The Link Train: Fear Of The Dark

It's time for another instalment of The Link Train. As always, leave links for tomorrow night's segment in the comments or send them to me via e-mail or Twitter. All sports-related submissions are welcomed. Thanks for reading!

Video Of The Day: Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark



I'm a huge Maiden fan, but this was a song that didn't really make much of an impression on me the first time I heard it on the eponymous album. It was cool, but it didn't particularly jump out at me. I then heard them play it live at Toronto's Air Canada Centre in October 2007 (still probably the best concert I've been to; you can check out some photos from it on my Facebook page and it became one of my favourites. This song is just epic live, particularly with a good crowd like the one at their headlining set at the 2001 Rock in Rio festival (which turned into an impressive live album) above; it sends chills down your spine to hear a crowd that large singing the intro in unison.

My Links:

- My weekly The Phoenix Pub column targeted the mental side of sports this week. I tried to explain why I'll always be more impressed by a Greg Maddux, a Wayne Gretzky, a Brian Bannister or a Y.E. Yang than a Nolan Ryan, a Usain Bolt or a Tiger Woods. It's not necessarily that their feats are any better or any easier, but the mental aspect makes them more relatable, in my mind.

The Best Of The Intertubes:

Baseball:

- Kevin Kaduk has some good thoughts (and a killer headline) on the much-anticipated signing of first-overall pick Stephen Strasburg [Big League Stew].

- Also on Strasburg, but funnier; Jon Bois of The Dugout examines what his plans for all that money involve. They include a fleet of aircraft carriers covered in pennies [FanHouse].

- Tyler Kepner has a great piece on the meeting of current Yankees' bullpen coach Mike Harkey and the Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. during the ongoing Yanks-Mariners series, 22 years after the Mariners made the decision to draft Griffey over Harkey. He also goes into the opposition of then-owner George Argyros and how Griffey eventually became crucial to the construction of Safeco Field (and thus, the survival of the team in Seattle). Well worth a read [The New York Times].

- Ian Hunter has some good thoughts on Toronto relievers Brandon League and Jesse Carlson [Blue Jay Hunter].


Football:

- The story of Tom Cable allegedly punching assistant Randy Hanson, then being cheered on by his team with "Bumaye, Cable!" (a reference to the Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle) would be completely unbelievable if we weren't talking about the Raiders [Gregg Rosenthal, Pro Football Talk].

- However, it may not be as ludicrous as first thought. ESPN is reporting that no punches were thrown, based on Cable's denial to Mark Schlereth and the description of the incident former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah obtained from a source. According to Jeremiah's source, Hanson spoke profanely to defensive coordinator John Marshall. Cable got upset and pushed Hanson's chair, and he fell and hit his jaw. That would fit with the facts and comments that have come out so far, and sounds much more reasonable than Cable slugging a guy. [ESPN, Twitter]

- Matty I breaks down the Dolphins' 12-9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has good things to say about former B.C. Lion Cameron Wake's pass-rush ability [The Phinsider].

- Jared Allen... on Twitter? [Sportress of Blogitude].


Soccer:

- Magnakai Haaskivi breaks down tomorrow's Champions League television schedule [Avoiding The Drop].

- Why Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov might not be the best choice for your fantasy footy team [Never Captain Nicky Butt].

- The always-excellent Chris Nee looks at Saturday's Toronto FC - D.C. United game and concludes that D.C. may be in trouble [Chris Pontius Blog].


Hockey:

- Sean Zandberg has the audio of general manager Mike Gillis' radio interview on The Team 1040 this afternoon. I listened to the interview over the airwaves on the drive home today, and it's pretty good. He had some interesting comments on new signing Sergei Shirokov (who I wrote about here), his desire to add another offensive defenceman and the progress of the Roberto Luongo contract negotiations [Nucks Misconduct].

- James Mirtle has the latest on the Thrashers' ownership mess. Yes, more NHL teams are running into major problems! By my count, the current list includes the Coyotes (fully embroiled in bankruptcy court), Predators (partly in bankruptcy court), Stars (broke owner thanks to the Liverpool mess), Lightning (broke owners who hate each other), Islanders (having massive trouble getting a new arena) and Thrashers. Any I'm missing? [From The Rink]

- David Rogers on how this summer has seen St. Louis improve dramatically while Central Division rivals Chicago have struggled [Frozen Notes].


Basketball:

- Kevin Arnovitz on three teams that might surprise people this year [TrueHoop].

- James Borbath breaks down the Roko Ukic-Amir Johnson trade [Dino Nation].

- Kelly Dwyer thinks said trade is "a steal of sorts" for Toronto [Ball Don't Lie].

- New Score Sports Federation colleague Nat brings you her top ten "DAYUM!" moments from last season [Heels on Hardwood].


Other:

- James Brown and First Derivative interview Robert Littal of Black Sports Online [The Phoenix Pub].

- Andy Hutchins on Usain Bolt's dominance [The Rookies].

- Joe Posnanski has a tremendous piece on Tiger and Yang [Joe Blog].

- Ailanthus Altissima somehow manages to continue to find interesting things to write about college sports despite the offseason. Most impressive. This week's subject: should players with criminal records be eligible for scholarships? [The Phoenix Pub].