DL492: Where Zerkle & I Talk Sterger, Extortion, Cam Newton and Paying College Athletes

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Josh Zerkle from With Leather joins the show today to talk, laugh and generally offend. And that’s why we love him.

We touch on Joe Theismann in the booth before getting into the Jenn Sterger name-clearing extortion plot. What name, exactly, is she (or her PR people) trying to clear? Haven’t they done more damage to her reputation than had they just kept quiet the whole time?

We parallel the Sterger situation to that of Alicia Lane and Rich Eisen. Lane could make the case that her reputation was being sullied (by co-worker and creepazoid Larry Mendte) but how can Sterger? This is nuts.

We touch on Favre, too, and wonder if this will hurt his legacy. With the internet the way it is now — compared to back in the days of Joe DiMaggio, or even Mickey Mantle (or, heck, even the 90s Cowboys), do we romanticize the past more than today? Can anyone, truly, have a “legacy” anymore with how eager we are to “humanize” everyone on the internet?

Is it the media’sREAD MORE

Call of the Day: Joe Theismann Explains The K-Ball & Other Contrarian Nonsense

The Thursday Night football game sure looked like it was going to be a blowout, but somehow Tennessee managed to make it a game, thanks in large part to a late first-half touchdown run by Chris Johnson. The snap on the extra point wasn’t so good, as you can see in the video below, and before realizing the snap may have been bad because the Colts were yelling fake snap counts at the Titans line — a 15-yard penalty enforced on the kickoff — Joe Theismann gave us an explanation to why this, and a botched snap on a punt earlier in the game, may have been bad: The K-Ball.

“Now remember, remember, they change the balls for kicking. It’s a ‘K-Ball.’ So when you look at a snap that goes over a punter’s head or you look at the ball coming back, it basically is something that’s a problem for the center.”

Basically. Or not at all, considering the ball wasn’t snapped by the center, it was snapped by the LONG SNAPPER, whose only job onREAD MORE

Let’s Remember The Time I Told Jenn Sterger I Hope My Daughter Doesn’t End Up Like Her!

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We’re coming up on our 500th show. If you haven’t signed up for our party, sponsored by the fine folks at Captain Morgan and Bulleit Bourbon, there’s a link on the right. Click waiting list, it’ll get you in. I think.

Anywho, we’re posting some “blast from the past” episodes of the show, so with news that JENN STERGER IS STILL SOMEHOW IN THE NEWS, I thought I’d reach back into the archives to Episode 58, when Jenn Sterger came on the show to explain that she did not, in fact, tell a Tampa radio station in the summer of 2008 that Erin Andrews can “suck it.”

Before we get back to that story, Jenn Steger is still actually in the news, you ask? Why yes, she is, inexplicably still in the news. From the Dan Patrick Show:

Jenn Sterger’s public relations manager Phil Reese joined the show to explain what they want from the Brett Favre investigation. Here are some of things he had to say:

– Reese wants the NFL to act immediately. DanREAD MORE

Call of the Day: Howard Cosell Tells MNF Audience John Lennon Is Dead

It’s been 30 years since John Lennon died. Thirty years today. I was two (almost three), so I was not up late enough to watch the Monday Night Football game where Frank Gifford kicked it to Howard Cosell to tell America the news.

“Yes, we have to say it. Remember this is just…a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City — the most famous, perhaps, of all of the Beatles — shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital. Dead…on..arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which in duty, well, we have to tell you.”

Thank you, internet, for keeping a running archive of our history. Imagine where we’d be without you.

Fantasy Integrity: What To Do When Your Season Is Over Before The Playoffs?

I am in three fantasy leagues this year. In my old friends league that’s a keeper league, I’m in first place heading into the playoffs (I have a bye as 6 of 12 make the playoffs).

In my second league, a non-keeper league with some show people, soccer teammates and random dudes a friend knows, I just eeked into the playoffs with a middle-of-the-pack squad. For what it’s worth, Nick is crushing everyone in that league, earning the top seed and a first round bye.

