In honor of our country's birthday, we look back one year to Top 7 writer Jason Major and his list of greatest living sports Americans.  We also send special greetings to our men and women fighting to protect our freedom.  Thank you for all of your efforts - and thank you to those who have served in the past to secure our freedom.  Also, we send a special cyber-middle finger to Philly Inquirer columnist Chris Satullo, for his uber-negative column urging Americans to abstain from celebrating the 4th of July (no link either, as you don't deserve the easy traffic, Mr. Satullo).  While the dicussions about your piece rage on and you no doubt bring extra discussion and extra online traffic to your paper's site, you also see the influx of readers who are cancelling their subscriptions as stated in the comments section.  From a corporate standpoint, you are a shining example of why the newspaper industry is dying.  Out of touch, crusty, unoriginal... the list of adjectives to describe you could go on and on.  Also, very nice use of mainstream-elitist writing with your barrage of Plaschke-esque one sentence paragraphs.  And Mr. Satullo, just as you have the freedom and the right to state your opinion, so do I: seriously, you are a miserable human being.
-- patrick imig (the views expressed in this mini-rant do not necessarily reflect those of the JoeSportsFan.com staff).

It only made sense to do something American since the Fourth of July comes next week.  I thought for a couple of seconds about doing “Founding Fathers as Athletes,” but that was too similar to the food mascots one—though just so you know, George Washington would have walked away with that particular list’s top selection because he was a hoss!  So I just made it very simple—top sports Americans. 

The most loved Americans in sports, ones who are also distinctively American. 

U.S.A.!  U.S.A.! 

7. Albert Pujols
He is an American citizen now, so any St. Louis-based list is insane not to have him on it.  Like America, he is a world superpower who can punish unfriendly or uncooperative nations (opposing pitchers or teams) with sanctions (two-run doubles in the gap), or, if he has to, military engagement (walk-off three-run dongs).

6. Michael Jordan
There is no way that Michael Jordan can’t make the list.

5. Shaq
He’s fun loving and very much enjoys eating.  He also has dreams of being Hollywood (Kazaam is so good), but when it comes down to it, wouldn’t mind settling down as a simple blue-collar working police officer.  Of course, rapping about a former teammate to taste your ass and having said badge revoked is equally American. 

Earlier this morning on Team 1380 AM in St. Louis, JoeSportsFan's own Patrick Imig was the guest of Jay Randolph, Jr. and his crew at the 360 Sports Buffet for a nerd-segment titled "Let's Go Blogging".  We've recorded and downloaded the segment for your listening pleasure, and hope to do more of the same every Tuesday, when "Let's Go Blogging" occurs at 10:20 AM each week. 

If you're not in St. Louis, you can listen live by going to 1380's Web site, and if you miss out on the fun, we'll do our best to provide you with the recorded version later in the day. 

This morning, Imig discussed Joe Buck's recent comments on national radio about not enjoying baseball the way he once did, Will Leitch's exit from the Deadspin editor-post and subsequent overreaction from some members of the blog community (as covered in the Media Circus), and the familiar subject of the phenomenon known as Softball Guy.

As stated previously, we'll do our best to get the interviews on the site the day they happen.  Enjoy.

[Let's Go Blogging :: 03/03/08], (interview runtime 13:00 minutes.)

**having trouble listening?  right-click the link and select "save target as" and download the clip to your computer.**

Lately it seems like every time you log onto the internet, there is another "amazing" sports video that has made its way into the e-mail inbox or is being discussed on a message board. First we had the Kobe Bryant "car jump" video, then Kobe jumped from the equivalent of the three point line (a' la Tom Chambers in Sega's "Lakers vs. Celtics") and laid down a dunk...over a pool filled with snakes. Yeah, it seemed unrealistic, but it was right there in video, how could it be fake?

Next up was the Bo Jackson-esque minor league ballgirl climbing two walls to snag a foul ball, followed by a Washington Redskin kicker booting a field goal that traveled the entire length of the field.

With each of the videos, mainstream sites such as Yahoo inevitably put a story up asking the question, "is this real?" Apparently, it's coming to light that some of these athletic "accomplishments" are just the work of modern technology. For example, it appears that Shaun Suisham didn't really kick a 110-yard field goal in practice. Hard to believe since I watched it happen with my own eyes on Youtube.

Now that the truth is starting to come out about these special effect-aided videos it's making sports fans question the validity of some feats they've witnessed throughout history.

On June 6th, Major League Baseball began a unique promotion in New York City to commemorate the 2008 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.  MLB strategically "placed" 8 foot replicas of the Statue of Liberty throughout the city of New York.

42 different painted statues were hidden - celebrating the 30 teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and various other New York City baseball related monuments.

Photos of "found" statues have been popping up on the internet since the marketing campaign began at the beginning of June.  Since the statues are painted with team colors and logos...tourists from baseball towns across the nation made it a point to search, or ask the locals, for the location of their respective "team" Statue of Liberty.

MLB finally caved in on Tuesday, and released the geographical location of all 42 statues.  In case you fancy yourself a Cards fan and can't get to 1290 6th Avenue (between 51st and 52nd Streets) in New York City before All Star weekend, here's a picture of Lady Liberty decked out in Cardinal red.

 

Apparently ESPN still isn't convinced that people just don't care about the ESPYs.

On Tuesday night, the network actually dedicated an hour of programming to unveiling the nominees for the 2008 ESPYs.  Pay no mind to the fact that you would be hard pressed to find one sports fan outside of Bristol who could name a single award winner from the 2007 version.  That doesn't stop them from treating the official announcement of the nominees for the prestigious "Hummer Like Nothing Else" Award and the "Under Armour Undeniable Moment" Award like its a huge development in the sports world.

For 60 minutes, ESPN talking heads including Skip Bayless, Rob Parker, Tony Kornheiser, Mike Wilbon and Jim Rome debated the merits of the nominees in each category, which was roughly 60 more minutes than any self-respecting sports fan would ever spend thinking about the ESPYs.

Aside from the Jim Valvano speech given during 1993 ESPYs, we honestly can't think of anything redeemable from the contrived sports awards ceremony.  Especially considering each sport has its own awards - you know, things like the "MVP" and "Champions".  Basically the ESPY Awards are the equivalent of the WNBA.  Both are still around strictly because their founders aren't willing to concede that they should have pulled the plug years ago.

But hey, Justin Timberlake is hosting this year.