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The Bottom Line ~ The truth, the whole truth

Archive for the 'Sirius Radio' Category

Wednesday’s Line

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 by patrickdonohue

Over my morning bowl of cheerios, I watched Mike and Mike this morning and thought the show posed a very interesting question, “Do sports fans care about scandals?” The answer to that question, though, as the pair found out is very complex. As it pertains to steroids in baseball, I don’t care about steroids in baseball or Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record because I just don’t care about baseball. There are enough things in the world for me to be outraged about so much so that I don’t need to feign outrage in anything. But I think with sports scandals in general, sports fans just get worn out. I can’t listen to sports talk radio hosts talk about Michael Vick anymore, or Tim Donaghy or Barry Bonds. I just don’t want to hear it. And it’s not that I don’t care about those stories. I’m just tired. I need a nap from scandals.

In more exciting news, my hometown,Terre Haute, Ind., totally got a shout-out during Tony Dungy’s appearance on Letterman last night to plug his new book.

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No, seriously…

A 16-year-old drove his truck to an island in the middle of a shallow Pennsylvania river and couldn’t get back.

Inmates split on Woody Allen.

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Eagles corner Sheldon Brown says leveling Reggie Bush in the playoffs last year was like running through a cardboard box.

New Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is already putting the team through the ringer.

What is Brady Quinn thinking? I think on draft day, everybody was kind of pulling for the guy to get drafted because of the embarrassment he caused himself by showing up to the draft without knowing where he would go or how far he’d fall. And now he has grossly overestimated his value and is pissing off an entire city that wants to embrace him. Cleveland wants to love Brady Quinn. He needs to quit acting like a petulant child and get to camp. What a dope.

You can still chew snuff at Tennessee football games but Neyland Stadium will now be smoke-free .

Bobby Petrino trying to keep the Falcons focused on the game on the field. Good luck.

LSU senior tailback Alley Broussard is leaving the team.

Matt Leinart’s legal battle with his ex-girlfriend Brynn Cameron could get very public and very messy.

Cotton Bowl executives are lobbying to make the Dallas-based bowl a BCS bowl.

SI’s Stewart Mandel on how the Michael Vick scandal has effected Virginia Tech.

Eagles draftee Kevin Kolb signs with the team. I was so hoping for a holdout.

Boise State running back (and publicity hound) Ian Johnson has hired extra security for his weekend wedding following racist threats.

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Well-rounded news…

USAToday profiles fanboys.

Naomi Watt, Stuart Townsend and Joseph Fiennes have all been cast for roles in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not so fast.

Blockbuster may be losing money but it’s beating Netflix, says BusinessWeek.

Facebook founder finds himself in court; being sued by former colleagues.

Though relatively small companies, XM and Sirius merger is huge for the future of satellite radio, says Washington Post.

Has the mystery behind J.J. Abrams’ “mystery” project been solved?

How a movie poster got me totally excited for a Western.

The cover of Bottom Line fav. Kanye West’s new album, Graduation.

Blender’s top 25 most influential people in online music.

The Huffington Post’s Eric Williams thinks a Seth Rogan-led Green Hornet movie, or any Green Hornet movie, is a bad idea.

Monday’s Line

Monday, July 23rd, 2007 by patrickdonohue

Had a pretty uneventful weekend. Consisted mostly of watching DVDs (Alpha Dog, Children of Men and Season 4 of Degrassi). Little to no sports consumption though I am LOVING the new NCAA Football 2008 for the 360, much to the chagrin of my girlfriend.

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No, seriously…

A man in New Orleans found a knife in his back more than 5 months after he was stabbed in a fight.

Zimbabwe authorities are pissed at a medium that led them on a hunt for diesel fuel the medium said was in the northwestern part of the country.

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Great Q&A on The Big Lead with The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon.

The Falcons could face some serious consequences if Michael Vick practices, says SI’s Peter King.

Hawaii wants ESPN’s College Gameday to travel to the Big Island for the Warriors’ tilt against Boise State. Not gonna happen.

Brynn Cameron not about to put Matt Leinart up for Father of the Year. Unfortunately, this story isn’t that surprising.

A pair of stories on how Virginia Tech football players are preparing for the start of the ‘07 season. New York Times/Orlando Sentinel

Is Brady Quinn a jerk?

SI’s Grant Wahl on David Beckham’s debut Saturday night.

Keith Hernandez on his famous role on Seinfeld. The Zapruder-style footage of Hernandez spitting on Kramer and Newman is one of my favorite moments in television history.

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Well-rounded news…

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Best Buy’s Geek Squad taking stuff off your computer. Consumer rights blog The Consumerist led the way on this story. Good job, guys.

University of Kansas students will have their internet privileges taken away if they are caught file sharing.

The assistant managing editor at the Birmingham News is a genius!

An amazing map of Web 2.0.

Netflix has lowered their subscription fees in an effort to keep up with Blockbuster online. $1 guys! That’ll show ‘em!

Flying Gonzo!

Part one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 50 Best Love Songs Ever.

Bottom Line fav Nada Surf to hit the road in the fall to preview new material from their upcoming, yet-to-be-named album.

David Chase addresses The Sopranos finale.. sort of.

The Sacramento Bee will begin posting video letters to the editor on its site.

What to do with that Joan Obsborne CD you can’t believe you own.

XM and Sirius execs continue to try to convince the FCC that its merger is good for consumers. No way.

The Bottom Line’s take on….

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 by jotto001

The XM Sirius Merger 2-19-07-sirius_xm_merge.jpg

Having had Sirius for two years and now a recent XM subscriber (it came installed in my car), I think the benefits of satellite radio from the perspective of a sports fan is unquestionable but each service certainly has its respective benefits.

XM has tons of college basketball and football, namely the Big Ten, NHL and Major League Baseball. XM also has Fox Sports Radio, which I enjoy when ESPN Radio goes to commercial break and will soon have the return of Tony Kornheiser.

Sirius’ upsides? The NFL, ’nuff said. NFL Radio is great for those diehard fans who want to talk about “next year” for their team, the minute the season ends. And of course, they have play-by-play of every game with every set of broadcasters. Sirius also has a deal with the NCAA to broadcast the NCAA Tournament.

One or both of these services has a deal with NASCAR but who cares?

The ideal situation for consumers would be for the two services to combine into one and offer us all the sports radio we could ever possibly ask for.

But since news of this deal broke, I’ve been asking myself one question: Is this a good thing for consumers? And I don’t think it is. A combined XM/Sirius would definitely look an awful lot like a monopoly and such a merger would certainly result in higher prices, even if the two services remain separate. Ultimately, I think in the best interest of the consumer, the FCC will have no choice but to reject this deal.

Sometimes if it seems too good to be true.. it probably is..

For more information on the merger, here’s a basic AP story on the deal.

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