The Cover Story: Sending the Penguins home

The Flyers have ended the Penguins season in six games. The Philly Daily News had a classic front and back pages to honor the win this morning They have had great front and back pages all during the series.

The baby Flyers are easy to love

Fresh off of knocking the Penguins out of the playoffs, Philly Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann looks at why this team is easy to love.  Fans get behind kids and that has been in the case in Philly this year. The city has taken to this team that was rebuilt over the summer.

Cover Story: Pat Summitt says good bye

There might not be a bigger story in the history of the state of Tennessee than University of Tennessee head women's basketball coach Pat Summitt stepping down. The story was on the front of almost every newspapers in the state. Here are those front pages. 

Another great front page from the Philly Daily News

During the Penguins/Flyers playoff series the Philly Daily News has been on the top of their game when it comes to its front page and today they hit another home run.

Prospects Plus: Freddy Galvis

In our continuing series on top prospects in baseball, the OTWT scouting staffs breaks down the game of Phillies second baseman Freddy Galvis. The group saw him play on Saturday against the Mets.

Stat line Saturday against the Mets: 1 for 3 with a strikeout. Video of his only hit is below.

Positives: Galvis has been in the Phillies system since he was 16-years old. The first thing that you notice is that his glove is already at all star levels. According to Baseball American, Galvis has "incredible instincts" on defense. Galvis was the 6th ranked prospect in the Phillies system at the start of the year.
Negatives: The biggest is his bat. As a major league he has struggled with the bat and his minor league numbers show that is going to continue. During his minor league career he hit only .246. There is some debate on if Galvis will be a full time player. According to Baseball America: "Most scouts think his defensive wizardry will make him an everyday player, but some think he's no more than a second division regular." Not exactly the biggest endorsement.

Professional Tailgating: A return to the ballpark

Nothing beats your first baseball game of the year and on Saturday the crew headed to the Mets and Phillies game. Here are some of the sights and sounds from the game. The Mets beat the Phillies 5-0.

Buffalo Style Sunflower seeds what could be better

Everyone gathering before the game

After being a jerk, this Mets fan is escorted from his seat

Top of the division

I know it's nine games in but look who is leading the NL East, yes the Nats. Come on boys lets keep this up.

A perfect combination: NASCAR and a liquor store

Going to Daytona might be the goal of most NASCAR fans, but a simple trip to the liquor store might just do the trick. During a recent trip the liquor before WrestleMania, I noticed the number of NASCAR themed displays. Below are two of the them featuring Kevin Harvick and Special K. 

Shearer hanging with the Amish

While visiting the Strasburg Rail Road on Tuesday I noticed something that I did not expect to see in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. There was a guy wearing an old school Newcastle United Alan Shearer jersey complete with Barclaycard Premier League patch, yes Barclaycard. Good to see a Gordie fan hanging out with Amish.

Cover Story: Bobby P. out at Arkansas

In Arkansas there is no bigger story then the firing of football head coach Bobby Petrino. Here is how two of the newspapers in the state covered the story.

Prospects Plus: Yu Darvish

During the course of the baseball season, the OTWT's scouting staff will take a look at different prospects, from minor leagues, colleges and big leagues,  that we have seen either on TV or in person. We start our series with Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish. Darvish made his debut on Monday night and struggled early but showed some signs.

Stat line against the Mariners: 110 pitches; 5 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks and 5 k.

Positives: After a rough first two innings, Darvis slowed down and showed commands of his pitches. Pitch speed range from 95 mph fastball to 69 mph curveball. Average fastball was clocked at 93.5 mph, not bad. Watching him face Ichiro was really cool, two of the best players of the last two generations in Japan. Ichiro got three hits off of Darvish. Beisdes his stuff, Darvish showed his toughness by overcoming a first inning in which he gave up four runs, he could have packed it in but did not.

Negatives: The first inning has to be a concern. Darvish seems like the type of pitcher that is going to throw a ton of pitches, which is something that the Rangers will have to watch.

Overall: He has really good stuff and the Rangers may have one of the best imports ever.

Money does not equal trophies

For three high profile clubs around Europe, having a ton of money does not mean success or trophies. The Independent takes a looking at what happen. Money does not equal happiness for Manchester City, PSG, Malaga.

