Moon has overcome polio, open-heart surgery, prostate problems and financial ruin to become an Australian body building champion.

The man had POLIO, for Christ's sake. Yet, he's still able to compete in Australian bodybuilding competitions like this one in Melbourne last weekend. I really need to start taking some vitamins or something.

*****

Tonight: Please remember to pull together some of your Yankee Stadium stories and send them off to Rick. That'd be great.

Tomorrow: Will interviewed SI's Gary Smith (and a La Salle grad. Go Explorers.) and is sharing it with us. Hooray.

Thank you for your continued support of the D-Spin.

Ray Moon Photos [Yahoo!]

Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News columnist, surf enthusiast, and, well, Deadspin contributor, has been suspended from his television stint on Philly Comcast's Daily News Live show (pretty much Philly's version of ESPN) pending further review, after he made some comments on air that some viewers found "insensitive."

Here's the rundown, per NBC10 news:

Conlin was reacting to someone named Raul from Vineland, N.J., who sent in an e-mail commenting on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Regarding a question posed to coach Andy Reid on Tuesday about quarterback Donovan McNabb's shoulder injury, the question from Raul read aloud by the host was: "Are you serious? It was a stupid question. It's tendonitis. Way to go Philly media. You guys do a great job over-analyzing everything."

"Amazing that guy would leave the blueberry harvest to send that off," Conlin said a short time later.

Now, the question: Was Conlin making a statement about Vineland, N.J. residents, or was he making a racial implication about the author of the e-mail ("Raul"), characterizing him as a migrant worker? Tough call. It's probably safe to say that if the person who wrote the email was named "Jack" or "Barry" or "Voldemort," Conlin might have made a different quip.

Right now, Conlin is suspended from the show, pending further investigation by DNL into the remark, but Conlin has already came out and flatly denied any racial connotations connected to the comment.

Remember, Conlin was already given a wrist slap by his employers at the Daily News after his e-mail flame-war with Crashburn Alley's Bill Baer last November, after Conlin wrote to him "The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler's time on earth-I'm sure he would have eliminated all bloggers."

So, here we are again. Maybe Conlin should consider applying for the Deadspin editorship? We absolutely hate blueberry harvesters.

Daily News Columnist's Remark Stirs Controversy [NBC 10]
Bill Conlin Offends More People, Gets Suspended From DNL [The Fightins]

It was overdue. Alexander has been an overrated running back his entire career despite all the touchdowns and the MVP year when Steve Hutchinson should have won the award for opening the holes. Alexander was a soft runner, a mediocre blocker, a below average receiver and an egotistical "me-firster". Bring on a replacement who runs with authority.

Shaun is taking the high road on this, of course, saying that he'll continue to live in the Seattle area that the city is "woven into the fabric of his family" or something and that he's not bittter at all. One memory of Shaun Alexander that sticks out is that bizarre, girlish dance he did on the sidelines during a Seahawks playoff game in 2005 after he went out early. It was easily one of the most feminine moments in NFL history and, sadly, can't be found on YouTube anywhere. If there is photographic evidence of this, please send it along.

Alexander is already taking on possible suitors for his services. One of those is supposed to be the bastard Patriots, who seem to be the perfect rejuvenation for wayward NFL players who want to make guys like Dick Nichols eat crow.

The Official Website Of Shaun Alexander [Shaun Alexander.org]

Chris Mottram, the younger, more virile half of the Mottram blog Hydra unloads on the Lester Munson article that accompanies the E:60 promo on ESPN.com:

Middle aged women beware: Lying about your age is the gateway lie to lying about much more harmful things. Like drug abuse.

So, remember, set your Tivo's if you want to watch this Tejada — sorry, Tejeda guy squirm like the lawless vermin he is. Plus, it's also fun to watch that gripping E:60 roundtable, as ESPN's elite muckraking corps vet each story like it's Watergate: THE MAN IS NOT USING HIS GOD GIVEN FEET TO WIN RACES...

Tonight, We Finally Find Out Tejada's Real Age! [The Sporting Blog]

So, honestly, what in the name of fucking Florio happened today with the Packers.com very brief, yet very public screw-up regarding Brett Favre's retirement? About an hour ago, the Packers PR monkeys fessed up to the whole situation, telling Dennis Dillon at The Sporting News that, "The people who handle our website set up mock pages. It's as simple as that. ... A third party was preparing something in case (Favre's retirement) happened. They've done that the last five years."

Five years? Maybe there's a little bit of embellishment to help minimize the whole situation, but it seems a little suspicious that a not-so-elaborate homepage mock-up of Favre would be sitting around in some publishing cue pending a retirement announcement. And if it has been sitting around that long, you'd think a programmer's elbow grazing the SEND key would've been something they would've fail-safed a while ago. ( Right now, I'm picturing Mark Borchardt from American Movie is the guy mashing all the buttons at Packers.com headquarters.)

The most enjoyable part of the day was watching Pro Football Talk almost eat itself trying to keep up with all the madness. MDS to the rescue, of course.

After wiping the brown stuff off of its face, the Packers did say there will be some sort of press conference next week that'll address the future of Wisconsin's Gunslinging Wet Dream and the appropriate amount of mourning and/or rejoicing will finally be able to commence.

In preparation for that event and to pay my own homage, I was reminded of Reuben Frank/Sal Paolantonio's spot-on summary of Favre's career:

Let's interrupt the deification of Brett Favre for a moment to examine the second half of his career.

Since beating the 49ers in the 1997 NFC Championship Game, Favre has won just three of 10 playoff games. Eli Manning had more playoff wins in a 29-day span this year than Favre has in the last decade.

Yes, Favre won a Super Bowl 11 years ago. Good for him. But while his career arc has spiraled downward, the sickening fawning over him has only grown worse.

Favre has thrown two of the worst playoff interceptions in NFL history - Brian Dawkins in overtime against the Eagles in the 4thand-26 game in 2003 and last month against the Giants. He's the only quarterback in NFL history to throw overtime interceptions in two different playoff games.

Since 2002, Favre is 2-3 in home playoff games, losing to Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper and Eli Manning. The Packers have lost as many home playoff games under Favre in the last six years as they lost from 1921 through 2001. In his last nine playoff games, Favre has thrown 16 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Yet the football hype machine still stubbornly paints Favre as this hallowed icon of Americana, a symbol of all that is right with sports, a Wild West gun-slinging good ol' boy. There's Brett on the farm! There's Brett with his family! There's Brett on the cover of Sports Illustrated! There's Brett throwing another overtime interception!

Favre was the best in the game once upon a time. Those days are gone. Even if nobody wants to admit it.

Stay tuned...

Packers: Favre retirement page a mistake [Sporting News]
Favre-tastic lunacy at The Rumor Mill [PFT]
Favre Could Maybe, Possibly Be Retiring Again [Chris Mottram's House of Fire! (or The Sporting Blog)]
Books By Snazzy-Dressing Italian Men and Men Named Reuben [Amazon]