Linkstigation: Cobra Brigade, Serious Tip, and Wall Street Journal

I don't like linking that much, as explained in my Blog Laws I Love to Break, but I do want to show some respect to my betters.

Jack Cobra is now featuring various lady bloggers from around the sports blogland. I think this is important because often the ladies aren't able to network quite as well as us guys (because there are fewer lady bloggers) and they thus go unread. It's a shame. Check
his feature on the ladies from Babes Love Baseball.

Jordi is doing a feature on the sports calamities that have hit the NFL, WWE, and NBA. It's an excellent series and idea; it just seems all these crises have hit at once. Let me moralize for a minute, if I may. Sports and sports blogging are an escape, and that's fine. But if you truly are using sports as some sort of utopia to hide from real issues in your life, such as a spiritual void, family/significant others who deserve more of your time, etc., this week should be a wake-up call to you. It is to me, to be honest. Sports isn't any more free of problems than anything else in the world. It's tragic that this summer we've seen athletes and other sports personnel (allegedly in some of these cases) give in to senseless violence, blatant cheating, and drugs. I think all we're missing is a sex scandal to hit for the temptation cycle here, heh.

But I hope also that some people struggling with smaller versions of those same temptations realize that there can be severe consequences. I know several young people in the 80's were warned off cocaine after what happened to poor Len Bias. Although I'm saddened by the alleged tragedies/crimes, I hope that some similar good comes out of these cases in sports now. Anyway, off the soapbox for now.

Oh wait, back on for a second. I was a little upset to see how much shoddy reporting went down with this referee case. As said in the Wall Street Journal, it was NOT so obvious that Donaghy was cheating. All these junk statistical results being published to say it was obvious...well, by saying junk you know how I feel about it. I've yet to see any realistic evidence that Donaghy could have been detected by statistical analysis.

And who started the rumor that referees get meager wages? I saw that over and over again in the articles from media and bloggers alike, but no one corrected it until Stern himself clarified it in the news conference. You bloggers already know this, but again, it's surprising how much misinformation can surround stories in sports. Anyway, I had hoped to get to my Blog Laws I Love to Break series, but next time; too much going on this week.