MVN | Most Valuable Network: Independent sports media

ALL
STAFF

Movin' On Up

By Mike Scioscia's tragic illness | December 3, 2008 | Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness

Depending on exactly what point in the space-time continuum you're viewing this from, you're thinking one of two things: 1) What the hell happened here? Where's the MSTI I'm used to?2) I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, everything looks fine. Friends, we have big news. Mike Scioscia's tragic illness has joined the MVN family of blogs. Why? Simple - because we're greedy. No, it's not that we're really making any money off of this, and that's not why we do it anyway. It's because as much fun as it is to ridicule Bill Plaschke and Jamie McCourt, it's even more fun to do it in front of as many people as possible. And with the newly-redesigned MVN looking for a Dodgers blog, we thought this was as good an opportunity as ever. As you can see, things look mostly the same (edit: okay, they might not at the moment. But trust...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB

The Ravens Roll On

By Mike Brown | December 3, 2008 | Ravens Roost

As I was out of state during the Ravens/Bengals matchup (Yes, I was able to watch it on TV, or else I wouldn't have went out of state) this is my first chance to crtique the game, and I can do it in one sentance; It was an ass whipping. No, maybe that's too simple an analysis. It was a game that the Ravens needed to win, and they made sure they wouldn't be denied. The Ravens offense had a field day in this one with Joe Flacco throwing for a career, young one that it is, high 280 yrds., 2 TD's, and Mark Clayton picking up where he left off against the Eagles with 5 receptions for 164 yards, and a score. The pass he caught for a touchdown was one of the 5 best I've ever seen in my lifetime. Running full stride with a defender to his...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Mark Clayton, Ravens NFL

Ducks Busy Off-Ice in Coming Weeks

By Karen Francis | December 3, 2008 | On the Pond

The Anaheim Ducks will be keeping busy on and off the ice this month. First off is the upcoming ninth annual Dux in Tux event that will happen on Friday, December 5, at the Balboa Bay Club. Ducks players will be decked out in their formal finery and serving supporters and sponsors a gourmet meal.In addition to the meal, there will be a live and silent auction, VIP reception, and presentation of the annual grants from the Anaheim Ducks Foundation to recipients. Jean-Sebastien Giguere and his wife Kristen, along with Todd Marchant and his wife Caroline will head up the event, as they have the past several years. Marchant will be giving a keynote speech and it is highly likely that rookie Bobby Ryan will be called upon to speak as well, a sort of rookie hazing.On Saturday, December 6, there are two Ducks sponsored events. The first is an...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Anaheim Ducks, NHL

On The Broncos Rollercoaster--Want to Get Back On?

By Nick | December 2, 2008 | Thin Air

Trying to predict the outcome of a Denver Broncos game is becoming futile. You could suggest that the team is playing to the level of their competition, explaining amazing wins on the road but losing to bottom feeders like the Chiefs and Raiders. Or you could say those two humiliating losses are due to the fact that AFC West Divisional games are simply unpredictable, no matter the circumstances of records. How about the speculation that with the Broncos being forced to change so many players on defense due to injury, offensive coordinators have a tougher time to gameplan against a unit that's nevertheless one of the least talented in the league? Or is it the Broncos themselves that are not used to each others' playing habits, as they don't practice or play on the same squads with any frequency? Or maybe the inconsistency in play can be blamed on...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Denver Broncos

Plaxico done for the rest of the year

By | December 2, 2008 | Big Blue 101

The Plaxico Burress "situation" has reached some finality. At least for the 2008-2009 season. This evening, the Giants have decided to place Burress on "non-football injury list" and suspend him for four games which allows them to remove him from the roster, retain his pay, and delay further action until after the season. Plaxico has been described as "remorseful" during his lengthly visit to Giants Stadium today. The nonstop media circus at the stadium was unable to capture any words from AP or Burress; however, now that some closure has been established, we can hope for a meaningful public statement from Burress, AP, and Tom Coughlin. The financial implications will be deep for Plaxico. Assuming he is able to stay in blue in 2009, he will lose $823,529 in salary and might not get a $1 million roster bonus due to him on December 10, as reported by Ralph Vacchiano. In...

