Softpedia interviewed the person who goes by the online alias S3erver.exe. The hacker is part of the Anonymous hacking group and says he began hacking when he was 11. He says he is self-taught and that he has learned many tricks by reading information online.

Though it appears as if his actions are nefarious, he sees it another way, saying “I like helping out people who are in trouble.”

He says apart from the hacking, he does pretty typical kid activities like skating, surfing, scooting, and building things. Though he hacks sites now, he is planning to take an ethical hacking class and potentially work as an ethical hacker in the future.

It’s hard to know whether this is the person who hacked the UFC site and Dana White (@JoshtheGod was taking credit for the hacks), but it’s certainly interesting to learn about the people who claim to be responsible for the acts. And if this is true, it’s sad to think that at 13 I was trying to figure out how to use hair gel while this kid was taking down major corporations.

H/T Cage Potato

Some people figure that message was intended to be private but it ended up shared on his Twitter feed. Apparently the paper didn’t like how the tweet showed a negative bias towards the team’s owner and he apparently lost his beat because of it. Grossi did reach out to Lerner to apologize but it looks like it didn’t matter.

Good thing columnists and radio hosts don’t lose their jobs for hatred towards team owners — there wouldn’t be any left.

H/T Sports by Brooks Live, Cleveland Frowns

Salisbury was “relieved from his duties” as an analyst on Lingerie Football League games with three weeks left in the regular season. The reason will come as no shock.

“Our expectations were not met in terms of broadcast protocol and we were not pleased with the overall lack of respect toward our producers, which primarily drove the decision,” league commissioner Mitchell Mortaza said.

Oh Sean, I wouldn’t expect anything less of you. The good news for Sals is that the reason could have been much worse.

Irsay was irked with Schefter’s report that Patriots director of player personnel, Nick Caserio, turned down overtures from the Colts to remain with New England. Irsay fired both Bill and Chris Polian and has a vacancy to fill.

“Adam S, not true about “first candidate we wanted to hire..” There is not any candidate we “wanted to hire” I haven’t interviewed … That’s the way people get false promo about being so coveted just because they don’t interview somewhere;SHELL GAME..leave us out of that BS … Adam, don’t say I wanted to hire someone I never talked to or met..MISLEADING..come on,your better than that..get your head in the game, son!”

Those were three tweets sent by Irsay, edited for clarity. It sounds like he’s making Schefter look bad, until you read Adam’s response.

“Excuse me Jim Irsay,” he wrote, “NFL told me your general counsel Daniel Emerson emailed request for Nick Cesario on Tues before he opted to stay in NE.”

Burned. See, the thing you need to note is that Irsay says he never interviewed or met Caserio. That doesn’t mean he didn’t reach out to Caserio about an interview. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have interest in hiring him. I’ll trust Schefter’s reporting more than Irsay’s angry words. And that’s what this really comes down to. It’s not that what Schefter reports is inaccurate; it’s that people are upset when insiders report information people want to keep private. That’s what’s going on here, in my opinion.

Thanks to Sports by Brooks for the heads up.

Media members beware: You come between ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and her interview subjects, and she will hit you with the elbow of death. One journalist presumably looking for a post-Sugar Bowl victory quote from Michigan coach Brady Hoke learned that the hard way. Observe the video:

The only thing better than that was when Michelle Tafoya horse collared Andrew Luck after last year’s Orange Bowl.

Gif via Mocksession

LBS: When you were hired for the pregame show to replace James Brown, what were your thoughts then and what are your thoughts now?

Menefee: Being 100% honest, I never looked at it that I was hired to replace James Brown. I was hired to be Curt Menefee. There’s always an opening somewhere, and I was hired to be me, not to replace someone. So that was my approach from day one — to try and fit in with the unit that was there, and to be the perfect teammate to make the team successful.

Going into it, obviously with James Brown having been there before, and knowing JB, I talked to him and he was helpful giving me some insight with what they were looking for. There was a relationship that helped me along, but I never looked at it that I was replacing him. I viewed it that I was hired for a great gig and that I had to do what I needed to do.

LBS: The pregame show has had a lot of success over the years. In your eyes, what goes into making a successful pregame show?

Menefee: What makes ours a successful pregame show is probably a better question, because I think it’s different for every show. It depends on what your goals are and the team that you have. David Hill, who is the CEO of FOX Sports, is the guy who put all of us together, and I think he’s done a great job of understanding the kind of guys that will work together as a unit. I think that’s what makes our show work.

When you look at other shows, I can’t really comment about how they put it together, but I can tell you that we have a group of guys who truly are friends, and I genuinely mean that. We spend time in the offseason visiting each other. My girlfriend and I have been to Howie [Long] and his wife’s place, we all go to Jimmy [Johnson's] place in the summer, Michael [Strahan] and I live two blocks apart, and I go play golf with Terry [Bradshaw], and we all watch college football together every Saturday.

When we sit down in front of those cameras on Sunday, it’s not five guys who took separate limos there and just showed up, and now we’re going to pretend we like each other and we’re going to joke around. We’re five guys who are genuinely friends, who have dinner together, who talk during the week, and we’re sitting there and you turn the cameras on, and we’re talking football. It really is the same show that it is the rest of the week without the cameras.

