Doc’s eBook

Some of the old school TNB faithful may recall that our renowned columnist Doc Hancock had a book deal in the works (shoe, commercial deals to come) with a publishing company up north.  Doc has kept me abreast of the situation (heh, I said breast) and called me last night to let me know they had sent him the first page proofs, in electronic format no less, of his upcoming publication.  Ryne felt inclined to share, for free, his eBook with the masses and TNB felt inclined to host and diseminate it (heh, I said seminate).  I am sure Doc thanks all of you, especially his loyal readers, as I know I do.

I am very proud of Doc and am very pleased at the friendship and site we’ve built together.  We’ll have updates periodically on the progress and will be hosting the free copy indefinitely.  The working title was “Mr. Goodbars and Fly Balls” but consider yourself lucky as this early electronic page proof version may soon be limited edition now that Doc has already been told that he will have to edit the title stemming from copyright complaints from the Mr. Goodbar found in candy stores and grocery store checkout lanes across the nation.

The download is in .pdf format and is a free download.  If you’re not familiar with Adobe Acrobat’s famed file format, to view the file you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is also a free download — don’t say I never gave you anything and Merry freaking Christmas, got it?

Congrats, Doc!

“Mr. Goodbars and Fly Balls” eBook

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Humbly But Slowly Approaching 200,000

A year ago when I was in the middle of working on my book, I received an email from one of my good friends about my life and where it was at that point.

“Your life can’t get any better. The Cardinals won the World Series, the Colts won the Super Bowl and your book is about to be published,” the email read.

Four months later, I took a chance and helped bring this very blog that you are reading now to new heights as we sit on the verge of approaching 200,000 hits, something that was deemed impossible when we started this venture back in June of last year.

But unlike when we reached 100,000 on December 31st, which occurred the same day that the venerable Cincinnati Post ceased publication after 126 years, the accomplishment of reaching 200,000 hits is something that we six here at The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog are humbly proud of.

Being that I once worked for a newspaper here in Memphis, a small paper that reached 50,000 readers in Millington, Covington, and other parts of northern Shelby and Tipton counties, I knew all too well about the need to include any and everyone in this blog, a piece of advice I received from a former newspaper editor during my time in journalism camp.

And as we approach 200,000 within in the next week and a half, we can’t thank you guys enough for supporting our website. Without you, this blog would be nothing more than a small round table of sports fans that write daily on their local teams, the big news of the day in sports, and God knows what.

Because of you guys, our blog could very well be the southern version of Deadspin, something I sure Matt and the rest of us would enjoy being known as, but still with the attitude of being the people’s sports blog.

To quote former Daily Oklahoman editor Edward King Gaylord, who said in a 1916 editorial, we shall continuously strive to be a people’s blog in every sense.

And as we’ve done since June of last year, we will continue to live by that creed and bring you the daily sports happenings with a dose of humor and personal insight.

New Staff Member!

We’re pleased to announce that Vega has joined the staff here at The Nasty Boys.  Vega is a baseball guru and will (hopefully) get us through the baseball season along with Condo.

There’s also talks of a possible podcast featuring myself, Condo, and Vega somewhere a ways down the line, so we’ll keep you informed. Exciting happenings around these parts as well all get pumped up for the baseball season.

Show Vega all of the unconditional love and support you show me and be sure to treat him like you like you treat the rest of us:  as if you caught him in bed with your wife…

-Matt

Back Online

After being offline for a while due to server maintenance, all of the forums are back online for those of you who are interested.

The Nasty Boys Sports Bar

Gamecocks Sports Forum

ACC vs. SEC

You should check ‘em out, they’re worth their weight in magic beans.

