A different kind of show. In our middle segment, we steal some audio from this week’s Joe Sports Fan Show, with guests Josh Zerkle and....me. Consider it a teaser and a plug for the Vegas event all in one.

But first, Nick and I discuss the rumor mongering going around the internet about Pittsburgh going to the BIG TEN. From the looks of it, the rumor started on an OSU message board and Bleacher Report, the least reliable content network for news and information around. So of course, newspaper websites link to the rumors, thus making them more valid, and in turn, setting the internet ablaze.

It’s an issue of gatekeeping, but also of trusting what you read and making sure you illustrate what’s rumor and what’s sourced information. Nick brings up the 96-team NCAA tournament rumor that came up yesterday and we discuss how we, even at TSB or on this show or wherever any of you write, need to figure out if a rumor on SbB is more or less valid than a rumor somewhere else. To parallel the situations, we talk about Bleacher Report. If the same report Brooks posted was on Bleacher Report, we never would have linked to it. That’s just the way it goes. And there are some good writers on that network, but by and large, it’s the Wild Wild West. Clearly, a reporter in Kansas City didn’t know that when he linked to them. Or maybe he did.

Is there a lesson? Not sure, really. But it is good practice to not trust everything you read on the internet as fact, especially when it comes from a message board.

Tech Talk:

We steal some sound from the JSF show talking about what celebrity we’d want in a booth for an inning or a drive in football. Good stuff with Matt Sebek, Josh Bacott and Josh Zerkle on this segment. For more of the show, go to their site and download it later in the week.

Nick answers the question as well, and in light of Ann Curry getting caught in an elevator with Jeff Pulver and other social media-elite, we ask the question of who we’d most and least like to be stuck in an elevator with. Ann Curry’s name comes up. So does Dave Grohl, Glenn Beck, the show runners from Lost and Ricky Gervais. Oh, and Phil the groundhog.

Housekeeping:

Nick and I talk about the passing of Tom Brookshier. The name Tom Brookshier may mean more to the city of Philadelphia than anywhere else, but those in the industry around the country mourn the loss of the NFL standout turned media giant, after he succumbed to cancer this weekend. Brookshier was a member of the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles team – Tommy McDonald said he'd be the first guy you'd want on your team – and followed his NFL career as the lead analyst for CBS, teaming with Pat Summerall before John Madden did. He also was responsible, as part owner of 610 WIP in Philadelphia, for hiring Angelo Cataldi and the morning team, thus changing the landscape of Philadelphia radio, and sports, forever.

Oh, and Nick is all exited for Lost tonight.

Thanks to the JSF guys and to you for listening.