Great football tattoos

Here is a list of footballers who love the ink. Raul Meireles joins Daniel Agger, Djibril Cisse and co in tattoo hall.

Who is this toolbag

During the main event at Wrestlemania between The Rock and John Cena the OTWT Crew noticed this toolbag in a green Cena shirt. During the match the was an emotional wreck.

Then the next night the same guy was in the same spot for Raw. He was again an emotional wreck when Cena was given the F-5 by Brock Lesnar.

The only person to have a worst weekend then Cena was this super fan. If anyone has any info on this guy please contact us.

One Shining Moment

Nothing is better than One Shining Moment at the end of the NCAA Tournament and here it is for 2012.

Cover Story: The National Title Game

 Kentucky has been crowned National Champions. The Wildcats beat Kansas last night in the national championship game to claim their 8th title. Below are some of the newspapers in Kentucky and Kansas and how they cover the events in New Orleans last night.

A post Wrestlemania back page

Wrestlemania was last night, I don't know if that played into this wrestling themed back page of the Philly Daily News but it was cool.

Live Blogging Wrestlemania 28

And here we go. After almost a year of talk the WM28 is here and we will take you through the night. A cast of weirdo's in my basement will give you our thoughts on the biggest wrestling night of the year.

Happy Wrestlemania weekend to all

Wrestlemania weekend is here. OTWT will be live blogging the event tomorrow night. A basement full of drunk fans will give there thoughts on what is expected to be a dramatic night.

Fun Atmosphere, Terrible Football

On Sunday, I decided to watch the Old Firm Derby on Fox Soccer. I wanted to take the in the passion of the game. Sure the passion and atmosphere were fantastic but one that was lacking was quality of play.

The quality of play might have been equal to a Major League Soccer game. Terribly weighted passes, terrible shots and not to mention terrible miss timed challenges. Nothing says a quality soccer match like three red cards.

The highlight of the match was the call by the announcer when Sone Aluko scored for Rangers earlier in the first half, "A goal for Aluko, A goal for the fans, A goal for the cause.'' Perfectly said.

I understand the history of the two clubs but if you changed the names of the clubs people would be complaining about how terrible a match it was and not praising it for the terrific atmosphere.

Cover Story: The Final Four

Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State and Louisville are headed for the Big Easy for the Final Four this weekend. Here is how some of the newspapers around the country cover the Elite Eight this weekend.

These kids are valuable

An interesting list of the 30 best young players in the world of soccer, put together by Futebol Finance. Very interesting to see the value of some of the players.

Kendall Marshall's wrist is a social media star

While North Carolina fans continue to hold their breathes over Kendall Marshall wrist. The injury has become famous on social medial. Around the country people are supporting Marshall on twitter with the hashtag #PassFir5t.

Cover Story: Selection Sunday

Selection Sunday is one of the most stressful days for a college basketball program and this years was no different. A couple of years ago, we posted front pages from around the country detailing Selection Sunday, today we revisit that idea.

Its move in day in Bracketville

In honor of the field of 68 being announced, here is my favorite ad campaign developed for the NCAA Tournament. In 2000, Nike developed the concept of Bracketville and I loved it.It's a whole town dedicated to March Madness

 


The Bracketville Fruit Stand.
 

The Bracketville Hardware Stand

A Day at the Big East Tournament With Jay Bilas, what could be better

Over the last couple of years ESPN's Jay Bilas has grown into one of the best color guys in college basketball. Some people hate him, other love him and many other find him annoying. The Big Lead, a sports blog, spent a day at the Big East Tournament with Bilas and boy is it interesting.

Lights Out goes after CM Punk

First it was Chris Brown that had an issue with WWE Champ CM Punk, now its oft-injured Buffalo Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman. On Twitter, Merriman trashed CM Punk saying wrestling has gone soft. I just wonder if this is all setting up to have Merriman get in the ring with Punk at some point in the future.

Lenny Cooke: The best that never was

He was supposed to be the first one, not an oversight. Lenny Cooke was supposed to be a superstar on the basketball court, now he is a has been. Famous New York Times reporter Harvey Araton takes a look what has happen to the form New York City start in his story : Lenny Cooke, From Star-to-Be to One Who Never Was. Amazing story.