-Matt

Site Updates

Alright, a lot of stuff to get you caught up about around here that we’re all excited about. First, we’re back on board with TaySC and Company over at Gamecock Sports Forum and they’ve reopened The Nasty Boys’ Sports Bar for business. This as close as you’re going to get to OUR OFFICIAL FORUM. Each post has a thread here and we haven’t required a registration system so the Sports Bar is where it’s at. Despite being hosted by Gamecock Sports Forum, our area is not limited to any one topic so if you enjoy talking sports then please take the time to register over at Gamecock Sports Forum and start joining in on the discussions. Myself, Doc, Condo, and even Bob will drop by as much as we can and TaySC migrates the threads from here in to the Sports Bar for the majority of our posts through RSS feed so each article has its own topic already started.

Links:

The Nasty Boys Sports Bar

Gamecocks Sports Forum

You can find these links at all times over on the right hand menu.

In other news, TaySC and his contingent of South Carolina and Clemson fans over at Gamecock Sports Forum have embarked on another neat project and that is ACC vs. SEC. It is still in the beginning stages but Tay has be bugging me like crazy to get some Kentucky fans over there to join the SEC fight and I told him I was committed 100%. South Carolina and Alabama are already well represented but I’ve been told the site is growing like wild fire. It is another registration site, but it is all VERY easy and TaySC, raptorcox, Just2Cocky, etcetera are all great people and welcome anybody. GSF/AvS are some of the friendliest forums I have found and for any Kentucky fans here (or any Vandy fans from Doc’s crew), you’ll be happy to know that they support the SEC whenever possible.

Link:

ACC vs. SEC

Bookmark these, join up, and kill some down time in the office or on some slow Sunday. They’re great places to discuss sports and get to know fellow sports junkies.

Also, as a reminder, Doc’s personal blog has moved in recent history so if you’re wondering where the Press Box Kid has gone, look no further.

Link:

Southern Girls and Sports

Again, I can’t stress how great all of these places are. It is a great way to get involved in the network we’re trying to build here with myself, Doc, and TaySC, along with everyone at GSF and TNB.

It has been a lot of fun and we hope to keep it going. We appreciate all of the support here and we hope we’ve been able to cure a little of boredom as repayment for our gratitude along the way.

Now I am off to mop up the puddles of tears that pulled during that one game against Vanderbilt last night.

Regards,

Matt

100

Sunday’s column on Crichton’s win over Lyon College of Batesville, Arkansas marked the 100th post I’ve presented to you, the TNB faithful, since I became columnist on June 12, 2007.

In that time, I’ve taken you guys on a journey through the South with hilarious barbs on roadtrips with the “Basketball Brotherhood” at Crichton College, interviewed random hotties, and of course, provided you with funny insights on the national sports scene.

I would like to again thank my fellow co-owners and writers: Matt, Condo, Charlie Hustle, and Bob Swerski, as well as all of my fans and haters over the last seven months.

The best is yet to come.

The People Of TNB Versus ESPN

A faithful follower of The Nasty Boys, JR, left the following comment on the article What’s That Sound?:

“Send this article to anyone and everyone you can at ESPN. I’d be interested to hear their response to it.”

Well, the management thought it was such a good idea that we have decided to follow through with it but which direction to take it was the first question that needed to be answered.

ESPN.com has what they call an “Ombudsman,” much like a college campus, and her name is Le Anne Schreiber and her description is as follows:

“Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber is the public’s representative to ESPN, offering independent examination and analysis of ESPN’s media outlets. The former New York Times sports editor and author will critique decision-making, coverage and presentation of news, issues and events on ESPN television and other media. Schreiber will have a two-year tenure and succeeds George Solomon, ESPN’s initial Ombudsman.”

Good enough for me. She has an e-mail contact so I have forwarded my article regarding ESPN’s Duke/ACC/East Coast-bias to her and the general qualm everyone outside of the state of North Carolina has with it.

Here were my comments, followed by a transcript of said article:

“I would like to comment on the reoccurring theme with ESPN that gives the appearance of a Duke/ACC/East Coast bias. If you want further explanation, here is an article I have found regarding just that: “

The point of this exercise is to not bring cheap attention to this site but it is merely to see, as JR stated, what their response might be. I am sure it will be a standard response including ESPN’s drive to be “The Worldwide Leader In Sports” but it will be an interesting experiment nonetheless.

