ON THE DL

Masters, Free Online TV, Michael Phelps Bomb Rips, Jews vs. Jesus and Belly Fat Ads

Episode 150. Wow, that last 50 went fast. And it’s Good Friday, so we start the show will some good old fashioned blaming of the Jews. Seriously. We tell a story about a guy I worked with who, as a boy, wouldn’t hang out with a neighbor because his mom said “your people killed God.” (Note, on the show I said “Jesus” not “God.” This is correct...and so much funnier.)

I tell the tale of my mom giving us Matzah Ball Soup that was just matzah balls and hot water (needs a little salt) and Nick talks about a time when his mom made pumpkin pie without the sugar.

After some needed levity, we touch on the death of Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart. Our hearts go out to the families and the Angels. We bring it up to talk about Dave Brown’s post on Big League Stew with a list of athletes who died while active in the Major Leagues. It’s a sad remembrance.

We also discuss the unfortunate timing of ESPN’s ad (as seen on Deadspin) for NASCAR as they went to break after the news of Adenhart’s crash. The ad wasn’t just for NASCAR, but for the adrenaline a driver gets during a crash. We discuss if there’s anything at that point the TV production people can do in that situation. Are there any checks and balances in place during a live telecast to catch anything. It’s not a gaffe by ESPN by any means. But it was unfortunate.

And one quick aside...why in the world are ESPN and NASCAR producing that ad? The adrenaline of a crash? Don’t people remember a guy driving a black car with a big 3 on roof crashing into a wall? That wasn’t so long ago. Promoting NASCAR by talking about the crashes seems not only insensitive, it’s like anti-marketing. It’d be link Michelle Kwan doing an interview laughing at all the falls in figure skating.

The Weekend That Is:

Obviously, this weekend is about the Masters. How great was the play yesterday and how great was the coverage online (with our friend Ian Eagle doing the play by play)? The masters.com coverage, produced by CBS, was incredible this year. And with two CBS-produced online success stories in the same month span, we discuss why we can’t have all our sporting events free online?

If March Madness can be free. And the Masters can be free, why can’t MLB or the NFL be free? Which leads to a discussion about the on-going flap between Comcast and the NFL Network. To us, it’s amazing how many wrong things the NFL Network has done.

Back to golf, the leaderboard on Thursday is rarely the leaderboard on Sunday, but this year there are some big names near the top, including Jim Furyk. Does that change people’s gameplan for Friday? And why do we care about a players score in relation to par? Shouldn’t they be scored in relation to Tiger? Chad Campbell isn’t really -7, he’s -5. Mickelson is +3. We know Tigers is going to be there. If you’re “Under-Tiger” for the week, you win.

Speculation Station:

We bring up the old (by internet standards) Michael Phelps bong story. We wondered on the show how that photo got out, and how it ended up on News Of The World and not at Deadspin or SbB or TBL. Well, according to some sleuthing and some threads on a Phish message board, we might have the answer. Or more questions. This is like a made-for-TV-mystery. It all involves a stolen iPhone, an ex-girlfriend, a small time actor and his Hollywood agent, an Olympic Champion... and stoners. Lots and lots of stoners.

There was a post on the board in November that nobody can seem to find. However, on January 9, 2009 the following was posted by wswilli3 under the header “Famous People You’ve Smoked With”:

My buddies took bomb rips with michael phelps last fall in Columbia, sc. One of them took a picture on his iPhone. His brother is a small time actor in LA, whose publicist said the pic was worth seven figures. Didn't sell it bc of karma and didn't want to be a rat. The kid will inherit WAY more than that so he doesn't need it. If it was me, consider it sold.

News broke with this photo on January 31st. On February 1, a thread titled “Topic: Michael Phelps Pic was taken by my frien” showed up on the board. First post reads:

d who goes to south carolina. Has had the picture for months on his phone, not knowing what to do with it. I started a thread on here a few months ago when the picture was taken. Apparently he lost his phone Friday night in Charleston. I haven't heard from him but talked to many of my buds who go to SC and they are all freaking out. I know he was offered 50,000 for the pic but couldn't bring himself to sell it. He is already set to inherit WAY more than that so he didn't need the cash. Swear to god this is true, just don't know who released the pic but it is he EXACT one that was/is on his phone. He was blazing with him.

There is a lot more, including admission by this friend that the guy who took the photo (most likely the Cason Milner who had denied and admitted it was his photo as reported in this story on February 9) had just broken up with his girlfriend who he had sent the photo to. And he had shown his phone to others. And then there’s this actor brother of his who I’m sure could use a buck. And an agent who I’m sure saw dollar signs.

How many dollar signs?

Original number I heard was 7 figures but was later told that was inflated and was more in the 50,000-100,000 just for the picture, no story...

And to us, the most interesting part is this in response to other posters calling this guy a liar and his friend a horrible human being:

Well im not a nanner because I started a thread about it months ago when I first saw the pic. I think everyone on here flaming would have sold the pic in a second if they had access to it. Like ive said it had blown over for us, he determined he wasn't selling it and we all applauded him for the decision. That doesn't mean pieces of shit didn't know he had it and what it was worth. And those quotes sound NOTHING like my friend, he is one of the nicest kids I know. Thats not even how the real story went down anyways.

So how did the real story go down? And what in the world is a nanner? Again, none of this is really news, just a little more to the story. And why has it taken so long to get this? Well, the archives for the website were broken until a few days ago. Happens every year and takes the guy three months to fix. Stoners.

The Soapbox:

I lead off with a rant in reference to our conversation on the worst cities to host a major event. We got a ton of email on that (thanks btw) and it got me to thinking. Forget about the Final Four or Super Bowl. Lets focus on All-Star games. The All-Star games should be in the cities that get the best attendance (% full) the previous year. Reward the fans who were there all year.

Nick has a much needed rant on Belly Fat. And not his own belly fat, but those ads that websites subject us to. YOU KNOW WHO YOU PEOPLE ARE. It’s awful, it makes us not want to go to your websites and we’d be hard pressed to find anyone who sees that ad and clicks on it. At least not on sports blogs. So ad services...stop grossing us out!

Housekeeping: SIGN UP FOR BLOGS WITH BALLS. Seriously, the names are huge and the itinerary should be really fun and informative. Not just bloggers, but podcasters (ahem) and some real heavy hitters in the industry. You should buy tickets now and tell all your friends.

Thanks as always and have a Happy Masters. Er, Easter. One of those.