In the pregame show for Monday Night Football, ESPN did a segment on Adrian Peterson that featured the usual assortment of oddly-tinted shots, industrial chains and proclamations about greatness.

In the lead-in to the segment, Stuart Scott mentioned that Adrian Peterson ran for 296 yards in his eighth NFL game.  He followed that up by mentioning how many yards Walter Payton, Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith ran for in their eighth NFL games — Peterson had more (which is natural, since it is the NFL record for more yards ever, in any game, no matter where it fell in a back’s career).

Scott used those numbers to say Peterson could become the greatest running back ever, without any sort of context ,or clarification, or even the faintest cognizance that there could be something wrong with the idea of using a running back’s eighth NFL game as a benchmark of future career success.

This, my friends, is the single worst use of statistics I’ve ever seen.

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ESPN has been running a series called “Battle of the Bands” that celebrates the 100-year anniversary of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  It’s a bit of a silly concept (right up ESPN’s alley), but it has definitely spawned some interesting takes on the song.  They’re down to the three finalists, and the best version comes from the Punch Brothers, a bluegrass-style jam band led by Chris Thile of Nickel Creek fame.  So, I say, go vote for it.  They deserve it; plus, anything to keep Gretchen Wilson from winning.

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It appears that the Dodgers are encouraging violence, at least with this ESPN headline (click link for screencap).  The poorly-worded headline reads: “Report: Dodgers will make Mattingly hit coach.”  Which coach are they going to make him hit?  And will he hit him with his fist?  A baseball bat?  And why?

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