You didn’t think you could really get rid of Justin, Brandon and Brett, did you?

Forget it. We’re like The Simpsons. We might run low on ideas every once in a while, but you’ll never get us to really go away forever.

That said, we’ve grabbed the jumper cables, given No Sir Fans a nice little kick in the pants and start cranking out tremendous, frivolous and hilarious content yet again.

And with it comes a brand new look…again.

So stay tuned. You’ll want to see us on the other side.

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about and the image appears to have nothing wrong with it let me spell it out for you. The city of Pittsburgh is misspelled. ESPN forgot to add an ‘h’ to the end of the city. Now to most this would seem like just a small over sight I mean the ‘h’ is silent why is it even a big deal? It is a big deal to us Pittsburghers because it makes our city different from all of the other burgs in the country, nay nay perhaps even the world. The ‘h’ was added back in the 1800’s and has stayed that way for years. So this is just someone over at ESPN just got lazy. I don’t know if it was someone putting the screen together at the last minute, or if it was just an intern being lazy but this is just sloppy by the worldwide leader.

And apperantly this is not an isolated incident either, as I was talking with some co-workers about the gaffe one of them from Ohio told me that they don;t even bother to attempt to spell Cincinnati ESPN just uses Bengals. So bravo ESPN this is just another reason to show that you only care about five markets across country and the rest of us just have to deal with it.

Everyone over at Deadspin must be wiping a tad of sweat from their brows. Or not, since they clearly don’t care whether or not their claims were true anyway.

Must make them breathe a little bit easier over there at Gawker.

Oh wait…what’s this?

A former ESPN analyst and Dallas sports radio personality has filed a civil lawsuit in Denton County against the owner of a popular sports blog for causing him to lose both of his jobs and damaging his reputation.

Sean Salisbury, a Frisco resident and former National Football League quarterback, filed a petition for a civil defamation lawsuit in a Denton County court against Gawker Media for publishing several false stories on their sports blog Deadspin.com that cost him several jobs, ruined his reputation and made it difficult to find gainful employment.

Methinks AJ Daulerio’s recent tirade against his arch-enemy, ESPN, will not help him out too much when trying to prove that he didn’t mean to actually harm Salisbury.

About three weeks ago, I actively decided to make the personal decision to no longer frequent Deadspin, a popular sports blog.

Since Will Leitch, the site’s former editor, left and the current head honcho, AJ Daulerio, took over, the website, owned by a company called Gawker Media, has devolved into nothing more than a collection of timely penis and fart jokes.

In fact, if you are to visit their site right now as of 9:33 AM Eastern time, three of their first six stories involve underwear, Adrian Peterson’s crotch and the bathrooms at FedEx Field in Washington.

In short, I no longer felt that Deadspin held any sort of real value to me anymore. So I stopped going.

Yesterday, NSF Brett alerted me to some heinous activity going on over on that site. So, for the first time in weeks, I headed over to Deadspin and saw the ruckus for myself.

What I encountered was the lowest form of rumor mongering I have ever encountered anywhere on the internet, let alone the blogosphere.

If you’ve missed the memo over the last few days, ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips has been suspended by the network for inappropriate sexual conduct. It’s well known that this isn’t the first time ESPN has gone through something like this.

Apparently, Daulerio tried to contact the Worldwide Leader for a comment, a futile attempt.

However, instead of taking it in stride like the rest of us “journalists” (by the way, Deadspin…not journalism in the slightest sense) or trying to confirm the story using other sources, AJ had a meltdown.

Since the tenuous connection between rumor and fact for accuracy’s sake has been a little eroded here, well, it’s probably about time to just unload the inbox of all the sordid rumors we’ve received over the years about various ESPN employees. Chances are, at this point, there’s some truth to them.

This is, without a doubt, the most egregious breach of ethics I have seen in a LONG time.

First off, does Deadspin even realize that people are, you know, reading their site? Gawker Media claims that their sports arm gets over 600,000 hits per day, something I don’t doubt.

But does Gawker or Deadspin, or for that matter Daulerio, even know the meaning of the word libel?

Through the rest of Wednesday, Daulerio “outed” ESPN personality Erik Kuselias as having an affair with fellow on-air talent Stephania Bell and marketing head Katie Lacey for “sleeping her way to the top” of both Pepsi Co. and ESPN.

