Joe the Plumber gets book deal, skips Vegas event

The Las Vegas Review-Journal Norm Clarke reports that Joe the Plumber (aka Joe Wurzelbacher) backed out of being among the celebrities to headline the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The event is the world's largest gaming trade show. Clarke said Joe the Plumber is busy working on his second 15 minutes of fame. Wurzelbacher missed the Las Vegas event to attend another event in Los Angeles. Clark also reported that Wurzelbacher was working on a book. Clarke wrote: "He settled on Austin, Texas, writer and publisher Tom Tabback to help him write 'Joe the Plumber -- Fighting for the American Dream.' It is to be released Dec. 1."

Stiles Points looks at Tressel's close wins against Michigan

Stiles Points, a Michigan man in the mold of Bo Schembechler, stays in attack mode and looks at Jim Tressel's close wins against Michigan. Stiles Points says Tressel could easily be 4-3 or worse against Michigan and not 6-1.

The old Los Angeles Rams liked to "Ram it"

This video is from the mid-1980s when Eric Dickerson played for the Los Angeles Rams. This has to be a music video each player deeply regrets. And the phrase "Ram it" is repeated and repeated and repeated. We get it: They like to ram it. Didn't anybody have a dirty mind back in the 1980s to realize that maybe this might be taken another way? It's a five-minute music video that starts about 25 seconds in.

The official Washington Redskins blogger answers a few questions about the blogging life

Matt Terl runs The Official Washington Redskins Blog. He's been blogging as a paid member of the Redskins staff since the beginning of training camp. He admits he was a part-time blogger (which means he had a real job and enjoyed blogging on the side like most if us) before landing with the Redskins. In another interview (which is definitely worth listening to) about his position with the Redskins, he describes his job as a "fan let loose in Redskins Park." For more about Terl, check out his explanation of what his blog is all about.

Anyway, Terl was kind enough to take part in our "Third and Five" question and answer series. The "Third" part is three questions for Terl. The "And Five" part is five quick personal interest questions about the web. Here goes:

THIRD
1. When did you start with the Redskins and what's the biggest difference from being an unpaid blogger (who was doing it for the love of the game) and one who is being paid (and now has more time to dedicate to the blog)?
I started with the Redskins on the first day of training camp this year. The differences between doing this on my own and doing it for the team are more or less infinite, but the main one is that it's much different writing about people – players, media, coaches – when you actually see them every day. One of the hardest parts of my first few weeks here was meeting people face-to-face that I'd written about less-than-kindly, and having to own up to things I'd casually written back in the day after a few drinks.

2. What are your plans for this blog -- this season and beyond?
My goal has always been to try to show some things that we fans don't usually get to see. Sometimes these are at least a little glamorous (the Welcome Home Luncheon, or players' cars and houses), other times they're pretty mundane (the equipment room, other behind-the-scenes at Redskins Park kind of things). I pretty much intend to keep doing all those things, only moreso.

I'm doing more with players away from the team's facility – which is going to be a necessity for the offseason, I suspect – and I've been trying to do more with the coaches as well. In many ways, it's the sort of thing that grows itself: the more I'm here, the better I get to know people, and the more possibilities present themselves.

3. I know you have been on the job for only a short time, but any advice for us part-time bloggers (aka guys like you who were working 9 to 5 and blogging as their hobby)?
The only advice I can give from my experience is not to hesitate if an opportunity seems to present itself. The chain of events that got my name in front of the Redskins was a series of longshots, but clearly it paid off in the end. If you're doing good work, people will respond to it; you just have to do everything you can to make sure that they see it.

AND FIVE
Terl not only offers his selections, but he provides us with some insight into his answers, which is always greatly appreciated.
1. Favorite football web site?
Football Outsiders. I'm a big fan of people taking new approaches to old statistics, and they're pretty much the gold standard of that in football writing.

2. Favorite non-sports web site?
I'm a food nerd, so probably something in the food category. Maybe chow.com, which has also been useful finding restaurants on the road in the new job.