Read more | Discuss | Tags:

Jimmie Johnson, Kansas Speedway news and more...

By Richard Ginn | December 2, 2008 | The Pit Stop

Sporting News has come out today and have named Jimmie Johnson as the driver of the year.Ray Evernham has made it official today in buying East Lincoln Speedway.Rodney Childers is going over to be the crew chief for David Reutimann. Rodney was the cref chief for Elliott Sadler this year.Roush Fenway Racing has announced today that Donnie Wingo as the crew chief for Jamie McMurray.Brian France says that it is more likely that Kansas Speedway will get a second Sprint Cup date than Kentucky Speedway getting a first....

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Brian France, David Reutimann, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Kansas Speedway, Rey Evernham

Do you have to be bad to win?

By BillsGirl25 | December 2, 2008 | Circling the Wagons

After spending Thanksgiving in Buffalo at home with my family, I came back to Manhattan to the massive media storm surrounding Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants. After reading about the incident, I was consumed with a ton of anger. Now I'm not a New York Giants fan, so truthfully I should have cared less about Burress. But what really pissed me off was the fact that despite what Burress has been accused of, the Giants will still continue to play as amazing as they have been and most likely, will make a return to the Super Bowl this year. After watching the Bills' humiliating loss to the San Francisco 49er's this past Sunday, I couldn't help but wonder if you have to be a bad person off the field to win on it? Besides Burress and the Giants, think about Tom Brady. He leaves his girlfriend...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, Plaxico Burress, San Francisco 49er's, Tom Brady, Tony Romo

It's Official: Pat and Kevin Williams Suspended

By Anthony Hall | December 2, 2008 | Vikings War Cry

Straight from the NFL itself: The NFL announced Tuesday the suspension without pay for four games of six players -- Charles Grant, New Orleans, Deuce McAllister, New Orleans, Bryan Pittman, Houston Will Smith, New Orleans, Kevin Williams, Minnesota and Pat Williams, Minnesota -- that violated the NFL Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances. The players specifically violated a longstanding provision of the policy relating to the use of diuretics and water pills, which serve as masking agents for steroids and are potentially dangerous to the health of players.I'm not a lawyer, so I'm admittedly fuzzy on the idea of...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Minnesota Vikings, NFL, Vikings

Avery Suspended - When Will He Be Banned?

By Karen Francis | December 2, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Not that Sean Avery needs one more inch of space to discuss his antics, but his most recent offense could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. The Dallas Stars are in Calgary to face the Flames and Avery felt it important to address personal issues in front of the Canadian media. Apparently Avery is still peeved that Elisha Cuthbert broke up with him over a year ago. Now that she is dating Flames defenseman, Dion Phaneuf, Avery deemed it important to slam both Cuthbert and Phaneuf and stir up a bit of a hornet's nest and get the Flames off their game. By now, everyone knows what Avery said, and it isn't worth repeating. Tacky and tasteless would be two words to describe it, though.As a result of having no self control and acting like a junior high boy, the NHL has suspended Avery immediately for conduct "detrimental...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Dallas Stars, NHL, Sean Avery

MVN College Football Top 25: Bama Tops Regular Season

By Austin Baird | December 2, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Normal 1 2008-12-02T22:27:00Z 1 1 1 11.1282 0 0 0 Rank Team Last Wk. 1 Alabama 1 2 Texas 3 3 Oklahoma 2 4 Florida 4 5 Southern Cal 5 6 Penn State 7 7 Utah 6 8 Boise State 9 9 Texas Tech 8 10 Ball State 15 11 Texas Christian 13 12 Cincinnati 16 13 Georgia Tech 21 14 Georgia 14 15 Oklahoma State 11 16 Oregon 19 17 Missouri 12 18 Brigham Young 18 19 Michigan State 22 20 Pitt NR 21 Ole Miss 25 22 Boston College 23 23 Northwestern 24 24 Iowa NR 25 Virginia Tech NR ...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: NCAA, NCAA Football, NCAA Football Top 25

