Links of the Week

The Black Keys, 'Brothers': I was first introduced to the Black Keys a few years back leading up to their performance at Coachella. My first reaction to their performance was shock in learning there were just two people in the band creating all that music. This duo from Akron, Ohio, take blues-rock and make it their own. Their music has been featured on everything from video games (Grand Theft Auto, MLB: the Show) to television (Hung, Eastbound and Down, Dexter) to movies (Cloverfield, Zombieland, School of Rock), and they've even recorded an entire album with some of hip-hop's biggest names. The new album is streaming through its release on May 18th.

Billy Ray "Rojo" Johnson makes his baseball debut: Leave it to a minor league team near Austin to bring in Will Ferrell for this great promotion. There's no truth to the reports that Jim Hendry offered Rojo Johnson a full no-trade clause for joining the Cubs, though it might not be a bad idea given that the Cubs will likely be 10+ games behind the Cardinals in the division by June and will need all the promotions they can get.

Fireworks 1, Lastings Milledge 0: Milledge mistakenly thinks he hits a home run, only to be tagged out during his home run trot. This one play pretty much encapsulates what it's like to be a Pirates fan the past 18 years. The best season during that time? 4 games below .500. Yeesh.

You'll never guess the pitcher he used: A 23-year old man in Semmes, Alabama, netted $1 million after winning a MLB2K10 contest to be the first person to throw a perfect game on the video game. Guess who the winning pitcher selected was? Nope guess again. Nope, guess again (this could go on for hours). The pitcher? Kenshin Kawakami, who is currently 0-6 with a 5.73 ERA. The game programmers must have been fans of Kawakami's old Chunichi Dragons, which he helped lead to the the team's first Japan Series championship in 53 years in 2007.

Jay-Z crushes SNL: Betty White is getting all the press clippings, but Jay-Z's opening performance at 30 Rock was a blistering 8-minute medley of old and new jams. Check the clip before LiveNation inevitably pulls it off the web.

22/30 = 73.3%: That's the percentage of major league teams that have experienced a drop in attendance compared to 2009. With last year's numbers already down significantly from years past, this is worrisome, particularly when noting that the Blue Jays, Orioles, Indians and Mariners have all experienced the smallest crowds in their stadium's history in 2010. This bears watching, especially as small market teams fall far enough behind in the standings to justify selling off contributing players.

Any chance this contributed to the sore neck? Hopefully we don't see too many more reports like this, but since he's left the gated confines of Augusta, Tiger has posted the worst 2-day score in his career, and now has failed to finish two tournaments in a row. There were even reports that Tiger was heckled by a 7-year old this weekend. We all know how mental golf is, and this makes you wonder if Tiger is having doubts about subjecting himself to this publicly.

I bet I can guess who the team softball MVP will be: After his botched sacrifice bunt attempt, Eric Byrnes biked into his life after baseball, in pursuit of surfing, golfing, and recreational softball. Byrnes and his wife also run a business called bYRNt Organics, which sells eco-friendly clothing. And just in case you had any doubts who was going to lead the recreational softball league in home runs this year, I suggest you click on the link above. I'm pretty sure that dude is about to put together a softball season for the ages.

Pour salt on your hand, take the tequila shot, then sign here: A D.C. woman is suing MTV and its producers for her depiction on The Real World D.C. after claiming she was forced to consume 8-10 alcoholic drinks before being kicked out of the house. Apparently everyone that is shown on camera during the Real World has to sign a four page release, which includes a waiver from any STDs contracted from cast members. No word yet what the Situation thinks of this situation.

Food awards: James Beard award winners were announced last week. Prepare for the foodie backlash.

The Beatbox Master: I have no clue how this kid makes these sounds, but someone needs to sign him up to appear as "Jones" in the next Police Academy sequel: