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Sunday Link-Off: Taking It To The Track (And Field)

We’ve reached the second Sunday of the Olympics. The track and field events have started at the Olympic Stadium. Therefore, it’s only fitting that we continue our women of the Olympics series with British heptathlete and Olympic women’s heptathlon gold medalist Jessica Ennis.

WADA and the IOC say that Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen isn’t on drugs. After seeing this article of a Chinese athlete training factory, I can kind of see how that might happen. People will object to cheap labour making their $100 designer t-shirts but not this? (The Daily Mail)

Everyone thinks Penn State’s football program was hit with rather harsh, nearly permanently crippling, penalties for the Sandusky scandal but it could have been worse. Penn State had to either accept the sanctions handed down or risk the death penalty. (Outside the Lines)

GQ put together a very well-written feature about the Anders Breivik massacre in Norway. (GQ)

After the jump, Olympic media coverage issues, Mitt Romney’s Twitter nemesis, and a two-minute summary of life in America. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: These Games Are Our Games

Another Wednesday, another set of our favourite links over the last three days. In our continuing series of the women of Olympics, here’s Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice.

There have been two big stories so far in this Olympics. First is Ye Shiwen swimming as fast as Ryan Lochte but passing her drug test. The other is NBC getting Twitter to ban their #1 Olympic coverage critic. (Deadspin)

The thing about Guy Adams’ ban is that Twitter alerted NBC to a possible terms of service violation so NBC could file a complain to get Adams’ account suspended which is especially suspicious considering that NBC is partnering with Twitter for Olympic coverage. (Daily Telegraph)

Adams’ account was reinstated yesterday afternoon after a detailed defence of his position and NBC succumbing to public pressure by withdrawing their complaint. (The Independent)

After the jump, a Canadian perspective on the Olympics, what’s wrong with video game reviews and David Feherty is clinically insane. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Newsbreak

Last week might have been the slowest sports week of the year but that doesn’t mean we have a shortage of links today. It just means that we have few sports links. Anyway, let’s kick off with Canada’s Nina Dobrev in her place.

While Canadians were proud of the role that our armed forces played in Afghanistan, our allies weren’t so impressed. In fact, they think we were way out of depth. (CBC News)

A law professor wrote a paper for the Saint Louis University Law Journal about Jay-Z’s 99 Problems. Jay’s got 99 Problems but he’d have far fewer if he knew the law. (Gawker)

The Freeh Report into Penn State’s role in the Sandusky affair was released last week. Suffice to say that no one in power at Penn State comes out looking good. (Yahoo Sports)

After the jump, ESPN has a problem with sources, some Comic Con coverage and what’s in Big Mac sauce. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Behind The Camera

Shockingly, I had enough time away from Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut to put together a linkdump for today. Anyway, here’s Candice Swanepoel who regular readers are familiar with.

Not a lot of people seemed to like the premiere of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. I did. So did legendary news anchor Dan Rather. (Gawker)

While some have described The Newsroom as a love letter to the news industry, it could also be called a map for CNN to return to success. (New York Times)

The return of Sorkin also gives us a chance to look back at his original TV show, Sports Night. (The New Yorker)

After the jump, what kind of Canadian are you, a war reporter profiles Charlie Sheen and an epic Mike Tyson interview. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Fix Is In

After a week’s hiatus, I’m back with another edition of the Wednesday links. What can I say? I was busy last week. To make up for the extended gap between linkdumps, here’s British model Alexina Graham. If you’re a regular here, you’d know about my soft spot for redheads.

For the first time in a couple of years, I skipped a Manny Pacquiao fight. It turned out to be a good because he got screwed. (Deadspin)

Statistically speaking, based on the scorecards of boxing writers, Pacquiao’s chances of losing that fight fair and square was less than 0.6%. (Ken Pom)

Keeping with sports, here’s an oral history of the 1992 Dream Team. (GQ) There’s a documentary about the team on NBA TV tonight.