Plaxico, the Giants and other news and notes from around the NFL

By Andrew Strickert | December 2, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Plaxico Burress has been charged with two counts of felony possession of a weapon, following an incident in which he accidentally shot himself in a nightclub last Friday night. Burress could face incarceration for 3½ to 15 years. Even if he gets off, he's probably played his last game as a Giant. Giants captain Antonio Pierce may be in trouble as well. He's accused of hiding the gun Burress accidentally shot himself with and Giants fans aren't happy with Pierce or with the club's decision to let him play against the Redskins. New York may have strict gun control laws but several Giants players defended Burress. On the other hand, Burress may be an idiot for carrying an unlicensed gun into a nightclub. Here's my question, does a temporary insanity defense apply here? The sadly ironic thing about this situation is it occurred prior to the game in which the Redskins honored...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins

NFL Stock Market Week 14: Franchise Quarterback Roulette

By Greg Trippiedi | December 2, 2008 | MVN Outsider

This week, we examine efforts by second opportunity head coaches in losing seasons, call into question the franchise QB label for some AFC passers, and try to figure out just what the heck is wrong with the Chargers. This is your weekly look at the NFL stock market on MVN Outsider!RisersPlayer: QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore RavensAt it's most basic levels, football analysts will question whether or not a team's quarterback has what it takes to be the passer the franchise needs. Coming out of Delaware, there were significant questions surrounding Joe Flacco, whether or not he was able to milk enough experience out of his three years at Delaware to compete in the NFL, why Pitt gave up on him so fast if he was indeed an NFL prospect, and yes, why his team wasn't competitive against App State in the DI FCS Championship Game. If Flacco hasn't yet established...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL stock market, San Diego Chargers

An Interesting Interview

By | December 2, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Last Wednesday afternoon, I conducted an interview with Seth Rorabaugh of the Post-Gazette's Pittsburgh Penguins blog for Kukla's Korner. Seth was insightful regarding how he got into the game, how he started his blog, the future of hockey blogging, his surprises and disappointments regarding this year's Penguins team and his predictions for the Stanley Cup Finals.If you would like me to do conduct these kinds of interviews for MVN, please let me know and I will see who I can get.For your viewing pleasure:Patrick Hoffman: How did you first get into hockey?SR: When I was in third or fourth grade, I started to get a little interested in hockey because there was this Mario Lemieux guy everyone was talking about. My family then moved to Charlotte when I was in fourth grade any interest I hockey was put on hold because the Carolinas aren't exactly a hockey hot bed. Hurricane...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seth Rorabaugh

Big Ten Basketball Preview: Is it Michigan State's to lose?

By Jaymes Langrehr | December 1, 2008 | MVN Outsider

With the Big Ten's football season in the books and only bowl games left to play, it's time to turn our attention towards the hardwood. Big Ten basketball tends to resemble Big Ten football in a lot of ways -- hard fought defensive battles, low-scoring games, every team beating each other up, and generally looked down upon by most of the country. Hey, it may not be flashy like the ACC or Big East, but you can't argue with results -- Wisconsin is one of only a handful of teams in the country to win 30 games in each of the past two seasons, Tom Izzo has taken Michigan State to four Final Fours in his career, and it wasn't long ago that Ohio State and Illinois were contending for national titles.Last year, Purdue snuck up on everyone to become a contender for the Big Ten title. They came up...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Big Ten, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, NCAA, NCAA Basketball, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Does Stephon Marbury Have A Future As An NBA Player?

