DJ Steve Porter mixed commercials for the NBA during the playoffs last year. I interviewed him here about the experience. “Press Hop” was a YouTube video he published that originally got the NBA’s attention, and now he has released a sequel. Here’s Press Hop 2:

Here’s the original Press Hop:

ESPN also did a behind the scenes report on Porter:

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ESPN deletes story one reporter wrote about “wild” LeBron Vegas party.

MITCH BLATT

I reported last week on how ESPN had a record of cowtowing to LeBron James.

As noted:

[ESPN writer Tom] Friend didn’t get his facts wrong but LeBron felt he portrayed his mother, Gloria, in an unfavorable light. From that day forward, LeBron put The Magazine on his banned substance list.

Who knows whatever could they have been reporting about Gloria in an unfavorable light???

Well now ESPN deleted a story one of its writers wrote about a LeBron James-hosted Vegas party that James was paid $100,000 to host.

Sportscasm reports: “The story was full of tales of James’ ego, naked ladies, and the out-of-control party James threw that night.”

Luckily, the story was captured and is available at Sportscasm in it’s entirety.

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I’ve been away for a few weeks so before I chime on the baseball pussies, what on earth was that hot dog fiasco a few weeks ago? Takeru Kobayashi, the Japanese glutton, spent a night in jail after causing a disturbance at the annual pigathon known as Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. He was in a contract dispute and did not enter the sloth filled event, but then chose, at the crowd’s urging, to run onstage and ruin the victory celebration. I was unaware that hedonists had contracts to begin with; just what does that particular piece of legalese contain? Clauses for diarrhea and puking? A special exemption if you shit yourself? A man who overeats for a living does not strike me as someone who would require a lawyer. A team of doctors certainly and perhaps a shrink or two and maybe a fully bonded plumber on 24 hour call, but a lawyer?

And how was it a celebration anyway? Which of these dysentery laden gentlemen has actually won anything other than a likely enema and an increased chance of contracting rectal tumors the size of honey dew melons? A stage full of slobs who are too full to do anything but belch and explode their insides into a rancid toilet bowl is not exactly a place I want to hang around and drink alcoholic yellowish liquids, particularly ones that are not bottled.

Was anyone up there barking into their cell phone, “Honey, you gotta drop by the party, I can literally smell the burps in the air. (more…)

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It’s the freakin weekend baby, just past midway in the baseball season, weeks after LeBron’s decision, and the Tour de France is the only other thing besides baseball…

So to spice things up, we bring you… TAIWAN NEWS!!!

This is all from NMA News, a Taiwan gossip network that makes hilarious animations of recent events.

First, here’s a report on Sarah Palin’s potential presidential run in 2012, complete with footage of Palin fundraising at a strip club.

Click to read the full version for videos of Al Gore’s sexual assault, Conan and Leno going to war (literally), Steve Jobs trying to explain the iPhone problems, and more.
(more…)

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A LeBron-related entity reportedly paid Jim Gray’s expenses related to his appearance questioning James on “The Decision,” but the whole set up of the show itself gives ESPN incentive to cover James favorably.

CNBC reported last week that Jim Gray, LeBron James’ interviewer during their greatly criticized “The Decision” special, was paid for expenses by LeBron James’ camp, not by ESPN.

Of course that would be a tremendous breach of ethics to accept payments from the person on whom you are supposed to be reporting, but it’s not like ESPN is going to report critically on LeBron James, anyway. After all, isn’t ESPN receiving revenues from their positive coverage of LeBron simply by the fact that he is one of their networks biggest draws?

LeBron wasn’t going to go to ESPN if they asked him tough questions or reported critically on him in the past. The show got a 7.3 rating, their highest rating for any programming this year outside of NFL games (that includes NBA playoff games). ESPN has continued to interview LeEgo a few more times since then, and Bleacher Report notes that in none of ESPN’s interviews with James did ESPN ask why James chose to announce his decision in such a public manner that was destined to leave his hometown fans heartbroken (more so than if he had announced it quietly).

ESPN knows well what happens when you aren’t on LeBron James’ good side. Early in James’ career, he boycott (more…)

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Maureen Dowd, who last week wrote a column on Miami’s Hoops Cartel wrote about George Steinbrenner’s opinion of Seinfeld, and apparently Steinbrenner really is just like the version of himself portrayed on Seinfeld.

According to Dowd’s column, Steinbrenner didn’t want to be appear in the show and was confused when he say George Costanza’s name in the script:

“I thought you said this doesn’t involve me?” he bellowed.

…

“Then,” Steinbrenner demanded, “what are all of these references to ‘George’ in the script?”

Sussman was stunned but tried to explain: “ ‘George’ is George Costanza. He is a character on the show. He is a friend of Seinfeld’s, and he plays the role of one of your employees.”

Steinbrenner acted incredulous, intoning: “I thought you were smarter than that. Don’t you see? This is how they are trying to get at me. They have named their character after me.”

Read the whole thing here.

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Why spurn a city, leave the NBA hating you, and your other suitors bitter? This is why!

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With the Midsummer Classic in the books, there’s no better time to look ahead.  Here’s What we know, what I forsee, and what will happen (maybe)

SCOTT JACOBS

The All Star Game in Anaheim, Los Angeles United States of America, Planet Earth was a real clunker yesterday.  3-1 for an All Star Game?  That’s like going to a fourth of July fireworks show in New York City and seeing one minutes worth of fireworks.  Talk about adding more fuel to the fire that great pitching beats great hitting.  The NL essentially won on a bases clearing double.  That clutch hit aside, they were basically a one hit wonder.  Like Sisqo.

And so, with the NL ending their embarrassing 13 year All Star game drought, we can finally bring ourselves back to meaningful baseball.  This time it counts?  A Cub made the play of the game and a Diamondback corralled in the final out.

Now we can turn to more important things like –

(Interrupted)  Boycott Arizona 2011!  Boycott Arizona 2011 (pushes person away).

Good god, how’d that person get in here?  O well, back to baseball.  This has been a really tight race so far, with the biggest division lead being held by the surprising and bankrupt Texas Rangers. A lot of people expect the Rangers to dump Cliff Lee because they can’t afford to resign him (paging Mark Cuban), but I think a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999 (remember the days of Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez?) will think twice before selling their playoff chances short.  In the AL Central another great race is brewing between the white-hot Chi Sox and the Tigers (with the Twins hanging in there too after a fast start).  The Royals as usual are irrelevant.  In the AL East, as expected the Yanks, Rays, and Red Sox are running the gauntlet.  The Orioles are beyond awful. (more…)

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