I will keep you posted…

100,000; And It’s Thanks To You

 When I joined up with Matt and the rest of the guys on June 12th of this year, the blog that you are reading now was nowhere near what it is today.

For the most part, and this is from my own opinion, the rest of the world figured that four (we added “Bob Swerski” before the trading deadline to make it five) college-aged guys, three of whom who grew up together in Dayton, Ohio and one who spent three years as a columnist and delivery boy for a small newspaper in North Shelby County, didn’t have a clue when it came to sports.

But in the end, we’ve proved them wrong as we enter the final day of 2007 on the cusp of 100,000 hits in our first year of operation, a small feat for a blog that only six months ago was a complete afterthought in the blogosphere.

This coming as we say goodbye to the legendary Cincinnati Post, which will print its final edition at 9:25 Cincinnati time to close out 126 years of dependable journalistic service for Greater Cincinnati.

So it’s an honor for us to share the opportunity of reaching 100,000 hits on the same day that Cincinnati closes out an era in journalism.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  Thanks to all who hang around and have helped make this a fun and successful site/hobby for me and my friends.  Doc has a roll call up of those he is thankful for regarding the site but I do want to thank Josh, Chris, Doc, and Joe here at TNB as well as Steven and Company over at Gamecocks Sports Forum — you guys rock!

But most importantly I want to thank the readers.  Whether there is one of you or one hundred of you, you come back enough to keep me in it and for that I am much appreciative.

Enjoy the holidays with your families, we’ll be around as usual but things are a little slower because I am on Christmas Break this month myself — got to love college!

Thanks again and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

-Matt

P.S.  Here are couple of my personal favorites to get you through the holiday…unfortunately, it’s no “2 Girls 1 Cup”:

Ric Flair - Me and Josh’s personal hero in one of his classic interviews — “You don’t like the PRESTIGE…that I have in life! You don’t like the NOTORIETY! You detest the fact that I got more cars than most of you have friends!”

My New Haircut - One of the funniest EVER but it has some not-safe-for-family language. 

Roll Call:

I wrote this while I was in St. Louis:

