More photos » Matt Slocum - AP

AI does kinda look hungover in this photo...just saying

Browse more photos »

I am all for reporter's being 'investigative", go ahead get some scoops break some stories, shine some light on shady or illegal practices, help make the world a better place, sleep well at night.  But for goddamn sakes whatever happened to leaving someone who is having a tough time alone?  Screamin A Smith wrote a piece about how Allen Iverson is addicted to booze and gambling.  Guess what Stephen A, you need to quit being such a mark ass snitch and mind your own biznass.  Nobody likes a tattle tale and everybody hates you.  Leave AI alone and let him deal with his demons on his own, you are nothing but an alarmist that is trying to advance their career off the troubles of a more talented popular person.

Ed. Note: Our Weekly Picks to kick off March have a single tie that binds, which is the corporate rental apartment building in LA that we call homebase for Project Franchise.

Boxing Boredom - Before every big fight Manny Pacquiao loads up his entire entourage in Manila and flies them out to LA where he trains at Freddie Roach's Hollywood boxing mecca "The Wild Card". This is probably the 4th or 5th fight that Manny and his crew have spent living in our building, so we've gotten pretty used to seeing the HBO camera crew around the complex or members of the entourage dressed in hoodies, sweating it out in the sauna as they try to win the prize for "making weight" alongside the champ. On the lead-up show 24/7 they always show the hoopla surrounding a big-time Pacquiao fight and get us all types of jazzed before the main event, when his big ass van with his face on the side pulls up out front and the oversized posse loads up for the ride to Vegas. There is usually a bit of a buzz around his team and you get a sense that something big is about to go down.

But not this time. Not at all. I was in the business center today getting a fax and didn't even notice that his business manager was next to me and I hardly noticed. I realized when I got back to my desk that I didn't even know who he was fighting... but I can definitely tell you who he's not fighting. The fact that the sport of boxing lacks any type of leadership that was able to step in force Manny & Floyd to come together and agree to the testing terms and get a fight on the card is a travesty for fans. The only hope is that they both win - Floyd against Sugar Shane, and apparently Pacquiao against some guy named Joshua Clottey - and that the next time Manny's crew comes to town they are here to train for the best fight of this young century.

Usually when this bus pulls up we get excited - I doubt we'll even notice this time.

Okay, so yesterday was a pretty good day for Canadians. But there's just no excuse for what we subjected the entire world to at the closing ceremonies when we paraded out the biggest pile of crap we could put together. 

You would have thought that after Nickelback it couldn't get any worse. But then it did. Avril Lavigne. Alanis Morrissette. Simple Plan. Hedley. K-os. (Okay, K-os is actually pretty decent. But that song he played wasn't.)

I can't say enough, and I hope the world believes me, but please note that nobody over the age of fourteen in Canada actually listens to that music.

I swear, we do have some talent in this country. Would a worldwide spectacle not have been the perfect place to showcase Arcade Fire?

I held out hope that Georges St. Pierre would rush to the stage and knock out everyone of those bands, but it just wasn't meant to be.

So, please, please, accept this apology. But if the IOC never grants us another Olympic games, I certainly will understand their reasoning.

More photos » Denis Poroy - AP

LaDainian bids a fond farewell to the whale's vagina

Browse more photos »

Chargers - It was only a matter of time and there really wasn't of a choice, but somehow the unceremonious release of LaDainian Tomlinson just doesn't quite seem right. He never got the Chargers to the Super Bowl, but he's got to go down as the greatest Bolt of all time and one of the top running backs in the history of the NFL. He had a rough start and finish to the 09-10 season, but he's only a few years removed from leading the entire league in every important stat line and was still a top fantasy pick even this season. The San Diego brass didn't have a lot of options for an aging, highly paid superstar who is clearly running out of gas, but we just wish there was some other way. It sort of felt like the city is abandoning its star again - like the time when Ron Burgundy got fired for unintentionally telling everyone in SD that they were a dirty bitch. When Project Franchise gets its team we will be sure to give our franchise star a send-off fitting for a king, Kareem Abdul Jabbar style, complete with a victory lap around the field in a golf cart while a fireworks montage rains down from above.

What a piece of shit waste of fifteen minutes of my life.  He said nothing, gave us nothing, it was literally a joke.  Where do you start?  Literally every part of it was lame and stupid.  I reported on this press conference on Thursday before it happened, because i felt that it was going to be milquetoast and therefore pretty easy to predict what was going to happen.  

