Podcast: Ken Babby: Akron Rubberducks Baseball, Journalism & Apps

Kicking off the second season of the Digital Life podcast, Kevin Lockett talks to Mike Babby, owner of the Akron Rubber Ducks baseball.

During the conversation, Mike talks about his time with the Washington Post and the future of journalism, his commitment to economic development in Akron and how he bought the team formerly know as Akron Aeros.  Check out Akronrubberducks.com and @Akronrubberduck on Twitter, where you can also find @KenBabby.

 Episode Twitter Question: Tweet @kevinLockett with the names of sports teams that really knows how to use social media. As always, visit Soul88.com, KevinLockett.com Digitalkev.com.

Nice! Rachel Nichols Leaves ESPN for CNN/Turner

(Via Big Lead Sports)

"Rachel Nichols, an ESPN fixture covering nearly every sport since 2004, is leaving the network for CNN/Turner. CNN announced the move late this afternoon.....Nichols starts at CNN Jan. 28th, and she’ll be anchoring the network’s Super Bowl coverage from New Orleans with Ernie Johnson. Expect to see her doing plenty of NBA work, as well as MLB in the postseason.

A source said Nichols had two offers from major networks, and one from an all-sports network, and ESPN’s offer was “tremendous.” It didn’t, however, include hosting duties. The move has been in the works since about October, the source said." Read More

Coach Chuck Pagano's Inspirational Speech To The Indianapolis Colts

Deadspin "Is An ESPN Columnist Scamming People On The Internet? "

(Via Deadspin)

"A few weeks ago, ESPN columnist Sarah Phillips concluded her weekly "Junk Mail" column with a question from an unnamed reader:

Rumor has it "Sarah Phillips" isn't a real person and this column is being produced by a ghost writer. Is this true?

Phillips responded:

I'm flattered to join the ranks of Barack Obama, Elvis Presley, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Tupac Shakur as the subject of a great American conspiracy theory! (I would have added Biggie Smalls to the list, but I'm westside 'til I die.) In any event, I'm either an alien life form brought to Earth to keep track of Jose Canseco, or I'm a woman named Sarah Phillips who writes sports-related columns and blogs. You decide. In the meantime ... taaake meee tooo yooour leeeadeeer.

Is Sarah Phillips for real? Thirteen months ago, she was an unknown message-board participant at Covers.com, a gambling website. Then Covers plucked her from the boards and gave her a weekly column, sight unseen. Five months after that, she was tapped by Lynn Hoppes, an editor for ESPN.com, to write a weekly column for ESPN's Page 2—once the home of writers like David Halberstam, Ralph Wiley, and Hunter S. Thompson, and which has now been rebranded as ESPN's Playbook. The swiftness of her ascent gave her that weird sort of internet half-celebrity whereby she became moderately famous before anyone really knew who she was."

Read more