When it comes to sports writers, I usually know the basics about what happened… I watch too much ESPN. I like to get the more off the wall observations, interesting trends and just unique perspectives. The three sports links I have to the right are written by three of the most entertaining and informative writers I have found. I don’t always agree with what the say, but I’m always entertained.

Bill Simmons writes about once a week or so for ESPN. He writes about lots of different stuff, so it is hard to really classify, except to say it is sports related. He does weekly picks of the NFL games and has his wife do them too.

Dan Shanoff now has an independent blog that is now on blogspot.com. Previously, he did the Daily Quickie on ESPN. He writes daily about everything sports. I don’t always agree with him, but he usually presents a different view from what I’m use to. He does a quick overview of what happened yesterday and what’s coming up.

Gregg Easterbrook is the final writer listed. He writes a column called Tuesday Morning Quarterback. His column has bounced around for a bit (ESPN to Football Outsiders to NFL.com) but is now back on ESPN. He writes a recap of the past weekends events in the NFL and keeps track of a lot of off the wall stats. He also likes to do research on the NFL cheerleaders and conveniently provides links to the best pictures. This is a column I look forward to each week. Unfortunately, it usually comes out about lunch on Tuesday, not the morning… he writes too much.

That’s it for now. Just thought I’d share why they are listed on the right. Check them out. If your reading this somewhere besides blogspot.com, come visit my blog.

If you have some other really good sports writers to check out, let me know.

So, I’ve been wanting to write this for a while. Javon Walker did it and pissed me off. Branch of New England is doing it now and pissing me off and I don’t even care one iota about New England. I’m know there are a let of other players that have done this, but these are just the ones that came to mind first.

Every year some random player has a big year, decides he is playing better than he is being paid and decides to hold out and demand more money. This pisses me off. They are under contract and should honor it.

Now, you’re first words out of your mouth to come back at me is “but the teams can cut them at any time?” Yes, but that is beauty of the NFL. The have to keep playing at their high level to keep making money. It is what separates the NFL from the NBA and MLB. They have guaranteed contracts and players just don’t care like they use too.

I believe that the vast majority of teams are going to re-up these players’ contracts before they expire and they are going to be very handsomely paid. Until then, these players need to realize that the team they are playing for gave them a chance to play and signed them to a contract that nearly every NFL fan would consider a very lucrative contract. The team took a gamble on these players and paid them a lot of money to play a game. Some times the teams win on these gambles and the players play a lot better than they are being paid, but more often than not, they are getting paid a lot more than their play would warrant. If they keep playing at their high level, they’ll get paid.

Sometimes the players do get signed to fat contracts and end up sucking. They get cut. Player doesn’t get the rest of his contract, team usually has to eat a big chunk of their signing bonus in salary cap space. Yes this part of the game, but it is part of the NFL, you play or you don’t get paid.

Now, I’ll whole heartedly except hold-outs when one thing occurs. When I see the first player signed to a lucrative contract that has a bad year and comes back to the team and says something to the effect, “Hey, I sucked last year, I wasn’t worth the 4 million you paid me last year. Instead of my 4 million this year, just pay me a mil and we’ll call it even. And Mr GM, I’ll play better this year.”

When that day happens, any player that wants more money can hold out to their hearts content. Until then, play. Play like it’s a contract year. You’ll make more money than most people dream of.

McDonald’s vs Hedgehogs. Apparently, McDondald’s didn’t like hedgehogs. Specifically, the lids from the McFlurry were killing them. Seemed the hedgehogs, like pretty much everyone else, like the McFlurry and they would get the heads stock in the lid and then couldn’t get them out. Their tasty treat would be their last meal. After several years of research, McDonald’s managed to come up with a lid design that wouldn’t kill the hedgehogs. What took them five years to redesign a lid. It is just a piece of plastic.

A Star Trek Thesis. Seems you can write a thesis about just about anything. Seems Dr. Baker wanted to analyze the elements of the stories from Star Trek and how they relate to ancient mythology. Now I don’t know that much ancient mythology, just the basics, but even I could see how some of the stories related. I didn’t get a PhD. You can elements from mythology in all kinds of modern stories. Back in high school, I even wrote a paper comparing the role of fate and free while in Oedipus and Terminator 1 & 2. My teacher at the time, a much older lady at that time, hadn’t seen either Terminator movie and actually went out to rent them. I really wish I would have gotten her reaction about the movies. I got an A on the paper.

A Wish Come True. Ever dream about blowing something up? Has your dream ever come true. Well, for one lucky commuter who dreamed of blowing a bridge that was the source of many traffic jams, this wish came true.

A Bad Time to Die. Seems right now in Tirana it is a bad time to die. They might not have a place to put you. As of Aug 29, they only had room for one more week’s worth of dead people. What happens after that? They just going to stack people up in the streets.

Training Camp Survivors. Now that NFL training camps are over, there are 1696 survivors that are traumatized and unable to talk about their experiences for the past 5 or so weeks. The reports are varied, and often confused, but the consensus is the players went through prolonged physical and mental tests that “could possible kill lesser men.” Some of them were even drafted into these camps from serene college campuses. At times, some of the players would be called into the coaches office and never seen again. Sounds like the makings of another Steven Spielberg movie.

Some random stuff from the past couple of weeks…

We Believe… American’s as whole believe a lot of unbelievable things. Once again a great ESPN columnist has put together a great list. Go check out the article by Jim Caple over at ESPN.com

AVP… And no, I’m not talking about Aliens vs. Predator. I’m talking about AVP Pro Beach Volleyball. And it is possible to learn about life by just learning about AVP. At least California life. Plus, it is one of the best uses ever for swim wear. And even people who drop hundreds on sun glasses and sandals still go bonkers for free stuff. Go read the article by Mary Buckheit over at ESPN.com

One thing that could relate to Mad-City, is apparently when large events are in progress, you must walk your bike while near the event, even when you are on the bike path. The one redeeming quality about Mad-City’s ski site is the bike path. A lot of scenery goes by. Bad part is, some bikers insist on going 30+ MPH while there are large crowds and there have been way too many close calls.

Breast Awareness Campaign… Over at the Onion, they have another great story… Apparently enough people just aren’t aware of Miss Simpson’s and she wants more attention. Go get the full story here.

National Recap coming soon…

My title makes it three times. Not sure what I mean? Go read Bill Simmons article “A Sports Guy can dream…” on how he would improve sports and the world. He’s got 33 good ones. I especially liked number 31. Can someone tell me the joke behind number 32? I got an idea, but I’m not sure. Enjoy!