EZ The Blog

When a washed-up sports radio host has only one outlet left.

My crush, Erin Andrews (and, yes, Lady EZ knows), did pretty good last night on Dancing With The Stars for Week 1.  Well, forget my opinion.  We’ll save that for later.  Let’s get to the good stuff.

Now, I caught this video online just like you probably did.  Therefore, I have no frame of reference for how show did comepared to the rest of the field.  But given my high level of expertise in dancing, I hope she continues to improve.  She will need to do so to keep advancing.

(h/t The Big Lead)

Boo to this!

If you check out ESPN NBA reporter Ric Bucher’s Twitter page, it looks like we might not get as much “opinion” from our “tweeps” at ESPN much longer.

Bucher says ESPN sent out a memo “prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN.”

So no more “Stink” Schlereth letting Ochocinco have it? That would not be cool. Schlereth called out the outspoken wide reciever via the microblogging tool yesterday, which may have prompted ESPN’s response.

Many people wondered why ESPN went ahead and ran with a story involving a civil suit against former Colts WR Marvin Harrison just days after they decided to stay mum for as long as possible with a story regarding a civil suit against Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Well, ESPN has replied, in a story which I’m just going to file away in the “we-will-tweak-this-until-we-get-it-right” category.

Earlier this week, a man filed a civil suit claiming Harrison shot him in connection with the Philadelphia shooting last year with a gun owned by Harrison. ESPN ran this story.

However, the same can’t be said about the civil suit filed against Roethlisberger claiming an alleged sexual assault.

Is ESPN showing good restraint by not reporting the latter story? That could easily be argued.

But it also appears that ESPN is picking a choosing their battles, and maybe even showing bias against some athletes.

ESPN responded to a Sports Media Watch article by saying this:

Props go to Verizon Wireless for hooking me up with the enV3 mobile phone equipped with ESPN MVP. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE playing fantasy sports. It’s so easy to change your ESPN fantasy teams with ANY VERIZON WIRELESS PHONE with ESPN MVP.

Also, ESPN MVP automatically refreshes current scores, so I can discreetly follow games even when I’m away from a TV or radio.

There are many times, especially lately, that I’ve been out on the road and I’ve got to check my scores (much to the dismay of Lady EZ when I check during dinner). ESPN MVP does it and does it easily.

So, just a quick note of thanks to Verizon Wireless, and hopefully a nudge to all of you to go out and get you one of their sweet phones with ESPN MVP installed on it.

Best sports TV technology currently on the shelf: Fox’s old “puck flame” that trailed the puck to help viewers follow it around during hockey games. Anyone else with me on that? Amazing. Sad to see it go.

Worst sports TV technology about to hit the tube: ESPN with graphics that will project whether a ball in-flight will hit the seats during the Home Run Derby. I mean, come on, at least give me some suspense during the Derby, right? I like that one half-second when I’m not sure if Albert Pujols’ ball is going to travel 500 feet or not.

Anyway, here’s the link to the USA Today story.

You ever have so many things you want to talk about, but there are so many thoughts that they all get jumbled up in your head and you have no way of really organizing them?

I am so there.

So, to the random bulletpoints we go.

• Louisville getting the overall # 1 seed was very much deserved. I just thought it was funny how they weren’t even in the discussion for a 1-seed going into Championship Week, and then suddenly, not only are they a 1-seed, they’re the overall one. Weird.
• Anyone see Bracketology on ESPN after the brackets were released? Dick Vitale got visibly upset when Jay Bilas was banging on him for wanting St. Mary’s in the tournament and Arizona out. It was funny. Dicky-V was flustered.
• Louisville potentially getting Ohio State in Dayton does suck. But, the committee did warn us that they were going to try to do everything they could to keep travel to a minimum.
• As Lexington Herald-Leader sports writer Chip Cosby put it last night: “Do you think Tubby and Donna are sharing a chuckle?” I bet they are.
• TOUGHEST REGIONS: Pittsburgh’s region is toughest, followed closely by Louisville, then UConn and North Carolina.
• MY UPSETS: I hate taking trendy picks, but I do have a couple. Western Ky. over Illinois. West Virginia to the Sweet 16 or further. Arizona State to the Sweet 16. I’ve got every 10-seed beating the 7-seed in the first round.
• OVERRATED BY COMMITTEE: Syracuse is not a 3. Xavier is not a 4. Utah is not a 5.
• COOLEST FIRST ROUND MATCHUP: Based on nicknames only… Akron vs. Gonzaga… the Zips and the Zags!
• MOST VULNERABLE 1-SEED: Sorry Cards fans, but the draw is tough. I say Louisville.
• MY FINAL FOUR: Still a work in progress. I used to go with my first instinct, but that’s won me a whopping $0 the last two years. I’ll let you know.