By Brad Berreman | December 1, 2008 | MVN Outsider

With all the drama surrounding New York Knicks (for now) guard Stephon Marbury so far this NBA season, the question that remains is this: Would another NBA team give Marbury a chance to play for them? It's virtually a foregone conclusion that Marbury will not be a Knick much longer. A trade seems unlikely, so the team will likely buyout the remainder of his contract. Which would make him a free agent. Marbury's likely salary demands may take a lot of teams out of the picture of signing him for the rest of the season, and perhaps longer then that if there is mutual interest in signing him to a long-term contract. Marbury has been fairly well traveled in his career, playing for Minnesota, New Jersey and Phoenix before joining the Knicks as a favorite player of former Knicks' coach and front office head Isiah Thomas. He has a history of not...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: NBA, NBA Outsider, New York Knicks, Stephon Marbury

MVN Live: Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sam Panayotovich | December 1, 2008 | MVN Outsider

This Wednesday marks the fourth episode of MVN Live, the network's premiere source for live talk on the biggest events throughout the sporting world. Join Sam Panayotovich and Alan Smodic at 6 p.m. ET as they preview the Atlantic Division showdown between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers. Main headlines include the red hot starts for both teams, how a new-look Rangers squad is progressing in the post Jagr/Shanahan/Avery era, and whether or not the duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin is the best in all of hockey. Listen in the guys analyze the teams, break down the matchups and talk nothing but hockey right up until the opening face-off. Interviewees include Adam Caldwell and Derek Rocco from The Pensblog, and Ranger Report's Sam Weinman. The broadcast is powered by UStream.tv and will be available live from anywhere on MVN, as well as on demand by downloading...

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Alan Smodic, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Lundqvist, MVN Live, New York Rangers, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sam Panayotovich, Scott Gomez, Sidney Crosby

A Montage From People Who "Get It"

By Amar Panchmatia | November 27, 2008

Sports writers that we can be thankful for on this Thanksgiving holiday: The two biggest NBA myths around are that LeBron James needs to be in New York and that the league needs the Knicks to be good. Anyone who still believes you can make it only in Manhattan probably still calls remote controls "clickers." This isn't the Walter Cronkite era, when we got our news from men sitting at desks in New York. These...

8 recommendations | 1 Comment

Happy Skanksgiving!

By Fresh (WC) | November 26, 2008

Skanksgiving: a time to share joy, cocktails, and inflated stories of success with the majority of your graduating high school class. "People who get excited about New Years Eve are d-bags. Skanksgiving is where it's at," offered loyal CD reader and problem drinker John Bucher. "If every day was Skanksgiving, you could say goodbye to the Taliban and hello to world peace." But it won't be all fun and games for one quiet St. Louis suburb...

7 recommendations | 6 Comments

Peter Gammons checks in with Fire Brand

By Evan | December 1, 2008

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Gammons, who may, before all is said and done, be known as the most popular and influential baseball journalist in the history of the sport. Getting his start at the Boston Globe and spawning the Sunday Baseball Notes section of which Nick Cafardo currently pens, he has been in Sports Illustrated and ESPN and appears regularly on ESPN television programming. He is a Hall of Famer, having...

6 recommendations | 52 Comments

MVN Live: Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sam Panayotovich | December 1, 2008

5 recommendations | 2 Comments

MVN: Most Valuable Network

Chiefs need to fire Cunningham

Is LeBron fooling himself?

Movin' On Up

The Ravens Roll On

Ducks Busy Off-Ice in Coming Weeks

On The Broncos Rollercoaster--Want to Get Back On?

Plaxico done for the rest of the year

Jimmie Johnson, Kansas Speedway news and more...

Do you have to be bad to win?

It's Official: Pat and Kevin Williams Suspended

Avery Suspended - When Will He Be Banned?

MVN College Football Top 25: Bama Tops Regular Season

Plaxico, the Giants and other news and notes from around the NFL

NFL Stock Market Week 14: Franchise Quarterback Roulette

An Interesting Interview

Big Ten Basketball Preview: Is it Michigan State's to lose?

Does Stephon Marbury Have A Future As An NBA Player?

MVN Live: Wednesday Night Hockey

A Montage From People Who "Get It"

Happy Skanksgiving!

Peter Gammons checks in with Fire Brand

MVN Live: Wednesday Night Hockey