Just a note: Sportszilla Live! will be airing at 4 pm Pacific today because of Sonics-related evening plans for yours truly. Sorry for any inconvenience.

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It's a scandalous show on Sportszilla Live tonight, as we'll be talking about Tim Donaghy, Michael Vick, Scott Olsen, and David Beckham, among other things. Join the conversation by calling 646 478 4696, e-mailing us at sportszilla [at] gmail [dot] com, or by shooting us an IM on AIM (Screenname: SportszillaBlog). The show airs live at 6 pm Pacific, and can be found in archived form an hour or two after it ends.

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Listen Live!

Sportszilla Live – July 1, 2007
(646) 478-4696
AIM: SportszillaBlog
www.sportszillablog.com

1. First Quarter – Seattle Mariners
a. Mike Hargrove steps down today as manager
b. Team wins anyhow, now 45-33, 12 over .500, 8 game win streak
c. Still need to make a few changes

2. Second Quarter – MLB All Star Game
a. Rosters announced today - Starters
b. Reserves
c. Biggest snubs?

3. Third Quarter – NBA Draft
a. No big surprises in the first four picks (Oden, Durant, Horford, Conley
b. Sonics make the big trade (Ray Allen and #35 [Big Baby Glen Davis] for #5 pick [Jeff Green], Delonte West, and Wally Szczerbiak
c. Bucks take Yi Jianlian despite the fact that he said he wouldn’t play there
d. Charlotte takes Brandon Wright then trades him for Jason Richardson
e. Other thoughts?

4. Fourth Quarter – NBA free agency/trades
a. Big names (Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Rashard Lewis) opt out of their deals
b. Bigger names still on the trade block?

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Editor's Note (6/21/07 - 4 pm): The latest addition to the show is Brian Powell of Awful Announcing! So hooray, the show gets even crazier!

Big news everyone! This week's edition of Sportszilla Live! is sure to blow all the rest of them out of the water. We've got marquee guests galore:

Marvel at Will Leitch, editor-in-chief of Deadspin.com as he regales you with tales of vengeance the likes of which the world has seldom seen (Harold Reynolds), mythic beasts with legendary powers (Barbaro), and a man who came face-to-face with the deepest pits of hell and survived to tell the story (Leitch himself).

Wonder at TrueHoop's Henry Abbott, who tells us whether the Trailblazers will choose a giant with a heart of gold (and possibly a wrist of balsa wood) or a lithe young warrior who has the power to reduce grown men to tears. Special Bonus! Will the wandering King ever find a throne?

Gaze in Awe at Tim Dierkes, an heroic conjurer of great reknown, who will deign to share his knowledge in small portions with us mere mortals, including but not limited to: which young hurlers of the horsehide should be feted and those men of lore whose time for rest hath come.

Plus possibly more (yes, even more) guests to come!

You can catch Sportszilla Live! at 6pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern every Sunday by going to www.blogtalkradio.com/sportszilla, or if for some reason you can't listen live the archives are always open.

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Sportszilla Live – June 10, 2007
(646) 478-4696
AIM: SportszillaBlog
www.sportszillablog.com

1. First Quarter – French Open
a. Rafael Nadal beats Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win 3rd straight French Open
b. Justine Henin also wins her 3rd straight

2. Second Quarter – NBA
a. Game 2 tonight – Spurs lead 1-0
b. Agent Zero plans to opt out of contract after next year

3. Third Quarter – Major League Baseball
a. AL West – Best division in baseball?
b. Roger Clemens returns, pitches ok

4. Fourth Quarter – NFL
a. Daunte Culpepper barred from minicamp by the Dolphins
b. Chad Johnson beats a horse (in a race, that is)

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Sportszilla Live – June 3, 2007
(646) 478-4696
AIM: SportszillaBlog
www.sportszillablog.com