3. Favorite sports web site?
God help me, I mainly use ESPN.com as my quick check for general sports stuff, just out of years of habit. I think Yahoo Sports does really good work, and I think FOXSports.com is vastly underrated, but I've been looking things up on ESPN for more than a decade now and it's a tough habit to break. Does that count as favorite?

4. Favorite blog?
I've been particularly loving Shutdown Corner at Yahoo Sports lately. MJD has done fantastic stuff wherever he's been, and the addition of Chris Chase (Player Hater's Ball) has only improved an already good blog. Also, Dan Steinberg's DC Sports Blog is as good as a mainstream full-time sports blog could possibly be, and I'd be deeply stupid not to mention it.

5. Old school question (aka not an Internet-related question): Any book you have read recently that you are recommending?

This is one of those paralyzing questions for me, where I immediately forget everything I've read for the last twenty years.

Let's see… sportswise, I loved Stefan Fatsis's A Few Seconds of Panic. His book on Scrabble, Word Freak, is one of my favorite pieces of non-fiction from the last decade.

It's a presidential election year, so I did my quadrennial re-read of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, which remains frighteningly relevant 36 years on.

And as far as fiction goes, I've been struggling to get through Neal Stephenson's Anathem. His Cryptonomicon is one of my favorite books ever, and I have a lot of time for his stuff, but so far this one isn't clicking for me.

Thank you, Matt Terl, for your time. Check out his blog.

Mel Kiper and Todd McShay battle over Texas-Texas Tech

More of ESPN's Mel Kiper and Todd McShay. This time to pair discuss the Texas-Texas Tech game on Saturday. After Kiper picks Texas Tech, McShay slips in a shot at Kiper. "Very interesting, Mel. I think you are way off, but I think it's very interesting," said McShay. Kiper counters with, "It's not the first time you said that." McShay follows with, "And probably not the last." These two are getting like John Clayton and ex-ESPNer Sean Salisbury.

When McShay and Kiper speak, we listen: Ga. vs Fla.

ESPN's Todd McShay and Mel Kiper share their thoughts on the Georgia-Florida game this weekend. Interestingly, they exchange a few words about the quarterbacks Tim Tebow of Florida and Matthew Stafford of Georgia. When they move on to different topics, the moderator jokingly tells them to feel free to disagree. They get into about the 2:45 mark for about 20 seconds or so. And then McShay gives Kiper a shot at the end when they make their picks for the game.

E:60 reports on competitive eating

E:60 features the story behind competitive eating contests. It's 15-minute report on eating. Eat your heart out, folks.

Dan Patrick only MSM member not on Favre's side?

I don't watch enough TV and listen to enough radio, but it seems like Dan Patrick is the lone member of the mainstream media to rip Brett Favre for sharing information with the Detroit Lions. A few sort of questioned Favre's action, but most (Peter King, Mike Golic, etc.) wanted to sweep this under the rug.

And when I say mainstream media, I guess I mean the big dawgs in the business. I am sure some of the local newspaper/radio/TV guys in New York, Detroit and Green Bay, didn't ride to Favre's rescue. Heck, they were the ones asking Favre the tough questions during his press conference.

Anyway, this leads me to Dan Patrick, who actually ripped Favre on his radio program Thursday. Here are Patrick's words, after he was told he was getting mail from listeners who were saying he was a Favre hater as well as a Favre apologist:

How did I become a Favre apologist? I don't hate Brett Favre. But I don't think he is being totally honest here that it was total B.S. that he contacted the Lions. "Okay, I did contact the Lions. Okay, I didn't tell them anything. All right, we only talked for a couple minutes. Okay?" It's wrong if there was any conversation about the Packers and anything to do with the game plan. So for the NFL players, former NFL players, analysts, apologists, who keep saying, "There's nothing wrong with this. That is happens all the time." Please don't take the broad brush to this. It is Favre, Packers, Lions. You don't play for the Lions. If you played for the Lions and you told them every play in the playbook, I don't have a problem with that. But don't make it seem like guys do this all the time. This is Favre, Green Bay and the Lions. That doesn't happen. We will never get to the true core of this, but I believe Jay Glazer is telling the truth when he says this is how it came out. If you heard Glazer on the show, he said, "I am a million percent positive on this."

