Hosts: Sonny, Rich and Ryan

In this episode of the Soapbox, we took a look at ESPN’s horrific bias when it comes to their baseball telecasts. In just two and a half months, the Chicago Cubs have been featured four times. The Red Sox, Yankees and Mets aren’t too far behind. Compared to MLB Network’s weekly Thursday and Saturday night broadcasts, the bias of the Worldwide Leader could not be more obvious.

Hello. How about that ride in? I guess that’s why they call it the U.S. Open. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Johnny Miller, announcer for NBC Sports. You might remember me from such masterpieces as the 1973 U.S. Open, where I shot a final round 63 to steal the championship. Did you hear me, people? A 63. In the FINAL ROUND of a major. WHO DOES THAT?

Firing that 63 at Oakmont has made me a golfing GOD. Does it matter that I was never regarded as the best player in the world? Or that I only won a single major besides my glory at Oakmont? Hell no, it doesn’t. Why? Because I shot a 63.  In the FINAL ROUND of a major

Allow me to be the first to congratulate Lucas Glover on outlasting the field to win his first major. It’s a hell of a feeling, being in this elite fraternity of major championship winners. But Lucas, lets be real here. You shot a 73 in today’s final round. That’s 10 shots worse than what I put up. You were handed the championship by Phil Mickelson. I went out there and TOOK my championship. While I admire you for not being a Eyetalian “pool cleaner” like that Rocco Mediate fella, you still can’t even shine my shoes. You know, my shoes. That I wore at Oakmont. When I shot my 63. In the FINAL ROUND of a major.

Glover did it the right way. He did it the way you have to do at the U.S. Open, when there are few birdie holes out there. He hit fairways. He hit greens. He hit putts. He won. That pussy shit ain’t my style though. I hit birdies (nine in the final round at Oakmont to be exact). THEN I hit the hotel bar and drink 63 beers, one for each stroke I used at Oakmont. How are you gonna celebrate, Lucas? By not smiling? By going to a Yankees game? Yankees suck, bro.

Unfortunately, you won’t be seeing me much until Pebble Beach next June. But for you aspiring young’ins out there that wanna lift some trophies when you’re older, just take it from ol’ Johnny. You better bust your little ass, cause 63’s don’t grow on trees. But they do grow in one place. My backyard. At Oakmont.

I’ve had very few good things to say about Commissioner Bud Selig during his tenure in Major League Baseball. But just over a month into launch, I can easily say that MLB Network is one of Selig’s crown jewels. And Spring Training hasn’t even started yet!

It’s February 5th and for the first time, the Caribbean World Series is being televised in its entirety. Is the tournament loaded with stars? No, but it’s baseball, something I’m starting to pheening for nearly two months before Opening Day. In March, the network will be showing 16 World Baseball Classic games, with ESPN broadcasting the rest.

Why is MLB Network receiving rave reviews from just about everyone? Well, the studio team is competent. There’s no fatass John Kruk or helplessly ignorant Steve Phillips. Harold Reynolds is back in all of his groping glory, and my man crush on Matt Vasgersian has carried over from his time with the San Diego Padres. Shows like Cathedrals of the Game and Prime 9 are winners.

Perhaps the biggest coup by the MLB Network is signing Bob Costas, whose own show, MLB Network 42, begins tonight with an interview of Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre. The fact that Costas is coming over from HBO shows this channel is legit. Once the games get going, Costas will be the lead play-by-play announcer for the channel’s broadcasts. Bad. Ass.

My one gripe? A lack of 1080p hi-def broadcasting. Hell, my cable provider hasn’t even added a HD feed for the channel to begin with. But once they do, it’ll only be 720p, as opposed to the 1080 of NFL Network. Oh, and Jon Heyman is a douche. But that’s it.

It’s been months since this video surfaced on YouTube and various blogs, but I just caught wind of it from Sonny. I’m a big fan of technical errors during broadcasts, so this video is an incredible find for me. The following is a local news station supposedly discussing Kevin Everett’s recovery. Instead, the clip shown is of a large black man (not Everett) riding into a courtroom in a wheelchair and kicking a cop. The tension that follows is, of course, hilarious.

Usually, our YouTube videos consist of people getting hurt or embarrassed. This video is a great collection of awkward sports interviews. While my personal favorite, Boom Goes the Dynamite, isn’t included, there’s still some winners here, including Joe Kines speaking in tongue, as well as Floyd Mayweather and Shaquille O’Neal going off on reports.

We’ve posted our top ten here, but this video has some that we’ve never seen before. Enjoy.

I didn’t get the chance to watch very much coverage of yesterday’s Media Day in Arizona. But I can imagine that most things that came out of the player’s mouths (see: “I’m a one woman man”) was a load of shit. How does that connect to this video? Well, this gem also happens to include a load of shit.

Kudos to Big Lead for posting this earlier today. It’s really brightened my day.

Update: It’s fake. But it’s still funny!