1. First Quarter – NBA Playoffs
a. Um, that LeBron guy is pretty good
i. Carries the Cavs in an unbelievable game 5
1. Scores 29 of the team’s final 30 points
2. Greatest performance we’ve seen?
3. Had to do all the scoring because his entire team looked scared to death
ii. Gets some help in Game 6 from Daniel Gibson
b. First NBA Finals in Cavaliers history
i. Cleveland’s had a lot of bad luck sports-wise, so they could use a break
ii. What’s it like there?
c. Now they get to face the Spurs
i. Won both games against San Antonio this year
ii. If LeBron plays like he can, how do the Spurs stop him?
2. Second Quarter – MLB
a. Sheffield says decline in American-born black players because Hispanic players are easier to control
i. No doubt there’s been a decline
ii. Isn’t the general assumption have to do with other sports?
iii. I doubt baseball could pull of something that complicated
b. Cubs melt down
i. Pinella goes on tirade against the umps, suspended indefinitely
ii. Zambrano and Barrett fight in the dugout
iii. Oh yeah, team is 9 games under .500 and sucks.
c. Time for teams to start selling off parts?
i. Season’s a third over, time for a few teams to give up
1. Rangers – Tiexiera could be on the market
2. Reds – Griffey?
3. Cardinals?
4. Yankees?
d. So if they’re selling, who’s buying?
3. Third Quarter – MLB Draft goes under the lights
a. Draft will be televised on ESPN for the first time
i. Will anyone watch?
1. If people will watch NBA Draft Lottery show, they’ll watch the MLB draft
2. Players are unknowns, far away from the major leagues
ii. Why did it take so long?
iii. What can MLB do to sell this even more?
1. Allow trading of picks!
b. Why is MLB so inept at marketing baseball?
i. Have this great MLB Advanced Media property, but they screw it up
ii. Extra Innings/MLB.tv blackout rules
iii. DirecTV hoopla
4. Fourth Quarter – Sports Bigamy
a. Ben and David are moving to Charlotte for a job
b. To what extent can they adopt the local teams as their own?

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Sportszilla Live – May 20, 2007
(646) 478-4696
AIM: SportszillaBlog
www.sportszillablog.com