After the jump, a look at #NASCAR, the world’s greatest Nickelback concert description and some Portal videos. Continue reading →

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The Mass Effect 3 Controversy: What Went Wrong And Why It’s Not Entitlement

Last Friday, I posted my spoiler-free review of Mass Effect 3. By going spoiler-free, I didn’t discuss many of the more controversial moments of ME3 as that would involve spoiling most of the game to give any sort of context. While many gamer complaints about the game are written-off by larger gaming media outlets as “gamer entitlement” or gamers looking for a “happy ending,” many gamers have valid complaints about what was promised by BioWare and what they actually shipped in March.

After the jump, I take a look at some of the controversial moments in ME3 ahead of today’s EA press conference at E3. Continue reading →

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Saturday Link-Off: Pre-E3

Never fear. Jackie will be here. Just not today. He’ll have the Entertainment Link-Off tomorrow. Next will be a big one on the blog because it’s both E3 and Canadian Grand Prix weeks. How will we be disappointed with the E3 announcements this time? But don’t worry, Lindsay Ellingson never disappoints.

Ten years after Ken Caminiti admitted to using steroids, which started the PED witch hunt in baseball, Tom Verducci looks at some players’ choices whether to juice or not. (Sports Illustrated)

We’ve all heard of the McLaren F1. It’s the classic 90s hyper car which does over 240 MPH. Well, its designer, Gordon Murray, is back with a micro car which is smaller than a Smart car, gets 96 miles per gallon and does over 100 MPH. It’s probably the future of affordable driving. (Bloomberg)

Windows 8 is nearing release. The Release Preview edition shows that Microsoft has a complete game changer on their hands this time. (Engadget)

After the jump, mutiny at Indy, Doctor Who compared with Community and soccer goal celebrations go Michael Bay. Continue reading →

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Video Game Review: Mass Effect 3 (or This Is It, Isn’t It)

A couple of months behind the rest of the world, I finally managed to finish playing Mass Effect 3. Being late to the party meant that I got to hear all the controversy over the ending and first day DLC. BioWare had a near impossible effort to make everyone happy with the concluding part to such a great trilogy. Were they able to pull it off or were the public right that EA is the worst company in America? Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Better Yet, Don’t Call Me

For a post-Memorial Day blog, I’ve ended up with more links than I expected. Usually this is one of the quieter blog weeks of the year. Christmas/New Year’s is the only quieter week. Out of spite, here’s Canadian actress Laura Vandervoort.

In case you didn’t know, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring what you write on social networking sites. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, we now know which words trigger their filter. (Forbes)

The Republicans are bitching about how awful Obama is but some of his supporters aren’t too happy about the last four years either. (Gawker)

Boxer Johnny Tapia died this weekend. He was probably best known for having a 4-1 record against death having been pronounced clinically dead four times prior to the last time. (Deadspin)

After the jump, Star Trek’s lamest aliens, what went wrong at 38 Studios and a couple of good Call Me Maybe covers (if there is such a thing). Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Race Day

It’s the greatest day in motorsport today. That’s why today’s linkdump is up early. In a half-hour, it’s the Monaco Grand Prix. That’s followed by the Indianapolis 500 in the afternoon and the Coca-Cola 600 this evening. So before the first green flag of the day wave, here’s American model Alyssa Miller. She seemed an appropriate choice for today. By the way, she’s not on Maxim’s Hot 100 list but Amanda Knox, Lois Griffin and anyone who did a Maxim shoot over the last 24 months or will do one appearing in the next three to six months is on there. What a waste of everybody’s time to acknowledge its existence.

Given the trouble that NCAA athletes seem to get themselves into, programs are using new ways to monitor their charges. They’re now contracting out to a social media monitoring service in order to keep their athletes out of trouble. (Deadspin)

Facebook opened just over a week ago at $38 per share. Now, it’s under $32 per share. How could the opening valuation be so wrong that Facebook has lost 16% of its value in a week? Maybe it’s because the current system is broken. (New Yorker)

The RIAA are fine, upstanding group protecting the interests of musicians. They’re so keen to protect music that they sued Limewire for $72 trillion. (AV Club)

After the jump, why can’t Leafs fans get over the 1993 Western Conference final, some Mass Effect links and wrestlers versus inanimate objects. Continue reading →