ap Page 1488 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Of Streaking And Shrieking
At first we thought all the shrieking coming from Maria Sharapova on Tuesday was because of this guy. Apparently not. Sharapova, it seems, has a habit of screaming on every shot, something of which we were blissfully unaware until today, due to the fact that we watch her matches with the sound off. ...

And They Call It The Streak
There are few things of which we are certain, but one is this: When we get out of bed at an ungody hour to view Maria Sharapova playing Elena Dementieva in the Wimbledon quarterfinals (Sharapova won, 6-1, 6-4), what we don't want to see is this (pictured). We want this. And perhaps this. Under no ...

Charlie Villanueva Finds A New Home
In need of a point guard, and realizing that free agents flock to Toronto like women flock to bloggers, the Raptors acquired a point guard in a trade last night. T.J. Ford heads north of the border, and Charlie Villanueva goes back the other way to play alongside Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee....

So Long, Wimbledon. See You Next Year!
Well, we missed possibly the greatest match ever in women's professional tennis. Damn it. Earlier today, Russia's Maria Sharapova met Ashley Harkleroad of the U.S. in Day Four Qualifying at Wimbledon, with the fourth-ranked Sharapova coming away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory (like the score mattered). M...

Hey, Kids, Come Out To The Park!
We encourage all kids in the Philadelphia area to get their tickets now for August 20 at Citizens Bank Park, for a very special Phillies promotion for a Sunday afternoon game against the Nationals: It's The Brett Myers Back-To-School Pack!...

Some Big Hockey Happenings This Weekend...
• The NHL entry draft went down yesterday, and it included a record 10 American players taken in the first round. This, of course, builds tremendous hope that one day the United States will have an international hockey team that will generate tremendous interest and hype, only to fall flat on their ...

Brett Myers Punched His Wife In The Face
It is commonplace among Major League Baseball teams to send the starting pitchers for upcoming road series ahead of the team, allowing them to get on a normal travel schedule. That's what the Philadelphia Phillies did with starter Brett Myers, who was scheduled to pitch against Boston tomorrow after...

Live Blog: Brazil Vs. Japan
It's impossible not to have a good time watching Brazil, and not just because of the ladies, yeahhh. So far, the Brazilians haven't played that beautiful game we've all expected of them, but it's early, and Ronaldo hasn't lost all his weight yet. Give him time....

Jonathan Papelbon's Dramatic Debut
How do you know you've made it, you've crossed from the niche market of athletics into the popular subconsious of local culture? When you start doing terrible, cheapo car commercials, of course!...

Checking In At The World Cup...
Brazil 2-0 Australia. It might just be me, but does Brazil seem a little but underwhelming thus far? They seemed lethargic in their 1-0 win over Croatia, and all anyone could talk about afterwards was Ronaldo's apparent tubbiness, and Australia really gave them all they wanted today. They do not l...

Live Blog: Japan-Australia
All right, if you enjoyed yourself a solid weekend of World Cup action — yeah! we sound like a Coke commercial! — but you're stuck back at work, not quite woken up yet, sad you're not at a pub somewhere ... worry not! We're here for you....

The Philles Will Crush Your Children
Here's something we missed from yesterday, via Philadelphia Will Do: It's Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal attacking a little girl in the stands. Well, kind of. Poor kid: Guy didn't even apologize. Moral of the story: The seats at Dodger Stadium, they're way too close to the field, man....

Mark Cuban's Self Diagnosis
We would like to formally congratuate the Dallas Mavericks and their owner, the billion-dollar penised Mark Cuban, for their convincing Western Conference clinching victory Friday evening. The Mavericks have been the most consistently enjoyable team to watch this postseason, and we are pleased to ...

Accompanying The Heat And Tom Petty To The NBA Finals...
And your NBA Finals are set: It's old school vs. new school. It's a friendly, non-threatening German vs. The Diesel. It's a young, energetic, wide-smiling head coach vs. a crusty old man who hasn't smiled since 1983....

Taking Steps Towards Shaq...
A Dallas win tonight could set up a Finals matchup between two of the most media-friendly guys in the league: Shaquille O'Neal and Mark Cuban. I believe it would be the first appearance in the NBA Finals for any team that was owned by a man with his own blog....

Shaq Gets His Big Ass Back In The Finals
Things may have finally gotten rough enough for Pistons guard Rip Hamilton, who loves to spout his slogan, "If it ain't rough, it ain't right," which has always sounded slightly dirty to me....

Heat And Pistons, DANCE OFF!
As you rev yourself up for tonight's rather enormous Game 6 matchup between the Heat and the Pistons, we invite you to take in the Heat dancers and Extreme Heat dance team, firing themselves up for the game tonight. How can this not make you excited? How are you not fired up? Dance, Heat ... DANCE...

Is It Good To Be Dirk Nowitzki?
We've figured out why Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, despite scoring 50 points in a Game 5 victory of massive import and generally making that leap into alpha dog status that we require of all our superstars, always fails to appropriately inspire us the way that, say, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade...

Phoenix, Dallas Rev 'Er Up Again
The two guys, in this Associated Press photo taken from Game 2 of the Dallas-Phoenix series, are, according to the caption, examples of how fans "are drawn to intense game situations because of their need for a competitive outlet and get rowdy at games because they want to feel involved, say exper...

Pistons Aren't Ready To Go Home Yet
You know if Ben Wallace is happy, everybody's happy....