leitch-old Page 240 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

No More "Conversation" On Page 2
As many of you noticed yesterday, our friends at ESPN.com have discontinued ESPN Conversation on its Page 2 columns. They're calling it the end of the "Beta" testing, though we're not sure how much sense that makes: Why would you test something on the most easily-commented upon stories just to push ...

Champaign's Long National Nightmare Is Over
As an old lifer at the Daily Illini, no story was less fun to talk about than Chief Illiniwek. We once had our own personal take on the embattled "symbol" of the University of Illinois, but we don't even remember what it was anymore: It was talked about every day, in the most banal and "emotional" t...

Jon Lieber Has A Big-Ass Truck
We'd like to note that Phillies pitcher Jon Lieber is a real man with a real man's truck....

Leftovers: Backyard Oilers
• This guy REALLY likes the Edmonton Oilers. [Pulled My Groin] • Sam Smith, not a friend of the blogs. [With Leather] • Help find Les Straker! [Find Les Straker] • When OutSports did its 10 most likely gay NBAers in 2001 ... Tim Hardaway was on the list! [Sports By Brooks]...

You, Too, Can Have Your Own Boca Juniors Booster
So here's a grand idea: The notoriously rabid fans of Buenos Aires soccer team Boca Juniors are so renowned for their insane support that they're actually renting themselves out to other countries' teams....

Tim Hardaway, The ESPN Angle
With all the fun we're having Tim Hardaway today, a reader writes in and blames ESPN for the whole thing:...

If You Want Soriano, You Have To Deal With This
We don't like to think of ourselves as stuffy traditionalists ... but this, friends, just makes us sad....

Blogdome: College Sports Guy
• Wait, when did Bill Simmons become a college basketball expert? [Chris' Sports Blog] • How the heck is Baylor supposed to stop Kevin Durant? [Bear Meat] • This isn't the first time Dan Hawkins has exploded. [Slushy Gutter] • It is never fun to lose to Duke. [Eagle In Atlanta] • Tommy Amaker, uh, i...

These Two Men Need No Longer Worry About Prison Sex
Yesterday, Troy Ellerman, the defense lawyer for BALCO founder Victore Conte, pled guilty to leaking grand jury transcripts to "Game Of Shadows" authors Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada. With his admission, it means that Williams and Fainaru-Wada won't have to go to jail after all, and Mike Lupi...

When Death Will Be Merciful
If your excitement still hasn't died down from the 30,000th "SportsCenter" special earlier this week, you're in luck: Only four more years until SportsCenter 35,000!...

We Like To Think Of Jesus As A Mischievous Badger
You might think that Jesus would want you to watch NASCAR, and, doggone it, you'd be right....

Tim Hardaway's Deeper Hole
OK, so here's what we want to happen today: Every half hour, we want someone to call Tim Hardaway to ask him about his comments about hating gay people. You can ask him the same question every time, every half hour. It'll be great, because he'll find a way to dig himself an even deeper hole each tim...

Tim Hardaway Wants Only Straight Men To See His Penis
So, by now, everyone has heard former NBA point guard Tim Hardaway's comments on the Dan LeBatard show yesterday, but just in case you're up for some caveman rhetoric — he'll have the roast duck with the mango salsa — here's the full audio of the interview....

What You See After You Hang Out With The Gonzaga Basketball Team
From the Things We Don't Understand file, we end your day with this entirely random video that features Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and "Saved By The Bell"'s Mr. Belding playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" with "metal" "band" Metal Skool....

Trying To Understand The Illini Car Crash
Now that Illini center Brian Carlwell's condition after Monday's accident in a car driven by teammate Jamar Smith has been upgraded to "fair," we think it's probably OK to look at some of the more bizarre aspects to the crash....

Leftovers: Those Trippin' Zags
• Anything that gets the word "shrooms" on the front page of ESPN is fine with us. [ESPN] • Gilbert Arenas on Lebron James: "He doesn't want the final shot." [DC Sports Bog] • Wrapping up the reaction to John Amaechi. [Edge Of Sports] • The Denver Nuggets are all about the love. [Denver Post]...

Pre-Order Your Barbaro Books Now!
We are less than two weeks away from the release of the most-anticipated literary venture into the mind of a horse since Seabiscuit, or at least Sex And The City. It's Barbaro: A Nation's Love Affair, which, fortunately, is only a metaphorical love affair....

Some Helpful Sports Tips To Surviving Valentine's Day
Well, kids, it's Valentine's Day, which, for sports fans, means a day in the middle of the most barren sports month of the year to come up with tortured analogies and Manning-Chesney jokes. Hey, everybody needs a news peg....

Blogdome: Chatting With Paul
• An interview with the slightly forgotten Paul DePodesta. [Gas Lamp Ball] • What's up next for ESPN Books. [Get Untracked] • The Chargers are talking to Norv Turner. What could possibly go wrong? [Signal To Noise] • Brady Quinn's stock is dropping. [Rumors And Rants] • How to wear your New Era hat....

New And Inventive Ways To Lose A Game
You might have missed it, but something kind of crazy happened in the Buffalo-Bowling Green game last night. (That should be obvious, because it's rather unlikely we'd mention that game otherwise.) We'll let The Futon Report set the scene:...