leitch-old Page 215 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

This Was Not Done By Aliens
As someone who knows the open spaces and empty fields of the Midwest as well as anyone — we lost our virginity in one, after all — we understand how boring it can get out there, how it can feel as if you have no creative outlet and no one to listen to you....

Teddy Roosevelt's Gonna Do What He Has To Do To Win
So poor Teddy Roosevelt, in the grand president mascot races at RFK, can't catch a break: He didn't win at all last year, and he's resorting to desperate measures ... like, say, rappelling from the roof of the stadium on Opening Day yesterday. Poor guy: He still didn't win. The Bull Moose party, the...

Joakim Noah, Gleefully Making No Sense
Thanks to Every Day Should Be Saturday, we have the bizarre interview with Joakim Noah after the Gators' win last night which confirms, if you had any doubt, that nobody has the foggiest idea of what Joakim Noah's talking about....

Looking To The Past To Overcome The Present
Now that Florida has won its second national title in a row, everybody's an amateur historian — which is good, because sports would be no fun if it has professional historians. The big question: Are the Gators one of the best teams ever? The answer of course is that there is no answer, which is why ...

At This Rate, Florida's Gonna Win An Oscar This Year
It was rather difficult not to admire Greg Oden in this game, but Florida, man, those guys are good. Not the epic game we were hoping for ... but when you go 4-for-22 from the 3-point line, it doesn't really matter if you have a 64-year-old Bill Russell under the basket....

Give Us At Least ONE Shining Moment. One Will Be Fine.
All right, well, we think we can all agree that, as sports fans, we are owed an epic national title matchup tonight. This has been the least memorable NCAA Tournament of the last decade — except for those ones we can't remember — and the only thing that can salvage it is a Connecticut-Duke or George...

What A Win Tonight Would Mean: Florida
A national title, or a championship in any sport, resonates for years beyond just one small victory for a group of tall men. It stands for something not just in athletics, but for a university as a whole, a matter of civic pride, an achievement disparate groups of people can all stand alongside, joy...

Leftovers: Corporate Cubbies
• How does that Tribune deal affect the Cubs? [Chicago Tribune] • Why people hate Duke, with special completely misunderstanding of the Nation Of Islam Sports Blog. [Duke Basketball Report] • Curt Schilling does not have a broken arm. [Baseball Musings] • No NFL in China. [SI.com]...

WHIP Out Some Bling
We play in far too many fantasy sports leagues — we're a little frustrated that Yahoo hasn't counted last night's game in the Stattracker yet; Paul LoDuca had two painful RBIs for me us — but we've never been in one so dorky that it gives out a championship trophy....

Tony Parker Would Like To Talk To You About His Feet
Via the outstanding Pounding The Rock, we proudly introduce you to Get Your Game Feet On. It's a product promotion from Lamisil featuring Mike and Mike from ESPN Radio — one's gay! one's fat! — and Spurs guard Tony Parker. And it's called Get Your Game Feet On....

Blogdome: A Great Monday
• Is April 2 the best sports day of the year? [Chicks Dig The Long Ball] • Are the Cubs about to sign Carlos Zambrano? [3 Man Lift] • Reasons to root for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. [Rays Index] • Whack a Cub! [Red Hot Mama] • Doubting Greg Oden. [The Smittblog] • If Joakim Noah had an ark ... [Thighs...

It's Opening Day, Everybody!
Well, if you ignore last night's game — and we are — then it's now officially Opening Day. And there are all kinds of games today! Thirteen, to be exact, including four that start in about 15 minutes. We can't wait to fire up our Extra Innings and watch a full day of ... oh ... crap. Well, anyway, i...

What A Win Tonight Would Mean: Ohio State
A national title, or a championship in any sport, resonates for years beyond just one small victory for a group of tall men. It stands for something not just in athletics, but for a university as a whole, a matter of civic pride, an achievement disparate groups of people can all stand alongside, joy...

Joel Zumaya Is Just Like The Undertaker
Sometimes we forget that the men we watch and obsess over on the baseball diamond are mostly children themselves, not just in age, but in a state of perpetual arrested development. They are gleeful imps, lucky to be allowed to frolic for a living....

Bill Simmons Isn't Going Anywhere
For years now, Bill Simmons has notched considerable comedic mileage out of the supposed battle between his desire to say what He Really Wants To Say and what ESPN Will Allow Him To Say. There'd been enough supposed friction there that many wondered, when his contract with the network ran out at the...

An Opening Night Loss? No Problem!
On Faith And Fear In Flushing yesterday, Jason Fry wrote that the Opening Night game between the Cardinals and Mets at Busch Stadium last night was lose-lose for the Mets and win-win for the Cardinals. A Mets loss would remind of misery, and a win would just remind of what could have been; meanwhile...

Hey, The Couch Is Better Than Atlanta. Totally.
If you're one of those Frank Rich-obsessed souls who read the TimesSelect column, you already know this, but if not, we should make this clear before we start talking about the Final Four: We did not make it to Atlanta. Because Peter King is the only person left on earth who doesn't recognize that i...

Week In Review: Yes, Virgina, There Is A Final Four
• Screw off, Selig. • Goodbye, George Solomon. • Peyton Manning blows us away with his ability to be vaguely amusing. • Look what happens when you get these guys together in a room. • Dance, Gus Johnson, dance. • Duke ladies. • See ya, Joe Theismann. • You, too, can coach the Wolverines. • David Hir...

What's More Beautiful Than Atlanta In March?
After what seemed an interminable week off, we're finally back moving with the NCAA Tournament tomorrow night, and we kind of can't wait: After last year's wretched Final Four — three lousy games — we should be in store for some double-plus pleasantness....

Leftovers: Dream Night At Busch
• Not only are the Cardinals receiving their World Series rings on Sunday, but REO Speedwagon is singing the national anthem! [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] • Baseball chatter is bad for kids' health. [Cincinnati Enquirer] • Bunch of college stars, hanging out, eating meat. [DC Sports Bog] • Get the foul...