Roundup: Game of Thrones Season 5 Premieres April 12; Bears Hire a GM; Every Possible Way to Watch the National Championship Game on ESPN
By Mike Cardillo
Ela Rose, a Swedish model based in LA according to her IG bio. … Boston tapped for U.S. 2024 Olympic bid. Hooray?… Two hostage situations playing out Friday in-and-around Paris. …. If you don’t like very disheartening news, avoid clicking this link. … 64 Dartmouth students accused to violating the school’s honor code. … Season Five of Game of Thrones begins April 12 on HBO! (Silicon Valley and Veep return the same night.) … Here’s a different sort of mugshot. … Former Philly sportscaster is on trial for fraud in the neighborhood of $340,000. … How does a newspaper error like this make it to print? … Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is trying to buy Scottish soccer club Rangers. … New York man jumps to death because of ‘killer mannequins.’ … That Banksy thing going around the Internet the last few days wasn’t drawn by Banksy. … Oh, just a 5 1/2 foot snake in a toilet in a San Diego office building. … English soccer club announces it will sign convicted rapist, changes mind after numerous threats and lost sponsors. … These photos from an “Ice Festival” in China are impressive. … The headline on this story is, well, interesting. … Ted Danson and others join the cast of Fargo, season two. … A nice Stuart Scott tribute in Los Angeles. … Good one, NYT. … Important: Every taco reference in Simpsons history. … Happy Birthday: Bart Starr (81); Dick Enberg (80); Jimmy Page (71); M.L. Carr (64); J.K. Simmons (60); Otis Nixon (56); Joely Richardson (50); Haddaway (50); Muggsy Bogues (50); Darren Bennett (50); Dave Matthews (48); MF Doom (44); Radek Bonk (39); Chad Johnson (37); Gennaro Gattuso (37); Sergio Garcia (35); Michael Beasley (26); Nina Dobrov (26).
Here’s every single imaginable way ESPN will cover Oregon-Ohio State on Monday night. There are 14 points of emphasis in the press release! [ESPN Media Zone]
“Eight things you need to know about new Bears GM Ryan Pace.” [Sun-Times]
“The Internet is at peak saturation, and news sites and popular blogs are toiling to leverage every possible piece of web real estate to capture readers’ attention. The URL, or web address, also sometimes referred to by techies as the “slug” or the “permalink,” is the latest spot for exploitation. Quite literally, the clickable link is the new clickbait.” [NYT]
Rick Ankiel’s new job: life skills coordinator for the Nationals. [Big League Stew]
Positive story about NYU rallying around hockey goalie Sam Daley, who had an apricot-sized tumor removed from his cerebellum and spinal cord stem earlier this week. [Fox Sports]
Here’s a quiz for all you Archer fans out there. [Uproxx]
The Music City Miracle turned 15 years old, yesterday. [BroBible]
Imagine if the college football playoffs were expanded, meaning the first round of games were played on-campus? [Sports On Earth]
Important: ranking Stone Cold Steve Austin’s seven best Stunners. [With Spandex]
Dumb headline/question; smart post/answer. [Gizmodo]
Very solid infographic on the lack of security for managers in the EPL. [WSJ]
A great piece on the six different eras of The Simpsons I’d wish I’d written back in September. [Observation Deck]
Oh hai, Tommy Wiseau. [AV Club]
If you watch The Bachelor and you like to laugh (and appreciate Internet levity), well, there isn’t quite a weekly recap anything like this. [TVMWW]
Keith Olbermann on the “shabby results of a shabby sytem” — the Baseball Hall of Fame process — is worth your time. (Shouldn’t people who obviously love baseball and its history like KO be involved in the voting?)
Marv Albert said good-bye to David Letterman with bloopers. (Note: from Wednesday night’s broadcast.)
This guys just owns Tetris on the highest setting. [AV Club]
Coachella 2015 semi-headlines, Steely Dan.