This Week on the Internets (10 August 2009)

Quite a bit more to talk about today than last week, which was primarily a discussion of Chad Gaudin with an intense Yankees fan for those of you who missed it.  Enthralling.  This week, plenty to discuss… I’m not quite sure exactly where to start.

On the internal side, a few important developments.  First, you can now easily follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook in just the touch of a button using the icons on the right side bar.  Should be relatively easy, but let us know if you have any trouble.  Also, courtesy of world renowned renaissance man and childhood film star Eyal Einik, we have a new banner up top to finally replace the baseballs.  Out with the old and in with the new.  If you’re in New Orleans or know anyone there who can offer Mr. Einik a job, please let us know.

Moving on…  Quite a bit of football buzz about, finally, and we’re excited to cover it ourselves and link you to others who are covering it well, too.  Obviously the question of Michael Vick’s future is more or less resolved, the former top-paid NFL player signing a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles last night.  If Twitter traffic or blog posts are any indication, and of course they normally aren’t, it would seem that the Eagles, Panthers (our first guess), Bills, and Dolphins were the most open pursuers of Vick.  On that note, a great overview of responses from NFL players on Twitter from Mashable! is worth reading.  The 700 Level provides a little breakdown on Vick’s salary apparently $1.6M for this year with a club option in 2010 for $5.2M.  Not bad for a guy who has been out of the league for a while.  I’m still not sure that he’s much on the Eagles more than a huge push on McNabb and a player still dynamic enough to confuse an opposing defense or two, but we’ll see.  I wouldn’t want to be Donovan up there. 

We haven’t done much on soccer before, but Landon Donovan apparently has the swine flu.  Hilarious.  Odds that Beckham gave it to him after that book?  Around 3:1.

In the NBA, Quentin Richardson was traded today for the fourth time this offseason.  From Knicks to Grizzlies to Clippers to Timberwolves to Heat.  I think that’s how it went down.  Total expenditure related to Q-Rich this summer?  Darko + Sebastian Telfair + Mark Blount + a few nameless faces.  A little trivia… As far as I can tell, this is a record for the number of times a player has been traded in a single offseason.

On Rick Pitino’s sad, ridiculous, idiotic situation, I’ll just link the best set of links, from John Clay’s Sidelines if you are interested. I don’t really have much else to say on that, at least not at this point.

In the NFL, aside from a long string of  intensely analyzed preseason games with about two drives of anything interesting, Donte Stallworth was “sentenced” by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to a season away from the game without pay (he’ll be reinstated after the Super Bowl) after a DUI manslaughter conviction.  I’ve included the link above for the legal-minded amongst us.  It’s a complicated issue, and “sentencing” is used above in quotations on purpose.  What’s the role of the NFL in these situations?  Was the “sentencing” too lenient or too harsh?  Why – based on NFL policies, or your general feeling on the relative severity of Stallworth’s actions?  As a fan, do you see the NFL and criminal issues as entirely separate, or is there a gray area?

Finally, a story that will truly make you cringe this weekend… Adrian Beltre took one off the king’s crown jewels and will apparently miss the rest of the year.  He doesn’t wear a cup because it’s not comfortable.  The blinding flash of the obvious is that it’s never been comfortable for anybody, ever, never, ever, ever, to wear a cup.  He took a risk; I’d venture the calculation should have better accounted for the fact that he takes defends his groin from screaming ground balls in practice and games six days a week.  It’s been years since I wore a cup.  I mean, even I’ve debated wearing one when I go to play softball on Wednesday nights.  Let alone play professional baseball.  God Speed, Adrian Beltre.

Enjoy the weekend.

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