Scorched Earth = Page Views

Today was an icky day on the interwebs as Deadspin decided to post all the old rumors in their inbox after getting scooped on the Steve Phillips story. What most surprised me was how damn vindictive this whole thing is. I just don't get it. From my interactions with AJ, I've always found him to be a nice guy. Accessible, funny, I want to date him, yada, yada, yada.

What happened? As usual, Lozo explained it best. For some reason, AJ lost it when a story he kind of heard previously got broke'd by a mainstream source before Deadspin had it.

Believe me, I know what its like. I constantly gets scooped. Just today I opened my e-mail and got the official announcement about SpikeTV's counter-programming on November 7th to go against the Fedor Strikeforce card. I immediately started writing up a piece for The Rumble because hoping to at least get it up around the same time as the rest of the bloggers who are on the Spike's e-mail list.

Then I looked at MMAjunkie to check a date of a fight and saw that Junkie already had a post up. 2 hours before I even got the e-mail. I had been SCOOPED!

I was pretty upset. So, see? I understand.

That being said, posting those rumors was incredibly off-putting. It wasn't fun to watch. As I said in both e-mail and Twitter-form earlier today, it reminded me of a powerful scene from The Wire.



Yes, I suppose I just compared Daulerio to Marlo Stanfield. Its a simile or something.

My point is, it was like Daulerio was just doing these posts today... because.

Of course, its not just because. I imagine this has been a long time coming. These are items that have been saved for a rainy (or vengeful) day. Finally, after who knows how much prodding, AJ started to empty his inbox and unloaded on people that lots of readers have probably never heard of. Why now after a stupid story about Steve Phillips? This isn't even a story that the non-sporting news cycle will probably touch. This seems like something that's been building as the Dark Side beckoned young AJ.

But, for now, ESPN, go in peace. I hope that 6 p.m. meeting went well. I think the one person who probably enjoyed this the most today (besides Nick Denton) is Sean Salisbury.

[...]

Sleep tight, Bristol...

No clues there. It could always be as simple as page views - today was heee-uge if you're counting the eyeballs on Deadspin. It reminds me of the bump in traffic Deadspin received when the Erin Andrews hit the fan. Of course, back then we were all saddened that some asshole had ruined our good time.

Look, we're here to laugh and have a good time and make the occasional lewd jokes and that won't be abandoned for the sake of reaching some higher moral ground to rise above this unfortunate situation.

Indeed.

What Have I Been Writing!?

It's been a few days since I checked in to tell everyone about the things that I wrote other places that you've probably already read. Geri Halliwell was [picture of girl] at some point this weekend.

Pigskin Pigsplosion - TBL
I think I went 8-6 this week! Don't look now, but somebody's over .500!

New York Times (Finally) Warms Up To MMA - The Rumble
In the past there have been some dumb articles on MMA at the NYT. This was the first one I'd seen there that was positive. I like it when my blood doesn't boil. What a weird phrase. What is my blood doing now? Simmering? What's a word for room temperature water? I guess room temperature will have to work.

Ortiz Draws Griffin At UFC 106 - The Rumble
I didn't think Forrest would be back until like 2011 or something. I wonder if Tito is still going to come out to Mosh? Or maybe he goes old school with some Bizkit? Or maybe a cut from Korn's upcoming release?

Instant Replay in Baseball?? - TBL
I think there should be more instant replay in baseball. People that also thought that argued.

Phoenix Mercury Win WNBA Title - TBL
I cover all the important stuff when I work weekends at The Big Lead. Fun fact: I stole the joke about the Indiana Fever sounding like a corn disease from my roommate. True story.

The People Scheduling The MLB Playoffs Are Idiots - TBL
The game ended after 1:30am on the East Coast. Did I say idiots? I mean those people were brilliant.

WEC 43 Recap - The Rumble
This was a really kick-ass event. I watched Sunday morning and night on DVR. The second viewing was to take notes that became the recap.

There were also some link posts and a Chuck Liddell on DWTS post on The Rumble that you can find here. There's a great video of new UFC Octagon Girl Natasha Wicks at the bottom of page 1. I can't recommend that highly enough.

There are also more smaller pieces at TBL. Author page here. Ooh! Cheerleaders!

Feel free to tell me about all the things you love about me in the comments.