ap Page 1796 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Ryan Leaf Cleans Out The Attic Of Tearful Regret
Was it really 10 years ago that the Indianapolis Colts made the fateful decision to draft Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf in the NFL draft? To mark the occasion, Leaf is showing off his No. 16 Colts jersey — yep, one such exists — which he found while rummaging through some personal belongings recentl...

Media Approval Ratings: John Clayton
In our book, we said this about John Clayton: "Often resembles the guy in RoboCop after he falls in the toxic waste just before he's squished by the oncoming car." Someone classified this as "mean." We prefer, as always, "cheeky."...

NBA Playoffs: A Wednesday Night Viewer's Guide
Basketbawful is here to do the Hump-day Hump. Which isn't as dirty as it sounds. Unless giving you tonight's NBA playoff preview can be considered pornographic....

Media Approval Ratings: Jayson Stark
We miss seeing Jayson Stark on "Baseball Tonight," but all told, we think we probably miss the mustache more. Who wouldn't?...

NBA Playoffs: A Tuesday Night Viewer's Guide
Basketbawful is here. We can get through this together. Just take a few deep breaths, stretch, and prepare to be learn what you should be keeping track of during tonight's NBA playoff games. Oh, and you'll also get a math lesson from Chris Paul!...

Why Is It So Darned Hard To Win On The Road?
In the NBA conference semifinals, the road teams are 1-15. We all know home-court advantage matters, but have we ever put our finger on why?...

Media Approval Ratings: Emmitt Smith
We're not sure if Emmitt Smith is going to lose any face time on ESPN now that Cris Carter is hanging around ... but we have our suspicions. Heck, they didn't even let Emmitt be a part of the draft coverage....

Ah, The Cultural Rewards Of Major League Baseball
The life of a Japanese player, when assimilated into a Major League Baseball clubhouse, can be difficult. You have to learn parts of other languages, deal with cultural differences you hadn't anticipated and, mostly, deal with the odd duck that is Jonathan Papelbon....

Media Approval Ratings: Peter King
We were fortunate enough to meet Peter King once. We introduced ourselves, and he looked us up and down, not malevolently, and said, "How did you end up doing this?" We think he was referring to life as a professional blogger, rather than the fact that we were juggling octopi at the time....

Tony Dungy Has A Short Memory
Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy spoke with kids at a high school in Tampa on Thursday and apparently he was in a mood to foment him some controversy. And not in the usual "condemning o' the gays" way. Nope. He took a shot at the rival New England Patriots being embroiled in MattWalshGate. Nothin...

To Watch Tonight
What to watch while wishing you had Dumbo's mom......

About Last Night...
What you missed while being reminded not to feed the Ape......

Here She Comes, Here Comes Speed Racer
Quite a messy day of Indy 500 practice yesterday, with Danica Patrick's car clipping Dale Coyne Racing crewman Charles Buckman and sending him to the hospital with a concussion. Meanwhile, rookie driver Alex Lloyd hit a wall at 223 mph during a practice run and Mario Dominguez got in a minor wreck t...

Papelbon's Control Goes On The Lam
Mike Lamb, he of the .213 average and no homers in 94 at-bats, was the latest to victimize the Red Sox closer, who has blown back-to-back saves. That leaves him one short of his mark through all of last season. Papelbon opened the 9th by allowing a single to Delmon Young, who advanced to third on a...

Len Shapiro Tilts At "Uninformed" "Cowards"
As time marches on from the contentious Leitch-Bissinger showdown on HBO, more and more mainstream writers are weighing in on the matter. And, for the most part, they're not getting any more insightful. The latest comes courtesy of The Washington Post's Len Shapiro, who, while conceding that Buzz B...

Your Friday Night NBA Playoff Primer
Basketbawful has a little TGIF for you. It comes disguised as a preview for tonight's Lakers-Jazz game. But I promise it'll make your mother love you again. If, well, you actually get off your sorry butt and buy her a card and some flowers. You've got two days. But read this first....

Media Approval Ratings: Tony Reali
We sometimes wonder if old-school on-air sports personalities resent Tony Reali. His "rise" from researcher in 2000 to host of his own show today was ridiculously swift, and, frankly, the type of thing that should scare them a lot more than some silly blog....

Pizza Madness Grips Ohio
OK, it wasn't quite THAT bad. But Papa John's 23-cent pizza promotion in Northeast Ohio on Thursday did draw enormous crowds, and wasn't completely peaceful. Aside from some stores running out of pizzas, there were shoving matches and verbal altercations as people waited in line for discount pies fo...

The NBA Playoffs: A Thursday Night Viewer's Guide
Basketbawful once again brings you the nightly NBA previews. And the Spurs' championship formula. Basically, they...well, keep reading. Cleveland versus Boston: Game 2 LeBron James. I'm not a betting man, but I'd be willing to bet my life's savings - all $27.93 of it - that LeBron isn't going to h...

Has Marvin Harrison's Shady Past (And Present) Finally Caught Up To Him?
The muddled circumstances surrounding Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison's invovement in a shooting last week are slowly coming together. The facts: it was Harrison's gun that was used; six casings from his gun were found; Harrison was interviewed and had a fistfight with a man; some people got sho...