LBS: A lot of the different networks have many former coaches and players involved in their pregame shows. Do you think there is a maximum amount of people that should be involved in a pregame show?

Menefee: I don’t know if there’s a maximum — once again it goes back to chemistry. I think there’s probably a maximum number of people that looks good on a television set. I think probably five is about it. I think once you get to six or seven people on a set, it looks awkward for a viewer. It also makes it hard to get in and make a comment or valid point without one guy trying to one-up another because they feel they need to make their comment stand out. So they can get into trouble that way by having too many.

You look at our show, we have five guys on the set, and we have people in other roles. We have Jay Glazer, Frank Caliendo, and then Pam Oliver does features. Sometimes we’ll have Troy Aikman or John Lynch doing things, so you can have other parts or elements.

LBS: After Michael Strahan retired he was added to the show. How did that come about?

Menefee: I think it goes back to when there were four guys on the set. On their bye week, some players would visit on the set. Michael, over the years, did it numerous times, so we did get a chance to see how he worked in that dynamic. We saw his insight, his personality, and it just kind of stood out right away.

I’ve known Michael since 1995 when I was a local guy in New York and he was playing with the Giants, so my chemistry with him was natural. I remember thinking 10 years ago that he could do anything in television he wanted. His personality — he’s got that dynamic personality, he’s got the smile, the gap teeth works for him perfectly — there’s something about Michael that makes everyone love him.

I think that he’s a lovable, likable guy, and I think the audience accepted him as another member of the show.

LBS: A video came out recently that showed Michael reacting when the Giants pulled off the win over the Patriots. He was really celebrating like he still feels really strong ties to the team and the players. What’s it like watching games with these guys who have strong ties to the franchises that they played or coached for?

Menefee: Yeah, if you think that after 15 years as a Giant, that he’s not going to be partial to them, you’re nuts. Howie has allegiance to the Raiders the rest of his life, Terry with the Steelers. I think it’s absolutely natural. Michael’s standpoint is that there are still a lot of guys on the team that he played with, that he still talks with, and sees when he’s in New York. So I think that’s part of it.

I do think that one of the things that got lost when we were showing that is that Michael was celebrating picking the Giants as an upset in the pregame show. It was as much about that as anything. That’s what you’ll be surprised at.

Each and every week, [our analysts] will pick four games, and they are hanging on every single game, wanting to be right with their picks, because they know people will give them a hard time for missing on a pick more than anything else. So he was thrilled by being the only one to get the upset pick right, in addition to it being his former team.

LBS: The pregame show is very influential and so many people watch it including the family and friends of players. How frequently do you hear from players and coaches about things that are said on the show, and what kind of reaction do you get?

Menefee: It’s not infrequent. We talk to people to get our information. So every week you’re calling people and you will hear about something on the set someone said, or you said, both positively and negatively. But it hasn’t been an issue because when you mess up, you mess up. And if you deal with people on a regular basis, and you’re fair and honest with them, I think people can respect you even if they disagree with you.

If you continue that relationship, and continue to call those people, and continue to show your face around those facilities, I think they can respect you. It’s when you throw jabs at people and you disappear and you never talk to them, or have a chance for them to respond, that’s when people lose respect for you. As long as you are still willing to listen and talk, even if your opinions are different, guys are professionals and they understand and they have no problem with that.

LBS: I know Jay Glazer adds a lot to the pregame show because he has unique information through his reporting. How critical is he and some of his scoops to the show?

Menefee: I think that Jay is as big a part of our show as anything else. Everybody has their information guy, their insider. I will take Jay Glazer against three of anybody else — combine them. They don’t break the scoops that Jay breaks. They don’t have the information that Jay has. And people rely on that, not just for the gossip aspect of it, but for the injury aspect of it. He’s getting it directly from the coaches and players, not from the PR guys who are trying to mislead you.

Everybody around this league, all the information guys have ties, but no one has the relationships that Jay Glazer has. I think he is vital to our show, I think he is critical to the success of our show, and I think it would be a whole different dynamic were he not a part of it.

LBS: What was the time you were most impressed with a scoop that he had?

Menefee: When he got the tape of the New England Patriots [filming coaches], that impressed me more than anything else. I’ve had conversations with Roger Goodell about this, and he doesn’t understand where Jay got this from, and they launched an investigation to try and figure it out because they were not happy about it. That impressed me more than anything else.

It’s one thing to get information over the phone, but to actually have the evidence and the videotape to show it, is a whole different animal. To be able to put it on national television, and then have the league office not even know how you got it, nothing impressed me more than that.

Jay double-checks his sources like you wouldn’t believe. He says he puts out 3% of what he knows. It’s very little. You’d be stunned at what he knows.

LBS: What do you envision for the future for the FOX pregame show?

Menefee: I don’t envision any changes. Things are going great now. I think the chemistry is perfect, I think the bosses seem to be happy, and the ratings are doing well, why would you change something that’s successful? I can’t imagine anything being any different between now and the day that someday Jimmy retires. Jimmy is approaching 68 years old and someday he’ll retire, but hopefully it’s not for another 10-15 years. He enjoys doing this and says he’s going to keep doing this as long as he’s having fun, and he seems to be having fun.

“Time, distance, NEITHER one was a problem. Listen carefully next time.”

I had watched SportsCenter Tuesday night and didn’t hear anything funny while watching it live. It wasn’t until the video was passed along to me that I thought anything of it. Sure enough, after listening to the highlight several times, it sounded to me like he had said the n-word on the highlight.

I wrote a post charging Verrett with saying the word on-air. As soon as it was brought to my attention that he was likely saying “Time, distance, neither one a problem,” I quickly revised the post and its tone to indicate that there was disagreement over what he said.

Many people heard the n-word, while many others heard “time, distance, neither one a problem.” It’s obvious that, regardless of what came out, Verrett’s intent was not to use the n-word. Based solely on knowing that, we should not have posted the video and helped create a controversy.

As someone who has broadcasted for years, I wouldn’t want people overanalyzing my misspeaks and charging me with an explosive claim like that. For that, I apologize to Stan for playing a big role in the confusion.

I would also like anyone reading this to know that that’s not what LBS is about. We pride ourselves on accuracy, avoiding mistakes, and being careful when treading in serious subject matters. My judgment was off on this story. I hope this mistake will not change your opinion of LBS, and that it will not adversely affect Stan’s reputation.

Armstrong was one of several people who bet on sports through a local bookmaker that was pinched. Some of the bookie’s clients had weekly limits as high as $50,000. The person who is alleged to have run the operation, Daniel Dinner, is a 70-year-old who has been doing it for nearly four decades.

Armstrong left The Denver Post Friday after being with the paper for 27 years.

“Readers have to believe and trust that all of us at The Denver Post cover events impartially and without a stake in the outcome,” said Gregory L. Moore, editor of The Post. “We take this very seriously.”

Say Armstrong were writing about baseball, but only betting on basketball. Would that affect his coverage? There are some fair questions to be asked, but when you’re involved with illegal activity that can alter the way you do your job, it’s grounds for dismissal.

Let me just say that I’m glad the sports radio networks where I worked didn’t have the same standards. If they did, half the people on staff would be out of work.

“If Felger was ever in the clubhouse he might be able to talk about the team with some knowledge rather than just repeating rumors. Felger is completely off base on just about everything he is saying. Ridiculous and irresponsible.”

Watney went against company policy by commenting on the rumor, and the story grew once she sent her tweets. Watney went on The Sports Hub’s morning show to further defend herself.

“In the assassination of just about everyone’s character that’s involved remotely with the Red Sox these days, it seems, he brought my name in the mix and a rumor that I was linked to when I first got into town,” Watney said, “Which, by the way, is not true.”

“It’s not only hurting to hear rumors about yourself that (are) not true, years later, after the rumor even came about, but also to hear someone say ‘Oh you can’t even call yourself a reporter.’”

Watney said she’s never met Felger, never seen him in the clubhouse or at Fenway Park.

“It was just really upsetting to me,” she said.

Watney admitted that it was a bad decision to respond to Felger by sending the tweets because that spread the negative information. She’s right; if she hadn’t responded, only the people listening to the show at that time would have heard about it.

Take note: sometimes ignoring a rumor is the best approach.

Thanks to Sports by Brooks Live for the heads up

Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy and sports writer Jennifer Engel got into a Twitter war after the writer took a seemingly unprompted shot at the pitcher.

While watching Game 3 of the ALCS Tuesday, Engel observed of Tigers pitcher Doug Fister, “Looking at tall and skinny Fister reminds me of Brandon McCarthy, except well Fister can actually pitch.”

When McCarthy learned of the tweet, he retweeted it to his followers. Then he responded “Remember kids- when unable to write clearly or eloquently to defend an unoriginal premise- resort to cheap shots!”

McCarthy’s fans began to defend the pitcher to Engel, and her response was “yay, he did not suck w/As. For Rangers, epic fail that cost them good young L.

“Love Moneyball, love Billy Beane, really do. Problem in baseball when fans championing FIPs instead of Ws, stats instead of championships,” Engel wrote. “Two final things. Yes McCarthy was better which is like being the tallest midget. And injury is coming, almost guarantee it.

“Love this banter, just unfair to call me anti-stat. I am not, firm believer in Moneyball principles. I am anti-McCarthy,” she wrote.

Engel seemed to argue that McCarthy was not a good pitcher because his team did not make the playoffs. McCarthy had the best season of his career, going 9-9 with five complete games, 170.2 IP, and a 3.32 ERA. He also exhibited the best control of his career, posting nearly a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Her argument made little sense, and McCarthy called her on that point.

He said that by her logic, Michael Young was not a good player until last year because he had never previously reached the playoffs. He topped it by saying saying “I’m not mad at this on a personal level. I’m mad that you can’t defend your statements well enough to justify making them.”

Judges declare McCarthy the winner by technical knockout. He may have a future in sports writing, or broadcasting when he’s done with baseball. (Which will be sooner rather than later, according to Engel.)