The Mixer: Late Edition

With school coming to a close, I've been backed up on school work and the holiday weekend set me back. I was going to do a Mixer with a Masters theme last week. But seeing as we pimped out our web page to look like a Masters' jacket and beat you senseless with non-stop golf all week, I thought I'd just stick to what everyone is used to seeing.

...Speaking of what you are used to seeing, this web page seems to be having an identity crisis with its look. I think we've had 5 different web layouts in two days with three different color schemes. I don't call the shots on this blog, I just write for it. However, based on the color scheme, it looks like we've decided to start covering Syracuse athletics. Awesome. Go Orange.

Anyways, here is the Mixer...better late than never.

Baseball woes: Michigan Baseball dropped 3 out of four games last week, the first coming against MAC opponent CMU. I figured we were in trouble because this was a mid-week MAC game, but things went from bad to worse when I saw CMU was pitching their freshman phenom (drafted by the Royals in the 30th Round last year) and Michigan had put "Staff Day" where you would usually see the starter's name. Can you say "White Flag?"

As if this wasn't bad enough, Michigan decided to start freshman Kevin Vangheluwe. Hearing this, I thought "That name sounds familiar... where do I know this kid from?" Then I remembered....



Our boy is the one on his backside in the back row. He is also the one messing around with the chair. The video ends before Vangheluwe would eventually take off his shirt in strip-tease fashion. Thank me later for not including this.

RIP "The Bird": Today was bittersweet for me with the passing of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. I grew up listening to stories about that magical 1976 season when The Bird won Rookie of the Year and started the '76 All-Star game. The Tigers weren't great back then, but The Bird gave people something to look forward to during a time when the city needed something to root for. It wasn't exactly like the '68 Tigers, when a championship was a calming influence to a city ripe with racial conflict. But Fidrych united people similar to the way that championship did. People loved the lanky 21 year old with shaggy hair and quirky antics, and the question "Hey, when's The Bird pitching this week?" was heard throughout auto plants all over Detroit. He'll never be in the HOF, but he will always be in the hearts and memories of Tiger's fans. God bless you, Bird. We'll miss you.



E:60 is Back!: Probably my favorite show on television, E:60, is back with a new season tonight. I'm not a big fan of Jeremy Schaap, but I really enjoy the kind of reporting they do: the longer, feature stories that give deep insight into topics that are interesting, but I might not have otherwise thought about. Being someone who does sports reporting, feature stories of this length and size are incredibly difficult. I have a huge amount of admiration for what they accomplish with the video they get and the people they interview. I highly recommend tuning in this season. Here are two of my favorite stories they've done so far. First, they profiled Kelly Pavlik and his hometown...



My family is originally from Youngstown and Warren (Ohio), so this story hit home. But beside that, Pavlik's attachment to his hometown is fascinating (as is the city itself).

...And, to end things on a lighter note, here is one of the features Bill Simmons did for the show on Prop Betting. Love him on the podcasts and articles, but I really like him doing these features, too. I just hope they don't over-expose him like they do Stephen A. Smith.



That's all I got. Baseball this week... also, look for a story I got coming up on MGoBlue about the "Captain's Corner" blog that has gained some recent popularity.

Until then...

Personnel Foul on ESPN

As I am writing this, I just finished watching the Utah Jazz lose to the LA Lakers and I am disappointed for two reasons. The first being that Kobe is closer to a championship and having his ego leave the stratosphere. The second reason is Kyle Korver, a great three point shooter, passed on the game tying shot in favor of Memo Okur(Rob, I can hear the "I told you so" all the way from Philly). It was the worst last second decision I've seen since Tyler Ecker decided not to lateral to Steve Breaston in the 2005 Alamo Bowl. But I digress.

In an interview last week with DEADSPIN.com's Will Leitch, popular ESPN writer Bill Simmons said last week that there is good reason for him writing less frequently these past few weeks. In the interview, Simmons expresses his displeasure with ESPN, saying that contract and content disputes have lead to him writing fewer pieces for the "World Wide Leader." Simmons recently signed a new contract with the network that has him at ESPN thru 2010. Simmons has most recently alluded to these conflicts in his podcasts with ESPN writer Jamele Hill, in which he makes reference to being unable to poke fun at one's own network (47 minutes into the 57 minute podcast). Simmons has even gone as far as setting up a "alternate blog" in which he posted a lengthy piece (15,000 words) about a high-school basketball team he followed from South Boston 15 years ago (the piece is the only story on the blog and it is unclear if Simmons will continue to update this page with material). Curiously enough, E:60 (a new investigative sports journalism program on ESPN that Simmons has done work for) has pulled Simmons' spots that were, as of last week, rated among the most popular video clips available. Coincidence? I highly doubt it.

This could not have come at a worse time for ESPN. The network just announced that it will add former CBS (and NBA on NBC alum) anchor Hannah Storm to its bullpen of Sportscenter anchors. Storm did a great job at NBC and should have an easy time getting back into it after taking a sports hiatus for CBS's The Early Show . In addition to this move, ESPN will add Rick Reilly (of Sports Illustrated's Back Page fame) to ESPN the Magazine. Reilly will also become the host ESPN's new show "Homecoming." Reilly will interview sports figures in their hometown (the premiere episode featuring Charles Barkley from his hometown of Leeds, Alabama). The show is supposed to be an athlete version "Inside the Actor's Studio." With all these positive additions, the last thing ESPN wants is a public dispute with its most popular employee.

By bringing Reilly to the "ESPN Family", it gives ESPN the two most popular sports writers (in terms of audience size) in all the land. While their main demographics are somewhat different (Reilly's readers are usually found to be somewhat older than the Simmons' demographic), the loyalty the readers show towards their writing is almost unparalleled in the realm of sports journalism. SI's readership has dropped considerably since Reilly left, a strong indication of the void left by Reilly's readers. Because of this predictable spike in readership at ESPN, my prediction is that ESPN the Mag will start to phase out Sports Illustrated the same way SI phased out the Sporting News years ago. I am willing to guarantee you will almost certainly see this change occur within the next five years

All this, of course, is contingent on what happens with Simmons. ESPN now has the opportunity to take a huge chunk of revenue away from SI, their biggest competition in print media. However, Simmons is a key ingredient in making this possible. He is currently ESPN's most popular writer and has the most potential as a versatile and marketable entity. He has the most successful column and podcast on the ESPN website, and is a guaranteed ratings increase whenever he is on E:60 (I'd love to see what the ratings are like when he does pieces as opposed to when he isn't on the show). He brings in a loyal fan base that visit ESPN.com religiously to read his articles. If Simmons were to leave the network, the decrease in viewers of the web site (and Magazine) would be astonishing. The fact that Simmons is the only writer to have an entire page (The Sports Guy's World) devoted to only his writing is a telling statistic.

By alienating Simmons, ESPN could potentially alienate their chances at controlling the marketplace in sports journalism for years to come.