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Sports Illustrated Opens Its “Vault” Containing All Articles Ever Written…..For Free!
Posted by The Danza on Mar 19, 2008
Have you ever wanted to reread that article about Michael Jordan in the April 1990 edition of Sports Illustrated that made you dream of playing in the NBA one day? Well, now you can. Actually, you can even read about “yachts, polo, and safaris” in the August 16, 1954, edition (the very first issue).
This Thursday, Sports Illustrated is opening its archives containing every article ever written by the magazine. This is an extraordinary commitment to the digital age for the sports magazine to make, and I, for one, applaud them for this. The fact that they’re making this service free is icing on the cake. My current subscription to Sports Illustrated costs much more than free, and I look forward to canceling supplementing my paper magazines with retroactive readings online of 42-year old articles about Bart Starr and Super Bowl I.
I know what the first thought that went through your mind was, and I have to admit that it was my first as well. As soon as I saw the headline of the article in the NY Times, I clicked on it and did a quick “Find in this page” search for “swimsuit” to see if they were going to make photos from all of the past swimsuit editions available. While it said that “many images” will be included in the Vault, nowhere in the article did it even mention the word “swimsuit.” Keep your fingers crossed.
Finally, They’re Going to Let Him Play
Posted by The Danza on Mar 11, 2008
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for 50 years to see Billy Crystal play baseball for the Yankees. As it turns out, my dreams have come true and Crystal will now suit up and play for the Yankees in this Thursday’s spring training game against the Pirates. Ohhhh, they’re playing the Pirates……now it makes more sense. Who knows? If it turns out well, maybe they’ll save a roster spot for him to takeover the shortstop position, since that guy they got now is statistically the worst in the league. After all, Crystal did “hit .348 and was captain during his senior year at Long Beach High School in New York.”
Boomer’s Finest Moments: Back, Back, Back, Back….That Ass Up
Posted by The Danza on Feb 11, 2008
For those of you who haven’t seen the latest Chris Berman videos that show him during commercial breaks and between tapings cursing and discussing the bite of white wine with a coworker whose pants he’s trying to get into, you’re missing out. So, check out these videos. I’m showing the first one here, but for the other five, you have to go to COED Magazine to see them.
Just as we suspected and as confirmed by Boomer, nobody at ESPN has ever worked on TV.
Parkour Soccer, Wow
Posted by The Danza on Feb 8, 2008
This video just aired on CNN, and I have been hearing about it for a couple of days now, so I thought I would check it out. Wow, I don’t play soccer or do Parkour, but I was venture a guess and say that this is some pretty sick shit.
Top 5 Superbowl Ads of the last 15 years…
Posted by Air Hernandez on Feb 1, 2008
Everyone has a list. I will keep mine short and sweet. I am basing my rankings on three main determinants: creativity, effectiveness, and humor. Enjoy.
No. 5: The Showdown (1993)
Larry Bird and Michael Jordan go shot for shot with the grand prize being a Big Mac and fries. I give Jordan the win no matter who misses for wearing that pimp shirt.
No. 4: Frogs (1995)
After this commercial aired there was a constant croaking of “Bud, weiss, errrr” in my high school. I know that the commercial was effective with my friends at the time.
Whatever Happened To……..
Posted by The Danza on Feb 1, 2008
Another Super Bowl is about to come and pass, and once again, we will be missing what once was the highlight of halftime and all of the Super Bowl commercials: The Bud Bowl. Budweiser, the King of Beers, would always battle Bud Light head-to-head, with the game always being decided by a last-second TD or FG for the sake of excitement. This was once a staple of my preteen-adolescent Super Bowl days.
What do we have now? Paula Abdul concerts and Flomax commercials. For God sakes, Anheuser-Busch, bring back the Bud Bowl advertisement campaign. Snoop Dogg and Kid Rock are not enough! I want to see Bud Light QB #10 throwing a 13-inch TD to Bud Light WR #17. Just for old time’s sake, the guys over at Mental Floss did an exhaustive history of the Bud Bowl in all of its glory. I guess we’ll just have to settle for the Victoria’s Secret commercials with Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova, and Selita Ebanks this year. Welllll…..we’re not in THAT big of a hurry to get the Bud Bowl back.
Super Bowl Heartaches
Posted by The Danza on Jan 31, 2008
Don’t get too excited during the big game this weekend, or else you may be visiting your friendly ER doctor before you get to see the rest of the game. According to scientists who studied medical records from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, heart attacks on record more than doubled for Munich residents when Germany was playing on TV. As if that’s not enough to convince you, during the two most intense games for Germany, the reports of heart trouble more than quadrupled the normal rate of reports.
How does this translate to the Super Bowl? Well, given that it’s the biggest annual event in American sports and Americans tend to be heavier in the first place with more heart problems, I would say that it doesn’t bode well for this weekend’s game. Couple the intensity of a close Super Bowl game with the fact that each spectator has already consumed 12-20 beers and two dozen chicken wings by the time the game starts, and you have a recipe for disaster. I’m just glad that it’s New York- and Boston-area teams in the Super Bowl and not Green Bay and another team from the Midwest or South, because I’m not sure our hospitals could handle that extra workload.
Yikes
Posted by The Danza on Jan 29, 2008
Tony Romo sings horribly, still outperforms Jessica Simpson.
More Ways to Lose Money Betting On the Super Bowl
Posted by The Danza on Jan 28, 2008
The guys over at VegasWatch compiled a list of The Most Ridiculous Super Bowl [42] Props along with some picks for these bets. These are fun to look at and possibly play with your friends for $1 a bet, but I wouldn’t go put $1,000 on any of these (Update: Apparently, the betting limits are $300-600 anyway). Although, being in Vegas during Super Bowl Weekend, I will probably have to put a few bucks on some of the most random, larger payout bets for the hell of it and to help toward Vegas’ $100 million goal. I could get paid +5000 if Tom Petty curses during the halftime show, regardless of whether it breaks through the delayed editing process or not. Hmmm……
My Dream Job Market Is Now an Actuality: Sports Player Investing
Posted by The Danza on Jan 25, 2008
Yes, as the title suggests, you can now own a portion of a sports player’s future salary. According to this report, Randy Newsom of the Cleveland Indians minor league program is selling 4% of his future earnings related to baseball for $50,000, implying the present value of his future earnings will be in the $1.25 million range. Anyone can register on the Real Sports Investments, LLC website to purchase shares for $20 each of the baseball player’s earnings.
This, in my opinion, is the beginning of a new market with huge potential. Some may call it sports gambling, but in essence, it’s the same as purchasing stock in a company, which also pays you future residual earnings. Look for this to happen more and more often as more underwriting firms get in the business and a few successful deals go through to ease concerns of baseball players and investors. Read the rest of this entry »