NO HOLDS BARRED

Thanks to the folks over at Deadspin.com for posting a correction we sent in -- their first and maybe their last, they say, because "it's probably best if it doesn't become a trend" -- and the plug.

I first heard of this relatively new sports blog when reading this week's issue of Sports Illustrated.

They had a special section on their best of the sports media for 2005, so, natch, this is what I turned to first. (This section is only available online to paying SI customers, nyah, nyah.) Deadspin got the nod for blogs.

I didn't hold this against Deadspin and decided to check them out anyway.

The print magazine and even the SI.com web site, by the way, didn't make that easy as neither posted the web address for Deadspin, although a quick Google search provided the link. I guess it's too much to ask of them to include a link to their best sports blog of the year.

While watching, sort of, Sunday's football games (the country music channels had mainly repeats), I continued checking the web for more commentaries on Saturday's Ruiz-Valuev fiasco in Germany. I came across this on Deadspin:

Boxing. 7-foot Russian Nikolay Valuev wins a controversial decision over John Ruiz, capturing the WBA heavyweight title. The crowd’s boos are partially drowned out by Don King running around, screaming that there will be a rematch and yelling, “CHA-CHING! CHA-CHING!”

That's why I wrote to Deadspin that King has purposely NOT committed to pushing for a rematch so that he could get his “CHA-CHING! CHA-CHING!” by bringing Valuev to the U.S. to fight against someone -- not Ruiz -- he'd be more assured of defeating. As we already relayed, King has four options on the Russian giant .

Next in line in the rankings of the WBA for Valuev might be Wladimir Klitschko, since he is ranked third, while second is vacant, and Valuev was their number one contender. But Klitschko the younger is also ranked as the top contender in the IBF and might be more interested in fighting Chris Byrd, whom he already defeated on Oct. 14, 2000, by unanimous decision, for his title. He is also the top contender in the WBO, and might just take a rematch with Lamon Brewster, who TKO'd Klitschko on April 10, 2004. So if the last of the fighting Klitschko brothers goes in either of these latter directions, next for a defense of Valuev's WBA belt may be another King fighter, but one who would be an easier assignment: the soon-to-be-elevated number four contender, 35-year-old Ray Austin. His last two fights were not exactly scorchers: a split decision win over Owen Beck and a draw with Larry Donald.

With all this in mind I contacted Deadspin and informed them of their little mistake. Better than The New York Times and the rest of the mainstream media on such trivialities as WMD, they almost immediately posted their correction.

So I'll post a correction as well.

In my e-mail to Deadspin editor Will Leitch, I wrote, "Hey Will, it's one thing to be snarky; it's another to be inaccurate."

Obviously they acknowledged their mistake, but Will wrote back with a correction of his own: "And we prefer 'cheeky' to 'snarky.' Because we're dopes."

Let the record note this correction.