MARVIN HARRISON
Seemingly wholesome Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison is under investigation for a shooting that occurred outside a bar on Tuesday in his hometown of Philadelphia. Lt. Frank Vanore said Friday that Harrison, 35, has not been arrested nor have charges been filed against the former Syracuse star.

“He (Harrison) was interviewed,” said Vanore. “Why he was interviewed, that is all a part of the investigation. No one is a suspect.”

Granted, perception is not always reality and it is impossible for anyone who doesn’t genuinely know Harrison to testify about his character. But, from afar, Marvin-freaking-Harrison is being investigated for shooting a man! I thought Ned Flanders would rape a nun before the legendary Colt was being fried by Philly’s finest for firing a firearm. As the adage goes, “Don’t sit too close to the ballerina. You will lose the illusion.”

LEITCH VERSUS BISSINGER
The founding editor of the enormously popular Gawker Media sports blog Deadspin, Will Leitch, was verbally-slaughtered by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Buzz Bissinger this week on Bob Costas’ HBO series “Costas Now.”

The menacing and over-the-top Bissinger intimidated Leitch to the point that the blogger looked like he wanted to crawl into the fetal position to get away from the man who penned “Friday Night Lights.”

“I really think you’re full of shit,” Bissinger sermonized Leitch. “I think that blogs are dedicated to cruelty, dedicated to dishonesty… It is the complete dumbing down of our society.”

Leitch looked pathetic during the segment and his lack of moxie makes me think that a yellow streak runs down his scrawny back. It was truly disheartening to watch the Godfather of Sports bloggers go down like an intern in the Oval Office to an aging windbag like Bissinger. In my eyes, Leitch is dead and there is no other way to spin it.

ROGER CLEMENS
I will leave you all with a joke that my friend and co-worker told me earlier in the week.

Q: What does Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens and a blackjack dealer have in common?

A: They both hit on 15.

Anyway, Gilbert Arenas took first place on my list. Go on for the next 18:

1.) Gilbert Arenas Agent Zero’s is widely considered one of best athlete blogs. Agent Zero won the Weblog’s award for best celebrity blogger of 2007. His blog offers extremely indepth (and long) posts on the NBA, the Wizards, and what’s happening in his life. Some recent excerpts:

“Varejao, he asked for $60 million and ends up with three years for $17 million. You could have got that contract last summer! You done missed 20 games of the season getting paid the same money you could have got last summer.”

(*-Arenas doesn’t actually write his blog himself, but he tells his writers what to write.)

2.) Curt Schilling He updates more often–about three times a week–but his posts are often not as interesting. He posts less about sports than Arenas and more about whatever he is thinking. However his posts about the steroid scandal have been extremely interesting. As a harsh critic of steroid use, he offer candor that you don’t hear from other players:
His Thoughts on the Mitchell Report

3.) Curtis Granderson Granderson only posts during the baseball season, but his posts are very informative and entertaining. They are mostly just about the Tigers. They give more info on what fans might want to know about what’s happening, for example detail on the hot prospects or insight on a series.

4.) Bryon Friedman You don’t know who Bryon Friedman is because he’s a ski racer. His blog is an interesting look at a sport that Americans don’t know enough about. Also, it has cool videos of ski races and crashes.

5.) Pat Neshek Neshek plays for the Twins. He has a lot of interesting posts (year-long, not only during the season), like his series on what it’s like to be drafted. His site software is pretty weird, so I can’t link directly to any of those posts. That’s the one problem. He has black writing on a red background, which is interesting, I guess, but not optimal for a web page.

6.) David Wright Like Granderson, he only posts during the MLB season, but his posts are entertaining and include good pix.

7.) Etan Thomas Warning: This blog is not about sports. Thomas blogs for the Huffington Posts about politics. Yes, his views are wrong, but how many athletes blog about politics?

8.) Ian Crocker The US swimmer’s posts are almost as long as Arenas’, but he posts less often (though I’m sure he posts himself). They aren’t always about swimming.

9.) Moritz Voltz Certainly a well-writen blog, but I’m not into soccer.

10.) Donovan McNabb Short and to the point, his posts are mostly about football.

11.) Ben Roethlisberger Unfortunately, he doesn’t post about motorcycling.

12.) Greg Oden His posts are even shorter than McNabb’s posts, but he has an interesting feature where he answers fan questions.

13.) Rod Benson After playing ball at Cal, Benson is trying to play his way onto the Nets. Along the way, his honest, though unfrequently updated, blog posts entertain. He also took the time to make an obnoxious title with photoshopped pictures of himself, like a real blogger.

14.) Evan Tanner UFC Fighter. It’s not a lot for words, but it has some cool pictures. (Which make it take a while to load.)

15.) Jeff Samardzija Sample post: “Glad I graduated Notre Dame last year…”

16.) Mike Conley, Jr In Conley’s defense, Oden has a lot more time to blog now that he isn’t playing.

17.) Carmelo Anthony Just learn 2 read txt msg language b4 tackling his.

18.) Dontrelle Willis Willis started his after getting traded.

19.) Diana Taurasi From the WNBA…

20.) Rajon Rondo The 2nd year point guard for the Celtics, who has been assigned the position of taking the Celtics down in the playoff with his inexperience, talks about what it’s like to be expected to take the Celtics down in the playoffs with his inexperience.

Mitchell Blatt

Leitch Takes First, See Where The Rest Rank