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EA Sports Edited Colin Kaepernick’s Name Out of a Song on the Madden 2019 Soundtrack

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Yahoo – EA Sports apologized on Thursday night for the editing out of Colin Kaepernick’s name in the soundtrack of its “Madden 19” video game , calling it “an unfortunate mistake.” The gaming company also said that it will provide an update for the game that will add Kaepernick’s name back into the song. “We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack,” EA Sports said in the statement. “Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks. We messed up, and the edit should never have happened.

Morons. Absolute morons that just cannot get out of their own way. I honestly don’t think anyone inside the NFL offices can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Yes, I’m 100% pulling out my Jump to Conclusions mat on this one…

but, I’m sure the NFL heavily influenced this situation by EA Sports to censor the song. Even if they didn’t its just a bad look for everyone involved. Not to mention, it’s excellent fodder for Colin Kaepernick’s lawyer in their collusion lawsuit against the NFL.

Nothing screams that you’re blackballing a guy like going so far as to censor the mere mention of his name from appearing in your video game IP.

Unintentionally hilarious explanation of the lyrics that were censored too:

“The song, “Big Bank” by YG featuring 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj, is one of several songs featured on “Madden 19.” In the song, Big Sean raps the following lyrics:

Feed me to the wolves now I lead the pack and s***
You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick

In these words, Big Sean expresses his admiration for Kaepernick as someone who is focused on being true to himself instead of playing up his accomplishments, as explained by genius.com.“

“As explained by genius.com.” We’ve all been there. Listen, I love rap, its my favorite genre of music, but even I don’t know what the hell guys are talking about half the time.

Would it have been easier to just, ya know, not include the song? Sure, but that would be too easy. Theres too many lawyers in those closed door meetings looking for the most convoluted solutions to every problem. Occam’s razor, boys. The easiest solution is usually the best solution. Instead they had to overthink it and created national headlines about Colin Kaepernick once again.

Keep messing up like this and ESPN NFL2K is gonna rise from the dead to come for that ass.

BREAKING: Patriots Sign WR Eric Decker to 1-Year Deal

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After playing grab ass for the past few months with reported interest from Decker on signing with New England and with the team officially working him out this week, it all came to ahead when Jordan Matthews blew a hammy and the Pats cut him. The Patriots were looking pretty damn barren at receiver with Edelman out for the first month of the season. They would have been relying on Chris Hogan, Philip Dorsett, Cordarrelle Patterson, Kenny Britt, and whoever else winds up actually making the roster. Can’t have that. Can’t pretend its 2006 again and give Brady a bunch of scrubs and expect him to carry the entire team.

So I love the move, I’ve always been a big Eric Decker guy. Only had 1 TD last year, but he caught 54 balls for 563 yards. Not bad with a mobile QB in Marcus Mariota throwing you the ball. Cut out 2016 when he was limited to just 3 games because of injury and Decker had 4 straight years of 74+ catches.

Not to mention Josh McDaniels drafted him in Denver and knows Decker’s strengths inside and out so I would expect him to be a great fit. He’s always been solid, he’s got good hands, he’s handsome AF and his wife is an absolute must follow on twitter.

Jessie James Decker is a true ride or die that you don’t see the likes of these days and I for one am psyched to have the Deckers in my life once again.

I say once again because I have watched multiple, multiple episodes of Eric and Jessie while hungover on the coach and it is an excellent show. I suggest you all catch up so you know what we’re dealing with here.

Plus it would be an added bonus to take a guy the Jets couldn’t get much out of and make him a stud again as the Patriots tend to do.

Boston University is Now Growing and Experimenting on the Ebola Virus. Awesome.

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WCVB – One of the most secure facilities in Boston is beginning to experiment with one of the world’s deadliest viruses.

Boston University‘s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories announced Thursday that it had received samples of the Ebola virus and the related Marburg virus. Researchers said the first step of their research will be propagating the rare but life-threatening viruses to produce enough material for their planned experiments. Tens of thousands of people were infected and more than 11,000 died in West Africa in a 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak, the NEIDL said. The outbreak also traveled to Europe and the United States, prompting the lab to call the virus a “global public health threat.“…The NEIDL was granted permission to work with the most dangerous pathogens on Earth about eight months ago.

Oh cool, I am really glad I don’t live like 2 miles down the road from Patient Zero. This is how plague movies start. Am I the only one that saw 28 Days Later or I Am Legend or Contagion?

This is how it starts guys. Some cocky scientist throwing caution to the wind takes a few risks that don’t exactly pan out and he gets us all killed or running from undead creatures.

