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

What’s On In Sports, Tonight: March 14th

The homer in me would recommend tonight’s Grapefruit League game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Rivalry, two of the largest payrolls in baseball, blah, blah, blah.

But this is supposed to be the Game of the Night, and meaningless Spring Training games cannot qualify. Besides, there is a more interesting contest on TV this evening: Heat vs. Spurs.

Miami, after dropping those five-straight games, still clings to a three game lead over Orlando in the Southeastern Division. San Antonio, meanwhile, leads the league with 54 wins. The Spurs beat the Heat by 30 points during that streak, so that adds a little subplot to this game.

The Miami Heat host the San Antonio Spurs at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown will call the game for tWWL.

Now on to the rest of the field:

7 p.m. ESPN2- MLB: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox.

8 p.m. ESPN- NBA: San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat. Mike Tirico (PbP), Hubie Brown (Analyst) Versus- NHL: San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks

10:30 p.m. ESPN- NBA:READ MORE

What’s On In Sports, Tonight: March 3rd

There is nothing on TV tonight. Blame American Idol.

The Game of the Night will be the NBA contest on TNT between Orlando and Miami. A little Heatles vs. Superman action. Not bad. But there isn’t a supporting cast of games to go around it. It’s all just boring drivel while we all wait for the big payoff of conference tournaments this weekend.

Anyway, watch the NBA. Or American Idol. If you don’t like either of those options, read a book or something. Get to know your family. Thin our your Netflix queue. Anything, really.

Now on to the rest of the field:

6 p.m.

ESPNU- MBB: High Point vs. UNC Asheville. Jon Sciambi (PbP)

7 p.m.

CBS College Sports- WBB: Memphis at UCF. ESPN- MBB: Tennessee at South Carolina. Rece Davis (PbP), Mark Gottfried (Analyst) ESPN2- MBB: St. John’s at Seton Hall. Dave Pasch (PbP), Chris Mullin & Doris Burke (Analysts) NHL Network- NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins.

8 p.m.

ESPNU- MBB: WMI at Costal Carolina. Jon Sciambi (PbP) TNT- NBA: Orlando Magic at Miami Heat.

9 p.m.

ESPN- MBB:READ MORE

Writer Fired? Headlines At The New Sporting News/FanHouse Are So Meta

Yesterday was the first day of the new FanHouse, which really meant it was the first day after the last day of the FanHouse where many of our friends used to write.

What’s interesting about the new merger with Sporting News is that we were sold on the fact that Sporting News “bought” the FanHouse brand from AOL in part to keep the name alive and in hopes that the AOL traffic would keep the SN doors open just a wee bit longer. By the looks of the new partnership, it sure as heck feels like AOL acquired Sporting News, doesn’t it? Did Sporting News pay for FanHouse or just pay its way onto AOL’s servers?

At the very least, the day after FanHouse officially dumped all but four of its writers and other staffers in the merger, it’s good to see that someone at the company has a sense of humor. So meta.

Now, the article on the new AOL.SportingNews.com with the quick link “Writer fired” actually goes to a story about NASCAR writer Tom Bowles losingREAD MORE

Marv Albert Has Bieber Fever (A Mash-Up)

Marv Albert went star watching during the 2011 All-Star Game at Staples Center, but seemed most impressed by a young Canadian lad in the front row.

Yes, folks..Marv Albert has Bieber Fever. Enjoy.

What Does The New Lakers Network Mean?

On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers shook up the sports world by rejecting offers from their current TV rightsholders, Fox Sports Net and CBS-owned KCAL and announcing that it had signed a 20 year agreement with Time Warner Cable. This not only creates one regional sports network, but two, one in English and the very first American regional sports network programmed totally in Spanish. In one short fallen swoop, the new Lakers channels became gamechangers and were a wake up call to every single team looking to create its own regional sports network. How so? Let’s take a look at the five things this has changed.

