ESPN is really going all out this World Cup. They are spending a ton of money on advertising and just recently announced they are going to televise 25 of the games in 3-D. But more importantly, at least to me is the news of the ESPN World Cup food trucks in New York and Los Angeles.
The sports network has paired up with, none other than, Kogi chef Roy Choi to create a street food menu inspired by the competing countries. The menu looks simple, but knowing Choi the food will probably have some sort of twist to it.
Oh and don’t worry, while you are enjoying your food you can catch the games on a couple of large high definition LCD video screens. So keep an eye out for the truck and tell me how it is.
Jimmy Kimmel sent Guillermo to the NBA Finals Media Day to ask the hard hitting question we were all wondering about. Which players on the Lakers and Celtics have seen the new Sex and the City 2 movie.
You asked for a World Cup preview, so here it is. Courtesy of the great guys over at Sparty and Friends. Actually during the tournament I will be more focused on giving you my daily gambling picks. As some of you might know I am the Franz Beckenbauer of soccer prognosticating. Straight genius!
With the injury to Rio Ferdinand, the captaincy of England has now been handed over to Steven Gerrard. And for that honor we bring you his wife Alex Curran in her photoshoot for World Cup sponsor Hyundai.
With Nike and Puma releasing their World Cup videos it was only a matter of time before Adidas released theirs. Instead of focusing on the game itself, they spent a crapload of money to focus on Star Wars and Snoop Dogg.
What a game! You had Ray Allen killing the Lakers in the first half, and then Rajon Rondo finished them off Mortal Combat style.
But the highlight of the night for me was watching Nate Robinson and Brian Scalabrine do their pop lock dance after one of Ray Allen’s 3 pointers. (Too bad the ABC cameras didn’t get the full version so we will just have to settle for this)
I don’t like NY Post media columnist Phil Mushnick. In fact, I’ve written about it before. I think he’s a hypocrite and a phony and I don’t think anything he says is ever constructive. I am not alone in holding these beliefs.
Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay is not fond of Mushnick either. Especially when Phil goes after Kay’s journalistic ethics. That happened last week. Kay responded Friday on his radio show.
Neil Best has a full transcript on his watchdog blog. Below is a brief sample.
He coached his last game at UCLA three years before I was born.
I have no particular affinity for the UCLA program or any of the players who have graduated from it.
Yet, for whatever reason, I find myself somewhat emotional about the coach’s death.
The question is why.
I think it comes down to this: John Wooden’s greatness was that he wasn’t great. He was a basketball coach. He wasn’t a President or a General or one of the great minds of his generation. He was simply a coach. A man dedicated to making sure his players were prepared from game to game, and through that, prepared for life.
My biggest complaint about sports has always been how serious it takes itself. (Yes, I acknowledge the inherent hypocrisy of my saying that while spending a good portion of my time trying to think up clever things to say about sports in exchange for no money.) John Wooden knew his relative importance and the relative importance of what he did for a living. He was a disciplinarian who had rules for his players. But they were rules for life. He never acted as if the game was the most important thing. He did not compare basketball to war. He didn’t demand that players hold it in their hearts above family or friends or god. It was basketball. Take the lessons you learn on the court and apply them everyday. Hopefully, you’re life will be better for it.
It’s a lesson every ridiculous coach should keep in mind, while he’s screaming till his face turns red and he has spit hanging off his chin.
Here is Nike’s new commercial featuring Andre 3000 covering the Beatles’ “All Together Now†during a Kobe Bryant highlight reel. Don’t worry, if you hate the Black Mamba as much as I do you will still see glimpses of past Nike basketball representatives like Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippen.
I refuse to talk about game 1 of the NBA Finals. It was pretty depressing to watch as a Celtics fan.
