Link Roundup: Constantine, Spider-Man, Tim Drake, and Baseball

Constantine is Dead:
It’s official…Constantine will not return to TV. Executive Producer Daniel Cerone announced via Twitter that the show will not be back for season 2; NBC cancelled the show and WB TV has been shopping the show to other networks.

I never saw the show, but was awaiting it to hit Netflix. From what I was told, it was a damn good show and much better than the movie. Hopefully, they will still make the show available on streaming.

Along those lines, I’m a little surprised someone like Netflix didn’t try to give the show another shot. It worked with Arrested Development, another cancelled network show with a cult following. Maybe Marvel has exclusive rights on Netflix.

Spider-Man in Civil War:
Speaking of Marvel, Brian Michael Bendis let it slip that Spider-Man will be showing up in Captain America: Civil War. While it’s still a rumor, Bendis is pretty much in the know of the Marvel movies. Many fans have been expecting this since the Marvel/Sony partnership was announced.

Bendis was the man responsible for Spider-Man becoming an Avenger in the comic book. I agree with his take; the Avengers are the Justice League of the Marvel Universe, so they need the biggest names to be a part of it. Spider-Man and Wolverine are two of Marvel’s biggest characters, so they would only help the visibility of the team. Of course, that was before the general public knew Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, or Black Widow.

Tim Drake got screwed:
One of my favorite reads on the interwebs is Mathan at Inside Pulse Comics. A few weeks back, he acknowledged that Tim Drake got the short straw in New DCU. I’d say this is the biggest screw job since Bret Hart.

Mathan points out that part of the appeal of Tim Drake was his non-Robin persona; they made him an interesting person, not just an interesting Robin. We’ll see if DC fixes this now that Tim has gone to the future to become Batman Beyond.

MLB Draft Talk:
Tonight is the MLB Draft, the least talked about one in sports (OK, it might be tied with Hockey). Grantland looks at some of the better draft prospects. I would say most of these guys, especially the healthy ones, will be gone by the Cardinals pick.

There are plenty of reasons the MLB Draft is not there with basketball and football. First off, the players are relatively unknown. People don’t follow college baseball like they do football and basketball; college baseball just doesn’t get the love. And then there are the high school players, which get even less national coverage than the college guys.

Another issue is the amount of guys drafted; 40 rounds of 30 picks (give or take a few in the first 3 rounds). A guy taken in the 30th round is relatively unknown, even to those that follow amateur baseball. Those late round guys are just system depth for the lower minors.

The other major issue is the time frame fans get to see these guys. NFL and NBA players move right into the league and are playing right away. MLB draftees can spend years in the minors before they get to the highest level, let alone make it with the team they were drafted by.

Switch Pitcher, Pat Venditte:
Pat Venditte is a unique player; he’s a switch-throwing pitcher that just got promoted to the Majors. I had heard about him when he was drafted by the Yankees a few years ago, and this past season he signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics.

Venditte uses a 6 fingered glove (a thumb on each end) so he can switch hands between batters. This is one of my favorite clips of him.

Song of the Day:

A fun little cover. I came across this gem by chance looking for Ed Sheeran covering songs. I’m a fan of musicians playing songs out of their genre.