1. First Quarter – MLB
a. Interleague Play
i. Mets take first two games from the Yankees in fairly convincing fashion
1. Are the Mets the best team in baseball?
a. David Wright finally getting on track
b. Still questions about the pitching: Oliver Perez may be for real, but John Maine isn’t
c. The Braves may challenge, but the rest of the NL is godawful
2. What’s the deal with the Yankees?
a. 10.5 games out of first place
b. Five games below .500
c. Still having all kinds of injury problems with their pitching
d. Sure, having Clemens come back would be nice, but it can only do so much
ii. Angels starting to stretch their lead a bit in the AL West
1. Colon’s return has helped
2. Offense has somehow been decent
a. Gary Matthews playing pretty well
b. Vlad is really, really good
iii. Tigers sweep the Cardinals – not sure that makes the Detroit fans feel any better
iv. Shouldn’t we be playing a balanced schedule by now?
1. Chipper is right: playing the “rival-heavy” schedule is unfair to some teams
2. Ok, maybe Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, and a couple of others might sell a few extra tickets, but most of the rivalries suck
a. First off, keeping the rivalry games limits the chances for fans to see strange teams
b. I’m damn sick of Mariners-Padres
b. Giambi says MLB should apologize for steroids
i. Gives another semi-apology for “doing that stuff”
ii. Says that baseball avoided talking about steroids instead of apologizing and moving forward
1. He’s right: baseball made this mess
2. He’s a dick: steroid abuse likely won him an MVP and a huge contract from the Yankees
iii. Speaking of that contract: the Yankees may be trying to void it!
2. Second Quarter – Fantasy Baseball
a. Biggest surprises so far
i. Jack Cust
ii. Al Reyes
iii. JJ Hardy
iv. Francisco Cordero
v. Fausto Carmona
b. Disappointments
i. Albert Pujols
ii. Paul Konerko
iii. Ryan Howard
c. Sleepers
i. Homer Bailey
3. Third Quarter – NBA Playoffs
a. Spurs take game one at home vs. Jazz
i. Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan all have big games
1. Ginobili seemed to be the toughest matchup for the Jazz
2. 10 assists – he set up a lot of easy buckets
ii. Fabricio Oberto also chips in
iii. Jazz make a late run behind Deron Williams
1. First, he’s really good (34 pts, 9 assists, 7 boards)
2. Boozer was mediocre
3. Okur and Kirilenko were atrocious
iv. I hate this series because it makes me root for the Jazz
1. Spurs are just hard to root for
a. Dirty
b. Cheaters
2. But I hate the Jazz
b. Eastern Conference Finals (Cavs v. Pistons)
i. Detroit took 3 of 4 in regular season
1. LeBron averaged 27, 6.8 rbds, 6.3 assists, 3.3 to, shot 45% from the field in those games
2. In three losses, Cavs scored 82, 78, and 71 points
3. Little help from the other guys
ii. Is something wrong with LeBron?
1. Shooting just 42% from the field (48% during the season) and 29% from 3
2. Just hasn’t impressed that much
a. For a guy who’s supposed to be the best player in the game, he sure doesn’t play like it much of the time
b. Is his knee bothering him that bad?
4. Fourth Quarter – Odds and Ends
a. Roger Federer finally beats Rafael Nadal on clay
i. Snaps an 81-match clay winning streak for Nadal
ii. Bodes well for the French next week
b. Ahman Green buys a house just to wear #30 in Houston
c. Hockey: I get no regard, no regard at all
i. OT of the Senators/Sabres game yesterday bumped to Versus so NBC can show the entire Preakness preshow
d. Speaking of the Preakness: sure, Curlin won in a photo finish, but it would have been way better for them to declare Street Sense the winner anyhow
i. Having the rights to the Belmont must suck most of the time: no one except degenerate gamblers care unless there’s a Triple Crown chance

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Sportszilla Live – May 13, 2007
(646) 478-4696
AIM: SportszillaBlog
www.sportszillablog.com

1. First Quarter – NBA Playoffs
a. Suns v. Spurs
i. Spurs take Game 3 at home to go up 2-1
ii. Allegations of dirty play from the Spurs – nothing new
1. Bowen has a long reputation this sort of stuff
a. Vince Carter
b. Ray Allen
c. Knees Nash in the balls
2. Rest of the Spurs tend to flirt with the rules a bit
iii. How can the Suns counter?
1. Can they match the physical style of play like D’Antoni wants?
2. Amare comes out physical but picks up early fouls
iv. Is this bad for the league?
1. Playoffs used to be wars
2. As long as athleticism isn’t trumped by physicality
a. Late 80s Pistons
b. Mid 90s Knicks
b. Warriors v. Jazz
i. Jazz take game 4, lead 3-1
1. Warriors collapse late
a. Derek Fisher hits a big three after Beidrins dunk
b. Get chippy (Baron Davis foul on Fisher, J. Richardson clotheslining Okur)
2. Jazz put up 40 in the fourth – Warriors can’t stop Boozer/Okur
ii. Spurs v. Jazz – most boring WCF ever?
c. Nets v. Cavs
i. Nets grab Game 3 at home, still trail 2-1
1. Jason Kidd puts up another triple double
a. People don’t realize how good he is – should have at least one MVP
b. This might have been his best season ever
2. LeBron struggles from the field
a. Not having the same kind of impact he had last year
b. What has to change for the Cavs to become an elite team?
d. Pistons v. Bulls
i. Bulls stave off elimination
ii. But they’re still gonna lose
2. Second Quarter – MLB
a. Good god the Blue Jays are unlucky
i. BJ Ryan, Frank Thomas, Troy Glaus, now Roy Halladay
ii. If they were the Cubs, we’d say it was a curse
iii. We know they had a dream of contending: no more!
b. Oh, Pat Gillick: you took a shot at Pat Burrell, now Ben must rise to his defense
c. Jeff Weaver and Luke Hudson both go on the D/L despite saying they’re healthy – doesn’t baseball need to do something about this?
d. The Brewers – for real – it’s bound to happen one day right?
i. JJ Hardy
ii. Prince Fielder
iii. Francisco Cordero
3. Third Quarter – Michael Vick
a. My god, it just continues for Ron Mexico
i. Partial list of travails
1. Gives girl herpes, claims name is Ron Mexico at clinics
2. Flips off Falcons fans last November after losing to New Orleans
3. Refuses to give up water bottle in airport: has a hidden compartment originally thought it was for pot, claims it was for his jewelry
4. His property in Virginia is under investigation for allegedly operating an illegal dog-fighting ring: close associates have said he was intimately involved
ii. Plus, he’s not very good at quarterback
b. At what point do the Falcons have to give up?
c. At what point does the commissioner have to step in?
i. If Vick is found guilty/connected, don’t they have to suspend him?
ii. If not, what does this say about their so-called zero tolerance policy
iii. After all, if they were willing to suspend Pac-Man Jones before charges were filed, how can they not suspend Vick?
d. Ben thinks sports leagues are evil…this could take a while
4. Fourth Quarter – Mother’s Day
a. Famous sports moms
b. Thoughts on our own mothers

