Sports

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Wednesday Link-Off: Super Bowl Hangover

nina-agdal-aerie13-04Well, since I’m travelling this week, it’ll be a shorter linkdump than usual today. I’m hoping to have that that all fixed by Sunday. To make up for it, here’s Nina Agdal. Did you read my SI Swimsuit Issue cover odds post yesterday? There’s a reason why I’ve featured her today.

Rick Reilly’s column about Colin Kaepernick was pretty bad but the Times-Picayune’s write-up of the Playboy Super Bowl party might just top it. (Deadspin)

What is Fox’s Gus Johnson going to do now that the football season is over? He’s off to Europe to be groomed as Fox Sports’ new voice of soccer ahead of the 2018 World Cup. (Sports Illustrated)

Speaking of soccer, they’re once again in the midst of a massive match-fixing scandal. Well, if they’re willing to accept bribes to host the World Cup, which is the biggest sporting event in the world, why not accept bribes for everything else. (National Post)

After the jump, CBS’ big fail of the Super Bowl, some very Canadian sports kerfuffles, and The Walking Dead as a sitcom. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Happy Pro Bowl… Oh, Who Am I Kidding?

erin-heatherton-victoriassecret13-04It’s PRO BOWL SUNDAY! Are you ready for some half-speed football?! A Hawaiian party! The whole house can’t be bothered so let’s get it over with!

Take that Hank Williams Jr. Even I can write football theme lyrics. Alright, to keep with the football theme of the start of this post, here’s Erin Heatherton. She’s dating a Cleveland Browns tight end you haven’t heard of and won’t hear about again if they break up.

The US Congress approved a temporary debt ceiling increase until mid-April. Presumably, the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives are going to look for spending cuts but if you look at the numbers, the Obama administration has already started reigning in spending. (Washington Post)

A court says that Rob Ford can still be mayor of Toronto. He may be a national embarrassment but he’s a national embarrassment that we can all laugh at. (Gawker)

Want to treat everyone fair and equally? Well, that’s not the Boy Scout way. The Boy Scouts of America is threatening to throw out a troop that doesn’t want to discriminate against gay members. (Mother Jones)

After the jump, how ESPN dropped the ball on Manti Te’o, the history of THQ and Hollywood sucks at math. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: That’s No Moon…

michea-crawford-paindusucre13-03Another week, another… Well, I can’t say dollar any more since WP’s in-house ad service doesn’t seem to be showing ads. Anyhow, I’ve been a little torn between here and et geekera which probably means posts are or will get a little thin between the two blogs. If you want to write for either site to make my life a little easier get your name out there and have a little fun at the same time, you can email me at thelowdown [at] live.ca.

As for today’s links, let’s start with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

For a while, it looked touch and go as to who would win the US Presidential election but Barack Obama pulled it out. What really helped him stretch his lead early in the campaign was that Reddit AMA. It was a big risk but it paid off with a big reward. (BuzzFeed)

The petition to have America build a Death Star got enough signatures to require a response from the White House. They responded in absolutely epic fashion. (The White House)

Alabama won their 15th national title in college football last Monday. The game was the highest-rated program in cable TV history and the BCS TV deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So where does all that money go? (The Fiscal Times)

After the jump, a big change at Gawker, the science of Serenity and changes coming soon to YouTube. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: A Week at the Movies

jessica-chastain-gquk13-01Have you been reading Scott’s list of the Top 45 Movies of 2012? If you haven’t, you’re missing the most thorough breakdown of the year in movies that I’ve seen. Today, he’s dropping Part Three which covers #15 to #1. Therefore, I thought it was fitting to lead off this linkdump with actress Jessica Chastain.

Blue Brothers is one of the all-time great comedies. This oral history looks at how the movie almost never got made. (Vanity Fair)

If comedies aren’t your speed, maybe you’d rather read about Ben and Matt got their big breaks with Good Will Hunting. (Boston Magazine)

Okay, so Notre Dame got hilariously beaten by Alabama for the BCS Championship. My question is whether they even deserved to be there. After Penn State was nearly sanctioned out of existence for the Jerry Sandusky affair, the Notre Dame rape scandal was swept under the rug allowing them to get within one game of a national championship. (The Nation)

After the jump, did Dalhousie women’s hockey get screwed out of a season, Tony Bourdain vs. Travel Channel and a montage of montage. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Year-in-Review 2012

kate-upton-vogue12-07It’s time for our year-in-review linkdump. Rather than the usual assortment of fun and/or timely links, it’s time to look back at the year that was. It’ll also make our lives easier if we end up doing a year-in-review podcast but that would mean we do a podcast which means it’s not likely to happen.

Anyway, let’s kick this post off with our 2012 woman of the year, Kate Upton. If you’re wondering how we select the blog’s woman of the year, we use maths and search results. If you don’t like our pick, you only have the internet to blame.