Camilla and Fred Grant, Joyce and Ronnie Hancock, Mary Holmes, Loubella Banks, Amber Bryant, Sabrina Duncan, Katie Williamson, Stephen Brice, Abbey Dane, Melissa and Michelle Williams, Sharika Washington, Candice “Miss Candy” Eason, Kasi Foster, Amanda Rathert, Krystal Grady, Renetria Drake, Matt M., Chris “Condo” Condit, Josh Stankovich, Joe Meyer, Jeff and Lynne Walker, Gilbert Carter, Vina Watson, Grace Walker, Derrick Boykin, Michael “The Great One” Sapp, Michelle Woods, Anthony Thomassetti, Ginny Galloway, Brittney Davis, Bradley Greer, Kenisha Banks, Jasmine and Brittanee McCaster, Jesse McClain, Chris Woodall, Lisa Crocker, Brandon Burney, Sly Watkins, Ernie Ryans, Jr., Patricia Francis, Alisha Barr, Lauretta Plummer, Ella Williamson, Sean Williamson, Matt “The Colonel” Sanders, John Liom, Todd Meyer, Dee Wilkes, Gavin Smith, Craig Stephens, Marissa Jackson, LaTia Franklin, Danny Falcone, Aaron McClain, Krista Spencer, Dr. John Walker, Matthew Long, Paul Mahoney, Jasper Shaw, Perchanda Freeman, Marcus Butler, Stan Brownlee, Jelisa Scruggs, Jasmine Scudder, Patrick W. Kabano, Kolanje Thomas, Lawrence Shamley, Ashley Smith, William Rogers, Krisden Williams, Frank Murtaugh, Jacob Rickard, Cleo Baggett, Shomari Parsons, Nick Gardner, Jordan Buggs, Jonah Leavell, John Tibbits, Beth Hanna, Ashley Parks, Brandon Privett, DeAnna Chambers, Will “The General” Carr, Charlie “Living Legend” Zettergren, Valarie and Will Wilson for taking me off their hands, Shawn”The Commissoner” Beloate, Michael Tarrant, Nathan Wade, Mondi Porter, Nakebra Surrey, Fabiola Alva, Natalie Fancher, Bobbi Tunstall, Donna McWorther, Martin Edwards, Jr., Rico Seay, Mario Chaffin, Johnathan “Bo” Bohanna, Courtney Andrews, Beth Hanna, Robert O’Kelley, Jonathan Cruz, Dontaye Hinton, Marietta Shaw, Michelle M. Woods, Shelia Houston, Brian and Brad Duffy, Dave Wischnowsky, Kevin and Lisa Herman, Naysha Scott, Rickey Norman, John Liom, Admiou Barry, Ashley Burns, Tandria Wilburn, Ronald Surgeon, Jr, Christy Reece, Devin Hardin, Lindsay Morgan, Kimberly Head, Tiffani Hicks, Dustin Young, Joshua Walls, Jasmine Vann, Shannon Blosser, Krista Spencer, Greg Hicks, Myoshia Holloway, Dr. David Williams, Michael Joye Seay, Robert L. Phillips, Jeremy Williams, Michael Thomas, Gamecock Sports Forum, The State (Columbia, South Carolina newspaper), Star and Stripe, Best of SEC Blogs, Crichton College, GoMiddle.com, “Tiger Bait”, Kentucky Sports Radio, A Sea of Blue, Kige Ramsey, Louisville Courier-Journal, Mufreesboro Daily News and Journal, and all of our readers for one incredible run in 2007.

Let’s do it again in 2008!!!!!

Doc Hancock

O’Fallon, Illinois

December 18, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone trolling the internet today, following their fantasy teams and enjoy a day full of family, friends, food, and football. 

Enjoy the holiday, everyone!

…and oh yea, GO LIONS (AND KITNA)!

Exciting New Venture

An exciting new venture has hit “The Nasty Boys” as we are going to be doing some article-sharing with Ben of BCS Busters (link).  Ben is a tremendous football mind and has very thorough insights, all of which can be found on his blog.  Ben will likely kick things off with a piece on Rich Brooks, which hopefully our Kentucky fans here will enjoy.  We’re still ironing out the details but you’ll see his links throughout the site and his columns will appear weekly here, as well as on his page among other content strictly exclusive to BCS Busters.

Exciting times and we hope this relationship raises the bar here and helps further along the network we’re trying to build!

-Matt

Friday Site News

As most of you know by now, “The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog” recently teamed up with the OUTSTANDING sports forum, Gamecocks Sports Forum, and we have since opened our very own sub-forum: “The Nasty Boys’ Sports Bar.”

We hope this partnership elevates the content and interest here as well as in the network we’re creating.

That being said, we have always hoped to bring a lot of great, national content as well as content unique to each writer’s school and/or interests (for instance, I am a huge University of Kentucky homer).

Continuing in that vein, as well as in an attempt to create a broader, more diverse network, “Doc” Hancock has joined up with Crichton College to cover the Crichton Comets and their athletes at a more personal level.  We hope this venture helps to spark interest in the site from the mid-Tennessee area while still providing columns from “Doc” that are worthwhile reads regardless of one’s connections, or lack thereof, to Crichton.

His first Crichton column drops this afternoon, we’ll see how it goes and go from there!

Other items this morning:

• “Condo” is back!  Check out his very new and very good column directly below this post and then head over to “The Sports Bar” to chat it up or feel free to leave your thoughts for him in the ‘Comments!’
• If you’re on facebook, “Doc” has created a global facebook group for “The Nasty Boys” so if you would like to join, here is the link!:  Support The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog
  

More football coverage through the weekend, “Doc’s” column up this afternoon, enjoy your Friday!