Posted by Zachary Geballe at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a look at the rundown for tonight's show: again, you can hop on over to Blog Talk Radio for all the fun, or just click on the icon on the sidebar.

Sportszilla Live – May 6, 2007

1. First Quarter – NBA Playoffs
a. Warriors dump Mavs in 6 games
i. Biggest upset in NBA playoff history?
ii. How could Avery Johnson be so weak?
1. Lets the Warriors dictate matchups/style
2. Refuses to use Dampier
3. Doesn’t get Dirk into the post
a. Does this tarnish Dirk’s reputation too much?
b. Assuming he wins the MVP, when/where do they give it to him?
iii. Now face off with the Jazz
1. Gotta think they’ve got a legit chance in the series
2. Not the greatest matchup though, since the Jazz can match the smallish lineup
iv. Jeff Van Gundy reportedly done with the Rockets
b. Suns – Spurs
i. Spurs take game 1 111-106
1. Steve Nash
ii. Is the winner here the eventual champ?
iii. Bad matchup for the Suns (Spurs took 2 of 3 during reg. season)?
c. Pistons – Bulls
i. Again, is winner here clear frontrunner for Finals?
ii. Similar teams: can the Bulls shoot well enough from the perimeter to win?
d. Nets – Cavs
i. Yawn
ii. Cavs win game 1 81-77
iii. Still yawning
2. Second Quarter – NHL Playoffs
a. Eastern Conference Finals
i. Senators take out the Devils in 5 games
1. Canada’s team?
2. Lou Lamoriello says he won’t coach the Devils next year, at least until he fires the coach before game 7 of the Stanley cup finals
ii. Sabres hold off the Rangers after dramatic game 5 win
1. What a crushing game for Rangers fans
2. Still the prohibitive favorite?
b. Western Conference Finals
i. Anaheim cruises past Vancouver
1. My fearless pick this year (I nailed Carolina last year)
2.
ii. Red Wings up 3-2 on San Jose
1.
3. Third Quarter – MLB
a. Roger Clemens back to the Yankees
i. He’s my idol – gets $20 mil for 4 months of work
ii. How long will he be able to keep doing this
1. Will he still be effective?
2. Will teams still buy in?
iii. How much does this help the Yankees
1. Allows them to have solid top four (Clemens, Wang, Mussina, Pettitte)
2. Keeps Rasner/Wright/DaSilvo from having to make many starts
b. Tim Lincecum made his debut for the Giants
i. Finally, Giants fans have something besides Bonds to cheer for
ii. Too bad he kinda sucked
iii. David gives us his first-hand impressions
c. I feel vindicated for saying Never Trust a Canadian
i. Seriously, lying about a guy’s injury status is garbage
ii. Fantasy impact: can you trust anything about a Blue Jay again?
d. Chris Carpenter out for 3 months at least, needs arthroscopic surgery – just more bad news for the Cardinals
e. Josh Hancock – drunk and on his phone
i. Not that a guy deserves it, but seriously – driving drunk is stupid
ii. How could a Cardinal do this after LaRussa gets busted for DUI earlier this year
4. Fourth Quarter – Kentucky Derby/Boxing
a. Actually a fairly exciting race
i. Street Sense comes from 19th place to win with a fantastic back stretch surge
b. This whole race still seemed overshadowed by Barbaro
i. Recent death
ii. Documentary
c. Mayweather/De La Hoya
i. Mayweather wins a split decision, claims it will be his last fight
1. Fight was decent enough, got enough attention that it deserves a rematch
2. Method of promotion (24/7) was novel, generated interest
ii. Pay Per View is killing boxing
1. Product isn’t available to most people
2. With so many other forms of entertainment, who’s gonna shell out the bucks to see the fight?

