We talk about Dwyane Wade’s apology and for something we don’t even think he should apologize for. Then we play the PR game and discuss this Variety story about the NYT running a ton of spoilers about the upcoming season of Mad Men.

Thanks for listening.

The first of two shows today. Nick and I talk about LeBron’s rumors and whether or not the people — namely show guest Stephen A. Smith — were right in reporting that LeBron was going to Miami. So many things have happened since that report, but if he ends up going, does that make the report correct and thereby confirmed, or nothing more than coincidental?

The analogy that I use is that of a math problem. If you get the answer right, but your work is wrong and you just happened to end up with the right end result, does that mean you were right at all? If 2 plus 2 is 4 and you got 4 as your answer but did so by adding 3 and 1, were you right? Maybe I’m over-thinking it.

Nick also talks about the AT&T this weekend and his brush with Tiger Woods at the 10th tee. People are in awe of the man. Tiger, not Nick. Well, Nick’s pretty good too.

Thanks for listening. Check the next show out for our World Cup recap and finale preview with Jon Tannenwald of The Goalkeeper.

We discuss the unavoidable: LeBron’s personal signing day.

Specifically, we discuss the news that ESPN will have an hour-long special. It’s a great get by the WWL, even if the hour is going to be completely and utterly ridiculous. My suggestion is that LeBron should name a team without cap space for him and give them an hour on live TV to make room. That would be great TV. Nick thinks it should be like a wrestling PPV…Oh my gawd that’s Chris Bosh’s music!

Either way, it’s ridiculous. But should we expect anything less from “King James.”

Continue reading and listen to the show…

Long overdue, Stephen A. Smith joins the show to talk about his departure from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the rumor of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh going to Miami (and the notion of revisionist journalism) and a lot, LOT more. What else?

(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)
• We talk about that ONE TIME when he filed a story from his Blackberry.

• We talk about Allen Iverson’s retirement and how he broke the news then wrote a column saying he didn’t believe the news to be true.

• We talk about celebrity and debate whether or not he’s star (hint: I think yes, he thinks no).

• We talk about the quality of his work at the Inquirer and his original termination and subsequent reinstatement.

• We talk about his settlement, and how ostensibly he was only working back at the paper the last six months until that settlement could be reached. That’s why both sides are happy…because neither really wanted him to be there.

• We talk about the rumor that the Inqy was able to get out of his deal because of his appearance on the View.

• We talk about being a political pundit — as he puts it, not an expert, just an American with an opinion.

• We talk about the news that he’s in talks with Showtime for a new TV show and an upcoming book he’s working on.

This show is entirely fascinating. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

(Image via StephenA.com)

We talk about the USMNT win, the tennis marathon — and how ESPN handled the event — and the NBA draft, including the Washington Post story on John Wall. But really, this is about soccer. I don’t usually do this, but here’s my post from The Sporting Blog. I’d like to have it here as [...]

Three amazing items to discuss today. First, the game seven tonight. Then, Nick and I give a detailed breakdown of the US Open with a good combination of stats and conjecture to help you pick a winner. Note, we both think Phil might just win this one. Then, Jon Tannenwald of The Goalkeeper joins the [...]

First, Andy Hutchins hops on (from what sounds like the back of a truck) to talk about the weekend. Andy is the weekend editor at The Sporting Blog — as well as writing a ton during the week — so we talk about the big storylines from Saturday and Sunday.

Andy feels the Celtics are the biggest story, so we briefly discuss that. We then talk about Rafael Nadal, and if at some point it becomes ridiculous when an athlete falls to the ground after winning what seemed like a pretty easy match. Come on, he won in three sets and was never challenged in either of them. Does that really warrant laying on the ground? Sure it was a culmination of triumph after a tough yet, but doesn’t it show just a little lack of respect for the opponent, and the moment?

Maybe that’s my biggest issue with it…the crowd was just politely applauding. It wasn’t an Oh My Gawd moment, so Nadal’s “I’m overwhelmed by my own greateness” moment seemed out of place.

That spins to talk about ESPN and the USMNT, where we talk at great length about Martin Tyler, John Harkes and the call of the match against Australia. The call fell flat, and perhaps it was because of the lack of energy in the stadium. Could this happen again or will a stadium that’s bigger and presumably louder help?

Also, are we concerned about Tyler calling the USA England match on US TV? Do we want our announcers to be homers?

More on this in Press Coverage later today.

We do talk briefly about game five of the Stanley Cup finals where it looks like I’m going to owe Kaduk some Tastykakes.

Thanks to Andy for hopping on last minute. We end with a talk about the pressure for the USMNT. I had the chance to ask Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard about that last week. We end with their thoughts. They are at the 26:00 mark.

Thanks for listening.

What a holiday weekend in sports. We start with a conversation about Roy Halladay’s perfect game, but rather than discuss the game between us – full disclosure, I was watching the hockey then switched over and tracked back to watch after the fact while Nick had the foresight to watch both – we thought it would make more sense to talk with one of the men who had the opportunity to call the 20th perfect game in Major League history.

Scott Franzke, radio play-by-play man for the Phillies, joins the show to talk about that amazing performance, and what it was like in the booth. At what point did they start to think they might be witnessing something special? How was Larry Anderson during the game, and were they conscious of superstition throughout the broadcast? How many times did Franzke mention the word perfect? Did he say “perfect game” before it happened?

We also discuss the historic nature of calling something like a perfect game. After Dallas Braden’s perfect game this season, Nick and I talked about beat writers crafting the “perfect game story” knowing that more people will be reading that day than, perhaps, any other in a writer’s career. For someone doing play-by-play, Franzke doesn’t have the luxury of thinking out what he’s going to say, and hitting a delete key. So how perfect did he try to be? Did he have something in his mind for the last out should Halladay complete the perfect game?

And seriously, how nervous were they in the booth? More on this later today on The Sporting Blog.

The Weekend that Was:

Nick and I rundown the weekend in sports, including the Stanley Cup finals (and the ratings for game one that some people — looking at you John Gonzalez — thought wouldn’t be good because of the holiday). We also discuss the rest of the series, and if the Flyers should be worried or feel fine with the fact that, on the road, they were in both games.

Next, we spend a lot of time talking about the game both of us attended on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. The U.S. men’s soccer team defeated Turkey in their final Send-off Match before heading to South Africa for the World Cup.

I worked the match for Sporting News, so we give a rundown of some of the storylines that came out of the even. I also try to convince you, Nick and myself, that soccer is now for the cool kids. If a member of the media says they don’t watch soccer now because it’s boring, that’s an old and tired meme that will, finally, make them look stupid. Soccer isn’t boring, we just weren’t any good at it. Now, we might be.

Housekeeping:

We talk about Lakers Celtics and if we’re rooting for the Lakers (and Kobe) or just rooting against everything related to Boston. We also talk about which is a more lame way to win a game, a walkoff balk or a walkoff grand slam where you break your leg.

Thanks to Scott and click here to listen…

We talk about NBA, NHL and MLB. But mostly we talk about how I want Phil Jackson’s huge chair.

Oh, and as per my post at Sporting News, what announcer would you want to do the commentary for a video game of your life? Must be alive and a sports broadcaster.

Leave in the comments.

Today’s show we talk about the following things: • The NBA Draft Lottery • Tim Donaghy’s book publisher woes, and who to believe when there’s a criminal involved who may, in fact, be telling the truth. • Dancing is mentioned. It’s not pleasant. • ESPN Upfronts, including 3D and lots more Michelle Beadle. • Yankees [...]