Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat knew he would ruffle some feathers when he posted a partial transcript of Bowden's postgame remarks after a comeback loss to Clemson; he even apologized in advance. But Bowden's supporters do no one any good by pretending this sort of thing isn't going on.

Bowden: "Both of us made errors. We probably scored on some of their errors — I didn't keep up with it. But we'd turn the ball over and they'd go down and score. Then we'd turn it over and they didn't score. They'd turn it over back. And the game kind of went that way. We felt very comfortable. We knew it was a battle.

"How late was it 24-21 in our favor? How late did it get? Did that get into the fourth quarter?"

Reporter: "Nine and a half minutes left."

Bowden: "Left in the game?"

Reporter: "Yes."

Bowden: "So you're feeling comfortable, but you know that it ain't won yet. Then of course the dam broke."

A few minutes later, Bowden was asked this question by another reporter.

Reporter: "In the second half, when it seemed like momentum started to switch, how hard was it to try to reverse that?"

Bowden: "You mean when they got it (momentum)? Well, actually … you know, they had to kick off to us. We had a what? A three-point ….? Did we have the lead at the half?"

(Reporter nods).

Bowden: "We had a three-point lead at the half, I think. Then they had to kick off to us. We needed to take it down and win the darn game right there. We didn't do it. They stopped us. Then we kicked it to them and then they probably scored."

Reporter: "They went ahead and then you guys came back."

Bowden: "Huh?"

Reporter: "They went ahead and then you guys came back again."

Bowden: "Did we get ahead of them again after that?"

Reporter: "Yeah."

Bowden: "Then we got back ahead, huh? Umm, it was going that way, you know it? I felt very comfortable that if they could score, we could score. That's the way I felt, you know it? We've done it all year. But then we started turning the ball over."

I'm not saying this is any worse than the senior moments we all have from time to time. I'm not saying Seminole backers should be terrified that he'll forget the score, or the down, in the middle of a game. I'm not saying Bowden's too old to be coaching football.

Oh wait. I am saying that.

What Are We To Think Of Bowden's Postgame Comments? [Tallahassee Democrat]

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]

That said, it's hard not to have a little sympathy for these folks. Three Cubs fans aged 100 years or older met at the Chicago ESPN Zone over the weekend, and commiserated on their pain.

Richard Savage of Chicago has been a Cubs fan for all his 100 years, and he still hasn't lived long enough to see his team win the World Series. "Expectations are still dim," Savage says. "But I still have hope." After all, hope dies last.

Old people are cute ... well, at least when they're that old. We tried to reach a Cardinals fan born the year they last won the World Series, but they're too young to be able to talk yet.

Cubs Do It For Speedy Savage's New Hat [wrigleyville23]

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]

"I said, 'Do you want to be an assistant for three more years or five more years? He said, 'No.'"

Olson's 48-minute press conference was reportedly stand-offish, blunt and a little confrontational as the media attempted to get some answers about why exactly the coach needed to take off so much time:

Frankly, even though I realize I'm a public figure, I don't think I need to go into every nuance of my private life. There were things going on in my life that did create some health issues that I needed time to address. But it was not a health scare."

Um, you kind of do, coach. Not every nuance, but perhaps you could offer a little bit of self-deprecation or enthusiasm toward the media and the fanbase that respectfully backed off of your ugly marital turmoil the whole time you were having your end-of-life crisis. And even though the coach said yesterday that he's "excited" to be back (but didn't act like it ), the only question really left to answer is this: Is Arizona excited to have him back?

'Zona's Olson Spars With Media [SI]
Olson: O'Neill Out [Wildcat Online]

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]

The most famous one, already, is this one:

The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler's time on earth-I'm sure he would have eliminated all bloggers. In Colonial times, bloggers were called "Pamphleteers." They hung on street corners handing them out to passersby. Now, they hang out on electronic street corners, hoping somebody mouses on to their pretentious sites. Different medium, same MO. Shakespeare accidentally summed up the genre best with these words from a MacBeth soliloquy: ". . .a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. . ."

Charming! (And, according to Mr. Daulerio over at Philly Mag, something that might get him in some serious trouble.)

But here's another good one: Someone sent Conlin an email implying that he had "lost his fastball." Here was his response:

My fastball has slipped so much that when I attempted to accept the buyout on the table in 2002 (I was already 68), the editors took me to lunch and asked what it would take for me to keep working. I replied one less column a week and reduced travel. At a second meeting, they gave me a two column a week schedule, sharply reduced travel and a mandate to write mostly commentary. They also gave me a generous signing bonus, a quarterly performance bonus and matched the lump sum that would have accompanied the buyout package. They also continued the subsidy of my Florida condo that has been paying the taxes and monthly maintenance since 1987. By law, they had to begin paying me my full pension in 2004, so at age 73 I'm making the top salary at the paper plus collecting the biggest monthly pension check ever paid out. With the social security check my wife and I receive, I'm making ballplayer money for two columns a week. I suppose the fact that those two columns are consistently the most read pieces in EITHER paper might play a role in my good fortune. If that's what accrues from a lost fastball, I suggest you try taking a little off yours. . .I was forced to sell the condo in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, because we just didn't get there enough.

And then he ... ATTACHED PHOTOS OF THE CONDO!

You know ... it's pretty amazing newspapers are having so much trouble staying relevant.

The Conlin business has been circulating so much in the last few days that it's close to hitting the critical mass of actual protests; referencing Hitler will do that. Part of us feels bad for Bill; the man is 73 years old and probably thinks the emails are the equivalent of screaming at your computer. It seems extreme to severely punish (or even fire) the man for not quite understanding how the Web works; he's 73, for crying out loud. But then we read that "with the social security check my wife and I receive, I'm making ballplayer money for two columns a week" line ... and we feel less sympathetic. Let's see how it all turns out.

Bill Conlin Probably Just Shouldn't Use Email At All [Deadspin]