The NBA Lockout

I didn't realize how little I cared about NBA basketball until this lockout occurred. If it doesn't come back this season it doesn't really matter to me.

But it does matter to the networks that carry it.

The World Series

I have a feeling not too many people in Chicago are watching the World Series this year, but if you're not, you're missing one for the ages.

That game last night might have been one of the greatest World Series games of all time. The Cardinals were down to their last strike in both the ninth and the tenth innings, and came back both times.

David Freese, the hometown St. Louis boy, with visions of Bucknerhood dancing in his head (he dropped an easy pop up leading to a Texas run), hit a triple to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth last night against Texas closer Neftali Feliz. And then, in the bottom of the 11th, he hit the walk off home run to win it.

Unbelievable. Truly awesome game.

I don't know how the Cardinals feel today, but I have a pretty good idea of how the Rangers feel. They may just join a very exclusive club of teams that were only one strike away from winning it all--only to lose the series. If they come back to win Game 7 tonight, I'll be shocked.

World Cup TV Rights

Fox and Telemundo have shelled out a fortune for the rights to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Fox paid $425 million, and Telemundo paid $600 million.

Details are here.

Da Bears

A friend of mine from Germany was in town last night, so I was having dinner in a restaurant instead of watching the Bears game. I may just have to do that every week. Is this the same Bears team that I watched the past two weeks?

Da Bears

I was watching the Bears game last night, and sometime in the third quarter I started having cable/satellite problems. The game was flashing in and out, as if there were sun spots or something interfering with the satellite transmission.

That, or it was God warning me to just turn it off.

I should have listened to him.

Sweetness

The portrait of Walter Payton painted by a new book (and this article in Sports Illustrated) is obviously not a very flattering one.

I knew about some of this, and ran into the bad Walter once or twice during my radio career, but I will always remember him for his football greatness. He made it a pleasure to watch the Bears during some very dark years.

Despite his less than attractive side, he also had a great sense of humor, and a big heart. I ran into the good Walter a few times at charity events. I also fondly recall the time he appeared on the John Landecker show.

63 or 64 yard field goal?

The reports I'm hearing on the radio this morning say that Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders tied the all-time record for longest field goal last night by kicking a 63-yarder.

The Raiders, however, are claiming it was 64 yards.

And if you can't trust an upstanding group of people like the Oakland Raiders, who can you trust?

Audio - Justin Bieber Radio Interview – Talks Selena, Past Girlfriends, Charity, and Sports!

Our favorite pop sensation Justin Bieber spontaneously called in to talk to his friend Mike Missanelli on his radio show last Friday.

We have to say, it was one of the most informative interviews we’ve heard from Bieber in a while.

It lasted almost seven minutes and was not just the canned answers we have grown accustomed to from the Biebs.

He talked about how he met Selena Gomez, his old girlfriends, Hockey, and his participation in his charity “Pencils of Promise”.

One thing became clear after the interview – Justin Bieber loves sports!

He also admitted that Jasmine Villegas was his girlfriend when he first met Selena, but did not mention the death threats and stalking problems Villegas has had.


Related: Jasmine Villegas gets death threats from Bieber fans!

There was a lot of ground covered in this interview and it was nice to not hear Justin say uh, well you know, yea, it’s like, every 5 seconds.



Bieber is also busy promoting his charity involvement with “Pencils of Promise”, and just announced that the company that produces his fragrance “Someday” has joined forces for the cause.

The campaign is called “Hearts Across the Web” and involves taking a picture of yourself making the heart sign and uploading it to the site to complete the world’s biggest digital chain of human hearts.



If half a million fans respond then “Give Back Bands” will help build 50 schools. You can upload your photo and learn more at the Someday web site here.

“Pencils of Promise” was founded by Adam Braun – the brother of JB’s manager Scooter Braun.

Follow @InfoStar on Twitter – we have sharp pencils...

The 61-year-old kicker

He's a grandpa. He's a Vietnam veteran. He's 61-years-old.

And...he's a college football kicker.

Not bad, sir. I'm only 48 and I can pull a hammy walking up the stairs.

Bo Knows...Banking?

Would you believe that Bo Jackson is now a co-owner of a bank? And he actually works there?

The full story is here.

Da Boos

The Bears got killed last night (41-13), and it wasn't even as close as it sounds.

And to think I had been looking forward to football season.

Looks like I'll have to switch over to hockey. When does the Blackhawks season start?

Matt Holiday versus Moth

This is one of the weirdest baseball stories I've seen.

Matt Holiday of the St. Louis Cardinals had to leave the game last night because a moth flew into his ear, and got stuck there.

The full details are here.

(Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)