Look, I’m not naive enough to think stuff like this isn’t happening, but at least keep it under wraps. Just lie to me. Lie like a rug. I do not want to know about shit like this. And maybe don’t experiment with one of the deadliest viruses in the world in my backyard. Maybe do it in one of the flyover states that nobody visits to begin with. Just a thought.

I just imagine Noah Emmerich slowly going insane just researching Ebola all by himself in the crypts of Boston University.

Hopefully they have the self destruct button though when the lab coats take it too far and nearly infect Comm Ave.

 

Former Patriots Nemesis and PED Enthusiast Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman is Now a Bare Knuckle Boxer

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ESPN – Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman has signed a deal with the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) to compete in a boxing match later this year. Merriman, 34, has teased the possibility of competing in combat sports, notably mixed martial arts, for years. A three-time Pro Bowl selection with the San Diego Chargers, Merriman — whose nickname was “Lights Out” during his playing career — retired from professional football in 2013… A date and opponent for Merriman’s bout has yet to be determined. The event will take place this fall in Casper, Wyoming, and is expected to air via pay-per-view online…

Merriman was a standout linebacker at the University of Maryland and a Chargers first-round draft pick in 2005. He notched 39.5 sacks during his first three seasons, despite serving a four-game suspension in 2006 after testing positive for a banned substance. Injuries derailed the final five years of his career; he played just 33 games during that span.

Let me just Papa Doc my headline real quick before any of you have the opportunity to chirp me. Yes Julian Edelman is currently serving a suspension for taking a banned substance, yes Rodney Harrison served a PED suspension, yes Tom Brady was suspended for deflating fucking footballs

(Now that thats out of the way, back to the blog.)

But none of that changes the fact that Shawne Merriman is one of the biggest enigmas of our generation. The guy was an absolute savage, a preposterously strong, athletic, and menacing linebacker that tormented the league for years. Racked up 10, 17, and 12.5 sacks in his first 3 years in the league then he got popped for PEDs and had 6 sacks over the next 5 years. Maybe it was the PEDs, maybe it was injuries piling up (33 games over the final 5 years), but either way the guy was never even close to being a replacement level player ever again. Thats a pretty clear line of demarcation. Sorry, Chargers fans.

Not to mention the reason all Patriots fans loved to hate Shawn Merriman; the silly “Lights Out” sack dance.

The guy would put on this whole show after sacking a QB. But god forbid anyone mocks his pre-planned, organized dance, which is exactly what the Patriots did after yet again upsetting the favored Chargers in the playoffs in 2007. The Chargers all flipped out because doing the dance that was thrown in everyone’s face all year long was not classy.

“I would never react in that way. I was very upset,” Tomlinson said. “When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.”

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said he saw some Patriots pointing to the scoreboard, mimicking the dance and stomping on the Chargers’ logo at midfield.

“Every time I will play New England it will be a personal grudge,” linebacker Shaun Phillips said, according to the Union-Tribune. “That was very classless.”

Either way, I will absolutely be watching this bare knuckle boxing match as long as its not more than like $20. While I enjoy ragging on Merriman still all these years later, I will watch him try his hand at combat sports. Dude probably has a bundle of frustration built up over the past decade just waiting for someone to catch these hands after the way his football career ended.

 

IT’S OFFICIAL! The 300s Will Be at Boston Comic Con Next Saturday!

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We’ve been talking about going to one of the northeast Comic Cons for years now, but its always either a tough date, the lineup is terrible, or we all just flake and bail on doing it. Not this year. The 300s will be headed to Boston Comic Con on Saturday, August 11th with Red and Papa G to nerd out, shoot some video, and hopefully get a wave from Amy Jo Johnson.

We’ll be looking for the best, worst, and weirdest cosplayers, interviewing anyone moderately funny, and hopefully getting a reaction out of the celebrity guests by bringing up their most obscure roles.

If there’s anything you think we need to do or see or you just wanna get in on the video tweet it at @The300sBoston and let us know!

 

The Atlanta Falcons Finally Figured Out How to Work the Roof of Their Space Ship Stadium

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USA Today – Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s crown jewel when it opened last year was the futuristic retractable roof that looked super-cool when it opened and closed. Except the roof had a ton of problems – there was a leak during the college football championship game and the thing had problems opening and closing.

The Falcons finally figured out how to work the sunroof on their own stadium. Just shy of a year since it opened too!

All these hype videos are cool, but fail to mention the fact that the roof itself takes EIGHT MINUTES to open. This is 2018, I don’t have eight minutes.

Apparently the guys building the stadium last year realized they weren’t going to have time to finish it so they just mailed it in.

“The issue with the roof… is ensuring that the weight distribution along each section of the rail is precise to keep the panel level and keep it from wearing down the rails.

“We got to a point, quite frankly, where we said, you know what, let’s just sit that aside for a little and get everything else in 100 percent tip top shape, and then let’s just come back and work on the fine tuning of the roof afterwards.”