By the way, if you go to Patrick's web site, there's a photo of him with Favre at last year's Sports Illustrated ceremony to award Favre as the magazine's Sportsmen of the Year.

As always, when Mel Kiper and Todd McShay talk, we listen

Draft experts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay talk about the weekend college football games and some of the players involved in these game.

ESPN's Outside the Lines focuses on Palin, Obama & basketball

On Sunday's version of Outside the Lines, ESPN focuses on the basketball talent of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Obama, whose brother-in-law is the head basketball coach at Oregon State, is known to play basketball while on the campaign trail. Palin, who is known for her looks, was a member of her hometown high school team that won a state title. Palin (No. 22 in photo) sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left as her team posted a five-point win over a team from Anchorage. The Alaska Governor of her high school championship victory said:

"It absolutely changed my life. It may sound hokey -- that state championship really was a very significant time in my life because we knew that our team, together we had overcome such adversity… I can relate so much of the principles of the lessons learned then to what we are going through right now.”

The show airs 9 a.m. Sunday on ESPN.

If you love colors, you'll love this NFL story

Colourlovers.com has broken each NFL team down by the colors. After all these years, you would think you know your favorite team inside and out, right? Ok, well let's see. New York Jets fans, what are you team colors?

If you answered green and white, you get half a point. The real answer is hunter green and white.

Let's try again. The Dallas Cowboys? Answer: royal blue, metallic silver-green, Navy blue, silver, and white.

Philadelphia Eagles? Answer: Midnight green, black, white and silver.

Detroit Lions? Answer: Honolulu blue, silver, black, white.

Of course, the Oakland Raiders colors are black, silver and white. Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers are black and gold. But all is not what it appears with all the teams.

The site also posts each team's color uniform, white uniform and alternative uniform (if they have one).

ESPN's McShay on Ohio St., Penn St., Pryor and Clark

As always, when ESPN's Todd McShay (or Mel Kiper) talks, we listen. Today's topics: Ohio State, Penn State, Terrelle Pryor, Daryll Clark.

Some guy named Donald Brown leads country in rushing

Check out ESPN.com's interview by Brian Bennett's with Donald Brown (right), who leads the nation in rushing. Brown's average of 167.7 yards per game is 20 yards more than his closest competitor. One question thrown Brown's way is the possibly of a Heisman. Here's the UConn back's answer:

To be honest, as long as we keep winning, that's all I care about. We let the last two games slip away, and hopefully the outcome will be different Saturday. You know, the offensive line has been making it easy for me, making my job a lot easier. [The attention] is great, but you've just got to worry about one week at a time and stay focused and that stuff will take care of itself. I'm not worried about any of that stuff.

ESPN airs Favre's denial, story now over

For a couple days, ESPN ignored the Brett Favre story of him possibly sharing information with the Detroit Lions. Yesterday, ESPN aired clips of Favre denying that he shared info with Lions GM Matt Millen. "Outside the Lines" did a nice job questioning the possibly of Favre doing so. Other then that, ESPN still doesn't seem eager to tackle this topic.

McCain, Obama provide introduction to 2008 World Series

Nice job. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama provide the introduction to the 2008 World Series for Fox.

Elementary teacher screws up, posts best time in marathon

An elementary teacher posted the best time in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco but wasn't declared the winner. It was all her fault. Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher, failed to get into the "elite" group of runners that started 20 minutes before the rest of the ordinary runners. Nike's response: "At this point," Nike media relations manager Tanya Lopez said Monday, "we've declared our winner."

Like Nike says, Arien O'Connell should leave nothing to fate.