All of this, of course, is based on nothing more than “tips” and e-mails he has received. Daulerio ADMITS that he wasn’t even checking into those tips and just publishing them in some sort of frenzied attempt to get back at ESPN for not giving him a comment on the Steve Phillips situation.

If Brandon, Brett and I, all who hold communications and journalism Bachelor’s degrees, had a dime for every “no comment” we’ve received, we’d all be living on our own islands in the Pacific right now.

I wonder if Daulerio and Deadspin even realizes that if any single one of their allegations is false, they’ll be sued so quickly that they’ll have their collective thumbs up their butts whistling Dixie.

There’s a funny thing about libel: it’s a tough case to win as a plaintiff. However, if Kuselias, Lacey or anyone else from ESPN decides to sue for defamation, they’ll win. Hands down.

You see, the two main points on proving libel are showing that a publication was negligent in it’s reporting (in the case of a private individual) or had actual malice towards the subject or person (in the case of a public figure).

Since Kuselias, for example, is a household name for most sports fans, he’d have to prove that Daulerio was out to get him. Did you see that quote earlier in this story? That’s proof enough.

This kind of gross negligence and total disregard for fairness and accuracy in reporting makes me nauseous. If AJ Daulerio wants to claim that they’re just a “blog” and they’re not actually a journalistic entity, he’s jaded.

Deadspin’s own site meter shows that 39,000 people have visited the website since I started writing this blog. You know what that means? Like it or not, people are coming to your site, AJ, for legitimate information. You’re a SOURCE, now, not just a mouthpiece. Your own growth has accomodated that fact.

I know that us here at No Sir Fans are small potatoes compared to Deadspin and I know my diatribe here will not effect real change toward’s the public’s attitude toward it. However, I’ve removed Deadspin from our list of sites we suggest you read based on the fact that it’s clear that their editorial staff has no regard for truth or accuracy.

And once they get sued, I’ll be in the first row of the courtroom rooting for the Plaintiff.

–justin

Links:

The Original Deadspin Post on ESPN
Deadspin “outs” Erik Kuselias
Deadspin “outs” Katie Lacey

This was a sign from yesterday’s epic game between the Twins and Tigers to decide the AL Central crown. If you dont get it, it is in reference to Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who went 2-6 in the game with a 2 run homer to give the Tigers the early 3-0 lead. He also was involved in what was deemed a “family trouble” 9-1-1 call Saturday morning when he spent a night out on the town and didnt arrive home until 5 A.M. much to the dimay of his wife. He was not arrested but his blood-alcohol-level was 3-times the legal limit.

My opinion was that the guy shouldnt have been allowed to play in yesterday’s game. The league shouldnt have made that decison, the Tigers’ organization should have sat him. At the time he went out and got tanked, his team had a 1-game lead in the divsion. They lost that night and were tied going into Sunday. He’s their best hitter and he’s out drinking it up at the most important time of the season. That’s a team player right there.

Anyhow, i think my favorite thing about this photo is not the actual sign. It’s the fact that the man sitting in the chair is Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers’ President, CEO, and Genreal Manager. Just an absolutely classic look from Dombrowski. I bet the guy didnt even know that was him sitting down when he took the photo. It’s just a slap in the face to an already classic choke job by the Tigers.

I know my last 2 posts have also been homerish writing about my hometown teams, but right now, its great to be a Minnesota sports fan. We always get sh*t on by the media because they want to talk about the New Yorks, Bostons, and L.A.s of the world. So for everyone who is sick of hearing about Favre or seeing homer hankys being waved….turn off your damn TV and your computer and go read a book or something.

–brandon

Thankfully, the Beener hasn’t stopped producing internet gold.

If you’re just joining us on NSF (and thanks for stopping by!), Brandon and I stumbled upon this kid, who calls himself “BeenerKeeKee1995″ on YouTube, and his series of videos.

In each of them, he’s dancing and lip syncing a popular song. In short, it’s quite possibly the most awesome thing ever. It’s what we all do into the mirror, except he’s only 12 or 13 years old and does it on the internet for all to enjoy.

My personal favorite is “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, mostly for the baller-style spin he does during the chorus. Brandon prefers “Yahh!” by Soulja Boy.