Almost have to respect the move. But hey its all good now, the Falcons have a nifty roof! The envy of the Brewers, the Blue Jays, the Astros, the Cowboys and retractable dome teams everywhere. Definitely worth $700 million in taxpayer money.

The Oakland A’s Just Got Rid of Season Tickets, Introducing a Whole New System

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SFGate – The A’s, perennially near the bottom in major-league attendance, are getting creative about selling tickets for next season. They scrapped their traditional season-ticket format and are introducing a more flexible system in which fans will have a variety of options at every home game.  It’s called A’s Access, and memberships will go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday. “A’s Access is the first program of its kind,” COO Chris Giles said. “From access to every game to special member concessions pricing, we’re focused on maximizing the value proposition for members. We are inviting our fans to truly become members of the A’s.”

First Moneyball, now this. Billy Beane strikes again!

If you can’t be good be interesting, or in this case, super convenient. Papa Giorgio and I have debated for years about going in on Red Sox season tickets, but its such a commitment. Aside from the exorbitant price of course, you have to commit to 81 games, and all the expenses that go with it. Beer, food, merch. It adds up to a fat bill quick.

Well the A’s have addressed all of that because they probably realize nobody is going to sign off on going to 81 Athletics games. This ain’t 2002.

So they flipped the script and introduced this new flexible membership plan.

“The program provides members general-admission access to every game, a reserved-seat plan and additional benefits including half-price concessions, 25 percent off merchandise and upgrade credits for games not included in a reserved-ticket plan.”

General Admission access is a great idea, especially for a team that is at the bottom of the league in attendance. Whats the point in charging a guy who buys tickets in the last row in the nosebleeds significantly less than the guy who buys tickets in the first row of the nosebleeds? If no one shows up those guys are gonna be sitting next to each other anyways. (Unless you’re one of those weirdos who sits in his obscure seat despite open seats everywhere around you.)

So just split the difference and offer GA and let people basically sit wherever they want with the option to upgrade and reserve seats for the high rollers.

Now this is where the perks get good.

“Plans begin at $240, and pricing includes $4 beers, $3 hot dogs and $2.50 sodas. Current season-ticket holders can renew under the new program. A 12-month payment plan is available.”

FOUR DOLLAR BEERS?! Thats worth the price of admission alone.

I’m terrible at math so I’m certainly not going to do this exercise, but lets say you went out to the bar 81 times between April and September. I bet you would save significant money just going to the A’s games instead and getting cocked on $4 beers, even when you factor in the ticket price. I’m just going to take that as fact.

Add in $3 dogs, $2.50 sodas and 25% off merch and I am ready to move to the Bay Area (not Oakland because I want to live) and become an A’s fan to take advantage.

Plus this ticket package beats the hell out of what their neighbors the Golden State Warriors introduced last year.

The sales and marketing team got a little cocky at the end though.

“The ticket department, confident the A’s will overtake teams above them in the standings, said fans buying the A’s Access plan for 2019 will get first crack at 2018 postseason tickets.”

MLB Trade Deadline Day: Red Sox Trade for Second Baseman Ian Kinsler

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In the midst of walking off with their 75th win of the season, the Red Sox and Dave Dombrowksi were working the phones and acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels while most of us were sleeping.

The Sox PR team wasted no time in announcing the trade as I got this email at 1:02 AM.

Now I know what you’re thinking, no, Ian Kinsler is not a relief pitcher. The Indians, Astros, and Yankees continue to load up on bullpen arms while the Sox are doubling down on whats gotten them this far; hitting the shit out of the ball. So while I would like to see the Sox acquire some arms for the pen, barring any deadline day deals it doesn’t seem to be a top priority for them.

I guess the thinking is you can just take whoever doesn’t make the playoff rotation and throw them in the pen with the rest of that motley crew. So take Nathan Eovaldi, Drew Pomeranz, and Hector Velazquez and have them handle some innings in the playoffs. It worked with David Price last year, but I’m also not crazy about throwing starting pitchers into high leverage relief situations in October and hoping for the best.

Anyways, Kinsler is a big name and a 4-time All-Star with more pop than your typical second baseman. Similar to my old favorite Dan Uggla, except Kinsler is actually a pretty slick fielder having won a Gold Glove in 2016. He’s not the same guy he used to be as he’s now 36-years-old, but I like the addition.

He’s batting a weak .239 on the year, but if you factor out a slow start to the season he’s been pretty good the past 2 months.

“In 51 games since May 29, the right-handed batter has hit .286 (57-for-199) with an .866 OPS, including .417 (20-for-48) with a 1.137 OPS in his last 13 games.”