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If you're gonna be up and near a computer from 10-11pmPT/1-2amET, click over to BlogTalkRadio for the first webcast of Sportszilla Live.

Here's tonight's Rundown

Sportszilla Live – April 29th, 2007

First Quarter – NFL Draft

-Why did Brady Quinn drop all the way to the Browns? Because he didn’t play anyone in college and played poorly in his few marquee games (LSU, Ohio State – small sample size alert?)? Did Cleveland give up too much (2nd rounder this year, 1st next year).
-What the hell were the Dolphins thinking with Ted Ginn Jr, who ran 3 routes in college and is utterly afraid of running over the middle? Oh, and he’s currently hurt!
-Who had the best draft? Raiders (JaMarcus Russell, Zach Miller (TE), Quintin Moses. Michael Bush)? Cleveland (Joe Thomas, Brady Quinn, Eric Wright)?
-Troy Smith drops to the 5th round
-Undrafted players include Chris Leak, Jared Zebransky, Darius Walker, Tyler Palko, Tyrone Moss

-Two Pro Bowl receivers change teams: Raiders send Randy Moss to the Patriots for a 4th round pick, Seahawks send Darrell Jackson to the 49ers for a 4th as well.

Does this make the Patriots the favorite in the AFC again? How realistic is it to think they can get him back to the All-Pro level? Is it just a matter of being on a contender, or will he never play hard again or be healthy again?

What were the Seahawks thinking, trading Jackson in division for just a 4th? Are they that desperate to get DJ Hackett playing time?

Also, Josh McCown and Mike Williams to the Raiders for a 4th round pick – gives the Raiders a decent QB (better than Andrew Walter for sure) and a somewhat intriguing receiver.

Second Quarter - NBA Playoffs

-Defending Champs are no more – Heat are swept by the Bulls in the first round. First series win for Da Bulls since some guy wore 23. Is there a chance that this is it for Shaq? Is there hope for the Heat down the road? Missed more games this year than ever before.

-Pistons sweep Magic – no shock there: who can knock off Detroit in the East? Also, Grant Hill may retire: giant case of what-could-have-been.

-Nets are up 3-1 on the Raptors. Does this team have a chance to make the Finals? Kidd is having a fantastic series, Vince Carter is playing well, but the team isn’t deep (Kidd, Carter, Jefferson, and Nachbar are good, everyone else is inconsistent or crappy or both).

-Cavaliers up 3-0 on the dregs of the Wizards

-Out West, the Warriors are clearly giving the Mavericks all they can handle. Is G-State the new Dallas?

-Nuggets blow a chance to take control of their series, Spurs lead 2-1.

