ac Page 1105 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Sad About Michael Jackson's Death? Tack An Andre Rison Jersey To His Childhood Home
Yesterday, professional athletes and their Twitter universes reacted to Michael Jackson's death (some more than others), but this makeshift tribute at his childhood home in Gary, Indiana gives the tenuous sports-King Of Pop connection an absurd little twist....

The Donald Trumps The LPGA Championship
"Ever since opening his Trump National-Bedminster golf club four years ago, Donald Trump has been angling for a major championship or tour event.... Trump received his first major championship offer: the LPGA Championship. He turned it down." [Star-Ledger]...

Jesus Christ Football Star
How you feel about this account of football-playing home-schoolers will depend largely on your stomach for misspelled signage and sentences like, "Tebow ... demonstrated that a home-schooler could absorb a playbook as well as the Book of Deuteronomy." [NYT]...

Mazel Tov, Omri Casspi
Casspi was selected with the 23rd pick in the Draft last night, which, in David Stern's mind, completely validates the NBA's entire push for globalization. Shalom, chaver. If Casspi — a 6-foot-9 small forward who had some success in the Euroleague — makes the NBA, he will be the first Israeli and se...

Not Feeling Minnesota: Rubio May Stay In Europe, Says Father
My Spanish is a little rusty, but I do believe this translates to, "Get us the fuck out of Minneapolis, Donnie Walsh."...

The Thunder Go With Harden
3. Oklahoma City Thunder: James Harden, Arizona State. Stuart Scott is feeling the bow tie. Oh, and James Harden is a pretty good fit for the Thunder. He is an efficient offensive player and his game is NBA ready....

Michael Jackson Dies. Chad Johnson Says It's "Just As Sad As 9/11."
The LA Times is saying King of Pop Michael Jackson died today after suffering a heart attack. He was 50. Because this is a sports blog, here's a video, via NESW Sports, of Jackson playing one-on-one with Michael Jordan. RIP....

Please Join KOGOD This Evening For NBA Draft Insanity
Deadspin's official draftnik for 2009 will be "KOGOD" aka "Unsilent Majority" aka "Baby KOGODINO." He will live blog until he falls asleep in a comfy chair covered in peanut shells and Velveeta. Have fun with him. [KSK]...

Weird Details Emerge About Ed Thomas' Accused Shooter
This is Mark Becker, the 24-year-old charged yesterday with killing Iowa coaching icon Ed Thomas in a high-school weight room. On Saturday, he attacked a former classmate's home with a bat and led police on a high-speed chase. [WCFcourier.com]...

The Sad, Hilarious Tale Of Elvis Grbac, 1998's "Sexiest Athlete Alive"
This is an epically comical story courtesy of SI's Jeff Pearlman, that includes the following absurd characters: Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, the Kansas City Chiefs, and a dim-witted People magazine photographer. Prepare to feel life-long sympathy for Grbac....

Obama To Throw Out First Pitch At All-Star Game
He will be the first president to attend an All-Star Game since Gerald Ford, but only the third White Sox fan to get drunk and beat up a first base coach. [MLB.com]...

A Great White Shark Ate This Man's Hand
I find it amazing how after surfers get attacked by sharks ,some of them jump right back in the ocean and continue the sport with less body parts. But here's another handless Aussie surfer walking through the raindrops....

Phil Jackson Only Interested In Coaching Home Games
Jackson says he would consider letting assistant Kurt Rambis coach some road games next season, so that the old man wouldn't have to travel so much. And maybe Kobe could only play on even-numbered Saturdays! [ESPN]...

Iowa Prep Football Coach Gunned Down At High School
Ed Thomas, one of Iowa's all-time great high school football coaches, was shot and killed this morning in his school's weight room, reportedly by a former player. Thirty students were watching; none was hurt. The gunman was taken into custody....

Scoring At Home: Your <em>SportsCenter</em> Catchphrase-O-Meter
An occasional feature in which we explain and evaluate a SportsCenter anchor's pet phrase. Today's phrase: "I know a cat named Way Out Willy."...

Joey Votto: Not Gay, Just Having Terrible Anxiety Attacks
"The one night I was alone, the very first night I was alone, was when I went to the hospital. I couldn't take it. It just got to the point where I felt I was going to die, really." [Outsports/GraneyAndThePig/MLB.com]...

Fake John Calipari Is Terrorizing Facebook...And Other Things Of Note
Yes, fake Facebooks/Twitterers are everywhere and the joke is extremely stale, but that won't prevent hundreds of Wildcat rubes from believing a John Calipari impostor is the actual John Calipari engaging them in jovial and revealing conversation. Oh Kentucky....

One Sporting Event That's Too Dangerous For Bylines
Chances are, you've never been to Myanmar. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you've also never been to a soccer game in Myanmar, because it's Myanmar, and because it's illegal for five people to gather in the same place....

Brian Collins' Waco Job Has Gone Boom (Update)
Just two days after Bob Costas used Brian Collins' signature catch phrase, Busted Coverage published an item pointing out that Collins' days as a Waco newscaster might be over. We can confirm that Collins' gig has, indeed, been dynamited....

What We Learned About The 2009 Wimbledon Champion
"Every tennis lover would like, someday, to play like Federer," Philippe Bouin tells Cynthia Gorney of The New York Times Magazine for this week's cover story. "But every man wants to be Rafael Nadal. Which is different."...