Tiger brought up his charity work quickly, total lame move.  He brought up his buddhism and how he strayed from it, gimme a god damn break, you love sluts embrace it!.  Buddha and his big belly aint gonna change that.  He challenged the media, and told the paps to "leave his wife and kids alone!", oh yeah like that's going to happen.  I wonder why Brad, Angelina, and Britney haven't thought of doing that?  That was a stupid move by Tiger he shouldn't have wasted his breath.  The only good thing that he said was that he apologized to the parents of the kids that he is supposed to be a role model to.  How weird were the hugs that he gave out after he stepped down from the podium?  So weird and scripted, whoever made him do should be slapped in the face for being a terrible PR person.

As a fan the only thing I am pissed off about is the fact that he made no announcement about his comeback, its the only thing I really care about.  Anyway thanks Tiger, thanks for nothing, at least you didn't try to squirt out a tear.

Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this week, with the rest of the players following a few days later. Beat writers are heading to Florida and Arizona, Twittering away about seeing Player A in the best shape of his life, while Player B plans to arrive any day now.

Johnny Damon, however, is still unsure where he'll be going.

A small market appears to have formed for his services, with the main teams mentioned being the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves. The Chicago White Sox are mentioned from time-to-time too, with the Rays and Jays off in the background. The unconfirmed reports have Damon getting offers around $7 Million for one-year, with the belief that Damon and his agent, Scott Boras (who was fired this week by Felipe Lopez - a client who was still unsigned after a pretty strong year), are still seeking a two-year deal worth $14M.

Most expect that Damon will sign a deal with somebody this week. Still, his troubling off-season is a bit enjoyable to sit back and observe, as the bit of greediness we heard about the start of the off-season when he rejected what's rumored to have been a better offer from the Yankees - giving him a chance to stay put and at very least be in the playoff hunt - seems to be coming back to haunt him.

So whoever signs up Damon, maybe we can just make him squirm a little bit more?

And hey, at least there's interest in Damon. It's still rare to hear the name Jermaine Dye mentioned by anyone.

At Project Franchise, we are all about the fan and think that pro sports should be focused on their customer - even more so during big, "fan friendly events" like all-star games and pro bowls - so you can imagine our horror watching the pitiful display put on this weekend.

Last nights "NBA All-Star Saturday Night Sprite Slam Dunk Contest" sucked. It sucked worse than any dunk contest I can ever remember - and that includes the one we had my junior year of high school that featured two 6'6" white guys who each had about 4" verts and were doing nothing more than layups that were technically dunks... heck, that one was more exciting, as it was impressive since they were only 16.

There was only one semi-original dunk, coming from Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozen as he threw down ball thrown off a side of the backboard pass. Otherwise the night was full of lame, boring dunks that literally had my wife saying "I could do some of those".... and I'm not married to Candace Parker.

I don't know if its that they dont want to get hurt, or if its a fear of being embarrassed by lesser known players, but the superstars have got to turn out for the dunk contest (the way they do for the 3 pt contest and skills challenge) or it ends up being a total snoozefest. The reason the last couple of years were so good, was because superstar Dwight Howard came to the party and actually did some creative stuff, which forced tiny Nate Robinson to elevate his game (which he didnt have to do this year to get the win over lesser competition) - so how about LeBron and D-Wade and Kobe try signing up for next season (and actually keeping their promise to play in it , ahem, LeBron).

The All-Star Weekend festivities are supposed to be all about the fans and a way to give them a fun weekend in the middle of the season where they get greater access to the superstar players that make the league tick - so the NBA needs to get back to making its marquee All-Star Weekend event all about the superstars and figure out a way to get those big name guys back in the dunk contest (like the good old Domonique - Jordan days).

The saddest part of this years dunk contest is how it paled in comparison to the amateur contest held along with the NBA D-Leagues dunk off. These no-name guys went at it 10x harder than Gerald Wallace, who looked like a tired old man, and Shannon Brown, who did probably the most boring combination of dunks ever in a dunk contest, and they came out to give the fans a good time.

At the end of the day, professional sports is a business and events like the Super Bowl can't go off in such spectacular fashion without the hundreds of millions of dollars in support they get from sponsors and advertisers. The great part about the Super Bowl in particular is that its become so expensive to run ads (approx $3mil for a 30 second spot) that companies put tons of money into the production of their big game ads and tend to come up with the most fun and creative ideas on Super Sunday.

Unfortunately yesterday's ads were just average and there were very few stand out spots. One that really peeved me for what I think is a lack of understanding about the audience is the Google spot. The search giant ran an ad that basically walked through the progression of searches being run by someone (assumed to be a man) who was in love with a person in Paris, France (assumed to be a woman) and was searching for a variety of ways to get closer. I think in San Francisco (where Google is based) and amongst liberal elitist females this ad played quite well - but I just dont think thats who is making up the bulk of the Super Bowl viewing audience.

While I probably dont have the grounds to question the marketing tactics of one of the most recognizable brands in the world, I was very amused by this sports themed spoof ad, that I think plays much more to the actual viewing audience.