ap Page 1801 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Media Approval Ratings: Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan is the perfect example of a guy who has never benefited by a more analytical fan. Before fans began developing their own systems and qualifications, Joe Morgan was the type of guy who could make statements with certainty, and, because it was a lazy Sunday night, we might have let them fly...

Media Approval Ratings: Bill Simmons
With the NBA Playoffs tipping off this Friday, we couldn't think of a better time to finally take a look at Bill Simmons in this here media approval thing. And not just because of that NBA book that he's supposedly working on. (Though it's not on Amazon yet.)...

You're the Immelman
It wasn't the most thrilling of finishes, but Trevor Immelman is your 2008 Masters champion regardless. Immelman, the first South African to be jacketed champion at Augusta since Gary Player in 1978, was able to protect the lead he held from the tournament's first round. Immelman's 75 wasn't all th...

The Beckham Men Enjoy Our Finest Athletes
• The Lakers still have a shot at catching the Hornets for the top spot in the Western Conference, and they came out playing like a team that wants homecourt advantage. LA outscored New Orleans 39-20 in the first quarter before the Hornets tenacious second half comeback. However, the Lakers perseve...

Max Kellerman Dropping Science, Knowledge, Etc.
Here's a pretty amusing video unearthed by the kids at Fan IQ, which features Max Kellerman, ex of just about every sports channel in every capacity, in his pre-WWL days doing his best 3rd Bass impersonation with his late brother Sam. (Sam, sadly, was viciously murdered back in '04. Gorgeous story ...

Media Approval Ratings: Tom Verducci
Even though we can't quite dig up the same outrage he has about steroids, we've always found Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci a must-read during the baseball season....

Media Approval Ratings: Charles Barkley
With the NBA Playoffs just around the corner, we could think of no better time to take a look at the ongoing phenomenon that is Charles Barkley....

Observations From Opening Night At Shea
We attended our first baseball game of the season last night, a sloppy, ugly, slightly comical 8-2 Mets win over the Phillies. We tried to attribute it to a cold April night, but seriously, we're not sure the Phillies were actually wearing gloves....

Eli Manning's Reach-Around Courtesy Is Impressive
Yeah, that episode may not get by network censors....

NHL Playoff Preview: The Threes Meet the Sixes
NHL Closer writer Greg Wyshynski previews the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals right up until they drop what is commonly referred to as "the puck."...

The West Virginia Power's Mascot Has A Rather Large Package
Here's Charile, one of the mascots of the West Virginia Power baseball team, a Class-AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Power celebrated the beginning of their season recently with a contest to see who could turn in the best drawing of one of their colorful mascots. The winner was Ariel Bens...

Media Approval Ratings: Tiki Barber
We think it's very possible that Tiki Barber might go down in the history books not as a former running back for the New York Giants, but, in fact, as a world-class maker of omelets. And we have a suspicion that he would have no problem with that....

Media Approval Ratings: Rachel Nichols
We made fun of Rachel Nichols once for her how do you feel? question to David Stern during his famous Tim Donaghy press conference, but, generally speaking, we think she's pretty good at her job. Even if the job itself is pretty thankless....

Media Approval Ratings: Digger Phelps
To make clear, this upcoming vote on Digger Phelps is not a referendum on his acting abilities. In case there was doubt about that....

About Last Night ...
What you missed while wondering why (a) they didn't go with "always be condoming," and (b) the one taped there was for sale, because, well... • NCAA basketball: Final Four sloughs off coastal teams, history, tradition, aura, grit, and potential ratings, leaving Memphis and Kansas to play for the tit...

Your North Carolina-Kansas Live Blog
Now, at last, is the Jayhawks' chance to extract some measure of revenge against Huckleberry Roy Williams, he who doesn't comprehend the enmity, by denying him another title that he couldn't win them. In this likely shootout, a lot hinges on whether the three-man rotation of Sasha Kaun (Sasha Kaun!)...

The Usual Dash Of Dollar Dog Night Bacchanalia
Wednesday night at the Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Park marked opening night and its first official "Dollar Dog NIght" promotion, which culminated in a Phillies 1-0 loss and, as usual, another mesmerizing display of shit-faced chaos courtesy of the revved-up monkeys. Ever since the Phillies...

Rick Reilly's Borscht Belt Hilarity Now Targeting Bloggers
We have a hard time getting fired up about this stuff anymore, but if you're looking for more enlightening commentary on new media from an "established" sportswriter — and a screenwriter (kind of) — let's take a listen to impending omnipresent ESPN commentator Rick Reilly....

Media Approval Ratings: Paul Zimmerman
It's rare that an NFL column makes us feel like we just drank a bottle of wine, but that's what Paul Zimmerman — Dr. Z, if you're down with the hip parlance — does for us....

Media Approval Ratings: Craig Sager
By now, the factoid that Craig Sager was one of the guys who followed Hank Aaron around the bases on his record-breaking home run has been considered unknown for so long that it's now known by everybody. (If that makes sense.) Here's something we didn't know about Sager, though: He's six-foot-four. ...