-Matt

Defending The Honor of ‘The Nasty Boys’ While On Vacation

I’ll have another preview of your favorite college team or conference on Monday as I prepare to return to school and shake out the hangover from my trip to Jackson, Mississippi.

As many of you readers know here at the ” The Nasty Boys,” we pride ourselves in providing intelligent and well-researched articles on the sports world, whether it’s Kentucky Wildcats sports or the hottest topics in the sports world, as well as humor and fun because, well, we’re five crazy college students who are absolutely f*cking brilliant.

I mean, how many college kids can say that their blog was linked to CNN.com during the Michael Vick circus as well as ESPN.com?

Probably not that many.

And how many of you so-called idiots that leave stupid comments on our blog can have three college graduates, an author, and a guy that is quickly turning into the Grantland Rice of our generation duplicate the success of our blog in the last few weeks?

None.

We’re bloggers, not columnists. All of us are in our 20s and, for the most part, have a different view of the world from you idiots.

I’m sorry I have to write this from Mississippi on a Sunday, but in closing if you don’t like me or any us here at the “The Nasty Boys,” kiss our ass.

You’ll be alright.

Happy Birthday!

Another Happy Birthday! message is in order for “The Sports Guys”/”The Nasty Boys” original, Chris “Condo” Condit.  Chris has been with us since the beginning and recently relocated to Oklahoma where he is working for the Athletic Department of Oklahoma State University.

Congratulations on the new gig and, again, happy birthday, Chris!

-Matt

Happy Birthday!

A big Happy Birthday! goes out to the newest “Nasty Boy,” Joe “Bob Swerski” Meyer. Joe will be celebrating in Downtown Chi-Town with “The Super Fans” working on his 7th heart attack…so look for him there and look for lots of solid content from him in the future right here at “The Nasty Boys.”

Again, we’re glad to have you aboard, Joe, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

-Matt

New Staff Member!

As promised earlier there was big news on the horizon for “The Nasty Boys” and we are delighted to announce that we have added yet another staff member in Joe “Bob Swerski” Meyer. His biography is now up on the ‘Staff’ page and will be a huge asset to “The Nasty Boys.” Swerski is a Chicago guy through and through and now we have the National League Central trifecta for representation: “Bob” for the Chicago Cubs, “Doc” for the Saint Louis Cardinal, and “Charlie” and myself for the ill-fated Cincinnati Reds.

You’re definitely going to enjoy his insights in the vein of ‘The SuperFans’ and we are excited to have him around!

Look for “Bob’s” material in the very near future.

-Matt

For Your 4th Of July Viewing Pleasure

First and foremost, on behalf of “The Nasty Boys” I would like to wish EVERYONE a Happy Fourth Of July!!!! Enjoy the day off with your friends, family, and fireworks. Enjoy the parades, festivals, and grill outs and celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year; celebrate responsibly but do celebrate. Also on behalf of “The Nasty Boys,” I would like to acknowledge and thank any member of our Armed Services who is currently serving at home or abroad, has served in the past, or will serve in the future, including our troops currently at war, or have been at war, and those who have lost their lives before us. We thank them on this day that we celebrate our independence.

“FREEDOM!”

Be it as it may, it is a holiday and there won’t be too many updates as “The Nasty Boys” will be off doing other things with their friends and families, but if you need to kill sometime at some point throughout the day, for your Fourth of July viewing pleasure, I bring you these:

New Staff Member!

“The Nasty Boys” would like to welcome Ryne “Doc” Hancock to the site as a Guest Columnist. “Doc’s” biography is now up on the Staff page and it is without question that Hancock will have an immediate impact here at “The Nasty Boys’ Sports Blog” with his experience and credibility. This is a really exciting time around here as I feel content and personnel continues to improve.

Look for “Doc” Hancock’s guest columns in the coming days, weeks, and all Summer long!

