Link roundup

1. Preorder links for The Old Republic ($60-$150) with an expected release date of 12/31/11. (I didn't see what the monthly subscription would cost.)

2. Grantland looks at NFL free agent busts through the years.

3. "Have we got a contest for you! Break out those Photoshop skills and place your favorite writer on our super-duper Paris Review beach towel for a chance to win exactly this towel!" Via.

4. Laughing Squid uncovered more information and video about that bowling pin car I posted a few days ago.

Link roundup

1. If Heart of Darkness had starred Cobra Commander.

2. Bill Simmons relating an anecdote from his favorite sports book:

My favorite: someone fighting with Bobby Hull, then hearing the crowd hush like something awful just happened … and realizing that he accidentally pulled Hull's toupee off. This definitely would have led SportsCenter if it existed in the late 1970's.

3. DC's comic book cover artists have a sick sense of humor.

Link roundup

1. This baseball player is apparently having the worst ever defensive year and already owns the single season strike out record.

2. Piers Morgan's involvement in the voicemail hacking scandal.

3. Analysis of Iran's role in the uprising in Bahrain.