Bill Simmons has been openly campaigning for the Minnesota Timberwolves open GM spot, and according to some reports, upwards of 15,000 have emailed the Wolves ownership to bring him on. Simmons has even offered to work for free (as long as he can write about the experience in a book), but that doesn't seem to be swaying the powers that be at all. Via the Star Tribune....

Just a day after I believed the Wolves had narrowed their search to former Indiana GM David Kahn, Glen Taylor and Rob Moor apparently continue it anew with a candidate in town this week.

I heard it was a candidate from within the Northwest division, possibly Portland assistant GM Tom Penn, the Blazers’ salary-capologist.

The first guy I thought of was Rex Chapman in Denver, who was with the organization for a brief time about three years ago. But it’s probably not him because he was at Nuggets practice today and I’m guessing the guy was in town today.

Sorry, but I don’t think it’s Bill Simmons, either.

Michael Rand, also of the Tribune, said that the Timberwolves are reporting that the 15K number is actually only 1.5K, but there's definitely an interest from fans. I always thought Simmons would make a great GM, as long as he didn't overdo it with the transactions. And hell, they really couldn't do any worse, could they?

Under the Big Top: And the search goes on…looking west (again) to Portland? (Star Tribune)

ESPN debuted a new feature on Sports Center this morning called "Blog Buzz", and after looking at some of the screenshots at The Sporting Blog....I just don't get it. "Blog Buzz" is a simple concept. You take the Top Five stories on blogs, make a fancy graph, and then add in some quotes. In fact, it's really just using the Sports Media Challenge's Buzz Manager .

While I understand that ESPN is embracing the medium that they once shunned, there is one problem with the new feature....it has nothing to do with blogs. Let's take a look, shall we?


So let me get this straight. ESPN takes the top five stories as provided by the SMC, and then adds quotes from the Sun Sentinel, and one from their own blogger. Ummm, that's not exactly taking into account what "Blogs" are saying, but good try.

ESPN's 'Blog Buzz' Segment Fails Miserably (The Sporting Blog)

So the man that won four Grammys, and who moonlights as a blogger for ESPN the Mag, recently decided that he needed to prove he actually worked for the "Leader". How could Lil Wayne pull that off without carrying a cache of his columns around? I know! Let your millionth tattoo be an ESPN one!!!

From ESPN the Mag via SbB....

I’ve been telling people, “Man I got a blog on ESPN,” and they go, “Yeah, boy, but you’re latest song is crazy!” and I’m like, “I know, but did you see my blog?” I am so excited to have this opportunity. You don’t understand. I got ESPN tattooed on my arm. I’ve had it for at least three months now, so that should show you how seriously I’m gonna take this. I know some people out there don’t think it’s really me, but you have to prove a lot of things when you’re an entertainer, so I’m used to it.

Wow. That's dedication right there. Hopefully ESPN doesn't drop him like an ex-Girlfriend, and he has to get it lasered off, or even worse....have the artist change it to another network's logo when he gets picked up as a free agent. Sort of like Andre Rison's Falcons tattoo.

Now-Bristol Blogger Lil Wayne Gets ESPN Tattoo (Sports by Brooks)

I'm really being honest when I say that I don't go out of my way to pick on ESPN in any given day, but today is "special" (what are you gonna to do? [/shrugging shoulders]). It's the perfect storm of ESPN "News", nothing else going on and the timing of this blog thing. All day ESPN.com has displayed basically an advertisement for it's brand new Football Network and it's, well....big....


Pretty huh? To be honest, I'm not hating the content so far, but the thing is definitely a complete rip off of Pro Football Talk. You would think someone with an ESPN Credential would have more access, but as TBL pointed out yesterday, there are almost no opinions and really only one of the new "bloggers" is reporting from a training camp.

There are also zero links to any real blogs out there, but I could have told you that by just looking at the "Our Blogosphere" tag line on the front page of ESPN.com. There's obviously no specific format that a "blog" needs to follow, but I think they still have some work to do. Good use of the terminology though.

Taking Another Look at ESPN’s NFL Blog Network (The Big Lead)

I honestly thought that ESPN was out of the blogging business, but apparently they were just getting started. ESPN.com has finished its roster of ex-newspaper reporters and has officially what it's calling the "ESPN Football Blog Network". There are eight NFL bloggers, one for each conference, and seven (soon to be eight) College writers for specific conferences. Here are the details....

With the launch of the Football Blog Network, ESPN has hired 14 leading reporters and columnists from news organizations across the country to author the individual blogs (one position, blogging about the Big East, remains to be filled). Collectively, the group boasts more than 125 years of writing and reporting experience, though each brings a distinct style and voice to their blog and specific region of focus. Each blogger will provide fans both with a filter for significant developments regarding their favorite teams and expert journalistic insight and access.

Professional Football
NFC East – Matt Mosley – formerly of Dallas Morning News (previously authored Hashmarks blog on ESPN.com);
NFC West – Mike Sando – formerly of Tacoma News Tribune;
NFC North – Kevin Seifert – formerly of Minneapolis Star-Tribune;
NFC South – Pat Yasinkas – formerly of Charlotte Observer;
AFC West – Bill Williamson – formerly of Denver Post;
AFC North – James Walker – formerly of Columbus Dispatch;
AFC South – Paul Kuharsky – formerly of The Tennessean;
AFC East – Tim Graham – formerly of Palm Beach Post.

College Football
ACC – Heather Dinich – formerly of Baltimore Sun;
PAC 10 – Ted Miller – formerly of Seattle Post-Intelligencer;
Big 12 – Tim Griffin – formerly of San Antonio Express-News;
Big Ten – Adam Rittenberg – formerly of Chicago Daily Herald;
SEC – Chris Low – formerly of The Tennessean and Rivals.com;
Big East – TBD;
Independents/additional conferences - Graham Watson – formerly of St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

This is definitely an interesting move considering the network's long stand against the blogging format, but seemingly a good idea. Every reporter has covered their specific conference before, and as long as they don't try to turn them into TV stars, this might actually work. More information is always a good thing.

On a side note, I would have rather them tried (and I think they would have had more success) trying this in the almost barren College Basketball scene, but you can't fault them for the attempt.

(Via ESPN PR)