For the second time, Barack Obama was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. The other time was after he won the 2008 Presidential Election. (Time)

From proper news to the terribly written news, it’s a look at the worst columns of 2012. (The Atlantic Wire)

But if you’d like to read something a little better, the NYT has their 100 most notable books of 2012. (New York Times)

After the jump, we look at 2012 in pop culture, sports and more. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: The Right Time To Talk

chrissy-teigen-beachbunny12-07It’s the end of the week… Or maybe it’s the start of a new week. It all depends on your perspective and calendar. Maybe we should go with new week after the last couple of weeks. Anyway, let’s get started with one of Twitter’s common sense advocates, Chrissy Teigen.

The gun control debate might finally get going in earnest after Friday’s shooting in Newtown. If you’re looking for facts about mass shooting in the United States, start here. (Wonkblog – Washington Post)

Everyone that says that we shouldn’t politicize the Newtown shooting is politicizing it by trying to let any discourse over gun control end quietly. When they stop using that line, those trying to protect “freedoms” will start parroting these lies. (Think Progress) The fact of the matter is that if gun control would eliminate freedoms, traffic lights and speed limits should go too. If you think if this wouldn’t have happened if the kids and teachers were all packing heat, you are also obligated to believe that people should be free to buy cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and bath salts without fear of criminal penalty. It’s just the same damn thing.

The truth is that now isn’t the right time to talk about gun control. It’s too late. Everyday is the right day to talk about gun control. (The Daily Beast)

After the jump, the media’s coverage of the shooting, a breakdown of the new Wii Mini and Gangnam Style martial arts. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Power Brokers

laetitia-casta-hm12-04I’ve had a busy week this week. I’m working on a few interesting posts for the next couple of weeks that I think that you guys will like. But first, here’s French model Laetitia Casta who is making a brief return from an apparent semi-retirement.

A simple definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results. So looking for solutions to the fiscal cliff, some Politico writers asked some rich folks what they’d do. Surprisingly, they’d stay the course with tax cuts for the rich and corporations and the Politico boys bought it. (Esquire)

Did the press actually miss the single biggest story in the 2012 US Elections? (Huffington Post)

A fake study about Fox News viewers having below average intelligence fooled the folks at Yahoo News. However, that’s not to say the “results” of the “study” are untrue. (Daily Kos)

After the jump, don’t fuck with the internet’s power brokers, Valve/Steam’s game changer and Matt Bonner has a massive slam dunk. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Toward the Cliff

anna-kendrick-trevorproject12-03It’s the end of the week which means it’s time for more links. There’s not too much planned for the week ahead. If the videos are ever uploaded to YouTube, we’ll have a VGA trailer roundup. We’ll also have our first indie game review later this week. For now, here’s Anna Kendrick. She might not be one of the blogosphere’s favourite women but she is one of ours.

With America ready to dive off the fiscal cliff, the question is starting rise as to whether the US and global economies would be better off with a Republican plan to cut social spending and “close tax loopholes” or letting the deal expire. (The New Republic)

The gun control debate is starting back up again. We’ve essentially reached the point where the battle lines are being drawn and people will have to pick sides. (The Shadow League)

On that note, given how much America spends on defence, isn’t it time that the defence budget is reduced? (Business Week)

After the jump, ESPN’s spin on plagiarism, some brief looks at the money of the video game business and a little bit of Metallica. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Sports Bucks

michea-crawford-paindusucre12-01If you thought there was a lot to read on the blog last week, wait until you see we have what we have in store for this week. We have a review of the Mass Effect 3 Omega DLC, a look at the top Canadian racing driver prospects and our annual look at the Spike Video Game Awards and none of those are short posts. It’ll be a good week if you like long reads.  Anyway, let’s kick off the links with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp says that it’s time Republicans stop worrying about ridiculous pledges they make to earn endorsements and worry about the electorate and being accountable to the voters. (New York Daily News) By the way, if you read the comments, you can see the Tea Partiers take issue with her common sense point of view in this column.

Forbes again released their list of the value of NHL franchises. The problem is that they seem to be making up the revenue numbers used for valuation and ignoring the fact that there’s a lockout. (mc79hockey)

You shouldn’t need any help figuring out why you should have Notre Dame football. If you do need help, here’s a Hater’s Guide to Notre Dame. (Deadspin)

After the jump, David Stern is drunk on his own power, the return of Iron Chef isn’t as successful as hoped and a modern Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: The Blame Game

Well, this will be interesting. Getting featured on Freshly Pressed brought in many new readers who are probably expecting something a bit more political and well thought out. They’ve probably figured out that we only do the long read thing as more of an occasional thing than daily thing. Anyway, if you’re new to the blog, when I do linkdumps, I try to feature Canadians. For example, today’s linkdump starts with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

Mitt Romney called his donors in a post-campaign debrief. Why does he think he lost the election? Obama handed out “gifts” to the youth and minorities. In other words, he blames 47% of Americans again. (Los Angeles Times)

While executives at the now closed Hostess Brands blamed the union for driving them out of business, they might need to look at the mirror. This year, the increased executive pay by 80% while tripling the CEOs pay. (Think Progress)

Fox News president Roger Ailes says that the media isn’t doing a good enough job of ensuring that President Obama is held accountable for his decisions. He says the press is supposed to watch the powerful. However, his track record doesn’t show that he held the Bush administration accountable. (Gawker)

After the jump, where the GOP have been losing votes, sports on South Park and the Princess Bride on ESPN. Continue reading →