Really Lee Evans is trending

At one point today wide receiver Lee Evans was a trending topic nationwide on twitter. It proves that anything is possible on twitter.

You know baseball season is almost here when this is in your mailbox

Now this is old school

A shirt I found in my closet. The shirt is now 14 years old, I have no idea why I still have it. Go Heels.

Another Superstar off the scrapheap at WPUNJ

When I was at William Paterson a small dynamic guard named Horace Jenkins lead the Pioneers to the Division III Final Four, now they have a star with a similar story. Junior Guard Corey Chandler's journey to redemption has taken to William Paterson and as a graduate I could not be happier. I hope Chandler story ends the same way as Jenkins with a trip to the Final Four. 

The Flyers should just stand pat

For the last couple of days Philly has been abuzz over the idea of the flyers trading for Rick Nash. While most are in favor of it I'm totally against it. The price that has been rumored includes a package that includes: JVR, Sean Couturier or Brayden Schenn, Sergi Bobrovsky, and a first rounder. That is a huge price to pay for a 27-year old that had never played in a big time playoff series.

Who is to say that the Flyers would be trading away two player that could be better and cheaper than Nash. JVR, Coutrier, and Schenn are the next generation and need to stay in orange and black.

Mike Vick is ready

Mike Vick is ready for the new season to start. This is a stuffed Mike Vick my son got for his birthday.

College Baseball would have a different look if MLB followed the NFL Draft rules

So what would happen if baseball required players to go to college for at least three years, it would look very different then it does now. BaseballAmerica.com's Jim Callis takes a look at it and breaks it down. This is all you need to know Bryce Harper would be at South Carolina, now that would be scary.

Same type of Culture LFC & PSU

During the last couple of months, the culture at Penn State has been questioned. The Penn State culture is very simple. They are a tight knit community where everyone is from there and outsiders are usually not brought in. In that culture things are kept quite and they try not to let it out. For years, incidents at Penn State where handled in house and anyone who suggested they were handling things wrong were shunned.

Across the pond, there is a similar culture at Liverpool Football Club and that showed this weekend when manager Kenny Dalgish stood up for Luis Suarez not shaking Patrice Evra's hand before the United Liverpool game. During the course of the last two months, Suarez and Dalgish have been fighting with everyone over racism claims against Suarez.

Liverpool is a lot like Penn State, people in the club believe they know what is right for everything and how dare you question them. I'm not comparing the Suarez racism mess to the PSU Jerry Sandusky sex abuse allegations, but rather how they handled things. Anything that happens involving Liverpool is always someone else's fault, they also think that they can handle everything their way and sometimes it blows up in their face, like their handling of the situation this weekend.

Lets hope the Suarez situations makes Liverpool Football Club look in the mirror and re-examine the culture of the club and what they stand for.

This Map Explains Everything

This map breaks down all that is good with America.

Look out when Aaron Ramsey scores

Aaron Ramsey is in the process of being a good player at Arsenal. Over the last couple of years he has scored some important goals. But some are questioning the timing of his goals. Ramsey in goal link to Whitney death, according to The Sun. Every time he scores a world renounced personality dies.

Rutgers Signing Day Sprint

Sports Illustrated does a great job breaking down the chaos that surrounding Rutgers recruiting class. Signing day could have been a mess for Rutgers, but it turned out ok, according to Sports Illustrated.

Live Blogging: Duke vs. North Carolina Round 1

ESPNU and 247Sports rule National Signing Day

National Signing Day has come on gone and people are debating who had the best class in the country. The only true winner on National Signing Day was ESPNU and 247Sports. Its amazing how much college football fans care about 18-years signing scholarship papers. 

Lets start the hype machine for Super Bowl XLVIII

So Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands is two years away and already the hype machine has started. In Sundays New York Times' sports section the committee that brought the game to the Met Life Stadium took out an ad counting down to the game. If you think that this years hype was out of control, wait till Super Bowl XLVIII, its should be out of control.

A bad day for Chelsea all around

If you think throwing away a three goal lead is a bad day at the office, it got worst for Chelsea Sunday morning. Chelsea spelled their own website URL wrong, on their advertising boards during their game against Manchester United, according to 101 Great Goals. Now that is a bad day at the office and it only happened with a billion people watching.