-Phoenix blowing past the Lakers – again, no real surprise there

-Rockets or Jazz are probably winning that series…but I’ll be damned if I could tell you who.

Third Quarter – MLB

-Yankees continue to struggle – have now lost 5 of 6 to the Red Sox, are in last place. Pitching continues to struggle, offense can’t bail them out every night. Bigger concern is Wang pitching poorly for the second straight start. Mussina comes back on Thursday, but will that be enough?

-Will the Boss turn on Torre if the struggles continue? Can he possibly fire the guy who took the team to 4 WS championships? Is Girardi the natural replacement if they make the move (he’s currently working on their broadcasts)?

-Cardinals also struggling, now have to deal with the death of pitcher Josh Hancock. Can this possibly help them focus on the field?

-The MLB season is one month old: what’s for real
-Brewers as NL Central champs?
-Indians as AL Central champs?
-Can the Mariners win a terrible division? Only if they stop letting Jeff Weaver pitch

-Who’s the best player in baseball? Gotta be A-Rod at this point.
-Who’s the best shortstop in the NL East? Reyes or Ramirez
-BJ Upton having a nice start, but that contact rate is scary

-Derek Jeter struggling with the glove? What a shock!
-David Wright struggling with the bat? Not a shock to me
-Albert Pujols (.831 OPS) – ridiculously low BABIP, he’ll come around
-Manny Ramirez (.578 OPS) – is this the beginning of the end for the greatest right handed hitter we’ve ever seen?
-Alfonso Soriano – how’s the contract looking now?

Sportszilla Live: Kickass Sports Talk. Weekly.

Posted by David Arnott at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Folks, I'm very, very excited about what I'm telling you. Starting Sunday, April 29th, David, Ben, and I will be hosting our very own online sports talk show called Sportszilla Live. The show will air (at least to start out with) at 10 pm Pacific Time on Sunday nights and will last about an hour. To listen, all you have to do is go to our page on the Blog Talk Radio site, where you can feel free to listen live or check out any show in the archive. Even more exciting is the fact that we can take callers live on the air. The phone number to call is (646) 478-4696. Additionally, if you don't feel like calling in to the show you can either send questions or comments to us via e-mail (sportszilla at gmail dot com) or on AOL Instant Messenger (Screenname: SportszillaBlog). We're hopeful that after a few shows (with some solid listenership) we can move into a slightly earlier timeslot on Sundays, but we're just excited to have another way to talk about sports. You'll now notice two additions to this site's sidebar: a link to our host page on Blog Talk Radio and a media player which will feature our most current show. Hopefully, we can get some fun discussions going, bring on some exciting guests, and turn this into a pretty big deal. But don't worry, the site won't be going away: we'll still be writing plenty of material. Again, we're looking forward to this new opportunity and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Posted by Zachary Geballe at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So astute Sportszilla readers may have noticed the fancy new Sportszilla logo, you can purchaseimage in the sidebar. Yes, thanks to David's tireless efforts, you can now outfit yourself in the finest of vestments that happily feature this very website. Besides the stylish shirts, hats, mugs, and probably other stuff that features the Ballad of Isiah or our version of a baseball card. Yes, it's a brave new world out there, and you'll feel much better facing it wearing a Sportszilla t-shirt.

Seriously, while I can't claim that running Sportszilla is a massive expense, it does cost me some money, so being able to recoup some of it would be nice. The clothing is pretty high quality and reasonably priced, so that's a plus. And if you actually order some, and send me a picture of you wearing it (to sportszilla at gmail dot com), I'll come up with something cool to give you/do for you. Yes, that's right, it's maybe a contest!

Posted by Zachary Geballe at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Folks, welcome to the new home for Sportszilla and the Jabber Jocks. We'll be starting our NFL Previews tomorrow, but first, a few basic anouncments. The old site will stay up to act as the archive for all our old posts, at least until I get them all ported over to Moveable Type. Please update all links and blogrolls to reflect the new URL, and I hope you like the new site. Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

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