Incredible irony in the move though as Kinsler is taking over for the injured Dustin Pedroia at second base, years after Pedroia took Kinsler’s job.

“Pedroia and Kinsler were teammates in college at Arizona State, where Pedroia took over Kinsler’s starting shortstop spot in 2002. Kinsler then transferred to Missouri the following year.”

For all the hype “Dealer Dave” gets he sure does love trading for the same players over and over again, having traded for Kinsler when he was with the Tigers in 2013.

Unfortunately this probably takes the Sox out of the running for old friend Adrian Beltre as the Kinsler move frees up Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez to platoon at third in Rafael Devers’ absence.

We’ve got just a few hours before the Trade Deadline so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any additional moves the Red Sox make today.

Do People Realize Former Celtics Big Man Jared Sullinger is DOMINATING in China?

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So I saw an article the other day about how former Celtics first round pick Jared Sullinger is playing overseas in the hopes of making an NBA comeback. We all remember Sullinger as the guy who was always a little too large, especially for a dude with foot and back issues. Basically the definition of unfulfilled potential, and he readily admits it in the article.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the former C’s big man is absolutely DOMINATING over in China for the Shenzhen Leopards. I feel like this is something people need to be made aware of. Last year Sullinger AVERAGED 30.1 points per game. That is absurd. He is basically as effective in China as Michael Jordan was over the course of his career in the NBA. Not to mention Sullinger is also grabbing 16.6 boards per game.

The guy seems to have finally found his place in the basketball world, albeit backing down former NBA scrubs and Chinese guys he probably towers over, but still good to see. Sullinger went off in a few games specifically too, dropping 41, 46, and 55 in three individual games.

Whats more absurd is that Sullinger’s 30 PPG was only good for ninth in the league. The Chinese Basketball Association is like some wet dream envisioned by Mike “Seven Seconds or Less” D’Antoni with absolutely zero defense allowed.

Now China obviously isn’t the NBA, but it is where a lot of former NBA players go to rebuild their value, collect a paycheck, or in the case of Stephon Marbury build a fanatical following and a Chinese shoe empire.

I mean, as we’ve written about previously, even Jimmer Fredette is dominating over in China. The Beast from BYU averaged 36.9 points per game in the CBA last year, second in the league. Jimmer, like Starbury, is also building a Chinese shoe empire.

If nothing else, China represents an opportunity to watch read about on Twitter how former big name flameouts in the NBA are finding their way to success overseas.

I’ve now spent the better part of my afternoon scrolling through Chinese Basketball Association stats just to find gems like this: former No. 6 overall pick Yi Jianlian, better known as “The Chairman” as coined by Bill Simmons way back in the day, is even putting up 27 points a game. Soo I can feel your enthusiasm for Sullinger’s stats waning the longer you read this blog…Well, former Celtic Brandon Bass averages 21 points per game…..Tyler Hansborough averages 20.8…..even Starbury is putting up 14.9 at 41 years old…

OK so maybe the Nets want to rethink about bringing Jared Sullinger back stateside…

PS – Apparently the Yi Jianlian Chairman thing might have never actually happened? Whoops. Good thing he was in fact terrible and averaged less than 8 PPG in his NBA career, otherwise the guy might have a bone to pick with Bill Simmons.

Jarvis Landry Says the Browns Can Win the Super Bowl. And I Can Be an Astronaut Too

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CBS Sports – With a completely revamped team, the Browns have generated a ton of buzz this offseason — buzz that will undoubtedly only increase when Hard Knocks premiers Aug. 7. One of those new players — wide receiver Jarvis Landry — has already bought into the hype.

“You’ll be lucky if we don’t score 40 on you,” he said in a feature with Sports Illustrated. “If we get everyone playing to their potential, we can win the Super Bowl this year.”

Now we’re just getting into semantics. I mean, technically he’s right. It is “possible” the Browns *can* win the Super Bowl.

They are eligible for that opportunity. But lets not confuse what we can do with what we will do. I *can* be an astronaut. Technically possible. Probably a lot more realistic if I could do long division without my phone and didn’t get nauseous on planes though.

As always, there’s an Entourage quote for that.

Jarvis Landry: “Whats it matter? We wanna do it.”
Ari Gold:

According to NFL.com “Eventual Super Bowl champions average 12.0 wins per season.”

The Browns haven’t won 12 games over the last FOUR YEARS.

Sure, they added Landry, Tyrod Taylor, Josh Gordon (maybe?), No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, Georgia RB Nick Chubb, and others. But are those guys worth 12 Wins Above Replacement? I think not.

I am hella excited to run naked bootlegs with Baker Mayfield and chuck bombs to Landry and Gordon in Madden ’19 though and thats all that really matters.