In my third and potentially most important league, I’m in last place in the BFL, sponsored by P&G. I’m on Team Gillette (seriously they have some awesome products and I totally might shave off the beard I had for, what, seven years just so I can use the phrase “Gillette is turning shaving into gliding” in a sentence and have the smooth-as-my-baby-son’s-ass face to back up that claim). I’m 3-10 with one more week to go in the regular season before a four-team playoff takes place to send one winning owner toREAD MORE

DL489: McDaniels v Bowlen, New England’s Dominance, Fantasy Integrity and Dexter

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I already wrote about the Josh McDaniels stuff today but we wanted to talk more about it, specifically wondering if media people should quote someone they know is feeding them information that, likely, isn’t true. Is an on-the-record quote worth it if you know it’s a lie? What if you suspect it’s a lie?

We talk about that, the dominance of the Patriots and get into a fantasy football ethics debate I’m going to write about later today.

CULTURE POP

Nick and I recap the penultimate episode of Dexter’s season five and give our thoughts on what might happen in the finale. Remember, anything can happen on this show. Main characters can die just like that, so get ready for it. We speculate what we think might happen (note: I haven’t been right yet.)

Thanks for listening. Sorry for the weird pinging sound.

Call of the Day: Collinsworth – “Tell That To James Harrison and his $125 Worth Of Fines”

This much is clear: nobody knows the new helmet-to-helmet or defenseless receiver rules in the NFL. Nobody. Not the players, not the announcers and certainly not the officials.

When Heath Miller got walloped by Jameel McClain during the Sunday Night Football game, concussing the Steelers tight end and taking him out of the game, there was no flag on the play. NBC had just put together a montage of all the illegal hits the Steelers — and James Harrison most specifically — have been getting fined for and then whammo! Miller gets trucked by a linebacker and there wasn’t even a flag.

Collinsworth: “Well, even if it’s not helmet-to-helmet, it’s a defenseless player. Shoulder pad, forearm or helmet to the head is an automatic penalty. And to get — I didn’t see a flag, if there is one it’s buried down there — is unbelievable to me that that was not called. That is by the very definition of what I’ve been told; defenseless player, either the helmet, the shoulder pad or the forearm to the head,READ MORE

DL487: LeBron, NFL v NBA, Ron Santo & Soccer’s Future in a Cupless USA with Jon Tannenwald

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Second show of two today. It would be odd to not have Tannenwald on the show after the World Cup announcement, given how much time he and I talked about this day for the last six months.

Alas, it’s Qatar. We talk about the bid, what this means for the growth of soccer in America and what it might mean for the head of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati. Tannenwald is, to understate, mild-mannered. This is as heated as he gets.

But first, we discuss the passing of Ron Santo before talking about LeBron’s return to Cleveland. Is it just me, or my Philly sensibilities, or did nothing really happen? There was booing, there was a blowout and that’s about it. I actually expected worse, and while it’s good that most Clevelanders handled themselves calmly (there were tweets of inappropriate slurs thrown his way during the game and the TNT online cameras caught at least one fan in the stands trying to goad LeBron into a war of words (or more).

But it allREAD MORE

Fantasy Dilemma: When Should You Help A Contender Win?

I have a fantasy dilemma. I’m in the Blogger Fantasy League sponsored by P&G. You may have heard of it. Anyway, I’m on Team Gillette, who are like the nicest corporate folks on the planet, and my team absolutely stinks. I’ve totally let down the brand. I’m as bad as bad can be. Last week, I lost to Josh Zerkle’s team by around 50 points. (Read Jerod Morris’ recap from last week).

It’s that bad.

Now, what do I do the next few weeks? Do I try my darndest to play spoiler, or should I firesale my good players and help someone else make the playoffs? Do I pull the trigger on the fantasy football equivalent of an organ donation? My season is, after all, a train wreck.

I was faced with this dilemma last week when Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders asked me to trade him Roddy White and one of my crappy quarterbacks for Big Ben and two of his crappier receivers. I thought about it for a day or two before I declined the deal. IREAD MORE

DL482: NFL, BCS, MRIs, Gruden & UConn In the BCS?

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SIGN UP FOR THE FREE DARKO PARTY TOMORROW NIGHT IN NYC.

Nick’s back and we talk a little about my knee which is about as gross as one could imagine at this point. MRI Friday and I find out the results today. When will I be off the DL?

We tackle the BCS standings and the weekend in college football before getting into the NFL results, standings and what the rest of the season might look like. We also touch on the Jon Gruden rumors and how that’s something ESPN must love

There’s a lot of football in this show, but nothing stands out more than this fact: Connecticut can make the BCS and Michigan State can’t.

There’s about three minutes of laughter when that realization hits us. Enjoy.