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Join The Lowdown Blog 2012 Fantasy Baseball Pool

If you thought that we were only hockey, football and Formula One fans around here at The Lowdown Blog, you would’ve been wrong. We’re also baseball fans. This year, we’ve got a couple of different rotisserie baseball pools for you to join.

The first is a classic rotisserie league. You compete against the rest of the league on ten different traditional roto stats including runs, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, batting average, strikeouts, pitcher wins, saves, ERA and WHIP. Click here to join the classic LowdownBlog.com Roto Pool.

Our other rotisserie baseball league is based on Moneyball. Bill James would be proud of this fantasy pool because we’ve picked ten stats that follow the classic Moneyball principles. These stats are runs, extra base hits, RBIs, pitches per plate appearance, OPS, pitcher wins, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts per nine innings and saves plus holds. Click here to join the LowdownBlog.com Moneyball Roto Pool.

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F1 Power Rankings: Malaysia Grand Prix

We’re only four days removed from the start of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. Despite how the pecking order looked after testing and qualifying, the top two teams were still McLaren and Red Bull. After that is anyone’s guess. The Mercedes are fast but lack reliability. The two Ferraris are difficult to muscle around a single lap but much quicker over the course of the race. And, most importantly, does last weekend’s race on a street circuit indicate the course this season will take? Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Newsbeat

We’ve actually got some news links to cover in today’s linkdump. Since I don’t actually have anyone in the news to kick off the post with, let’s just go with Jennifer Lawrence who’s in a new movie opening this weekend.

I didn’t think the old saying “love conquers all” included the NHL’s Battle of Ontario. But there was a wedding proposal in Saturday’s edition as a woman proposed to her girlfriend. And the fact that they were cheered and the NHL put a video on their website shows that hockey just might be one of the most progressive major sports in the world. (Puck Daddy)

Why has Tiger Woods’ golf game gone downhill since 2008? Well, it might have less to do with his action on the side as it does with his obsession with the Navy SEALs. (New York Times)

The Obama Administration calls it a war against al-Qaeda. The Republicans call it a war on terror and radical Islam. Guess whose name for the conflict hurt Osama bin Laden’s cause more. (Slate)

After the jump, the celebrity philanthropy lie, the real cost of your cable bill and will the real Mitt Romney please stand up? Continue reading →

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Fails of the Week

Every so often, we take a look at the most epic fails from the week that was in the Fails of the Week. This week, we have five pictures and videos that we think are the most epic fails of the week. Continue reading →

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2012 Hottest Canadian: Prairies & Maritime Regions – Sweet Sixteen

We’re on to the second day of the Sweet Sixteen round of our Hottest Canadian competition. Of the eight women left in this half of the bracket, two of them were upset winners and each were #6 seeds. The rest of this half of the Sweet 16 are the top seeds from the Round of 32. Can our underdogs make their way to the Elite Eight? Continue reading →

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F1 Australian GP: New Season, New Running Order

For the first time since 2010, we’re back with our trademark Formula One race recap and analysis posts. And what a time to bring these back because the running order has been mixed up once again. One thing that hadn’t changed when the checkered flag fell was that the two teams at the front are McLaren and Red Bull. The British squad won the day today with Jenson Button leading the way home. Continue reading →

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2012 Hottest Canadian: Shield & Arctic Regions – Sweet Sixteen

It’s the first day of the second round of the 2012 Hottest Canadian showdown. The original field of 32 has been cut in half to 16. Our first half of the Sweet Sixteen features a pair of upset winners from the Shield Region looking to advance to the Elite Eight. The Arctic Region was all chalk as the favourites made their way to the Sweet Sixteen. Continue reading →

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Wallpapers of the Week: March 18, 2012

I like changing up my desktop wallpaper on a regular basis. My wallpaper at work is even a slideshow so I have a new wallpaper every thirty minutes to change things up ever so slightly. So to help you change things up for your work week, I’ve scoured Flickr for five wallpapers that are worth adding to your collection for this week. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Hung Up And Hungover

It’s 8:00 AM on the east coast on the day after St. Patrick’s Day so I don’t expect anyone to read this until at least six hours after it was posted. Anyway, I’ve been a bit busy this week covering the entertainment beat and working on the 2012 Hottest Canadian showdown. However, I haven’t forgotten the usual Sunday posts. But first, let’s kick this one of with my favourite SI Swimsuit model Cintia Dicker.

Would you believe that the biggest casino in America is actually in Connecticut? But Foxwoods Casino might not be able to hold onto that title as the casino industry is in massive trouble. (New York Times)

Don’t like the current state of professional wrestling? Well, blame Rick Santorum. The candidate for the Presidential nomination for the Republican Party was a lobbyist who helped get the wrestling industry deregulated which started us toward modern pro wrestling. (Mother Jones)

If you thought wrestling was bad for doping, wait until you find out what’s happening in wheelchair curling. (Deadspin)

After the jump, strange sports stats no one asked for, the guy behind Kony 2012 has too much fun in public and Gus Johnson’s greatest hits. Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition

Hide your kids. Hide your wife. I’m doing the entertainment beat this week. This St. Patty’s Day, everybody’s a bit Irish. Except the movies because we’re still two weeks away from the next Liam Neeson movie, Wrath of the Titans. We do have two Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Fucking Swanson) movies with this weekend’s releases of 21 Jump Street and Casa de mi Padre. Right, before I go too far off-track, here’s one of the stars of Casa de mi Padre, Genesis Rodriguez.

Here’s one of the biggest and strangest stories to circulate the blogosphere in recent years. Folks are speculating that the tell-all blind item commenter “Himmmm” is actually Robert Downey Jr. That might actually be the ballsiest thing any A-list star has ever done if true. (Gawker)

After the jump, Community is back, an R-rated cut of Galaxy Quest might exist, Lamar wants off reality TV and The Walking Dead does Office Space. Continue reading →