3 More Things: Episode 31

More Information on Sports-Casters Episode 31

1. We are entering very exciting times for The Sports-Casters. We seem to be getting through the dog days of summer with some fantastic shows. In the last month, we have been lucky enough to talk to A.J. Daulerio, Damon Hack, Jane Leavy, Mike Harrington, Greg Wyshynski, and Jonah Keri. Yesterday, we we spent some time talking to Jon Wertheim for the third time and Stewart Mandel for the first time.

Mandel was an awesome guest with a ton of information. It was one of those interviews that moved back and forth quick with a smooth question and answer. The only downside was that he was kind of quiet. We upped his level in the beginning of the interview and sometimes he was loud. Overall, the sound quality of this interview could have been better. I was interested to hear Stewart's thought's on Nebraska moving to the Big-10 and he made a great point. He said that teams in the Big 12 like to play the spread and pass the ball all over the field. In the Big-10, the game is more about running the ball and playing defense. That style is more in line with what Nebraska has been doing for the last 100-years. With Ohio State in trouble and headed down, Nebraska has an opportunity to take over the Big-10.

Jon Wertheim is one of the nicest guys in the business. He is easy to book and the conversation on the podcast is always interesting. The reason I have booked Wertheim three times in 31 episodes is because he writes about topics that make me think, and I want to talk about the work with him. The first time Jon was on we focused on his book, "Socrecasting: The Hidden Influences to how Sports are Played and Games are Won." The last time Jon was on we talked about the article he wrote for Sports Illustrated about the fall of Tiki Barber. Yesterday, we talked to Jon about his time at Wimbledon and an piece he wrote for the Scorecard section of Sports Illustrated about twitter. Every time Jon Wertheim writes, I think. Can you ask for anything more than that from writer?

One last note on Wertheim, Jon loves to come on The Sports-Casters. I take pride in the fact that Jon is a friend in the business and a guy that would help me out anytime I asked. I can't wait for the second edition of Scorecasting to be released.

Our third guest last night was a bit of a wild card. My initial thought was to recruit someone who writes about Apple on the internet and spend fifteen minutes of a show during the summer talking about some nerdy stuff. I got on the phone with Kirk McElhearn (a senior writer for Macworld) and instead of talking about Apple he wanted to to talk about the Tour de France. It ended up being some interesting content about something that we would have never talked about otherwise. Kirk had some first hand experiences such as watching Lance Armstrong cycle past his house on the way to winning his fifth Tour. Towards the end we talked for a few minutes about Apple, but it wasn't as much as I would have liked.

The quality of the McElhearn interview was a bit disappointing. We spoke skype-to-skype and maybe the distance between us (3,739 miles) might have caused the quality of the connection to be less than stellar. Kirk was a great sport and he even linked to our site from his blog, Kirkville.

2. I got an email today from a good friend who was concerned that we missed an edit when we put together the show yesterday. Occasionally, Don or myself will screw up a name or an intro and we scrap it and start over. Sometimes its really funny and ends up disappearing on the cutting room floor. Yesterday, Don and I decided it would be funny to leave me botching Kirk's last name in the show as a small way to pull back the curtain a little bit. We have done this a few times in the past. The good news is that we get to hear, "Remix to a Remix" two times. If you haven't, check out Episode 31 of the show and shoot us an email to tell us how much you loved it.

3. Three takes on three things that will dominate my time between now and the start of Episode 32.

1. The main topic of Episode 32 will be the upcoming MLB trade deadline. I looked ahead and locked down Ben Nicholson-Smith from MLBRumors.Com. I am going to have to research what teams should be buyers and what teams should be sellers. The Dodgers and Mets are really interesting teams to me. Neither squad wants empty seats in September, but both teams might need to shred some salary to deal with legal issues. The Dodgers are 13.5 games behind the Giants for first place in the N.L. West and 14.0 behind the Braves for the N.L. Wild Card. The Dodgers have had trouble making payroll all season and the McCourt family divorce has kept plenty of fans away from the stadium anyway. Other than Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, I would think you could take on any of the Dodgers players (and their salary) if you think they can help you go deep into the playoffs. The Dodgers payroll is still north of 100-million dollars and I would think they might want to lower it at the deadline. The Mets are 12 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 7.5 behind the Braves for the Wild Card. The Mets payroll is almost 120-million dollars this season, and that is a lot for a team with a potential cash flow problem. Last week, the Mets traded closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers. I am sure they are looking to shed some more of that fat. Carlos Beltran is earning over 19-million dollars and could be an attractive player to a contender. Remember how awesome Beltran was for the Astros as they made their march to the World Series? The Mets sure do. 
2. Is this lockout going to end? Is it okay for me to be completely frustrated with it? I want to book a big football guest for next week's show, but I don't want to do it if we are only going to be talking about a never ending lockout and a bunch of if's and guesses clouded by the uncertainty of what will be collectively bargained. It seems that a deal is on the table and the owners and players need to vote on it. I am so sick and tired of headlines that say that the lockout should be ending soon. What the hell is soon? I don't want to hear about lights at the end of the tunnels. I don't want to hear anything other than, "This hideous lockout is over and it's time to start free agency and get the players into camp." 
3. The player that I am most interested in following when free agency begins is DeAngelo Williams. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 60-million dollars under the rumored salary cap and wouldn't it make a lot of sense for them to take a run at Williams? I think so. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Buccaneers are players for Reggie Bush if the Saints decide to cut him loose. Josh Freeman emerged as a quality NFL QB and Mike Williams played outstanding as a rookie WR. Offenses usually try to build around a set of triplets and the Buccaneers need a running back to complete that trifecta. A few other places for DeAngelo Williams? I think the Dolphins, Cowboys, or Patriots could make sense. One last option, Carolina might just step up and lock Williams up. They drafted Cam Newton first overall in the draft and the last thing you want to do is start removing weapons from an already punchless offense. 

That is it for tonight...Please say goodnight, Miss. Bella.