even if that wasn’t really anything specific, yet.

Shoals is a little different, in thatREAD MORE

DL551: Masters Preview with Jay Busbee & Shane Bacon (Sorry for Bad Audio)

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I hate Skype. The last ten minutes of this show and somehow MY mic was choppy. Inexplicable. If anyone asks why I’m giving up the show, you can tell them it’s because I hate the new Skype. Maybe that’ll get me a feature on Engadget or something.

Anyway, damn you Skype, but thank goodness the Masters is here. Jay Busbee and Shane Bacon preview the tournament, talking about some of the favorites, some of the players who have the most (and least) momentum. Seriously, PGATour.com has a meter determining each player’s momentum heading into the tournament.

Thinking about picking Anthony Kim? Don’t, his Uncle Mo’ has left him behind. That said, SANDLY LYLE has high momentum coming to Augusta! Yeah, it’s that kind of list.

We talk a lot about Phil, not as much about Tiger, and wonder if it’s more important to have a history of good play at THIS TOURNAMENT or to be hot coming into the tournament. Also, is the course better suited for a lefty, or do we lumpREAD MORE

550: Wyshynski on Rasslin’, Media, Blogs, NHL Playoffs, Twins, Canada & Fun

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I told my wife last year, or maybe two years ago, that if it ever got to the point where Nick had obligations that precluded him from doing the show on a daily basis, the first person I’d ask to co-host with me would be Greg Wyshynski from Yahoo’s Puck Daddy. Something about two jerks from Jersey talking about sports, media, blogs and life always felt like the kind of show people would love.

Everytime he’s been on the show, that’s how I’ve felt about it…THIS is the show. This is the show we wanted to make, talking with big names in our industry — there is no debate that Wyshynski has made himself (and Puck Daddy) one of the leading hockey voices in the country — about sports, life, media and whatever else we want.

Now, let’s not forget that Wyshynski has his own daily radio show talking about a lot of this same stuff (though decidedly more hockey than I’d feel comfortable with) and hasn’t once had me on the program.READ MORE

DL549: Well, At Least It Was Close

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Nick and I talk first about the NCAA Title game, the commentators, the Tweeters and recap a pretty lackluster finale. We do talk about Jim Nantz’s inexplicable “dog fight” reference during the game and I pat myself on the back for almost nailing the Nantz-ism that ended the game.

Then Jon Tannenwald joins the show to talk more about the game and talk about the legacy Butler has created for itself. We use Butler to talk about the leveling of the NCAA basketball playing field, and how in now way are the Bulldogs anything like the Green Bay Packers, despite NFL PR head Greg Aiello trying to convince us of that.

Oh, yeah, I do break down the studio show in “basketball math” terms. It might be more entertaining than the game was.

Congrats to UConn. Thanks for listening.

DL548: Final Four, Logistics, MLB Openers & Is Mark Cuban Wrong About ESPN Tweeters?

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We start with a conversation about the Final Four and marvel at the fact that the UConn men’s team got to the title game and the women’s team didn’t? You know what I blame…Logistics. (if you haven’t been bombarded with the UPS Logistics ads featuring coaches — especially UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma — you’re one of the lucky ones. I can’t wait for those ads to go away.)

We talk about VCU and Butler and wonder why some media folks suggested the ratings would be higher if VCU were in the game. Don’t we know the Butler players? Isn’t the fact that a team like Butler is in the title game the best story in college basketball in years? Isn’t the UConn run in March (and April) another great story? I’d be shocked if people were turned off by this title-game matchup.

Talkin’ Baseball

If the season ended today…

In all seriousness, should Boston and Tampa be worried at all? The season is a grind, but being in a division where every singleREAD MORE

DL547: Are We Too Savvy For April Fools? Plus, Bad Fans & Bad PR On Opening Day

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We were going to announce that we are joining Bleacher Report today. We were even going to get the guys from Bleacher Report involved. But man you really have to go to great lengths to trick people now. Is it even possible — outside of re-designing your whole site or spending weeks and weeks planning something — to trick the internet on April Fools Day?

I used to love today. I fear we’ve gotten to smart for gags. THE INTERNET HAS GOTTEN TOO SMART FOR SOMETHING. We’ve all lost.

Nick and I talk about some of our favorite pranks and discuss some ways our favorite team can gag its fans: “Batting third…second baseman….CHASE UTLEY!!!! No, sorry, it’s Wilson Valdez. April Fools!”

Gold? Would people try to kill Dan Baker, the Phillies PA announcer? Gold? GOLD?!@?@?

Eh, maybe they could just announce Joe Blanton as today’s starter.

We mention something that will BLOW YOUR MIND. I saw a PEPSI truck today and for the first time in my 33 years of life I realized it’s calledREAD MORE