Welcome, “Doc!”

-Matt

“The Nasty Boys”

Our new namesake, “The Nasty Boys,” is derived from the Cincinnati Reds’ relief pitching trio of the same name. The trio consisted of Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers and all helped lead the Cincinnati Reds to the World Series title in 1990. During the World Series, “The Nasty Boys” combined for 8 2/3-innings of baseball with 0 earned runs on six hits in a four-game-sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

The name change came for several reasons but we wanted something unique and original while still tying us to our roots: Southwestern Ohio. We will still be covering every topic we have covered in the past, actually hoping to cover more and more each day, but we will NOT just focus on the Cincinnati Reds like the explanation of the name might imply. We just wanted to have a bit of nostalgia as we move forward with the site, hopefully expanding.

The other reason for the selection of this name is we are trying to add insight that is, at times, edgy and even possibly controversial. We want to incite conversation or discussion on sports topics, not merely to reiterate what has already been said in the media. We want to add brash commentary to the “sports blogosphere” without making lip-service to the fans. We still will maintain the same goals and not all articles may be funny or controversial, but we hope it is all new, interesting, and entertaining.

With this name we are hoping to really start making our own identity and grow from there, creating our own unique voice that is fresh to the internet.

Thank-you all for your continued support!

-Matt

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

Actually, it is not really that extreme but we are going through a few minor changes and one MAJOR change.  The major change is our site name and address, we’re now “The Nasty Boys.”

“The Nasty Boys”

The migration should be relatively painless and go unnoticed and we will continue to bring the same great content with the same great writers, none of that has changed.  We just wanted to make our own identity and all of this will be explained on the new site in the coming days.

Thanks a lot for your continued interest!

-Matt

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day Monday, take the time to remember all those you care about, whether they are still with us all right now or not. I will have plenty of news, notes, and other content later in the afternoon, but right now just take the time to enjoy the beautiful weather and the company of your family or friends.

I think I echo the thoughts of all of us here at “The Nasty Boys” when I say I would like to thank ALL of my close family and friends. I would also like to formally thank our troops, of this war and of past wars. I would like to thank those troops already back on American soil, those still fighting the good fight, and especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so I can continue to write and report on topics as meaningless as sports.

We live in the grandest country on Earth, so take the time to enjoy it today and remember those around you. Enjoy the cookouts and the day off work today and I will be back on later today for plenty of new stuff.

Happy Memorial Day.

-Matt

Welcome Back, “Hustle”

Josh “Charlie Hustle” Stankovich made his triumphant return to “The Nasty Boys” last night with a WONDERFUL post about the Cincinnati Reds’ Bullpen. If you have not gotten a chance to check it out, do so now as it proves immediately how much we have missed his input at the site. “Hustle” will begin his rehab in Single-A Dayton doing “12-ounce curls.” We are hoping for a speedy recovery!

WELCOME BACK!

-Matt

Man Down

This business is a tough one and unfortunately I have to announce that “Charlie Hustle” has been added to the 15-day Disabled List as the ‘Crafty Lefty’ will go under the knife first thing tomorrow morning to work on his injury. “The Nasty Boys” are not a tripod without him so Chris and I hope and pray for a speedy and healthy recovery, in general, and we all hope for a quick return to the site as his insight will be sorely missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to Josh.

- Matt

Tuesday Quickie

This video, from last night’s Red Sox game at Fenway park, is possibly one of the funnier sports videos this year and it had me in tears so I felt compelled to show it. It has nothing to do with the actual game, by the way, but make sure your sound is on as the commentating makes it even better.

Obviously the horrific tragedy that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia is the focus of today, and of this week, and our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the friends and families of those affected in yesterday’s events. Hopefully this video, and this site, can help to offer a break for some people, when necessary and appropriate, from all of the negativity found on the news today, or on any day. Remember to keep all those involved in your thoughts in the coming weeks.

-”The Nasty Boys”