1. Time Warner Cable Suddenly Became A Player in Sports Television Before Monday, no one saw Time Warner Cable as an entity in the sports television field. The company has a share in SNY which airs the New York Mets and Big East basketball, but Comcast has the day-to-day operation of the channel. In addition, Time Warner Cable has some local sports on its systems across the country, but until Monday,READ MORE

Call of the Day: What If IBM’s Watson Was An Athlete, Not A Jeopardy Contestant

Tuesday’s episode of Jeopardy was day two of the long-running game show’s three-day ad for IBM, featuring super computer Watson as one of the contestants against the show’s two greatest human champions. Watson destroyed Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in Double Jeopardy, so much so that the segment about how smart Watson became more entertaining than the actual competition.

Now the question becomes: did IBM make Watson too smart for Jeopardy?

Obviously the answer is no, it’s impossible to make computers “too smart” for anything. But it’s pretty obvious after two days that the computer isn’t exactly set up properly for this particular game show, and the rules they had to bend to accommodate Watson have made the game more of a cheap gimmick than a true test of man-v-man-v-machine.

We mentioned this yesterday, but it bears repeating that Watson cannot see, nor hear, meaning the computer cannot digest the clue in the same manner by which the human contestants do. Watson receives the clues by text, giving the computer a clear advantage over someone who has toREAD MORE

Ken Rosenthal Is Bored, Stirs Pot With Ridiculous Pujols Trade Speculation

Pitchers and catchers reporting is not enough for veteran baseball scribe Ken Rosenthal. In his column today for Fox Sports, Rosenthal felt the need to make stuff up, admittedly so, in an effort to give every St. Louis Cardinals fan a heart attack. To the asinine machine!

WARNING: What you are about to read is pure speculation. It has not, to my knowledge, been discussed at any level. In fact, it is not even my idea.

Harold Reynolds mentioned the possibility Monday on MLB Network. My colleague, Jon Paul Morosi, informed me of it later that night. I then stole the idea from Morosi as if I were Lindsay Lohan in a jewelry store.

Albert Pujols for Mark Teixeira.

And, if that doesn’t work, Pujols for Ryan Howard.

Think it’s nuts? Think again.

Okay, Ken. I’ve thought again. It’s still nuts.

It’s 934 words of pure insanity. The St. Louis Cardinals are not going to trade Albert Pujols, even if this arbitrary deadline comes and goes. The fact of the matter is, the Cardinals have an entire season to figure out a way to keep PujolsREAD MORE

ETHICS: ESPN’S College Gameday Crew Had Super-Secret Nike Deals. Should We Be Concerned?

I’m not really sure how we’re supposed to feel about stories like this anymore. Richard Sandomir of the NYT with the dirty work:

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have deals with Nike that Corso described as a joint arrangement that largely involves speaking engagements for the athletic shoe and apparel company.

After an inquiry to ESPN about the announcers’ Nike contracts, Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman, said that Fowler, the host of “GameDay,” is “ending his minor association” with Nike “to avoid any potential perception issues.” Fowler was not made available for an interview.

Corso, Fowler and Herbstreit’s deals with Nike were never announced or disclosed to viewers. “We were unaware of these deals,” Krulewitz said.

There are two big reasons why this is news. First, a big deal was made about Erin Andrews signing a deal with Reebok, with some sports media types wondering if it could develop into a conflict of interest for the reporter. Second, and perhaps most importantly, nobody knew about these Nike deals? ESPN’s PR office didn’t even know? That’s crazy, isn’t it?

Or isREAD MORE

Call of the Day: “And The Fans Are Storming The Court At The RAC”

Do you think when Eamon McAnaney and Tim Welsh were assigned Villanova at Rutgers that either of them thought they’d have the game of the day, especially when the day featured Duke-North Carolina and especially when that Duke-North Carolina game featured an epic come-from-behind win by the home team?

Alas, Rutgers upset Villanova with an epic come-from-behind win of its own, down by as many as 13 points, including a ten-point deficit with just over two minutes to play. Then, this happened:

The announcers certainly seem as shocked as the viewers (and, it seems, Jay Wright). An obvious congratulations to Rutgers head coach Mike Rice for getting his first-season signature win, something his team has been knocking on the door of for a few weeks in the Big East. Now, they’ve got it…in the craziest of ways.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on the fans storming the court. I hate the randomness of fans storming the court and do think there should be some unwritten — hell, written — set of rules for doing so. ThisREAD MORE