Luckily for us, he’s got some new stuff. Without further ado, the Wunderkind’s rendition and interpretation of “LoveDrunk” by Boys Like Girls.

You’re welcome.

However, at Brett’s nudging, I will be starting a new weekly NCAA Football Power Rankings series here on NSF. No Atlantic Coast Conference teams need apply. We’ll get the first one up tomorrow sometime during the first round of NFL games.

Also, seeing as that I’ve clearly got some exploring to do on this side of the country, I’m pleased to announced three upcoming No Sir Fans road shows. Each time, I’ll bring The Official Camera of NSF(tm) to each event and post a photo album along with some writings on each journey.

Here’s the schedule of upcoming NSF Road Trips:

September 20: Baltimore

I’ll be heading 30 minutes up the road from Washington DC to the Charm City to take in a game between the Orioles and Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Even better, I’ll be attending the game with Jim Jones from Ballparks Across America, a good friend of No Sir Fans nation. Jim travels around the country going to every ballpark in MLB and many in the minor, Spring Training and AzFL. He has written three books about his journeys which you can buy at his website.

Brandon and I have had the great pleasure of going to games with him and being a part of his first books and I was very excited when he e-mailed to invite me to join him at another game out here. We last saw him in March in Scottsdale and Tempe.

September 25-27: Athens, GA

We love our Sun Devils here on No Sir Fans. We’ll pretty much do anything to see them and cheer them on.

Even if it takes a 10 hour drive with a stopover in South Carolina.

With The Official East Coast Roommate of NSF(tm) joining me, I’ll be making the journey to see Arizona State play the Georgia Bulldogs at Samford Stadium on September 26. The trip includes a stop in Columbia, SC to visit another friend. It’ll be my first journey to an SEC stadium and I’m sure it’s going to come with plenty of stories.

October 24-27: Philadelphia, PA

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The San Jose Sharks, who finally put an end to the entire Dany Heatley saga today, will be on their East Coast swing in mid-October.

With good friend of NSF Dave in tow, we’ll trek up I-95 and see Los Tiburones battle the Philadelphia Flyers. Shens will be had.

Stay tuned! It just keeps getting better.

-justin

This was submitted to us by our good friend (and avid reader) Weaver. This video reminds me a little bit of the video we posted awhile back when a dude was messing with a classmate only to see another student rip his shirt off and pimp slap the hell out of the guy.

While it is hilarious and the teacher has better accuracy than ANY Detroit Lions quarterback, there is just something about this that seems fake. For that matter, it makes me think the other video is fake too. Why do they have a camera in the classroom? Why didnt the teacher say something before instead of going directly for the eraser? Why didn the rest of the students go ape shit? I would have freaked out laughing if i saw that. Too many questions left unanswered…but still a solid FACE nonetheless. Keep reppin Wyoming Weav!

–brandon

I know its been awhile since i posted a FACE and i truly apologize since thats one of our staples here at NSF. So i decided to give you two for the price of one today. The first one above may be a case of “wrong place, wrong time”, but it think it goes deeper than that. The kid clearly had it coming. He had been making faces at the kicker all night. Saying things like, “kicker aren’t real people” and stuff of that nature. Let this be a lesson to you all…kickers are real people, they just aren’t part of the team.

FACE number two comes from some soccer game. Tried to read the description on YouTube, but it was in some foreign language and i really dont have time to translate because my fantasy football draft is friday and i need to get on top of things. Go to the 27 second mark for one of the better dropkicks i’ve seen in a long time. It doesnt really connect in the face, but a FACE doesnt always have to be a shot to the face, it’s just a humiliation tactic.

–brandon

So i finally have internet access at the new house will be able to get back to work on bringing you all the sarcasm you can handle from the sports world. I’m not going to lie, i have really felt kinda naked the last 3 1/2 days without the internet. You really have no idea how important this “series of tubes” is until you can access it on a regular basis.

I’m also kind of miffed that Justin didnt update once while we were gone. I guess staring at Kevin Blackistone’s shininy head in class made him lose his site or something. And Brett had been actually stealing the internet until i got it set up, so he doesnt have an excuse either.

*shaking my head in shame*

Maybe now that i have called them out, they’ll dust of the skirts and get back in the game.

–brandon