Cleveland Browns Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson dies at 73

Cleveland Browns Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson died Monday at the age of 73. He blocked for three other Hall of Famers -- Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell. Brown was quoted as calling Hickerson “the greatest downfield blocker in the history of pro football.” Hickerson was inducted into the Hall in 2007 when Brown, Kelly and Mitchell pushed Hickerson's wheelchair onto the stage in Canton. Hickerson played in the NFL for 15 seasons, all with the Browns. He was a sixth round draft choice out of Mississippi. He was inducted into the Hall with Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Charlie Sanders, Bruce Matthews and Roger Wehrli.

PFT reports: "ESPN BUTCHERS THE FAVRE STORY"

ESPN finally mentioned the Brett Favre information peddling story. But Pro Football Talk goes on the offensive, ripping ESPN for its poor coverage of the Brett Favre Saga, where the former Packers QB shared information with the Lions the week they were playing the Packers. Here's a short take of PFT's report:

Written with surgical precision aimed undoubtedly at avoiding the key admissions Favre made during his Wednesday press conference, the item crafted by “ESPN.com news services” strongly suggests that Favre denied everything that Glazer reported.

Here’s the only quote that the article contains: “I didn’t give [Matt Millen] any game-planning. I haven’t been in that offense in over a year. I don’t know what else to tell you. It was pretty simple.”

But Favre said so much more than that. And any journalist or editor committed to understanding a story completely wouldn’t ignore the other statements from Favre that provide the rest of the picture.

Here's a report on ESPN after Favre's press conference. Mike Golic seems like he is defending Favre.

Stiles Points defends Lou Holtz

Stiles Points, a Michigan fan, defends former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, who attempted to crack a joke in comparing Rich Rodriguez to Adolph Hitler. Stiles Points asks: Where was the outrage when Madonna compared John McCain to Hitler? Stiles Points writes:

I am neither liberal nor conservative, but i think it stinks when the liberal media and bloggers will go after a 71-year-old man who clearly misspoke...but none of them have the grapefruits to take on the left-wing liberal nutjob Madonna.

Long national nightmare over: ESPN mentions Favre saga

FanHouse reports that ESPN's Sage Steele mentioned the story of Brett Favre possibly shearing secrets with the Detroit Lions. FanHouse writes:

Now, on Sportscenter's live telecast this morning, Sage Steele brought up the fact that there was communication between the two sides, the first mention of the story since it broke.

Stuff you may want to read

ESPN.com's Chris Low shares the path to the BCS title game for Alabama, LSU, Florida and Georgia.

More to come, I hope.

An Instant Classic: Packer 48, Lions 25 (NFL Week 2)

It was Week 2 that Brett Favre allegedly aided the Detroit Lions. It was Aaron Rodgers' first start on the road. Rodgers was 24-of-38 for 328 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers jumped out to a 21-0 lead before they saw it disappear quickly.

Simply Red: That's Tressel's message

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel tells his people to wear red to the game with Penn State Saturday night. Tressel, who wore a bright red jacket to meet the media Tuesday, said: "I wanted to make sure I got the message out loud and clear that we need to be wearing red on Saturday night." (By the way, I thought the Buckeyes' colors were Scarlet and Gray? What's with the red?) Here's someone's attempt to belittle the Buckeyes. You gotta love the Buffalo Bills logo on the side of the Ohio State helmet.

Hockey players take jock-ularity to new level

Hockey players celebrate, and then one experiences a little jock-ularity. The player attempts to hand it to an official, who wants no part of it.

Future beauties: Never leave purse (with pot in it) at crime scene

TMZ.com is reporting that Miss Louisiana Teen USA was stripped of her title after the ill-attempted dine-and-dash procedure. Rule No. 1: Avoid leaving your purse behind.

(Lindsey) Evans was arrested this weekend after she and a group of friends allegedly tried to dine-and-dash -- all over a $46.07 bill. Problem -- the pageant queen left her purse at the scene of the crime. She went back to retrieve it, and was busted when cops found pot in the purse.